Lawyer for Black Man Beaten by Philadelphia Police Put in Jail

As a defense attorney, D. Scott Perrine is a frequent jailhouse visitor. Yesterday he became a guest. A judge in Dauphin County had Perrine arrested and hauled off to the county jail in Harrisburg for contempt of court. The offense? He stole the court's time - not once, but twice, in the same week. His defense for missing court? Perrine says he's been tied up on the now-infamous May 5 police-beating case. Apparently, Dauphin County Common Pleas Judge Lawrence F. Clark Jr., a former state trooper, wasn't sympathetic. On Monday, Perrine failed to appear in Clark's courtroom for a scheduled jury trial in which the Philly lawyer was supposed to defend a man charged with aggravated assault and burglary. Perrine had called the court administrator to ask for a postponement but never filed a motion for continuance, according to Deputy District Attorney James P. Barker. Yesterday, Perrine was slated to go before Clark and explain why he missed Monday's court date. At 9 a.m., with Perrine nowhere in sight, Clark issued a bench warrant for his arrest, Barker said. When a winded and stressed Perrine arrived at the Dauphin County Courthouse about 9:30 a.m. after missing an earlier train from Philadelphia, sheriff's officers locked him up.

Click to read more ...

Philadelphia Cops on Tape Beating Unarmed Black Men. For No Reason. WHY do Prosecutors Need Grand Jury?

District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham said today that the cases of the officers videotaped beating three shooting suspects would likely be handed over to a grand jury soon. She said it would be either a sitting grand jury or one that will be impaneled. Grand juries normally sit for 18 months and often hear multiple cases. Charles Ehrlich, chief of the municipal court unit of the Philadelphia District Attorneys' Office, said the case would go before a grand jury that is currently sitting. At a press conference called to announce an alternative treatment program, Abraham said: "I've pretty much decided that we will turn it over to a grand jury....We're going to give it to a grand jury to review the evidence." She added: "It will be given to a group of citizens with a diverse background to reach a conclusion." She promised there would be no rush to judgment. "We will do a full, thorough investigation," she said. As for Monday's firings, she said: "I can't comment on anything that anyone else does ... [the firings] have nothing to do with me. I'm not the commissioner. I'm not the mayor." [MORE]

Community Protests Southfield police Killing of Latino Man- 25 Yr. Old Shot Dead at Traffic Stop

SOUTHFIELD -- More than 50 people, holding signs saying "Stop police brutality" and shouting "Justice for Arvin," gathered on the front lawn of the Southfield Civic Center on Wednesday to protest the fatal shooting of Arvin Hermiz by a police officer in September. "This was my son. I'm not going to let this go," said Joe Hermiz, wearing a picture of his son on his shirt as motorists driving by honked in support. "It was an egregious shooting that didn't have to happen. It's been hell on Earth living without him." The 25- year-old West Bloomfield man was killed during a traffic stop Sept. 27 in which police said he tried to run down an officer. The officer, who has been with the department since May 2005, was conducting a routine traffic stop on southbound Telegraph near 10 Mile. Arvin Hermiz, who according to police was stopped for traveling more than 10 miles over the speed limit and for an obstruction of his license plate, pulled into a parking lot with a single driveway. He circled his vehicle around and drove toward the officer, said Southfield Police Lt. Nick Loussia. In an effort to stop Hermiz from running him over and fleeing the scene, the officer fired at the vehicle, striking Hermiz, according to the police report.

Click to read more ...

Philadelphia Cops on Tape Beating Unarmed Black Men. For No Reason. WHY do Prosecutors Need Grand Jury?

District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham said today that the cases of the officers videotaped beating three shooting suspects would likely be handed over to a grand jury soon. She said it would be either a sitting grand jury or one that will be impaneled. Grand juries normally sit for 18 months and often hear multiple cases. Charles Ehrlich, chief of the municipal court unit of the Philadelphia District Attorneys' Office, said the case would go before a grand jury that is currently sitting. At a press conference called to announce an alternative treatment program, Abraham said: "I've pretty much decided that we will turn it over to a grand jury....We're going to give it to a grand jury to review the evidence." She added: "It will be given to a group of citizens with a diverse background to reach a conclusion." She promised there would be no rush to judgment. "We will do a full, thorough investigation," she said. As for Monday's firings, she said: "I can't comment on anything that anyone else does ... [the firings] have nothing to do with me. I'm not the commissioner. I'm not the mayor." [MORE]

Training Day: Dirty LA Police Officer Sentenced for Civil Rights Violations - Sold Drugs, Robbed & Assaulted People

The evidence at trial showed that the defendant and his co-defendants were members of a wide-ranging criminal conspiracy, led by former Los Angeles police officer Ruben Palomares and including other law enforcement officers and drug dealers. Together, they committed more than 40 burglaries and robberies throughout the Los Angeles area between early 1999 and June of 2001. The robberies generally were committed after the group received information that a particular location was involved in illegal drug trafficking. The robbery teams usually consisted of multiple sworn police officers in uniform or displaying a badge, who would gain access to the residence by falsely telling any occupants that they were conducting a legitimate search for drugs or drug dealers. Victims often were restrained, threatened or assaulted during the search. These assaults included firing a stun gun at a victim, striking victims with police batons, and putting a gun in the mouth of a victim. When the group stole drugs, they would use co-conspirators to sell the drugs and they would split the profits among the group.

Click to read more ...

Mentally Ill Black Man Shot & Killed by Long Beach Police: Family Plans Lawsuit

 
Long Beach police won't ID officers in shooting
LONG BEACH The family of a terminally ill, mentally disabled man who was fatally shot during an altercation with Long Beach police officers said Tuesday they will sue the Police Department.  Roketi Su'e, 46, was killed Saturday in the 3400 block of 67th Way as he was walking home from a birthday party. Two officers responded to the area at 7 p.m. on reports of a man behaving erratically, according to Nancy Pratt of the Long Beach Police Department. Su'e resisted arrest, so officers used a Taser on him and struck him with batons, but he appeared unfazed, causing officers to think he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, she said. When Su'e tried to take one of the batons away from the officers, they shot him multiple times in the upper torso, she said. Family members said Su'e, who had a bipolar disorder and was dying of lung cancer, was unarmed and upset because he had had a fight with his girlfriend. Witnesses insist Su'e was unarmed and shot in the back as he lay face-down on the sidewalk.

"What happened was an assassination," his girlfriend, Kathryn Noleb said. "It wasn't help. It wasn't help for him. It wasn't help for the community. It's not help."  Billy Moses, who said he witnessed the shooting, said officers shot the man six times. "If you're going to shoot someone six times, wouldn't one bullet in the back be enough?" he said.

Click to read more ...

Questions linger in Pittsburgh Police shooting of Justin Jackson

The more information that comes out about the police shooting of 19-year-old Justin Jackson, the less straightforward events appear. If Jackson showed police his hands—holding a gun, as they said—then how did he shoot through his jacket as the medical examiner reported? And if, as the expanded report released May 14 indicates, the officers were just three feet away when they set Alf the police dog on Jackson—the report said he had bite marks—could they not have simply grabbed him instead of shooting him multiple times? Jackson’s father has yet another question: if the police dog had his son by the right arm, how did the right-handed young man shoot at officers and kill the dog? Potters House Ministries Bishop Otis Carswell, who eulogized Jackson at his May 12 funeral, may have an answer. As he told friends and mourners, Carswell repeated to the New Pittsburgh Courier that he “saw no gun.”

Click to read more ...

Atlanta officer convicted in Coverup of Police Killing of 92 Year Old Black Woman

ATLANTA — In a verdict that brought tears to both sides of an Atlanta courtroom Tuesday, a jury convicted a police officer of lying to cover up his role in the fatal shooting of a 92-year-old woman. Arthur Bruce Tesler, 42, is the only officer to face trial in the death of Kathryn Johnston, felled by a hail of bullets after plainclothes narcotics officers burst into her home in November 2006. He faces as many as five years in prison.  After deliberating more than three days, the state court jury acquitted Tesler of violating his oath of office and of false imprisonment under color of legal process. If convicted of all three charges, he could have faced as many as 20 years in prison. Unlike two officers who testified against him, he was on duty outside Johnston's house and never fired a shot.

The Rev. Markel Hutchins, a community activist who represents Johnston's family, described the verdict as "bittersweet."

Click to read more ...

NYPD seeks discipline for 7 officers in killing of Unarmed Black Man

Seven police officers were hit with disciplinary charges Tuesday in the 50-shot slaying of an unarmed groom-to-be on his wedding day — a case that has sparked protests and raised questions about police firepower. If found guilty at an internal trial, the officers — including three shooters acquitted last month at a criminal trial and their supervisor — could be fired. A union official said Tuesday that they would fight the allegations. Police officials described the move as procedural, citing administrative guidelines requiring them to bring charges against officers within 18 months of the incident. The New York Police Department could take "further administrative steps" once the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn completes a review of the case, said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne. Federal prosecutors have declined to discuss possible civil rights charges. Sean Bell, 23, died in a hail of 50 bullets on Nov. 25, 2006, around the corner from a Queens topless bar where he had just had a bachelor party and where undercover police were investigating complaints of prostitution. Two of his friends were seriously wounded.

Click to read more ...

Philadelphia police to fire 4 over videotaped beating of Unarmed Black Men

Philadelphia's police commissioner said Monday that four officers will be fired and four others disciplined for their roles in the beatings of three shooting suspects, an encounter that was captured on videotape and drew widespread outrage. Another eight officers who had physical contact with the suspects will undergo additional training on the department's policies concerning the use of force, Commissioner Charles Ramsey said. He said the police department made the disciplinary decisions after reviewing frames from enhanced tape of a video shot by a television news helicopter on May 5. The video, shot by WTXF-TV, shows the suspects being pulled from their car on the side of the road and groups of officers kicking, punching and beating the men. A total of 19 officers — 18 city police and one transit officer — were involved. Two of the officers being fired are relatively new to the force and can be terminated immediately, Ramsey said. Two others are being suspended without pay for 30 days with intent to dismiss. Three other officers are being suspended and one sergeant is being demoted. A criminal investigation is continuing.

Click to read more ...