From [HERE] Choking up at times, a second Fresno police officer testified Tuesday that he saw no justification for a fellow officer to shoot an unarmed, defenseless suspect with a beanbag shotgun and another officer kick him. "I was in a state of disbelief," Thomas Hardin Jr. told the jury in U.S. District Court. "I was put in a situation that was bad."
In the second week of a trial over alleged excessive force, Hardin's account echoed that of officer Martin Van Overbeek, who completed his testimony Tuesday morning. Both officers testified that Rolando Celdon offered no resistance when former officer Chris Coleman fired beanbag rounds at him and former officer Paul Van Dalen kicked him while making an arrest in October 2005. The officers' testimony is key to the prosecution's case because Celdon, who was deported after being convicted of stalking and striking his girlfriend, can't be found in Mexico and will not testify in the trial. A third officer, Beau Burger, could testify today for the prosecution.
Van Dalen and Coleman are accused of using excessive force while arresting Celdon, and Sgt. Michael Manfredi and former officer Sean Plymale are accused of concealing the alleged assault. All four are charged with falsifying an official report to obstruct justice. If convicted, each faces up to 20 years in prison.
From [HERE] Alton Logan, who spent 26 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit, is expected to receive a $10.25 million settlement as compensation for the decades he spent behind bars. The settlement is only one in a series that the city has had to finance due to the misconduct of Police Commander Jon Burge (racist suspect, in photo) and his underlings.
In 1982, Logan was falsely convicted of fatally shooting an off-duty Cook County corrections officer during a robbery attempt at a Chicago area McDonald’s restaurant. Despite a lack of physical evidence linking him to the crime, he was sentenced to life in prison.
Logan’s conviction was vacated in 2008 after it was discovered that convicted cop killer Andrew Wilson had confessed to murdering the officer in the McDonald’s restaurant. Burge’s detectives even discovered the murder victim’s gun in Wilson’s possession when he was later arrested for gunning down two other Chicago police officers, but this information was never turned over to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Burge was fired in 1993 for his role in the torture and beating of criminal suspects, a number of whom falsely confessed and were wrongfully convicted. In 2010, he was convicted of perjury, and he is currently serving a four and a half year sentence in federal prison in North Carolina. He was previously scheduled to appear as a witness at Logan’s trial via videoconference, which would have been the first time in 20 years that he would have testified in court. Logan’s lawsuit maintains that Burge and other officers covered up and even concealed evidence that could have exonerated him. The Chicago Sun-Times reports:
Jon Loevy, an attorney representing Logan, said the settlement is long overdue for a man who is still “struggling with the transition” nearly five years after his release from prison. “Mr. Logan lost 26 years of his life. He went in in his 20’s. He came out in his 50’s. No amount of money can compensate a man for everything they lose under those circumstances,” he said.
More Plans to Use Police Cruisers as Coffins?On Thursday racist suspect Tom Barrett, the Mayor of Milwaukee said, "We are fighting for the freedom of the people in this country to be safe." [MORE] Safe from who? On October 23, 2012 Milwaukee police Chief Edward Flynn (in photo with Barrett) acknowledged that white Milwaukee cops did not act appropriately in the custodial death of Derek Williams, an unarmed Black man. Officers first crushed Williams during a violent arrest and then ignored his final pleas for help in the back of their police cruiser. He suffocated to death while handcuffed, naked from a strip search, begging for their help. It is captured on graphic video which was released in September 2012. (graphic video below, no sound for first minute). [MORE]The problem is white supremacy/racism. Flynn's solution? Officers are now required to call an ambulance if a suspect asks for medical attention." [MORE]
Pretending to promote justice he is also now offering "solutions" to what he has called the "slow motion mass murders" of non-whites -as he has announced more Unconstitional stops & searches of non-white people ("in areas where the violence is highest").
From [HERE] As the conversation over gun violence unfolds in Washington and across the nation, a group of Midwestern mayors, police chiefs, prosecutors and other law enforcement personnel gathered in Minneapolis on Thursday to push for new ways to keep their communities safe. Chief Flynn attracted much of the attention at the summit, outlining differences between massacres such as the shootings in Newtown, Conn., which do not happen frequently, and the daily drumbeat of urban violence, which he termed "slow-motion mass murders."
At the summit, Flynn noted that Milwaukee had 92 homicides last year. There were 86 in 2011 and 95 in 2010. Also, there were 510 nonfatal shootings in the city last year, compared with 473 in 2011. At the summit, Flynn noted that Milwaukee had 92 homicides last year. There were 86 in 2011 and 95 in 2010. Also, there were 510 nonfatal shootings in the city last year, compared with 473 in 2011.
According to Frances Cress Welsing, if you understand that racism is a strategy for white genetic survival then one can understand all present urban (non-white) center epidemics. Today we are witnessing a more subtle systemic approach to white genetic survival. The destruction of black males now is indirect, so that the Black male victims themselves can be led to participate in- and then be blamed for their own mass deaths. The strategy is for Black males to kill and destroy one another and then carry the blame.' [MORE]
According to Neely Fuller, 'whereas the victims of white supremacy who commit unjust acts, are guilty of having committed the acts, they are not responsible for the acts. White Supremacists are responsible for all unjust acts that victims of white supremacy commit against each other. White people dominant all areas of people activity - economics, education, entertainment, labor, law, politics, religion, sex and war. White Supremacists are responsible for everything that happens or does not happen to non-white people. Under white supremacy (racism), non-white people serve as tools and/or instruments through which major acts injustice are carried out.' [the Code]
Celdon was deported to Mexico and has been unable to locate to testify. Action News spoke exclusively to him after the 2005 incident. Through a Spanish interpreter, he described the force that was used during his arrest.
"The one that really hurt was the one on my stomach. I thought it was a real bullet because I got up and I wiped myself, looking for blood or a bullet hole and I didn't find one."
Officer Martin Van Overbeek said that he felt sick to his stomach after he saw Rolando Celdon being kicked and pelted with a bean bag gun over and over. Van Overbeek told the court it hasn't been easy coming forward against these officers but what happened was just wrong.
Van Overbeek described the events in detail. He said Celdon was not resisting, or attempting to flee when he was kicked by Officer Van Dalen. Van Overbeek described three kicks, "He kicked the suspect in the side like he was kicking a football. Full force." following the incident Van Dalen was referred by other officers as "place kicker Paul." On the stand Van Overbeek did say he has one regret. That he didn't scale a fence to handcuff Celdon faster. He said, "He wouldn't have had to go through the kicks or the less lethal if I would've just hopped the fence."
In many circumstances it is best to not talk to the police without a lawyer present. You may never know why an officer is asking you a question and they don't have to tell you why and the Supreme Court has said police may use deception when asking you questions. [MORE] Taking the 5th is also for innocent persons "who otherwise might be ensnared by ambiguous circumstances (such as lying , incompetent or mistaken police officers or witnesses) Truthful responses of an innocent witness, as well as those of a wrongdoer, may provide the government with incriminating evidence from the speaker's own mouth.”Most importantly, avoid doing anything (such as answering questions) that you have reason to believe may result in your being put into "Greater Confinement." [the Code] From [HERE] The United States detained the mother of a prominent DREAM Act activist in Arizona on Thursday night and nearly deported her. The detention raises questions about just who the government chooses to deport and why.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Erika Andiola’s mother, Maria Arreola, and her brother, Heriberto Andiola, on immigration charges. Andiola is a founder of a coalition of activists in Arizona calling for the DREAM Act. She’s garnered national attention for her work.
Andiola was home when the federal agents came. She took to YouTube on Thursday night to denounce the arrests of her brother and her mother, Maria Arreola. "My mom came outside and they took her for no reason," she says on the video, crying.
While walking down the street Mr. Nunez looked up and saw a white police officer charging at him. He was not engaged in any criminal activity. The police were responding to a description in a radio run for a Black man wearing a grey sweatshirt. He did not make any threatening movements and no weapons were visible. According to the Supreme Court under such circumstances the police did not have any lawful basis to stop him [MORE]. To victims of white supremacy, such rules have little meaningful value in the instant moment - & to the extent that a white supremacist has anything to do with it, such rules may also have no value later on in court (white judges, jurors & prosecutors do not want to believe that a uniformed white officer is a liar). Nunez ran. When dealing with police never run. You have been labeled as an enemy from birth by color. In a system of white supremacy - you are not in a position to show opposition to police - just comply [MORE]. From [HERE] and [HERE] The city acknowledged Wednesday that it has agreed to settle for $250,000 a federal suit brought by Reading resident Francis Nunez, a Black man whose skull was fractured in May 2009 when a city police officer beat him with a heavy flashlight in a case of "mistaken identity."
Above his left eye, cuts and abrasions mingle with patches of new pink skin. A large C-shaped scar on the right side of his skull marks where surgeons operated on his brain. His nose is as misshapen as a boxer's. After leading police on a brief middle-of-the-night foot chase Nunez, 22, was beaten with a heavy-duty flashlight by a Reading officer who outweighed him by more than 100 pounds. [MORE]
The officer, Mark S. Groff, was fired a month later for other reasons. Groff also sued the city, but a federal jury upheld the firing in December. Nunez, now 26, was seeking more than $500,000 in the suit that claimed Groff's use of excessive force caused him severe and permanent brain and facial injuries. He had undergone emergency surgery and spent a week in the hospital.
Nunez was walking west in the 1000 block of Robeson Street about 3:30 a.m. May 14, 2009, when Groff pulled up in his police car and charged at him. Groff responded to an accident at 10th and Spring streets a half-hour earlier and was told someone walked away from the scene wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt.
Groff began a search, and saw two men walking on Robeson Street. One of them, Nunez, was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt.
When Groff charged, Nunez ran, jumped over a wooden fence but fell on the other side and was having trouble getting to his feet when Groff caught up to him. Nunez said he put his hands up and wasn't threatening.
Groff ordered him to the ground, and when he did, Groff said he hit him three times with the metal flashlight, then pounced on him. The flashlight rolled away and Groff said he began using his fists. He claimed Nunez - though prone - continued to resist until backup arrived. The beating caused a subduralhematoma, or bleeding on the brain.
From [HERE] A young black man who claims he was wrongly beaten by three Pittsburgh police officers in January 2010 will have a new trial on 2 of his three civil rights claims starting July 8. On August 8, 2012 an eight-member federal jury decided in favor of three white Pittsburgh police officers in the Miles case. The jury was composed of 7 whites and one black man. [MORE]
Mr. Miles, a college student, claimed undercover officers had no legal basis to approach him. Officers chased him when he ran and when they caught up with him they beat him into submission by delivering violent blows that left his face swollen and distorted. Police also used a stun gun and pulled out a chunk of his hair. The officers put him in handcuffs, and repeatedly shoved his face into the snow, causing a piece of wood to impale his gums. He is 5-foot-6 and 150 pounds and was unarmed. No weapons were found. He suffers from permanent brain damage. [MORE]
The officers told a jury that they saw Mr. Miles acting suspiciously between two houses and that when they questioned him he ran. They mistakenly thought he had a gun and arrested him using only the force necessary, the officers said. Police said the Mountain Dew bottle looked like a gun.
Six of eight jurors voted to find in favor of the officers on the excessive force and false arrest counts, resulting in a mistrial. All eight jurors found in favor of the officers on a malicious prosecution count, which as a result will not be at issue in a second trial. [MORE]
From [HERE] A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on Tuesday ordered [opinion] the New York Police Department (NYPD) to cease using a "stop-and-frisk" practice outside of apartment buildings in the Bronx, finding the policy unconstitutional. In particular, Judge Shira Scheindlin opined that the method, said to be a crime deterrent by the NYPD, violates the protection against unreasonable search and seizures of the Fourth Amendment [text; Cornell LII backgrounder] because officers were not first developing a reasonable suspicion to stop and frisk supposed trespassers. The evidence, she said, "strengthens the conclusion that the NYPD's inaccurate training has taught officers the following lesson: Stop and question first, develop reasonable suspicion later." The policy developed as part of the city's Trespass Affidavit Program (TAP) [Manhattan District Attorney backgrounder], which allows property managers in the program to ask officers to patrol their buildings and arrest trespassers as a means of combating drug dealing in the public areas of such buildings. Despite TAP's intent, Scheindlin ordered police to "cease performing trespass stops" outside the private buildings, "even if the building is located in a high-crime area, and regardless of the time of day," unless officers had already developed a reasonable suspicion to investigate. The next proceeding in the case is scheduled for January 31.
From [HERE] A federal judge Monday said Anaheim must turn over various documents and reports sought by the family of a man shot and killed by a police officer but need not give up documents directly related to or provide access to the officer himself for questions and depositions to preserve his constitutional rights.
Still, U.S. District Judge James Selna said in his order that statements officer Nick Bennallack has made to the city or the Police Department are not protected.
Bennallack was named in a civil lawsuit filed by the family of Manuel Diaz, 25, whose July 21 shooting, followed by another officer-involved fatal shooting the next day, triggered protests in Anaheim.
Bennallack returned to duty within two weeks of the shooting. As is customary for all officer-involved shootings, the Orange County District Attorney's Office is investigating the death.
The city argued in court papers that sharing all reports and documents now with the plaintiff – legally termed "discovery" – could jeopardize the legitimacy of the district attorney's criminal probe, violate Bennallack's Fifth Amendment rights and would create a conflict of interest for the city because it would have to defend against an action about which its employee refuses to speak.
"Defendants present no compelling justification to stay discovery based on the law enforcement privilege," Selna said in his order. "The events underlying the (Diaz family) lawsuit and the identities of the deceased and Bennallack are quite public, diminishing the need for secrecy."
From [HERE] The family of a California man who bled to death in the Sacramento County jail has filed a wrongful death lawsuit claiming jailers didn’t help the inmate even though he was vomiting blood for 12 hours before he died.
The Sacramento Bee reported the 17-page federal lawsuit was filed electronically on Saturday by a lawyer representing 48-year-old Mark Anthony Scott’s mother and three sisters. The suit blames inadequate Sheriff’s Department policies, practices and training for Scott’s death last January.
Scott’s pleas for help were met with silence, derision and indifference, according to the lawsuit, and the unchecked vomiting led to a torn esophagus, internal bleeding and death.
"I looked in Mr. Scott's cell. Mr. Scott was sitting on the bed and there was blood in the toilet and around the collar of his shirt," said Seamus Strother in January 2012.
Strother was on the same cell block as Scott in the Sacramento County Jail, and he wrote us right after Scott's death to say Scott didn't get needed medical attention while in his cell.
After the incident, jail staff said they were not told that Scott was vomiting blood any time prior to his death or in the immediate aftermath. But Strother said both Scott and his cell mate used their cell’s intercom system repeatedly to call for help.
Thursday, January 17, 2013 at 06:36PM 
From [HERE] Choking up at times, a second Fresno police officer testified Tuesday that he saw no justification for a fellow officer to shoot an unarmed, defenseless suspect with a beanbag shotgun and another officer kick him. "I was in a state of disbelief," Thomas Hardin Jr. told the jury in U.S. District Court. "I was put in a situation that was bad."
