Black pastors call for Eaton County sheriff's office review

The leader of the Clergy Forum of Greater Lansing - a group of 24 local black pastors - asked this morning for an extensive investigation into Eaton County sheriff's Sgt. Jeff Lutz and all his cases involving African Americans. Melvin Jones, president of the group, was surrounded by about six pastors in front of West Town Plaza in Delta Township - where Lutz allegedly shot himself in the arm March 20, according to authorities. He blamed the incident on a fictitious black man. "We believe that the delicate balance of community trust has been broken by this incident and that a thorough internal investigation of the sheriff's department is needed to restore confidence in the integrity of the department and its ability to serve a diverse population," Jones said today. Jones said he would talk to the Eaton County Sheriff's Office as early as this afternoon about the group's concerns. Lutz was arraigned Tuesday on two felonies, filing a false report and shooting at a police vehicle. Lutz's claim that a black male shot him led to a massive manhunt that closed schools and the surrounding neighborhood. [more]

• Pictured above: The sketch was drawn from Sergeant Lutz's description of the shooter. The Eaton County Sheriff's Department said he was a black man with a light to medium complexion in his early 20s, he's about 6 feet tall and has a muscular build. At the time of the "shooting", police said he was wearing a dark Yankees baseball cap and a dark sweat suit to match.  [more] 
  

No criminal charges against Roanoke Police officer in Shooting Latino Man

A Roanoke police officer who shot a Hispanic man will not face criminal charges. 44-year-old Antonio Gomez Navarro was shot in the back February 26th. Officers said they were trying to get Navarro out of his car, when officer Randolph Rowland's gun went off. Roanoke Commonwealth's Attorney Don Caldwell told News-7 this afternoon that blood work from Navarro showed the man had a blood/alcohol level of point .28. That's nearly four times the legal limit for driving under the influence. Caldwell says it's his opinion the shooting was not a criminal act and the test confirms what officers and witnesses said that Navarro was impaired. [more]

State Police Probe Holland Officer-Involved Deadly Shooting of Latino Man

 

Days after his death, relatives of Eladino Fraire say they still do not understand why a Holland police officer shot and killed the 25-year-old. "Why did it come to a shooting? Why didn't they shoot out (his car's) tires?" said Fraire's older brother, Juan Fraire, of Holland. State police, who are investigating the shooting, are trying to determine why Fraire crashed into a police cruiser last Friday, then tried to run over an officer before he was shot. The incident began when police tried to pull over his car on a traffic stop, and Fraire led police on a short chase ending in the parking lot of a store on Waverly Road near East 16th Street. Investigators have not been able to offer much information to the family. The Holland officer who fired the shots and another involved in the chase remain on administrative leave, pending a police review, which is routine in such cases. Holland police say they understand Fraire's family has questions, but they cannot yet offer answers because the case remains under investigation. [more]

Michael Newby Suit to move forward: Louisville Police Oficer Shot Black Man to Death

A federal judge declined to halt a lawsuit filed by the family of a 19-year-old who was fatally shot by a Louisville police officer two years ago. Former Officer McKenzie Mattingly shot Michael Newby in January 2004 during an undercover drug buy. Mattingly was charged with murder and later fired, but a jury cleared him of criminal charges after a high-profile trial in September 2004. U.S. District Judge Charles R. Simpson ruled that the civil suit filed by Newby's family should move forward. "The plaintiff has offered sufficient evidence that, if proved, would establish that Mattingly's actions were objectively unreasonable in light of clearly established law," Simpson wrote in the 14-page opinion released Friday. Mattingly had argued in court papers that the civil suit should be thrown out because he shot an armed drug dealer who had threatened him. Police found drugs and a gun on Newby after the shooting. Newby's mother, Angela Bouggess, alleges that Mattingly acted negligently and that he assaulted Newby. The lawsuit also names the Louisville Metro government, saying the city failed to train Mattingly properly. Bouggess is seeking punitive and compensatory damages "in amounts to be proven at trial," the lawsuit said. A trial date has not been set. She said she filed the suit so her son's death "has not been in vain." [more] and [more]

•  Louisville Cop who Killed Michael Newby will Go Free - Not Guilty [more]
  

  
   

Over the past 7 Years at least 10 Black and Latino Men have been Killed by Louisville Police. No Officers have been Convicted  [more] (repost.)

1. Robert Whitlow. Officers not indicted. 3/13/1997 [more ]
   
2. Adrian Reynolds. Officers found not guilty. 1/7/1998. [more ] and  [more ]
   
3. Fidencio Campos-Cruz.  Officers not indicted. 1/13/1998 [more ]
4. Desmond Rudolph. Officers not indicted. 1/15/1999 [more ] and more
5. Rodney Abernathy. Officers not indicted. 1/25/2000 [more ]
6. Clifford Lewis. Officers not indicted. 1/9/2001 [more ]
7. Antwan D. Bryant. Not presented to grand jury. 2/6/2001 [more]
8. James Edward Taylor. Officers not indicted. 12/5/2002 [more ]
9. Marshall Marbly. Prosecutors still reviewing the case. 8/22/2002. [more ]
10. Michael Newby. Officer Not Guilty 1/3/2004 [more ]

Hobbs Officer Cleared In Fatal Shooting of Latino Man

Another investigation has cleared a Hobbs police officer in a fatal shooting early last year. District Attorney Terry Haake's investigation into the shooting death of Francisco Barva, 23, cleared officer Reid Gunter, according to an announcement by the Hobbs Police Department. Haake found that the officer acted in self-defense in January 2005 and that the shooting was justified. It was the fifth report to clear the officer. A report by the Lea County Sheriff's Department found that Gunter was wrestling Barva to the ground when Barva pointed a gun at the officer. The report said the officer drew his gun and fired once, killing Barva. [more]

• The Hobbs Police Force has a History of Racial Discrimination. As a result of a class action lawsuit against the Hobbs 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.  [more]
  

Gwinnett County Deputy Impleads Taser Company in Death of Hog-Tied Black Man

• "Are we supposed to believe that a healthy 31-year-old Black man who was athletic, who did not drink or do drugs, who had no history of heart problems, somehow died of a heart attack?" [more]

A former Sheriff's deputy who blamed a Taser stun gun manufacturer in the death of Gwinnett County inmate this week amended his claim that the manufacturer's intentionally mislead law enforcement with their marketing and training tools. In the initial cross claim, lawyers for former Sheriff's deputy Michael Mustachio said Taser International misrepresented its product as being safe and used biased scientific studies to demonstrate its effectiveness. The amendment filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta sought to omit those damning statements. Mustachio's lawyers still maintain that Taser International - not Mustachio - should be held liable if a judge decides 31-year-old Frederick Jerome Williams died because he was stunned with a Taser.  Following Williams' death on May 27, 2004, his widow, Yanga Williams, sued Gwinnett County, the Sheriff's Department, Sheriff Butch Conway and six deputies for wrongful death. Mustachio's attorney, Terry Williams said, "we still dispute whether the Taser caused this death. We don't have any specific evidence at this point that necessarily says Taser is responsible to the plaintiff for this death, but in the event that information wasn't passed along to law enforcement we want to pursue our right to have Taser held liable." Frederick Jerome Williams, 31, a Liberian native who lived in Lawrenceville, died of brain damage from a heart attack after the altercation in May, according to the final autopsy report in the case [more]

Black Teens Driving in the Wrong Part of Town: Suit Alleges Excessive Force & Racial Profiling By Burnham Police

 
Clean Cut Black Students Caught 'Driving While Black'
The village of Burnham, in the South suburbs has been hit with a lawsuit that says four of its police officers are guilty of racial profiling. There are only about 4,000 people in Burnham and the 2000 census indicates that more than half are black. Now a federal lawsuit filed by four black teenagers claims four white police officers in Burnham pulled the teenagers' car over on the night of March 4, used vulgar language, pulled three of the teenagers out, then slammed two of them against the car. The boys are James Woods, a musician who dreams of playing with the Chicago Symphony; Matthew Locke, a National Honor student; his brother Brandon Locke, an athlete; and friend Jeffrey Lockett. Their federal lawsuit alleges three officers of the Burnham Police Department pulled them over for “driving while black.” Aubrey Locke is the father of two of the teenagers. "At the end of the incident, Brandon Locke asked the police officers, 'Was all this profanity necessary?'  And that's when the police said, 'Get over it.  Welcome to Burnham,'" said Locke. The lawsuit says the teenagers were not ticketed or charged with anything.  The suit claims police used excessive force and stopped the car because the people inside it were black. The suit asks for the village of Burnham to pay damages. [more] and [more] and [more]

Landmark Settlement Reached in Notorious School Drug Raid Caught on Tape: Black Kids Rounded Up

• Although only 22% of the school's 2,700 students are Black, 70 out of the 105 students searched and detained were Black. [more ]

The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded a landmark settlement reached this week in its lawsuit challenging police tactics in the high-profile drug raid of Stratford High School in Goose Creek, South Carolina. The settlement sets a new standard for students’ constitutional rights to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. Absent a warrant, police will now need either to have probable cause and pressing circumstances or voluntary consent in order to conduct law enforcement activity on school grounds – effectively granting Goose Creek students the essential privacy rights enjoyed by all Americans. “Police must now respect the fundamental freedoms of Goose Creek students,” said Alyse Bertenthal, an attorney with the ACLU Drug Law Reform Project.  “The settlement properly raises the bar for student rights, and should serve as a model for every school in the country.” The November 5, 2003 police raid of Stratford High School was recorded by both the school’s surveillance cameras and a police camera.  The tapes show students as young as 14 forced to the ground in handcuffs as officers in SWAT team uniforms and bulletproof vests aim guns at their heads and lead a drug dog to tear through their book bags. The ACLU represents 20 of the nearly 150 students caught up in the raid. The raid was initiated by the school’s principal at the time, George McCrackin, who resigned shortly after the tapes surfaced on national television. The raid was authorized based on the principal’s suspicion that a single student was dealing marijuana. The raid was carried out despite the suspected student being absent at the time.  No drugs or weapons were found during the raid and no charges were filed. The raid took place in the early morning hours when the school’s hallways are predominantly populated with African American students whose buses arrive before those of their white classmates, which largely travel from different neighborhoods.  White students began to arrive during the raid and witnessed the hostile roundup and detention of their African American peers. As 16-year-old Joshua Ody, one of the students caught up in the raid, put it, “I felt like I had less rights than other people that day.” [more]

• Raid at High School Leads to Racial Divide, Not Drugs [more ]

Calumet City Police Officer Cleared of Wrong Doing in Beating of 15 Year Old Black Teen says he was Set Up

Black Teen Beaten by Police: Stopped for Jaywalking in 2004 [more ]
Police Officer Louis Picicco was cleared in October of accusations of beating a detained teen, but he said he still feels betrayed by numerous city officials. Picicco was accused in August 2004 of beating Don Pennington Jr., then 16. He was placed on administrative leave in September of the same year. Picicco, who is white, said he only restrained the black teen, who he said attacked him after becoming irate at the station. Picicco filed a lawsuit against the city in April 2005 for damage to his reputation and his out-of-pocket expenses. He returned to work in May. In October, arbitrator Brian Clauss cleared Picicco of any wrongdoing. Picicco sent a letter this month to the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois requesting it investigate how the city's attorney, Burt Odelson, handled legal proceedings after the incident.  Picicco said in August he believed city officials set him up as a political fall guy to pacify rising racial tensions prior to Qualkinbush's run for re-election, where one of her challengers was black. Odelson said Pennington dismissed Picicco out of the civil lawsuit voluntarily, and said no further legal actions can be taken by Pennington. [more]

Charles County Officer Won't Face Charges In Shooting Death of Black Man

A grand jury in Charles County has cleared a sheriff's officer of any wrongdoing after he shot and killed a man accused of drunken driving last month.Jonathan Lyles, of Oxon Hill, Md., was shot and killed March 18 as officers tried to arrest him outside an apartment complex on Zekiah Run Road.A makeshift memorial still stands in the La Plata neighborhood where Lyles was shot.The grand jury decision is not sitting well with Lyles' family and friends.Lyles' mother said her son did not have to die and she believes police are covering up their actions."I know that they're wrong. And as far as the investigation, their own people investigate. They didn't have anybody come out and investigate. That's the reason why they were found not guilty," Betty Lyles, the victim's mother said.Police said Lyles was shot after he resisted arrest and started wrestling with several officers. They also said Lyles was shot once, but family members said he was shot three times without serious provocation. [more]