Former College Basketball Star Accuses Houston Police Officer of Assault

From [HERE] and [HERE] A former University of Houston basketball star says he suffered a concussion when a police officer hit him over the head with a nightstick unprovoked and threatened to kill him.

Michael Young's accusation comes during a period of intense public scrutiny of the Houston Police Department after the release of two videos showing HPD officers beating African-American men.

"Mr. Young has come forward because he does not want this man to be on the police force to hurt somebody else," said Young's attorney, Reginald McKamie.

Young was a member of the famed Phi Slama Jama basketball squad at UH in the 1980s that included future Hall of Famers Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. He had a brief NBA career with the Suns, Clippers and 76ers, and now serves as director of basketball operations at UH.

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Family of Unarmed Black Man Fatally Shot in face by Chicago Police gets $3 million

From [HERE] The Daley administration has agreed to pay $3 million to the family of a 23-year-old unarmed man gunned down by Chicago Police in a 2003 shooting captured by a CTA surveillance camera.

If not for the video, widely viewed on YouTube, City Hall and police officer Alvin Weems might never have admitted that the shooting of Michael Pleasance at the CTA Red Line’s 95th Street station was not justified.

At the time, Weems was trying to break up a fight in which Pleasance was a mere bystander.

The Police Department initially maintained that the victim struggled with Weems for the officer’s gun. Only after the victim’s family sued and a judge ordered the CTA video released did the city and the officer change their stories.

The video shows Weems, dressed in plainclothes, arriving at the L platform with his gun drawn. The officer pulls a young man out of the fight as Pleasance stands off to the side pointing and apparently trying to talk to the officer. The video then shows Weems raising his gun and shooting Pleasance in the face.

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Trial delayed until May for Baltimore Officer Accused of Killing Unarmed Black Iraq War Veteran

From [HERE] BALTIMORE — The trial of a Baltimore police officer charged with shooting an unarmed man to death outside a nightclub has been postponed a second time.

Officer Gahiji Tshamba (juh-HAHJ-ee t-SHAHM-bay) had been scheduled for trial Monday, but online court records show it is now set for May 31. He's charged with first-degree murder in the June slaying of 32-year-old Tyrone Brown,  a 32-year-old Marine who has served two tours of duty in Iraq -- was shot at 13 times at close range, from his department-issued handgun, hitting Brown with six shots. He died a short time later.

Tshamba is being held without bail. Tshamba's attorneys don't dispute that he shot Brown but say he was acting as a police officer. They say Tshamba saw Brown grope a woman and decided to intervene, and the situation escalated from there.

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San Francisco Considers settlement for family of dead inmate - Deputies Suffocate Mentally Ill Black Man

The City is close to approving a $350,000 settlement to the family of a mentally disabled jail inmate who died in 2009 after being forcibly taken to a safety cell after reportedly causing a disturbance.

The Board of Supervisors rules committee Thursday forwarded the settlement to the full board for final approval. The mother of 31-year-old Issiah Downes had filed a $50 million wrongful-death lawsuit against the city, naming Sheriff Michael Hennessey and several jail supervisors and deputies.

Downes suffered from schizophrenia, and days after his arrest in March 2009 said he wanted to kill himself, and tried to gouge his own eye out, leaving him blind in that eye.

In the jail on the night of Sept. 7, 2009, in response to Downes’ loud complaints about the televisions being turned off in the unit, several deputies began transferring him to an administrative segregation cell. The Sheriff’s Department said Downes had become verbally disruptive and resisted the move.

Geri Green, the attorney for Downes’ family, alleged in the lawsuit that Downes had been complaining he could not breathe as deputies used forceful restraint procedures that involved placing their weight on his back and neck. Downes stood 6 feet tall and weighed more than 300 pounds.

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Exonerated & Newly Free, Alvarez Recalls Encounter With NYPD - Plans Lawsuit

From [HERE] A day after the announcement that a special grand jury had declined to indict him, a man at the center of a chaotic police-shooting case in Harlem recalled being struck by a barrage of gunfire last August as officers broke up a block party.

“It was like being hit with a machine gun,” the man, Angel Alvarez, 24, told reporters on Thursday at a news conference at his lawyers’ office in Manhattan. “I have 27 holes in my body.”

His lawyers added that four bullets are still lodged inside him.

“No expert marksman could have pulled that off,” said Seth Chandler, one of Mr. Alvarez’s lawyers. “It’s a miracle he’s alive.”

Mr. Alvarez, whose lawyers say he plans to sue the police, was released on Wednesday after six months in custody. He was arrested in August after he fought with a man, Luis Soto, during a block party that turned deadly. The police accused Mr. Alvarez of shooting at them as they had advanced on the fight. Four officers fired a total of 46 rounds. Mr. Soto was fatally wounded in the encounter.

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Supremes Consider whether Black Man Can Sue John Ashcroft Personally - Detained for 2 Weeks, Never Charged with Crime

Abdullah al-Kidd, a U.S. citizen, is a onetime University of Idaho football star, born Lavoni T. Kidd. He converted to Islam in college. He was arrested at Dulles International Airport in 2003 as he was boarding a plane for Saudi Arabia, where he planned to study.

The government persuaded a federal judge to issue a warrant for Kidd's arrest by saying he was necessary to the investigation of Sami Omar al-Hussayen, who was eventually indicted on charges of supporting terrorism. Kidd was never called to testify against Hussayen, who was acquitted of the most serious charges against him.

Kidd maintains that in his more than two weeks of detention, he was strip-searched, shackled, interrogated without an attorney present and treated as a terrorist.

Even though Wednesday's argument was limited to the question of whether Ashcroft had immunity, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg took note of Kidd's allegations.

"There are allegations here that this man was kept awake, the lights shining in his cell for 24 hours, kept without clothes," Ginsburg said. "Now that doesn't sound like the way one would treat someone whose testimony you want."

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20 Years Ago Today the LAPD Beat Rodney King

From [HERE] and [VIDEO HERE] [full version HERE] and [HERE]  The 20th anniversary of the videotaped Rodney King beating is Thursday, March 3, 2011. Here is a timeline of events around the day:

March 3, 1991: Rodney King beaten. Just after midnight March 3, 1991, Rodney King was speeding on the 210 freeway in Los Angeles when a police officer started pursuing him. After King led them on a high-speed chase, he was pulled out of his car. Nearby resident George Holliday videotaped four white officers beating King, who is black. Holliday sold the tape to a local television station and the videotape stunned the nation a day later after CNN aired the footage.

March 5, 1991: Officers arrested. Two days after the beating, Sgt.Stacey Koon, Officer Laurence Powell, Officer Timothy Wind and Officer Theodore Briseno were arrested. They were charged with assault and using excessive force.

March 5, 1992: Trial begins. The prosecution made opening statements a year later in the state trial of the four officers in Simi Valley, Calif. They entered pleas of not guilty after they were arraigned on charges soon after the incident.

March 17, 1992: Prosecution rests. The prosecution rested its case just two weeks into the trial. Midway through testimony of the defendants, prosecutors begin to realize they might lose the case as they relied too much upon videotaped evidence.

April 29, 1992: Verdicts rendered. Judge Stanley Weisberg read the verdict the jury had reached -- all four officers were acquitted and not guilty. Shortly thereafter, massive riots broke out, resulting in the deaths of 53 people and $1 billion in damage to the city. [MORE] 

May 1, 1992: King appeals to rioters. King made an appeal to rioters in Los Angeles on television, asking "Can't we all get along?" A day later, U.S. Marines were called in to maintain order after the Los Angeles Police Department was overrun. The riots quieted down after the troops entered the city.[MORE] 

Feb. 25, 1993: Civil rights trial starts. The four officers had a federal civil rights trial in Los Angeles. Separate from the original state trial, federal prosecutors alleged the beating was racially motivated, which prompted the lawsuit.

April 16, 1993: Two guilty, two acquitted. Powell and Koon are convicted of civil rights violations and spend 30 months in federal prison. Briseno and Wind are acquitted. No riots were reported after this new trial.

April 19, 1994: King awarded damages. After a civil trial in which King sued the city of Los Angeles for damages, a jury awarded him $3.8 million. In another civil trial against the four officers, a jury gave King no money after he asked for $15 million.

December 1995: Officers released. The two officers who spent time in federal prison were released after fulfilling their entire sentences. Powell and Koon did not work for law enforcement again.

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Despite Video, Seattle Police Conclude that Officer Did Not Stomp Latino Man

 

• This incident should not be confused with the Seattle Police stomping of a Black man captured on video in October - which recently surfaced [HERE] 
• Black Teen Talks About His Case Of Alleged Police Brutality Caught On Tape [HERE] 

 From [HERE] SEATTLE - After a video of two Seattle police officers stomping on a Latino man hit the airwaves last May, there was widespread agreement that Officer Shandy Cobane crossed the line with his racially charged language. Chief John Diaz denounced Cobane's words. Internal investigators have told the chief that Cobane should be disciplined for misconduct for what he said - his use of derogatory language and profanity - but not for what he did - stomping on the suspect as the suspect lay on the ground. (Officer Shandy Cobane said "Im gonna beat the fucking Mexican piss out of you, homey, you feel me" - as he conducted his police work - Spook). 

Internal investigations had an outside forensic expert review the video close-up, sources say.  The conclusion was that Cobane did not strike the suspect's head. Instead, it appeared Cobane was trying to keep the man, who was later released without charges, from moving his arms in case he had a weapon

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Passenger says Henry Complied with Orders - Mount Pleasant (NY) Police Fatally Shoot Unarmed Black College Student

From [HERE] HORNWOOD — Pace University football player Danroy "D.J." Henry braked to a near-stop after seeing Pleasantville Officer Aaron Hess in front of his car, then sped up and struck him — but only after the cop opened fire, the front-seat passenger told The Journal News today.

Passenger Brandon Cox gave his most detailed public account of the shooting a day after another eyewitness — a bar owner who had been standing next to Hess — said the officer shot only after he was hit by the car and clinging to the hood.

"As we were coming around a corner, I saw the officer run from behind a parked cruiser," Cox said. "He ran out at us with his gun raised and pointed at the vehicle. As he came in front of the car, D.J. began to slow down." As Henry was slowing down, Cox said, Hess fired.

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Civil Trial Continues for Enraged PG County (MD) Cop who Beat Unarmed Latino Man to Death

Officer Jackson, 27, has not been criminally charged in the death of Espina, who was 43.  Jackson fatally shot Espina on the afternoon of Aug. 16, 2008.

According to four plaintiff's witnesses, Jackson beat Espina, whom the officer outweighed by about 30 pounds, with his fists and metal police baton down two flights of stairs and into a basement apartment. Espina never resisted, the witnesses said.

Inside the apartment, the witnesses said, Jackson continued to beat Espina with his baton even though the man's eyes were closed and filling with blood, Manuel de Jesus Espina Jacome, the son of Espina, testified Monday.

Espina Jacome testified that he pushed his father onto a sofa to try to save him. As Espina struggled to his feet, Espina Jacome testified, Jackson stepped toward him, took out his gun, and fired a single shot into the man's torso. Espina Jacome's testimony is consistent with an account provided earlier in the trial by Elvia Rivera, an eyewitness to the shooting who lived in the apartment.

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