Justice Department says Billey Joe Johnson Shot Himself - Investigation of Sheriff's Office Closed

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From [HERE] The Justice Department announced Friday that there is insufficient evidence to pursue federal criminal civil rights charges against a George County Sheriff's Office deputy in the fatal shooting of Billey Joe Johnson Jr.

Officials from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Mississippi, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and the FBI met Friday with the Johnson family to inform them of this decision.

On the morning of December 8, 2008, the deputy pulled Johnson over for minor traffic violations. Less than two minutes after he was stopped, a gun was fired. Four eyewitnesses state that the deputy was in his patrol car, with the door shut, when the shot was fired. In addition, both the state coroner and independent federal medical experts have concluded that Johnson shot himself.

Johnson's death has inflamed suspicion, with his family and the NAACP previously rejecting any notion that the black teen committed suicide.

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Jury awards $82,000 to Black woman for False Arrest and Battery by Portland Police - asked Officer for badge number

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After Shei’Meka Newmann saw Officer Aaron Dauchy pull a 29-year-old black man off the train and handcuff him on the ground, she asked him why the man was under arrest. Dauchy asked her why it was her business.

She responded that she was a concerned citizen, to which Dauchy replied he didn’t have to tell her unless she was the man’s attorney.

Newmann then asked Dauchy’s partner, Officer Jim Sandvik, for a business card. But he refused, took her ID, then said he planned to exclude her from TriMet.

Newmann testified said that she said she’d be fine because she can drive her car to work. And that when she stepped toward the officer to read the name off his uniform and jot it down on a piece of paper, Sandvik struck her in the upper chest. He also twisted her arm so hard she thought it was going to break, before handcuffing her, she said.

She was taken to jail and released early the next morning with no money, cellphone or shoelaces.

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State rests case in Providence Police Videotaped 'Coma Beating' of Latino Man

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From [HERE] PROVIDENCE, R.I. —A Providence police officer who was present on the night video caught a detective beating a handcuffed man unconscious testified Thursday that he had the man's blood on his pants, but didn't write up the man's injuries in his police report because the officer didn't know how he got them.

Providence police Detective Robert DeCarlo, a 16-year veteran, is on trial and faces assault charges stemming from the beating. Officer Frank Newton told jurors in Providence Superior Court that he was at the parking lot behind 306 Benefit St. on October 2009, the night surveillance video captured the beating of 22-year-old Luis Mendonca.

Mendonca was knocked unconscious and suffered a severe gash in his head that was closed with eight staples. Mendonca's attorney claimed his client was in a coma for two days following the incident. 

The video showed an officer, identified as Det. Robert DeCarlo, kicking Mendonca and striking him with a flashlight. The grainy, black-and-white video shows a group of police officers struggling with Mendonca in a parking lot off Benefit Street on the city’s East Side while he is lying on the ground near a parked car.

It shows the officers dragging Mendonca from under the car and into the center of the parking lot, after he has apparently been restrained. The video then shows another police officer entering the fray, kicking Mendonca and following up with a number of blows to the victim’s head with what his lawyer says is a flashlight.

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Nation of Islam Calls on Birmingham Police to Fire Officers Involved in Beating of Unarmed, Surrendering Black Man

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From [HERE] Members of the Nation of Islam  today called on Birmingham police and city officials to take action against officers recently shown in a video striking a suspect , Travarious Daniel, who had surrendered to the police. 

The video shows several Birmingham Police officers pile on a suspect, and beat him. Prior to the beating Daniel is standing with arms outstretched as he had apparently surrendered to police. Although over twenty blows are counted on the tape, the Alabama police report described the attack by police as "minimal force."

Speaking at a press conference in Kelly Ingram Park, Minister Tremon Muhammad of Muhammad Mosque 69 said the police department and city should: fire and criminally charge the officers involved in the incident, abolish the act of using bait cars to catch suspects, and set up an independent police review board that would include members of the Nation of Islam. 

Muhammad took issue with the fact that the incident happened just across the street from the Birmingham Police Department's Administrative building on First Avenue North. "It either showed blatant disrespect for Chief  (A.C.) Roper or the officers believed that Chief Roper would stand behind them and their brutal actions," Muhammad said. 

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Family Files 'Wrongful Death' Lawsuit Against LAPD for Fatally Shooting Unarmed Black Man

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From [HERE] Four months after an LAPD officer shot unarmed 25-year-old Playa Vista resident Reginald "Reggie" Doucet to death outside his apartment around 3:30 a.m., Doucet's family has hired the Cochran Firm to represent his case in court.

Attorney Jamon Hicks tells Reel Urban News that the family will sue the City of Los Angeles for civil-rights violations and wrongful death by the LAPD.

Though some originally speculated that Doucet -- who was reportedly running around naked after refusing to pay his cab fare -- could have been under the influence of a drug that made him particularly combative and powerful, Hicks says toxicity tests prove otherwise: He tells Reel Urban News that the tests "came back nagative for the drugs PCP or cocaine."

The law firm will argue in federal court that since LAPD officers were not responding to a violent crime, and had reason to believe that Doucet was mentally unstable, they were wrong to react as extremely as they did.

"Based on their background, their training and experience, they should have then addressed the situation as a person who may be mentally ill, who is not a threat to their safety or the safety of anyone else," Hicks says in a video interview.

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2 New Orleans Police Officers Convicted in Cover-Up & Beating Death of Black Man

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Officer Williams faces a possible maximum sentence of life in prison. Officer Moore faces a possible maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.

(CNN) and [HERE] -- Two New Orleans police officers were convicted Wednesday in federal court in a 2005 beating death and cover-up after initially telling investigators the victim was suffering from a drug overdose.

Several neighbors of the man who was killed testified they saw Officer Melvin Williams approach Raymond Robair on the street in Robair's neighborhood and kick him in the side and beat him repeatedly with a baton, according to the Justice Department.

Officials said after the beating, Williams -- along with a second officer, Matthew Dean Moore -- placed an unconscious Robair into their police car and drove him to Charity Hospital.

According to a Justice Department release, witnesses at the trial said the two police officers falsely informed the hospital staff they found Robair under a bridge and all they knew was that Robair was a drug user. Based upon that information, the hospital treated Robair for a drug overdose rather than blunt force trauma. Robair suffered fractured ribs and a ruptured spleen as a result of the beating. He was pronounced dead within a few hours.

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Pleasantville (NY) Police Officer who Shot Black College Student to Death named 'Officer of the Year'‎

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From [HERE] The family of Danroy "D.J." Henry Jr., the popular football player from Easton who was fatally shot by police in New York on Oct. 17, 2010, lashed out today at a New York police union’s decision to give an award to the officer who shot him.

The award was particularly insulting, the family said, because the shooting remains under investigation by the US Department of Justice.  “I’m glad the world gets to see the arrogance we’ve been dealing with since Oct. 17, from the district attorney’s office all the way to the Police Benevolent Association,” said Angella Henry, Danroy Henry's mother. “For us, it’s not a surprise.”

Henry had been playing college football at Pace University and was celebrating the team’s homecoming on Oct. 17 when he was shot outside a bar by Pleasantville police Officer Aaron Hess. Police allege that Henry drove his car into Hess and another officer after refusing to stop. However, the passenger in the car, Brandon Cox said the officer shot DJ as the car slowed down. [MORE] A New York State grand jury declined in February to indict police officers in the shooting. [MORE] 

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Eyewitnesses say Black Man Dropped Knife before being Fatally Shot by Jackson Police: Family files Suit

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7 kilos of cocaine found in another Jackson Officer's car [MORE] 

From [HERE] A week after a knife-wielding man was shot and killed by a Jackson police officer, a federal lawsuit has been filed against the city alleging the officer used excessive force.

The family of Connell Lindsey filed the lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court in Jackson seeking unspecified damages against the city of Jackson, Police Chief Rebecca Coleman, officer Corliss Harris, who the lawsuit said shot Lindsey, and unnamed individuals.

The lawsuit alleges Harris has been involved in other fatal shootings while on duty. Harris has been a city police officer since August 1998, and records show he was involved in a fatal shooting in 2002.

According to police accounts of Lindsey's death on March 31, the 47-year-old would not drop a knife when ordered by the officer at the JasCo Food Mart at 1038 Woodrow Wilson Ave.

Jackson Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes says eyewitnesses to the shooting have given him a different account.   He was told Connell was shot seconds after throwing the knife to the ground. Stokes says Connell is known by officers who patrol the area, and has never been a serious threat to anyone. [MORE] and [MORE] 

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Five Birmingham Officers who Brutally Beat Anthony Warren on Videotape get Jobs Back

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On Jan. 23, 2008, 38-year-old Anthony Warren was severley beaten by Brmingham Police. He suffered a severe concussion, a skull fracture, internal bleeding and broken bones. He was unarmed. The incident was captured on video. According to his pending lawsuit, Birmingham police officers "repeatedly struck [him] about his head and body causing him to be hospitalized for four days and unconscious for the majority of that time' Although numerous Birmingham officers and supervisors had seen the the video- none reported it for nearly a year. [MORE] and [MORE]  

From [HERE] and [HERE] BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The three-member Jefferson County Personnel Board today voted to reinstate five former Birmingham police officers fired in 2008 amid allegations of excessive force.

Board members Ann Florie, Lonnie Washington and Chairman Kenneth Moore followed the recommendation made two weeks ago by a hearing officer. 

Jim Sturdivant said city officials didn't provide any testimony during a day-long hearing to support the firings of David Doran, Barrett Dewitt, Thomas Cleveland, Heath Boackle and Kenneth Prevo.

 

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Activists say Miami Police shooting inquiry is Biased - 7 Black Men Killed in 8 Months

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From [HERE] As Black Miami simmers over seven fatal shootings in seven months by City of Miami cops, you'd think Chief Miguel Exposito's priority would be convincing the community he's serious about investigating the deaths.

Yet Exposito quickly lost credibility by getting in a tit-for-tat with State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle over the MPD's delays in providing records for prosecutors. Now some observers say Expo's own internal investigation is tainted.

The assistant chief whom Exposito placed in charge of investigations is none other than Jose Seiglie, a cop whose last job was overseeing the gang unit that shot and killed three suspects.

"Maybe Jose Seiglie is an honorable guy who can investigate these shootings independently," says Jeanne Baker, a committee chair for the Miami ACLU. "But as the former head of a unit involved in several shootings, the perception is too strong that he has a conflict of interest."

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New Orleans Reporter Withheld Information about Police Brutality Against Blacks in the Wake of Katrina

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From [HERE] Alex Brandon, who has since left the New Orleans paper for the Associated Press, didn't tell colleagues about police misbehavior he witnessed after Hurricane Katrina. It only came out in court.

Many local institutions cracked or crumbled after Hurricane Katrina, but the journalists at the New Orleans Times-Picayune soldiered on. In the sad, chaotic days after the storm and in the daunting years that followed, they made sure their city's story was told.

Today, more than 5 years later, the newspaper's reporters, editors and photographers continue to push for a full accounting of the disaster, most recently with an award-winning series (in partnership with ProPublica, the nonprofit newsroom) about multiple cases of extreme police misbehavior.

So it came as both a shock and a blow to the paper's sense of common purpose to learn in recent months that one erstwhile member of the Picayune team, photographer Alex Brandon, strayed from the mission. From his own testimony in a trial last fall against several New Orleans officers, it became clear that Brandon withheld much of what he knew about the violent, rogue policing inflicted on some African American residents after the storm.

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Jury weighing fate of New Orleans Police officers accused in Beating Death of Unarmed Black Man, cover-up

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From [HERE] and [HERE] NEW ORLEANS -- A jury began deliberating Monday the fate of two New Orleans police officers charged in a 2005 beating death and its alleged cover-up.

Before the jury of seven men and five women began their deliberations, they heard strong closing arguments from prosecutors and defense attorneys.

At issue is whether or not officer Melvin Williams kicked and beat 48-year-old Raymond Robair to death on a Treme sidewalk in July 2005, and whether Williams and his then-partner Matthew Moore conspire to cover up the facts in what the government claims was a flagrant abuse of police power.

Robair's case was one of several highlighted in a report published by ProPublica in February questioning the work of Dr. Paul McGarry, a forensic pathologist who had conducted death inquiries for Orleans Parish for almost 30 years.

The investigation, conducted in partnership with PBS "Frontline" and NPR, found that McGarry had made a series of autopsy errors and oversights that had cleared police officers of wrongdoing. In each case, the families of the deceased hired an expert to conduct a second autopsy that found the death to be a homicide.

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Attorney Thomas Mesereau joins defense of Black Man in Videotaped Beating by Birmingham Police

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From [HERE] A well-known Birmingham attorney has joined a team of lawyers defending a man beaten by Birmingham police officers during an incident captured on video surveillance.

Monday, Thomas Mesereau announced he had offered to defend Travarious Daniel. Daniel was assaulted March 20 during his arrest by police outside a Birmingham club where he works. The downtown police precinct is across the street. Mesereau may be best known for defending late pop star Micheal Jackson. Birmingham Mayor William Bell has ordered a full investigation of the incident.

The video shows several Birmingham Police officers pile on a suspect, and beat him. Prior to the beating Daniel is standing with arms outstretched as he had apparently surrendered to police. Although over twenty blows are counted on the tape, the Alabama police report described the attack by police as "minimal force."

Some Charges Against Melvin Jones dropped: Lawsuit Pending against Springfield Officers for Videotaped Flashlight Beating of Black Man

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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - Hampden County District Attorney Mark Mastroianni will not pursue two criminal charges filed against Melvin Jones III the night he was allegedly beaten by Springfield Police Officer Jeffrey Asher.

In a statement released to 22News, Mastroianni said that he decided not to prosecute Jones for resisting arrest and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, as a subsequent offender.

Both charges were filed on November 27, 2009. In an incident captured on videotape that night [HERE] , Asher allegedly stomped and beat Jones with a flashlight. Asher has been removed from the police force and criminal charges have been filed against him. He was also called a racial epithet during a traffic stop over a faulty muffler in November 2009. He says that he was beaten unconscious, sustained broken bones and teeth, and was at least partially blinded in one eye. A witness captured the incident on video. Jones was charged with resisting arrest and drug possession.

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Nation of Islam Raises Money to Appeal Henderson decision: Monroe Police Shot Black Man 17 times in the Back

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The incident happened in 2004 when William Henderson was seen by a passerby walking with a chain and a pocket knife talking to himself. Nine police officers arrived on the scene and followed Henderson for about the length of a football field, shouting at him to drop the knife. Henderson ignored them and walked away from the officers toward his house spouting insults and claiming that he was “invisible” and could not be seen.

While he was walking away an officer shot him with a shotgun beanbag. Henderson rose again, still holding the pocket knife with his back to police officers, according to court testimony. A few minutes later, after ignoring shouts to drop the pocket knife police opened fire on him, knocking him against a fence. According to court testimony Henderson fell on a fence which spring boarded him back up. When he sprung up police shot him with another volley of shots. According to court testimony a total of 29 shots were fired at Henderson, 17 hit him and at least four of the 17 were in the back. According to court witnesses Henderson never lunged at or attacked police but might have appeared to be lunging when he was spring boarded off the fence. Henderson’s children claimed that firing 29 shots at their father was excessive. Judge Leehy ruled that the police officer’s actions were not unreasonable.

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NYC to Appeal Order to Release Police Shooting Data

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From [HERE] In February, a Manhattan judge gave the city 60 days to turn over 13 years of the internal documents generated whenever a city police officer opens fire on a civilian.

The judge, Emily Jane Goodman of State Supreme Court, ruled that the reports, covering roughly 850 shootings, be given to the New York Civil Liberties Union, which said it planned to make them public.

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said on Feb. 22 that the police were poised to turn over “whatever the court says we should.” Mr. Kelly had touted his administration’s practice of making public each year a firearms-discharge report that is a summary of police shootings, though it does not include the documents covered in the judge’s ruling: the detailed investigatory reports done within 24 hours of each shooting, and other, more extensive reports, completed within 90 days.

But quietly, on March 21, the city filed plans to appeal the ruling to the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court.

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$1.2M Settlement for Family of Unarmed Black man Gunned Down by Philadelphia police

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PHILADELPHIA - April 7, 2011 (WPVI) and [HERE] -- The family of a man fatally shot by Philadelphia police as they responded to New Year's Eve gunfire more than four years ago will receive $1.2 million in a legal settlement.

Bryan Jones, 20, was picking up his teen nephew from a friend's house when gunfire erupted nearby. The pair were trying to escape down a rear alley when Jones was shot. Officer Steven Szczepkowski said he fired after seeing one person with a gun and a second, Jones, reaching for his waistband.

Jones was unarmed when he was shot twice in the head that night, family lawyer Bruce Ginsburg said. Jones, a deli clerk who hoped to attend community college, was hit on the side of his head, just forward of his right ear, by an officer responding to reports of gunshots. He had no criminal record. Authorities recovered 155 shell casings and cartridges from 14 different weapons when they arrived at a pair of West Philadelphia row houses in the first few minutes of 2007.

Jones' death fueled criticism that Philadelphia police were too quick to fire their weapons. In 2006 and 2007 alone, 42 civilians were killed by police.   The officer who fired the shot, Steven Szczepkowski remains on duty. He could not be reached for comment.

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Money Raised For Phoenix Officer Charged With Senseless Murder of Unarmed Latino Man

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From [HERE] PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Law Enforcement Association hosted a fundraiser Thursday night for a former police officer facing second-degree murder charges. Officer Rich Chrisman is charged with shooting and killing Danny Rodriguez during a domestic disturbance call last October.

From the inside of the fundraiser, held at PLEA headquarters, it looked like your typical police fundraiser with a money box at the door and plenty of cops scarfing down burgers. But then you realize the music is blasting to drown out protesters outside, and the name on the box is nothing if not controversial.

"Because it's important. Rich still has obligations, he has a family that he needs support for," said PLEA spokesman Joe Clure. Chrisman's former brothers are forking over their hard-earned cash to help. It seems like a sweet gesture until you look at what Chrisman's charged with.

Daniel Rodriguez -- and his dog -- were fatally shot by Chrisman when he and another officer responded to a domestic violence call at the victim's home. According to the notice of claim, prior to police showing up, Rodriguez's mothertold the operator no guns were in the house, but that didn't stop Chrisman from allegedly entering the house without permission and holding a gun to Rodriguez's head so hard that it left bruising visible during an autopsy --and that was before fatally shooting the unarmed man. 

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Lying New Orleans Officers charged in Black man's beating death say they never hit him

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From [HERE] The two New Orleans police officers charged in the 2005 beating death of a Treme man denied Thursday that they ever struck the man.

Officers Melvin Williams and Matthew Dean Moore both testified in federal court that they rushed 48-year-old Raymond Robair to Charity Hospital because he was in pain and they believed he had swallowed cocaine.

The officers said Robair tried to flee from the cops and his shoe flew off, causing him to crash to the sidewalk.

Williams, an 18-year police veteran, faces a federal civil-rights charge for allegedly beating Robair to death. He and Moore each face an obstruction charge for allegedly writing a false report, while Moore also is charged with lying to the FBI.

The events of the morning of July 30, 2005, are greatly in dispute. The officers say they never struck or kicked Robair. But four neighborhood residents have testified that Williams kicked and beat him, though details of their accounts have differed.

The dispute doesn't end there. Doctors and a nurse at Charity Hospital claim the officers dumped Robair at the hospital and were cagey about identifying themselves, or offering details about the man's condition. The doctor who worked on Robair said he never spoke to the cops. But the officers testified they spent roughly 25 to 30 minutes at the hospital, talked to that doctor and watched staffers try to revive Robair.

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(Investigating Itself) LAPD Claims to have exhausted leads in Notorious B.I.G. murder case

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From [HERE] LAPD Capt. Kevin McClure, head of the department's Robbery Homicide Division, said Wednesday that theLAPD's investigation into the killing of the rapper, whose real name was Christopher Wallace, remains open, but that detectives have exhausted the leads they were pursuing.

"We have followed up on all of the leads we have at this time to the best of our ability. If anything new comes along we will certainly look at it," he said.

The FBI documents, released on the bureau's website, come from its probe into who killed the rapper, also known as Biggie Smalls, and whether any Los Angeles police officers were involved. The records include internal LAPD and FBI memos, witness statements and stakeout notes.

The New York rapper was gunned down outside the Petersen Automotive Museum in the Miracle Mile area on March 9, 1997, as he was leaving a music industry party.