NYC Jury Doesn’t Indict Latino Man in Police Shooting

Weak NYC Prosecutors also Decline to File Crminal Charges for Officers in Harlem Shooting [MORE] 

From [HERE] A special grand jury in Manhattan has declined to indict a man at the center of a chaotic police-shooting case in Harlem last summer in which police officers who were breaking up a block party ended up firing 46 bullets, several of them striking the man.

After a Manhattan prosecutor announced the grand jury’s decision in court on Wednesday, a judge ordered that the man, Angel Alvarez, be released immediately, ending his six months in custody. The judge’s words were immediately met with a burst of emotion from the man’s friends and family in the courtroom gallery.

Mr. Alvarez, 24, was arrested last August after getting into a fight with another man, Luis Soto, in Harlem. The police accused Mr. Alvarez of shooting at them as they converged on the fight. Four officers fired a total of 46 rounds, leaving Mr. Alvarez with 23 gunshot wounds. Mr. Soto was killed; ballistic tests indicated that the fatal bullet was probably fired by the police.

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Denver Refuses to Release Video of Black Man Beaten to Death by Deputies at Jail

DENVER (CBS4)- The family of Marvin Booker plans on suing the city of Denver. Booker, 56, was a street preacher when he died in the summer of 2010 while being subdued by deputies at the new jail in Denver.

The lawsuit will be filed in Denver District Court. It claims the city’s five individual sheriff’s deputies were involved in a conspiracy to use excessive force on Booker. The suit also claims his death was a foreseeable product of a culture of brutality.

Booker was retrieving his shoes when he was subdued by five deputies. It happened in the booking area after he disobeyed an order to go to a cell. Booker was placed in a headlock, sat on by deputies and shocked with a taser. The family has called for the video to be released. City officials said the video would not be released until the investigation is complete.Marvin’s death was ruled a homicide by the coroner, but no criminal charges were filed by the district attorney.

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One Size Fits All: Cops Increasingly Use DUI Arrest Reports…Written Before the Arrest

From [HERE] I’ve commented in past posts that it is becoming an increasingly common practice for police officers to simply use form or template arrest reports in drunk driving cases — what I have referred to in my books as "xeroxed" reports.  See Police Using Pre-Written DUI Reports.  In other words, rather than going to all the "trouble" of writing a report of the actual investigation and arrest, cops are using pre-written reports — and then changing a few details to fit the defendant.

This is bad enough, as the reports are supposedly signed under oath and subject to perjury charges.  But it becomes particularly serious when you realize that very few officers can remember the details of a given case when testifying months later.  In almost all cases, the officers read their own reports before taking the stand — and then testify essentially to what they read in the report.  And in DUI cases, they are increasingly testifying based upon a fictional "xeroxed" case.

For example, California attorney Jon W. Woolsey got a court order requiring the California Highway Patrol to turn over any templates or forms used by the officer who arrested his client for DUI.  The following is the template that was used:

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Judge: Miami Police Officer who Shot Unarmed Black Man in the Back Violated his Constitutional Rights

The incident that sparked the lawsuit happened in June 2005, when McKinnon and her partner, Guipson Balthazar, followed Morris into the 18th Avenue Market in Liberty City after they noticed he was driving a stolen car. The judge’s ruling says the plaintiff and defendant version of events do not differ “in any material way.”

According to the judge, once the officers entered the market they found Morris behind some boxes in the back of the store and ordered him to the ground. As Balthazar stood over him in an attempt to handcuff Morris, Morris, who was unarmed, jerked his back. Balthazar used his foot to force Morris back to the ground.

But the move alarmed McKinnon, who suddenly fired her Taser at Morris – missing him and inadvertently hitting Balthazar in the leg. When Balthazar stumbled backward, Morris got up and ran toward the door, bumping into McKinnon, who fell to the ground. From a seated position on the floor, McKinnon fired twice at Morris before he was able to leave the store, hitting him in the elbow and killing him with a shot to the back.

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Georgia Prison Guards Arrested for Retaliatory Beating of Two Black Inmates

From [HERE] and [MORE] Last Monday seven Georgia prison guards were arrested for their involvement in the December  beating of Terrance Dean and Miguel Jackson prisoners in Macon State Prison after a highly publicized prison strike.

Christopher Hall, Ronald Lach, Derrick Wimbrush, Willie Redden, Darren Douglas Griffin, Kerry Bolden and Delton Rushin were each charged with aggravated battery and violation of oath of office, Atlanta’s WALB reported. Their arrests were the result of an inquiry done by the Georgia Bureau of Investigations at the request of the Department of Corrections. A coalition of prisoner rights advocates and allies demanded the GBI investigate the case earlier this year after they heard reports of retalitatory violence against prisoners.

According to advocacy group, the Concerned Coalition to Respect Prisoners' Rights -- inmates Terrance Bryant Dean and  Miguel Jackson were "brutally beaten by guards" because they joined protests after the prison system banned tobacco. The protest started Dec. 9 and ended Dec. 15. The alleged attack was on Dec. 10. The list of grievances grew to include no pay for their prison work jobs and the quality of food and medical care.

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