Trial Begins in East Palo Alto Police Beat Down of Unarmed Black Man

Opening statements in the trial of two East Palo Alto police officers accused of beating an East Palo Alto man in 2004 are expected in San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Carl Holm's courtroom Monday. Officers Edward Rivers Jr., 39, and Johnny Taflinger Jr., 33,along with a police explorer, are charged with assault on a citizen under color of authority, assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, and misdemeanor battery. The defendants were indicted by a San Mateo County criminal grand jury in Feb. 2005 following an investigation by the San Mateo County District Attorney's office. The men allegedly beat the victim, Calvin Brooks, on Aug. 21, 2004. The suspects were off duty in East Palo Alto when they assaulted Brooks, whom they believed to be a local drug dealer, according to the district attorney's office. The men reportedly identified themselves as police officers, but the victim did not believe them and did not report the alleged crime. East Palo Alto Police Officer David Carson later informed the district attorney's office about the assault. According to San Mateo County Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe, prior to the alleged assault the officers attended a celebratory party where alcohol had been served.  [more]

Dirty Baltimore Cops Case Goes to the Jury: Police Sold Drugs, Stole from Drug Dealers

Federal prosecutors punctuated their conspiracy and drug trafficking case against two Baltimore City police detectives by describing the officers as predators who enriched themselves by extorting drugs and cash from addicts and low-level dealers in West Baltimore. But the attorney for one of the defendants, in a phone conversation with the AFRO, portrayed both officers as honest veterans who were merely using "unwritten" police department methods in their quest to rid Baltimore's streets of illegal drugs.  William A. King and Antonio L. Murray, both on the force since 1992, were arrested and indicted last May on charges that include conspiracy to possess and distribute narcotics, possession of a firearm in the furtherance of a violent crime and drug trafficking and robbery, and extortion. Based on wiretaps accumulated during an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney's Office, prosecutors accuse King and Murray of conspiring with Antonio Mosby, a police informant, to shake down drug dealers for narcotics and money between August 2004 and May 2005.
The indictment alleges that Mosby, who accepted a plea deal and testified against the officers, acted as a lookout, identifying dealers and the locations of drug stashes. The officers are also accused of using Mosby to resell confiscated heroin and crack cocaine, with all three sharing the profits. [more]

MASSIVE Manhunt for Black Man Over: White Sheriff Shot Himself

April 5, 2006

 
Town Paralyzed Searching for Black Man who did not exist
A sheriff's sergeant who provided a detailed description of a black man he said shot him in the arm has been charged with filing a false report after prosecutors say the sergeant actually turned his own gun on himself. Eaton County sheriff's Sgt. Jeff Lutz was charged Monday in connection with a March 20 shooting that prompted a massive manhunt for a black male suspect in Delta Township. "There is no danger to the community, as far as an unknown assailant who is armed and has assaulted a police officer," Chief Assistant Prosecutor Mike Eagen told the Lansing State Journal.  Lutz, who is on paid medical leave and is being housed at a mental health treatment facility, faces two felonies as well as two misdemeanor counts, according to the prosecutor's office. Shortly after 3 a.m. March 20, Lutz reported he was shot in the right arm while on patrol near the West Town Plaza on West Saginaw Highway. Police blocked off neighborhoods, closed school buildings and conducted a massive search at daybreak for the supposed gunman. More than 40 police officers from as many as six departments and at least one helicopter participated. St. Gerard Church shut down its school and canceled two morning Masses while police searched the area, including some parishioners' homes. [more] and [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]
  
• Warrant Issued for Local Deputy Who Was Shot [more]
  

 
Black Community Responds to Phantom Menace Search
When Eaton County Sheriff's Sgt. Jeff Lutz reported he was shot March 20, he claimed a black man pulled the trigger. The news that Lutz is being charged with making it up has generated a lot of anger. The lines have been lit at Brant Johnson's WQHH-FM talk program ever since word of the new development in the Lutz case surfaced. "They were shocked that an officer would accuse a black man of such a terrible crime," Johnson said. Callers reactions ranged from outrage over how blacks in the area may have been treated in the wake of the shooting to calls for action. There is similar concern and disgust among leaders in Lansing's black community. Reverend Columbus Clayton asks that the sheriff department come forward and begin dialogue with the black community. He says every young, black male who may have fit a description Sgt. Lutz allegedly gave was in danger these past two weeks. [more] and [more] and  [more]

• Public beware: Armed suspect remains on the loose [more]
• Manhunt under way for suspect in police shooting [more]
• Suspect Sketch Released After Local Shooting [more]
• Pictured above: Officers from the Eaton County Sheriff's Department gather in the West Town Plaza parking lot after the manhunt was called off.

New Orleans Police Indicted in Videotaped 'Katrina' Beating of Unarmed, Handcuffed, 64-Year- Old Black Man

Two fired New Orleans police officers and one current officer were indicted Wednesday in the videotaped beating of a retired teacher in the French Quarter last fall. The Oct. 8 beating of Robert Davis, 64, was caught on videotape by an Associated Press Television News crew covering the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Earlier, the grand jury had heard from Davis, who told reporters as he entered the courthouse that he barely remembers the attack and would not be able to recognize the officers who beat him. Davis spent more than an hour testifying about the beating, which left him lying on the street, hands cuffed and blood flowing from his head and face. Afterward, he told reporters that he still has headaches and back problems and even had to interrupt his testimony to take medicine. The retired elementary school teacher said he was "a private citizen here on business returning to my home. There was no need for what happened." He said he had returned to the storm-struck city to check on his property and was looking for a place to buy cigarettes in the French Quarter when police grabbed him. The videotape shows an officer hitting Davis at least four times on the head. Davis twisted and flailed as he was dragged to the ground by four officers. One officer kneed Davis and punched him twice, and Davis is shown face-down on the sidewalk with blood streaming down his arm and into a gutter. Smith had ordered APTN producer Rich Matthews and the cameraman to stop recording. When Matthews held up his credentials, the officer grabbed him, jabbed him in the stomach and delivered a profanity-laced tirade. The video also shows two FBI agents joining the police in subduing Davis. Their role is being investigated by federal officials.  "Without this videotape, I'm sure this case would be swept under the rug," said Davis' attorney, Joseph Bruno. [more] and [more] and more]

• SEE Video [more] [

ALL-WHITE Jury Acquits Austin Police Officers in Videotaped Beating of Unarmed, Handcuffed Latino Man

 
NAACP calls for retrial
Jurors Deliberated for less than 2 hours

The local NAACP chapter spoke out, Monday, against the acquittal of two Austin Police Department officers accused of beating a handcuffed man and firing a stun gun at him. They are accused of punching Ramon Hernandez, 25, on the legs and back and shocking him at least once after he was facedown and in handcuffs. Officer Christopher Gray and former officer William Heilman were found not guilty of official oppression on Friday. The NAACP has called for a retrial. The jury was shown a videotape of the officers punching Ramon Hernandez, while he was on the ground. The all white jury didn't give Hernandez a fair trial, The Austin NAACP said.  "You want a balanced point of view, but look, the other thing is the issue that this man was beaten while down and subdued in handcuffs. That is against the law. Nobody is addressing that. We're sorry the cops had a bad day, but he was beaten while handcuffed," Linder said. Judge Jon Wisser presided over the case in the 299th District Court. He says no matter the race, it's always been difficult to prosecute officers in Travis County. Still, he admits the face of a jury makes a difference. "There's no doubt that Anglo males of my age are much less likely to have had unpleasant encounters with the police than people or people who belong to a minority race. You can see that every day, and it's common knowledge," Wisser said. [more] and [more] and [more and [more] 

• SEE Video here [more]

Justice Department Should Investigate Police Beating
Now that a jury has weighed in, the U.S. Department of Justice should investigate whether three Austin police officers violated the civil rights of Ramon Hernandez. It took less than two hours for an all-white jury of six people to acquit officers William Bradley Heilman, 31, and Christopher Gray, 28, for beating and using their stun guns on Hernandez while he was handcuffed and facedown on the ground. Rookie officer Joel Follmer, 37, also faces criminal misdemeanor charges for official oppression in a separate case that is pending. The jury's verdict left many people scratching their heads. Like the infamous Rodney King case, the officers had been captured on video punching, kicking and standing on Hernandez's neck. The jury sided with Heilman of Pflugerville, and Gray of Georgetown, who said their actions amounted to self-defense because they were in a life-or-death struggle with Hernandez. The officers asserted that it was necessary to use that kind of force to bring Hernandez under control. Each officer outweighed Hernandez by 70 pounds. [more]

• No Justice: Police CAUGHT On Videotape Means Very Little [more] 

Justice Department should investigate Austin Police Beating

Now that a jury has weighed in, the U.S. Department of Justice should investigate whether three Austin police officers violated the civil rights of Ramon Hernandez. It took less than two hours for an all-white jury of six people to acquit officers William Bradley Heilman, 31, and Christopher Gray, 28, for beating and using their stun guns on Hernandez while he was handcuffed and facedown on the ground. Rookie officer Joel Follmer, 37, also faces criminal misdemeanor charges for official oppression in a separate case that is pending. The jury's verdict left many people scratching their heads. Like the infamous Rodney King case, the officers had been captured on video punching, kicking and standing on Hernandez's neck. The jury sided with Heilman of Pflugerville, and Gray of Georgetown, who said their actions amounted to self-defense because they were in a life-or-death struggle with Hernandez. The officers asserted that it was necessary to use that kind of force to bring Hernandez under control. Each officer outweighed Hernandez by 70 pounds. [more]

ALL-WHITE Jury Chosen to hear Racially Motivated Beating of Black Man by Milwaukee Police

 
Officers' lawyers defend removal of  Black & Latino women
An all-white jury of 10 women and five men was chosen Tuesday to hear the case of three former Milwaukee police officers charged in the beating of Frank Jude Jr., over the strong objections of Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann, who wanted a more diverse panel.
Defendants Jon Bartlett, Daniel Masarik and Andrew Spengler are white. Jude, who is Black says he was subjected to racial slurs during the attack October 2004 in the street outside a party for off-duty officers at Spengler's house in Bay View. Two African-American women were among the final 33 jurors being considered. Defense attorneys said they eliminated the women because one was inattentive and the other couldn't hear well. Defense attorneys noted prosecutors removed two Hispanic women. Circuit Judge David Hansher considered starting the selection over with a different pool of prospective jurors or forcing the two black jurors on the jury. Ultimately, he found the defense's reasons for striking the women from the panel were valid and allowed the jury to be seated. "It looks bad to the public; it would be an all-white jury," Hansher said as he heard arguments about the issues outside the presence of the jury panel. McCann said. "I do not think we have a fair panel."  [more] and [more] and [more]

• THE VANISHING BLACK JUROR [more]
  
• We can do better with juries [more]
• More on the trial directly below
  

Witnesses Recall Man's Beating at hands of Police Officers - Black Man Went to Party with White Women

 
Testimony in the trial of three former Milwaukee police officers has been dominated by issues of identification and discrepancies between statements witnesses made to investigators and in court.

• Witness: Cops planned cover-up after beating unarmed Black man. As a police car approached the scene where several off-duty police officers were allegedly beating an unarmed man, a witness told a 911 operator that she could hear members of the group plotting a cover-up, according to testimony Tuesday. Jurors in the  heard the frantic, profanity-laced 911 call Tuesday that Kristen Antonissen, a college student at the time of the incident, placed as she watched a group of 10 off-duty officers allegedly punch and kick Frank Jude. "They're beating the s--- out of him right now," jurors heard Antonissen shout into the phone. "We're being harassed by cops, and I want my mom here."  In the phone call, the anger in Antonissen's voice turned to shock as she related to the operator the conversations she heard as the squad car appeared in the distance. "They just warned each other that the cops are coming, isn't that f---ing nice," she said. "They're trying to frame him for stealing someone's badge." After the tape ended, Antonissen clarified her statements in the garbled and noisy phone call, which she placed from the street in front of Spengler's house around 2:51 a.m. the morning of Oct. 24, 2004. "[The officers] were saying that they were going to say he was resisting arrest when the cops came," Antonissen testified. "There was also mention of saying it was a traffic stop." [more] and [SEE VIDEO]
  
• Other Witness who Accompanied Jude:  Katie Brown, 24, a financial analyst with a nursing home, and Kirsten Antonissen went to an off-duty officer's party in the Bay View area with Jude and another Black man. As they left after a brief stay, the four were accused of stealing a badge. Brown testified she made the first 911 call, despite instruction from Spengler not to. "I wanted cops in uniforms," Brown said. Brown said she saw Jude on the ground with 10 to 15 people around him, with five kicking and punching him in the head. "They were taking turns," said Brown. "I did not want to watch it. It was disgusting." She said the beating continued after on-duty officers arrived, but that the on-duty officers didn't strike Jude. When Jude was lifted up, "His head was completely covered in blood, his pants were around his ankles and he was cuffed," she said.
• Emergency Room Doctor: In other testimony Thursday, an emergency room doctor who treated Jude the morning of Oct. 24, 2004, testified he had the worst ear injuries she had ever seen in 15 years of practice. Kathleen Shallow said she took pictures of the injuries because there were so many. Besides his ears, Jude had two factures, to his sinus and nasal bone, an eye swollen shut, a grossly swollen hand, marks on his neck consistent with choking and cuts and bruises over much of his face and body, she said. "Mr. Jude had numerous injuries, too numerous to document reliably," Shallow said.
  
• Witness who invited Jude: Army reservist Tina Schultz testified Thursday that she was the conduit through which the victim, Frank Jude Jr., and two of her friends arrived at the ill-fated party in the home of defendant Andrew Spengler. Schultz testified she was a college student in October 2004 when she met Spengler and his friend at a bar and returned to Spengler's home where she had sex with both of them. Schultz and two female friends, Katie Brown and Kirsten Antonissen, arrived at the party at about 2:40 a.m. with Frank Jude and a friend of his who was black. The group was there less than 10 minutes before detecting a "weird vibe" from the mostly white crowd and deciding to leave. "Kirsten leaned over to me and said 'Tina, are these people here prejudiced?'" the 24-year-old witness recalled. The group quickly "stormed" out of the house and piled into Antonissen's truck. Before they could leave, a group from the party surrounded the vehicle and accused them of stealing Spengler's police badge. As the situation escalated, with Spengler ordering the group out of the car and one of the men producing a knife, Schultz testified, she ran back into the house. "I kind of just wanted to leave the situation so I went into the house and curled up on the couch," Schultz testified as the defendants, dressed in crisp suits, sat listening emotionless. "A, I had to pee, and B, I was really scared."
• Milwaukee Police Officer Involved in Beating Case arrested for Failing to Testify. Also Thursday, Joseph Stromei - a former officer fired for his role in the Jude beating - was arrested in the courtroom for failing to honor a subpoena to testify. Stromei had ignored a subpoena and left town, prosecutors said. He came to court Thursday after a warrant was issued. [more] and [more] and [more]

Black Man Beaten Beyond Recognition: Skull Crushed, Killed by Harrison County Officers - Jailer Resigns

• Federal Officials are holding Videotape of the Beating

The attorney for a former jailer accused in the wrongful death of an inmate won't say why the jailer resigned. Ryan Teel, 29, is among five jailers identified in a civil lawsuit as participating in or failing to stop the alleged beating and torture of Jessie Lee Williams Jr. at the Harrison County jail booking room. No charges have been filed, but Teel is accused of delivering the majority of the blows Feb. 4 that left Williams beaten beyond recognition, his skull crushed, and injuries inflicted on even the most private areas of his body, according to medical records and the civil lawsuit. Teel's attorney maintains he is innocent. The attorney for Williams' estate claims the death, ruled a homicide, is the result of "malicious and sadistic acts" performed by officers sworn to protect those awaiting their day in court. Teel is the only jailer placed on leave after Williams' beating. U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton this week confirmed he has advised Sheriff George H. Payne Jr. to remain silent while he cooperates with the multi-agency investigation. The original videotapes are in federal possession, an issue of concern to attorneys for Williams' estate. They haven't been able to get copies, either. "This is not going to stop the civil lawsuit," said attorney Michael W. Crosby, "If we can't get copies, we'll try this case the old-fashioned way, with eyewitness testimony, the way cases have been won for over 200 years, before videotapes were available." Crosby said, however, he is not giving up on gaining access to the tapes. [more] and [more]

•  Lawsuit Filed in Beating Case: Black Man Hogtied, Tortured and Killed by Mississippi Jail Officials [more] 

NAACP: Florida Boot Camp LIED in Death of 15 Year Old Black Boy Suffocated by Corrections Officers

Citing a report from the medical examiner for Escambia County, state NAACP leaders said Wednesday that Bay County juvenile boot camp officials withheld crucial details about Martin Lee Anderson's encounter with guards from doctors who struggled to save his life. The medical legal investigation report states that the 14-year-old was exercising for approximately 15 minutes and passed out after telling guards "I can't do it anymore." But the report does not mention that Anderson was hit, kicked or dragged around an exercise yard during a 30-minute videotaped encounter with guards before an ambulance was called. "The family continues to suffer as they sit back and look at this horror that is just evolving out of this whole thing," said Dale Landry, criminal and juvenile justice chairman for the Florida NAACP. Waylon Graham, an attorney for Lt. Charles Helms, the officer who was second in command of the boot camp, said he believes the report shows the hospital where Anderson died is trying to protect itself from a lawsuit. A nationally known pathologist, Dr. Michael Baden, said after observing a second autopsy that Anderson likely was suffocated during the confrontation at the camp. Results of the second autopsy haven't been completed. [more]

• Pictured above: Sen. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami, speaks at a news conference in Tallahassee, Fla., about the death of 14-year-old Martin Anderson, shown in photos. [more]
• Sheriffs Plan Boot Camp Changes [more]