U.S. Department of Justice Set to release report about New Orleans Police

From [HERE] Federal and city officials will announce tomorrow the results of the 10-month-long investigation into the New Orleans Police Department, which began last spring at the request of Mayor Mitch Landrieu.

The assessment, which was conducted amid the backdrop of at least nine federal criminal probes into the NOPD, is expected to be highly critical of the department.

When announcing the inquiry in May 2010, top officials with the U.S. Department of Justice promised a wide-ranging investigation, including looks at the department's hiring practices, allegations of excessive force used by police, how particular neighborhoods are served and whether searches are conducted in

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Civil Rights Lawsuit Underway Against San Diego County Deputies who Shot Unarmed Latino Man Nine Times in the Back

From [HERE] and [MORE] Federal civil suits brought by the widow and the daughter of a parolee who was fatally shot by sheriff's deputies in a Vista mobile-home park in 2006 landed in the hands of a jury Wednesday afternoon.

David Arnulfo Lopez, 27. San Diego County sheriff's deputies shot him 12 times, including nine shots to his back. Lopez was unarmed.

An attorney for Lopez's family has said the deputies used excessive force. And the trajectory of the shots and the placement of Lopez's body, according to the attorney, indicate Lopez was fleeing ---- not fighting ---- when the shots were fired.

The attorney for the three accused deputies argues that his clients reasonably believed Lopez was armed and that they were in danger. During a scuffle on the small raised porch of a mobile home, the shirtless Lopez reached for his waistband ---- raising the deputies' fears he was reaching for a weapon, the deputies said.

But attorney David Landry, who represents Lopez's widow, said the evidence, as well as the original statement of one of the three deputies, shows that Lopez had leaped onto the roof of a nearby shed in an attempt to flee when the three men fired at him.

The deputies, he said, range in height between 5 feet 11 inches and 6 feet tall. Lopez was 5 feet 6 inches tall. The men testified that they were standing when they shot Lopez, Landry argued, but the trajectory of the bullets clearly shows he was shot from below.

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Family of Mexican migrant sues US Government for Deadly Beating by Border Patrol

From [HERE] SAN DIEGO -- The family of a Mexican man who died after a U.S. immigration agent shot him with a stun gun sued the federal government Wednesday, saying authorities used excessive force.

The wrongful-death lawsuit says up to 25 agents beat Anastacio Hernandez as he lay on the ground at a San Diego border crossing May 28, some stepping on the back of his knees as he cried for help. An agent allegedly silenced the 42-year-old construction worker by shooting him several times with the stun gun.

Family attorney Eugene Iredale said key evidence includes a witness' cell-phone audio of Hernandez crying for help and a witness telling agents to stop.

"This was a man who was frightened and who was really, at the time, pleading for his life," Iredale said at a news conference that was organized by the Mexican consulate in San Diego.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has vigorously denounced the incident, saying a death "with that degree of violence is a truly unacceptable violation." The consulate said in a statement Wednesday that the Mexican government "reiterates its strongest condemnation of the incident that led to the death of one of its citizens."

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LAPD Officer Cleared in Shooting of Latino Day Laborer

The unanimous ruling by the five-member panel, along with the decision Tuesday by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office not to file any criminal charges in the case, fully exonerated Officer Frank Hernandez, a 14-year veteran of the department, of any wrongdoing. In clearing Hernandez, the commission went along with the recommendation of LAPD Chief Charlie Beck that the shooting be judged to have been within department policies.

Luis Carillo, an attorney representing the dead man's wife in a federal civil lawsuit against the city, denounced the commissioners' decision. "The script had already been written.... They just followed it," he said.

He was standing on the corner of Sixth Street and Union in the Los Angeles community of Pico Union or Westlake. The police claim he had a knife and was intending to use it on a pregnant woman. Many eye witnesses say that this was not true and that Manuel was murdered in cold blood. [MORE] 

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New Orleans Officer Accused of Murdering Unarmed Black Civillians after Katrina wants Case Dropped

These six officers were not only accused of murder but also of conspiring to hide their crime through secret meetings, planting evidence, inventing witnesses, false arrests, and perjury. Five officers plead guilty. In the days after the flooding of New Orleans, police officers were told they were defending a city under siege and were given tacit permission to use deadly force at their own discretion. At the time, no one in power seemed to be interested in looking into the details of who was killed and why. [MORE]

From [HERE] An attorney for a New Orleans police sergeant charged with shooting unarmed civilians on the Danziger Bridge is asking a judge to drop the murder charges against his client due to alleged prosecutorial missteps.

Frank DeSalvo, who represents Sgt. Kenneth Bowen, filed a lengthy motion Monday night in federal court that accuses federal prosecutors of numerous missteps in the years-long Danziger Bridge probe. DeSalvo argues that missteps on the part of authorities make Bowen's indictment "legally invalid" and that the charges should be quashed.

Federal prosecutors have yet to rebut the motion in court filings and a judge has yet to rule on the motion.

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Framingham (Mass) Police will Investigate Itself in Fatal Shooting of Unarmed 68 Yr Old Black Man - Family Plans Lawsuit

Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone's office ruled that 68-year-old Stamps' death was an accident and not a crime. Leone's office said Duncan's rifle fired when he tripped and fell inside Stamps' home at 26 Fountain St. The SWAT team was serving a search warrant at the time.

Authorities said Stamps' stepson, Joseph Bushfan, whom police arrested, and another man were the targets of the raid. Suso said the district attorney's report is key to the police internal investigation.

The review should be complete in two to four weeks, he said.

Selectmen did not comment on the matter, but behind closed doors last night they discussed a potential lawsuit Stamps' family may bring. An attorney for the family last week called the district attorney's explanation of Stamps' death implausible and said he will conduct his own investigation.

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Jon Burge to report to North Carolina prison Wednesday

March 15, 2011 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- Former Chicago police commander Jon Burge is due to report to prison Wednesday. Burge was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for lying about the torture of suspects. He'll serve his time at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex near Raleigh, North Carolina. He'll be serving his time at the same prison complex that houses notorious Ponzie schemer Bernie Madoff.

While he's in custody he will face more questions about police brutality. On Tuesday, a federal judge ordered Burge to submit to a video deposition in a civil case. The case involves two men who claim they were tortured by Burge or officers serving under him. 

ACLU says Illinois Law Against Recording Police Unconstitutional

Illinois' penalty for knowingly recording audio of anyone without their consent is a Class 4 felony. It is punishable by up to three years in prison. When someone like Fitzpatrick decides to record law enforcement performing their job, the charge gets ratcheted up to a Class 1 felony and carries with it a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. A Class 1 felony is the same class as someone who is charged with having more than 11 pounds of marijuana.

"Illinois is virtually unique in making it a crime to record on-duty police officers. That's because of ... what I would say is a defect in our eavesdropping act that other states and federal eavesdropping acts don't have, which is we've extended the ban on eavesdropping from just private conversations to all conversations, whether or not they are private," said Adam Schwartz, the senior lawyer for Illinois' American Civil Liberties Union.

Only two other states - Massachusetts and Oregon - have similar eavesdropping laws. Illinois' statute referring to recording officials was enacted in 1994. An attempt to roll back the law 11 years later failed in the General Assembly.

The ACLU is trying to get the law declared unconstitutional in federal court, claiming it violates the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. A favorable ruling by a federal judge would automatically trump any state law.

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Denver Police Chief Recommends Firing Officer who Beat Michael DeHerrera

From [HERE] and [HERE] DENVER --  Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman has recommended to the Denver Manager of Safety that Officer Devin Sparks be fired from the force for his beating of Michael DeHerrera on April 4, 2009 that was caught on tape in lower downtown. 

The Denver Manager of Safety now has 15 days to rule on the recommendation. Sparks had been under internal investigation after an independent monitor found that the officer should be terminated finding that he used excessive force during the arrest.

DeHerrera and his friend, Shawn Johnson, were arrested and beaten after Johnson was kicked out of a bar for using the women's restroom. A city surveillance camera captured the arrest on video and shows Sparks and Officer Randy Murr putting DeHerrera on the ground and hitting him repeatedly with a weapon. DeHerrera had been making an emergency phone call to his father, Pueblo County Sheriff's Deputy Anthony DeHerrera, when he was attacked by the officers.

Sparks later admitted he hit DeHerrera at least nine times with a metal weapon wrapped in leather called a sap. Deherrera received cuts, bruises, and broke several of his teeth during the beating. He was taken to a hospital where he was given several stitches. He also claimed that he blacked out during the beating.

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Lawsuit Filed Against Chicago: Handcuffed Black Man Beaten by Police and Denied Medical Treatment

From [HERE] A 19-year-old Chicago man who was allegedly beaten by police while he was handcuffed filed a lawsuit today claiming police used excessive force and failed to stop the beating, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit, filed against the City of Chicago and unnamed police officers and sergeants, claims Gregory Jeffries was stopped by police Oct. 11 as he and a friend were leaving at eh King Gyro carry out at 79th Street and Vincennes Avenue.

During the stop, Jeffries was handcuffed with his hands behind his back and was hit several times by an unnamed sergeant, causing Jeffries to spit blood onto the ground, according to the complaint.

Jeffries was charged with trespassing, but the charge was dropped in December, according to the complaint filed in federal court in Chicago.

The 10-count complaint claims, among other things, that no other officers intervened during the beating; that Jeffries was deprived of his constitutional rights; and that Jeffries was denied medical attention during his time in police custody.

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