(BrownWatch) On October 4, 2004 Ross Lee Mackey, a Black man, age 26, was
arrested and allegedly beaten by Hobbs police officers (New
Mexico). Detectives Carter and Rodney Porter went to Mackey's house to
question him about his whereabouts during a shooting that had taken
place in the neighborhood. After a brief interrogation in front
of his mother's house, the police announced that they would be back
later that day to arrest him.
Specifically Detective Carter asked him where he was when a homicide
occurred and whether he knew what happened. Mackey responded that he
was in the street when he heard four gun shots fired and that he fell
to the ground for safety. At that point in the interrogation, Detective
Porter allegedly interrupted Mackey and said "I don't have to listen to
this crap. We will be back for your arrest".
When the officers returned later that day, they slammed him to the
ground head first, kneed him in the back and stepped on his neck.
Police held him in this position for at least 30 minutes. According to
Mackey and witnesses Mackey did not resist arrest and he had
voluntarily submitted himself to the police. When Mackey asked police
why they were doing this Detective Porter said "you're a drug dealer."
As this police beating was taking place a truckload of men wearing
black masks raided his family's house with their weapons drawn.
Mackey's nine year old niece and older sister were in the house when
the police broke in. According to Mackey, the Hobbs police never
produced a search warrant and never identified themselves as police.
Mackey explained "I asked them ' Do you have a warrant' I
was ignored and suffered numerous indignities both verbally and
physically for my question. About 30 minutes later I was picked
up from the dirt and brought inside my moms house and taken up first to
the bathroom by detective Carter and told to strip. A black masked
officer came into the bathroom and said never mind we found the dope. I
was never asked if what they found was mine or not. I was taken
to my mothers sofa where the task force and Detectives Carter and
Porter sat around and told me that I was going to do a life
sentence. Then they told me that they were going to turn me over
to the Feds(which they did). I asked Detective Walker of the
Hobbs Police Force if it was standard procedure to be dumped on my head
the way Detective Carter and Porter did me. Detective Walker said this
was acceptable only if I resisted. I told him that I did not
resist, He told me, ?then no, they should not have used excessive
force. Detective Walker told me this while he was using my mother's
exercise machine."
Mackey said that he has injuries on his back, neck and legs and that he
is in constant pain. Mackey is being held without bond at Otero County
Prison on a drug possession charge. He has been placed in solitary confinement
in the prison.
Arresting Officer has a History of Police Brutality Claims Against him
One of the arresting officers, Detective Rodney Porter is no stranger
to police brutality or racial discrimination claims. On August 24, 2004
a court awarded Jimmie Marshall, a 58 year old Black man $580,000 for
police brutality claims he brought against Porter and the City of
Hobbs. Specifically, Porter took a blood sample from him without his
permission and without a warrant following a Dec. 26, 1996, traffic
stop. Marshall claimed Porter only tried to stop him after determining
Marshall was black and then used a racial slur during the arrest -- a
claim Porter denied. The jury awarded Marshall $390,000 in compensatory
and punitive damages for Porter's actions (the remainder was for the
liability of another officer's actions).[more]
Before working for the Dobbs police force Porter worked for the Midland
(Texas) Police Department. Officer Porter was forced to resign from the
Midland police force after an internal investigation uncovered evidence
of serious misconduct. Midland documents show an extensive pattern of
misconduct and violation of citizens' constitutional rights by Officer
Porter when he was on the Midland force. These documents provide
evidence that in more than thirty cases, Officer Porter falsely charged
arrestees with possession of narcotics, seriously mishandled narcotics
evidence, or both. These criminal cases largely targeted Black
and Hispanic suspects.
[more] and [more]
Further, in other cases, Officer Porter was accused of planting
evidence on arrestees, as well as using evidence to barter for sexual
favors. According to the documents, Officer Porter denied the
charges until after failing a polygraph test, when he admitted
mishandling evidence.
The internal investigation concluded that Officer Porter's
"credibility, integrity, and honesty have been impeached." Memo.
from Deputy Chief John Urby to Chief Richard Czech dated Aug. 22, 1995,
at 1, App. at 204. Deputy Chief Urby wrote, "Officer Porter
failed to recognize that . . . he also had the responsibility of
insuring that the rights of citizens were not violated." By the
end of the investigation, even a good friend and staunch supporter of
Officer Porter had concluded that "[t]hese acts leave us with no
alternative except termination. Any other decision would make us
guilty of negligent retention." Memo. from Lt. Jerry Compton to Deputy
Chief John Urby dated Aug. 22, 1995, at 2, App. at 203.
In a memo from then-Chief Richard Czech to Officer Porter, Porter was
told: "I cannot express in any terms the seriousness of this violation.
Your trust as a police officer [is] to treat people fairly and equally
under the law and under the constitution and as far as this police
department is concerned you have violated these rights. You
violated the very laws that you have been intrusted and sworn to
uphold. You have breached the integrity of this Department and
your credibility and honesty is to be questioned. As a result of
your misconduct I am terminating your employment effective immediately.
Memo. from Chief Richard Czech to Officer Rodney Porter dated Aug. 23,
1995, at 2, App. at 201.
A review of Officer Porter's arrest reports on cases where he had not
logged in drug evidence shows that an overwhelming number of the
suspects were black. Most of the rest were Hispanic
surnamed. Virtually all were stopped for minor traffic violations
such as seat belts, failing to signal a turn, failing to stop at a stop
sign, or making a wide turn so as to touch the stripe of the other
lane. Also, in many [cases] Porter either claimed to have secured
consent or went ahead and conducted searches anyway. [more]
In the case brought against him by Hobbs resident Jimme Miller (2003,
discussed above) to explain his misconduct on the Midland Police force
Porter said he took evidence, such as crack cocaine, home with him,
instead of placing it into police files, and then lied about it when
confronted by superiors because he was afraid of losing his job.
Porter said attention deficit disorder was the primary factor in his
sloppy police work in Midland. ''Attention deficit disorder has been a
problem with me my whole life,'' Porter testified under questioning by
Marshall's attorney Robert Gorence. ''It's not an excuse for what
happened in Midland, but it's an explanation.'' [more]
Porter Previously Harrassed Mackey's Uncle
Curiously, in 2000 Porter and several other officers were accused of
the wrongful arrest and harassment of Chris Mackey. Chris Mackey is
Ross Lee Mackey's uncle. Mackey was sued over an arrest in December
1998 and over other cases in which he was stopped or detained by
police. Chris Mackey testified that he had been stopped or detained 50
to 70 times by Hobbs police - most of the time while riding home from
work late at night on his bicycle.
In December 1998, Mackey stopped on his bicycle to witness a detainment
of some friends, and police arrested him after he refused orders to get
off the street, according to testimony.
Testimony at trial established that police tackled Mackey after he
pointed at Rhoads' badge and challenged the officer's authority to
arrest him for observing what was going on. Mackey was accused of
kicking an officer as police put him in a squad car. The jury awarded
Mackey $16,942 his legal bill in the criminal case, in which he was
acquitted. [more]
Porter's previous history with Chris Mackey leads to reasonable
speculation as to whether Porter had targeted Ross Lee Mackey for
arrest.
In 2000 along with several other officers, Porter was also accused of
"malicious prosecution" for continually attempting to get a prosecutor to
pursue charges against Michael Hodge, a black man.
The Hobbs Police Force has a History of Racial Discrimination
Moreover, as a result of a class action lawsuit against the Dobbs
Police Department for racial discrimination and police brutality
against Black and Latino residents, the Department has been under court
order.[more]
On June 19, 2004 in an opinion highly critical of the Hobbs Police
Department, a federal judge ordered the department to self-monitor its
officers' contacts with racial minorities for another year.
Self-monitoring was part of a settlement reached in 2001 in a
class-action lawsuit alleging Hobbs officers discriminated against the
city's black residents. The self-monitoring was scheduled to end June
14, 2004. U.S. District Chief Judge Martha Vazquez ordered its
continuation, criticizing the Hobbs Police Department's "substantial
non-compliance for a significant portion" of the agreement's term. She
cited cases that showed "potential improper police conduct" that should
have triggered an internal affairs review, but didn't. One case
involved an officer who struck and broke the leg of a woman who,
handcuffed and sitting on a curb, attempted to stand.
However, Vazquez did not grant the plaintiffs' main request to sanction
the police department or tighten the agreement's terms. Vazquez ruled
that she construed the stipulated agreement as a contract, which she
did not have the authority to modify. According to the 2001 settlement,
Hobbs police agreed to compile race-based data on arrests,
investigative detentions and uses of force by officers for three years
to allow a monitor, the plaintiffs and the department to identify
potentially discriminatory conduct. The 23-page opinion by Vazquez
pointed to more than 20 apparent violations of the stipulated
agreement. Vazquez's ruling noted that Hobbs police data show blacks
are "being arrested, subjected to force and subjected to investigative
detentions in numbers significantly greater than" the percentage of
black residents in the city. [more] ACLU attorneys Richard Rosenstock and
Daniel Yohalem argue that police data show the disparate treatment of
black Hobbs residents has "grown, not lessened" since the settlement
was signed.
While blacks make up about 7 percent of Hobbs residents, they represent
on average 15 percent of those subjected to field interviews by Hobbs
police, more than 16 percent of those arrested, and more than 21
percent of those arrested for resisting, evading or obstructing an
officer.
In addition, Hispanics and blacks make up over 77 percent of those
arrested for resisting, evading or obstructing an officer a charge the
ACLU says is highly discretionary and often grows out of an
overreaction to a citizen's lawful verbal challenge to an officer's
authority. [more]
The stipulated agreement stemmed from a 1999 class action lawsuit,
filed on behalf of Hobbs' black residents, alleged that Blacks were
subjected to excessive force, warrantless searches and false charges.
The settlement, signed in June 2001, required the Hobbs Police
Department to improve internal reporting procedures, the investigation
of officer misconduct, training and disciplinary procedures. In
addition, Hobbs police agreed to collect racial data on arrests,
searches, field stops for questioning, and incidents in which police
used force on civilians.
____________________________________________________
Ross Lee Mackey Needs an attorney. Contact him here --- Dawson11m@aol.com
- Black Man Gets $580,000 in Hobbs Police Brutality Case - Took Blood Sample Without Consent [more]
- 2 Views Of Hobbs Officer Given - Racist Cop says he has ADD [more]
- Hobbs Police Not Off Hook: Judge Orders Department to Self-Monitor for Racial Discrimination [more]
- ACLU Wants To Replace Hobbs Police Monitor [more]
- Hobbs Police Sued - Filing Says 15 Year Old Black Girl's Rights Violated [more]
- Hobbs Police, ACLU Settle Racial Discrimination & Police Brutality Suit [more]
- 2 Hobbs Officers Violated Rights - Black Men Win $18,542 in Fees [more]
- Hobbs police officer testifies in civil rights lawsuit [more]
- Racial tensions in Hobbs lead to police watch [more]
- Hobbs police on trial over alleged racism [more]
- Hobbs police accused of civil rights violations [more]