A little off topic: "Tasers a form of torture, says UN"

TASER electronic stun guns are a form of torture that can kill, a UN committee has declared after several recent deaths in North America.

"The use of these weapons causes acute pain, constituting a form of torture,'' the UN's Committee against Torture said.

"In certain cases, they can even cause death, as has been shown by reliable studies and recent real-life events,'' the committee of 10 experts said.

Three men, all in their early 20s, were reported to have died in the United States this week, days after a Polish man died at Vancouver airport after being Tasered by Canadian police.

The man, Robert Dziekanski, 40, fell to the ground and died after the police officers piled on top of him.

There have been three deaths in Canada after the use of Tasers over the past five weeks.

The company that makes the weapons has said that similar deaths have been shown by "medical science and forensic analysis'' to be "attributable to other factors and not the low-energy electrical discharge of the Taser".

The UN committee made its comments in recommendations to Portugal, which has bought the newest Taser X26 stun gun for use by police.

Portugal "should consider giving up the use of the Taser X26,'' as its use can have a grave physical and mental impact on those targeted, which violates the UN's Convention against Torture, the experts said.

-The Daily Telegraph

Woman was falsey accused and jailed, for helping a injured police officer

A trained nurse, Rachelle Jackson immediately ran toward the sound of the crash. A Chicago police car had collided with another vehicle and was starting to smoke, two officers still inside. Fearing an explosion, she quickly pulled one officer from the passenger side.She never imagined her act of kindness nearly six years ago would land her in jail for more than 10 months on charges that she robbed, battered and disarmed a peace officer.

Jackson filed a lawsuit, and on Thursday a federal jury found against the city and several Chicago police officers, awarding Jackson $7.7 million for false arrest, malicious prosecution, coercive questioning and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

"I'm going to go home and lie down for a little bit," an ecstatic Jackson, 41, said after the verdict. "I feel relieved. I'm happy, and I'm thanking God."

The case began in November 2002, when a car ran a stop sign in Jackson's neighborhood, slamming into the squad car. Jackson was walking nearby and rushed to the scene. When she arrived, the officer behind the wheel was unconscious and the passenger, Officer Kelly Brogan, was dazed.

She pulled Brogan from the wreckage and helped her to a nearby stoop. Soon after, police approached Jackson and told her that the driver's weapon had been stolen. When she was asked to go to the police station for questioning, she thought it was as a witness to the accident.

Instead, Jackson was accused of the theft. She was held for two days with little food and water and was threatened with violence until she agreed to sign a statement police had prepared for her. She was then charged and spent more than 10 months in the Cook County Jail awaiting trial.

Her case was later thrown out by a Circuit Court judge. Jackson sued the city, Brogan and the two interrogation officers in 2003.

Defense attorney Andrew Hale said the amount the jury awarded Jackson was "excessive" and that he would file post-trial motions to have the amount reduced.

He also questioned Jackson's intentions when she pulled the officer from the car.

"The officer said [Jackson] came at her, tried to get her gun and put her in a full-Nelson hold," Hale said. "I'm disappointed the jury could think that would be a legitimate rescue technique."

But Jackson's attorneys said it was clear she was trying to help the officer, not harm her.

"This was an innocent woman who saved a police officer from a burning car," said Chris Smith, who tried the case with Dan Alexander. "There were many heroes out there who helped the police, but they all turned into suspects because some guy ran away with the gun."

Officer assaults photographer

An Eyewitness News 4 photographer was cuffed and cited Thursday morning for disobeying a police officer. It was a situation where the photographer was trying to do his job. And now the Albuquerque Police Department is reviewing the tape to see if the officer crossed the line.

APD says a driver and officers had exchanged gunfire at Copper Avenue and Rhode Island Street NE. An Eyewitness News 4 photographer covering the incident approached two police cars at Copper and Grove NE, believing the suspect was already in custody. The photographer was told that he had to go to a media staging area, but he claims the officer wouldn’t tell him where that was, so he just moved back.

The two officers briefly talked, and then one of them told the photographer where to go.

Video of the incident shows one of the officers walking away, looking at the photographer, and then walking out of frame while the other officer drives away from the scene.

The photographer then began to put his camera in the news vehicle to move to the media staging area when the officer begins circling around.

“I’m not putting the camera down until (inaudible),” the photographer told the officer as he was approached.

The two scuffled for a short time, and then the photographer was handcuffed and detained for about 90 minutes.

A police report identifies the officer as a D. Guzman and Eyewitness News 4 was told Thursday evening that Guzman had been a police officer for 13 months and on the street for seven months.

APD Chief Ray Schultz has yet to release a statement about the video, but APD spokesman John Walsh said the tape will be looked at.

“I can't comment on exactly what occurred on it. That will be reviewed by the independent review officer and, like I stated, he will come across with recommendations and the Albuquerque Police Department will act on those recommendations," Walsh said.

APD says they will proceed with the citation against the photographer.

Police Officer steals Marijuana

A Police Officer steals Marijuana (Pot), makes "Pot Brownies", has a severe trip, then calls 911. Brilliant!

Police misconduct alleged by residents

SALINEVILLE—Salineville residents made accusations against a Salineville police officer Monday at the council meeting.

Donald and Shannon Horne of McKinley Avenue came forward about an incident that occurred May 30 with a particular Salineville officer and their juvenile son and daughter.

In police records, it was reported that the department received a complaint stating the boy in question had threatened another juvenile. Michael Garber, the responding officer then spotted the male, in the company of three others, one being his sister, on West Main Street. The male was smoking a cigarette. The report states that the boy was then asked his age and identity, which the boy refused to give.

The boy maintained that he was 18 years old, though he could not give a correct date of birth to support the claim. Reportedly, the officer proceeded to check him for weapons and the cigarettes were removed from his person.

According to the report, the mother, Shannon Horne, and grandmother, Dorothy Hawk, arrived on the scene, parked their van in the lane of travel and on the sidewalk, and were causing too great of a disturbance to allow an explanation pertaining to why the officer was in contact with the young man.

The report states that Horne was concerned with an incident that took place prior to Friday and refused to listen to what the officer was attempting to tell her.

Monday, both Horne and Hawk were served summons’ to Municipal Court by officer Glen LaClair.

The police report states that Horne and Hawk were both present and were explained the manner of their charges which included disorderly conduct.

While at the residence, it is stated in the report that the Horne family intended to come to the village council meeting and complain about the patrolman who handled Friday’s incident. She is reported as stating that there were other citizens who wanted the patrolman fired. It is also stated in the report that she was informed of how to file a complaint against an officer by contacting police chief Timothy S. LaClair.

“There are policies and procedures for citizens to follow to file complaints against officers, which has not yet been followed in this case,” LaClair commented Tuesday. “At this time, no one has come to me with any complaints against this officer and I stand behind him 100 percent.”

Shannon Horne’s version of the incident brought to council’s attention Monday was different than the police report provided by the chief.

Horne said the officer acted in a disorderly manner toward her and her children, using inappropriate language and disregarding her requests for information about why her children had been stopped.

Horne said the officer told her not to ask questions because he was the one with the badge.

In addition, Horne said she asked the officer for help concerning sexual harassment threats made to her daughter and she said he refused to help or provide guidance.

“I asked him, who do I call for a report of rape,” Shannon Horne said. “I was asking for help and he was threatening me like a criminal.”

According to the police department, there are no pending rape charges but harassment accusations were filed Monday.

Several other village citizens came forward at Monday’s meeting in support of the Horne family.

“You really have some people on the police force council needs to take a look at,” Deanne Beadnell said. “People... shouldn’t have to worry about their children being harassed by the police.”

The chief said that he has full trust in the integrity, commitment and decision making of the officer in question and will continue to stand behind him.

Source: The Review

21 officers are disciplined for misconduct

SANDY — The group that certifies and disciplines police officers is making more changes to its guidelines for officers' bad behavior.

During the Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training Council's quarterly meeting on Monday, council members voted to make consensual sexual misconduct on duty and lying to POST or internal affairs investigators offenses that could merit a three-year certification suspension.

That same day, 21 officers were disciplined for various forms of misconduct, ranging from drug use and DUI to sexual misconduct, both on and off duty. Some received suspensions, others had their peace officer certifications revoked.

A few officers challenged the decisions made by POST Council. Former Helper Police Chief George Zamantakis asked the council to reconsider a decision to revoke his peace officer certification. The former police chief acknowledged having an affair with a former secretary and initially lied to POST investigators about it. He did it to protect her privacy, Zamantakis' attorney said.

"I made a mistake and I'm wrong," Zamantakis told the council. "There's a lot of things I wish I'd have done differently."

Zamantakis had the support of his wife, who held his hand as he sat throughout the meeting.

Teenager tasered for not having drivers license

Police dash cam:Recently released video obtained through the freedom of information act from the Medical Lake Police Dept.Driver alleges police officer tasered him for failing to produce drivers license....officer claims the suspect was resisting arrest.

Crooked cop gets off lightly

A Fulton County jury acquitted an Atlanta police on two charges but found him guilty Tuesday of lying to investigators about a botched drug raid that led to the fatal shooting of a 92-year-old woman. The verdict came after the jury deliberated for three days and spent hours reviewing a transcript of Detective Arthur Bruce Tesler's testimony in his own defense.

Tesler, 42, faces up to five years in prison, with sentencing set for Thursday. He was the only officer to face a jury on charges related to an illegal search warrant that led to the death of Kathryn Johnston in a case that drew national attention.
State Sen. Vincent Fort struggled to contain his anger that Tesler had escaped conviction on two of the charges. "He is just as responsible for what happened to Mrs. Johnston as the other two officers [who participated in the raid]," said Fort. "No matter how much time he spends in jail, he will have to live with himself."

Tesler was charged with violating his oath of office, lying in an official investigation and falsely imprisoning Johnston, who was shot in her home after she fired a revolver at plainclothes officers as they burst into the house on Nov. 21, 2006.

The jury acquitted him of the violation of oath and false imprisonment charges. He could have faced 20 years in prison if convicted of all charges. Defense lawyer William McKenney acknowledged that the jury would have had trouble acquitting his client of lying in an official investigation.

Tesler had testified that he participated in the coverup of the illegal warrant because he feared for his safety from his partners and he feared being labeled a "rat" if he informed on them. "We admitted he did not tell the truth to the FBI," McKenney said. "The issue was whether they felt he was coerced into making a false statement."

Tesler's two partners, Gregg Junnier and Jason R. Smith, who were charged with murder in the case, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter. Tesler, stationed at the rear of the house, fired no shots. Smith and Junnier both fired their weapons.

Tesler, 42, has contended he did not know that Smith lied to a judge to get a no-knock search warrant for a house at 933 Neal Street. The detectives said they had been told a kilo of cocaine was hidden in the house. Instead, Smith planted drugs in the house after the officers killed Johnston, according to testimony.

There appeared to be a heavy police presence in the neighborhood Tuesday evening. Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington said Tuesday his force was prepared for any outbreak of "civil unrest" — backlash if the Tesler verdict was not received well in the community. The 2006 killing shocked metro Atlanta and enraged many in the African-American community, who complained that shoddy or heavy-handed police work in the war on drugs was a source of repeated abuses.

Pennington responded to the verdict at news conference announcing the results of the new narcotics unit's first major operation since it was disbanded and rebuilt after the Johnston shooting. "I think the jury has spoken," Pennington said. "He [Tesler] has been given an opportunity to go before his peers, in terms of a trial by jury." Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said, "One of the things we hope that people in the community realize is that it doesn't make a difference if you commit a crime in Fulton County whether you are a police officer or a citizen, you will be held accountable."

Neal Street residents near Johnston's house expressed outrage at the verdict. "There's a lot of people down here who have lost their respect for the police," said Marie Thomas, 36. "This verdict is a slap in the face. If they're going to get away with it this time, they'll do it again."

But the Rev. Markel Hutchins, a spokesman for Johnston's family, said Atlanta has a different police department because of the case. He contended no-knock warrants aren't being issued so easily and that supervisors are being scrutinized to ensure they followed policies. He said conviction of Tesler on the single charge is a partial victory for justice, but that superiors of the three officers should have also been held accountable. Hutchins noted testimony in the trial from Junnier, Tesler's partner, that the head of the narcotics division adopted a see-no-evil, hear-no-evil approach to supervision. "We will continue to push for criminal prosecution for those who turn their heads," he said. "We certainly hope that this is not over."

Source: Strange Justice

Drug conviction tossed out over illegal police frisking

OLYMPIA -- In another nod to the Washington Constitution's broad privacy protections, the state Supreme Court has thrown out the drug conviction of a man who was searched by police solely because of his weird behavior.

Thursday's unanimous decision reinforces the rules for simple pat-downs under state law, which offers stronger safeguards against police searches than the U.S. Constitution.

Without a search warrant or probable cause to make an arrest, police in Washington may frisk someone for weapons only if an officer has reason to believe the person is armed and dangerous.

The court said those rules weren't followed in the case of Michael D. Setterstrom, who was arrested in 2005 after police got a call about two men behaving oddly at a Department of Social and Health Services office in Tumwater.

When two officers showed up at the office, Setterstrom was sitting on a bench, filling out an application for public assistance. He was sitting next to another man, who was asleep.

Setterstrom, who was described as increasingly nervous and fidgety, gave two different names to the officers when questioned. Setterstrom also blurted out the second name when police woke his companion to ask about Setterstrom's true identity.

Believing that Setterstrom was high on methamphetamine, Lt. Don Stevens frisked him for possible weapons.

Although Setterstrom didn't stand up, put his hands in his pockets or do anything threatening, Stevens said he feared danger because his experience was that meth users might become violent without warning.

The pat-down uncovered a small plastic baggie of white powder in Setterstrom's pocket. Stevens put the baggie on the bench and told Setterstrom he was under arrest.

"What happened next was, we assume, unusual," the court said: Setterstrom fell to his knees, grabbed the baggie and swallowed it. "For obvious reasons, police never recovered the baggie," Justice James Johnson wrote for the court.

Police also found a small, locked safe in Setterstrom's backpack. After getting a search warrant, police opened the safe and found another baggie, which contained meth, along with a needle, a pipe, and a scale. Setterstrom was convicted of drug possession and sentenced to six months in jail.

He appealed, claiming that the search was illegal. The Supreme Court agreed.

To frisk someone without a warrant or probable cause, police must have "a reasonable belief, based on objective facts, that the suspect is armed and presently dangerous."

The court said that justification didn't exist in Setterstrom's case. In fact, justices said, the record shows only that Setterstrom may have been high -- and that isn't a crime.

Furthermore, police didn't find Setterstrom "in a dark alley in a crime-ridden area," the court said. Rather, he was lawfully in the public area of a social services office.

"It seems likely that some people filling out benefits forms exhibit erratic behavior, making employment difficult and benefits applicable," the court said.

Since the search warrant for the safe in Setterstrom's backpack was based on the illegal pat-down, his conviction for the drugs within must be overturned, the court ruled.

SRC: Seattle PI

Mayor: Officers in taped beating will be fired

Four Philadelphia police officers will be fired, two others will be disciplined and a supervising sergeant will be demoted because of the violent beating of three suspects caught after a shooting, the city's mayor and police commissioner said Monday.

On May 5, a television news helicopter captured footage of more than a dozen predominantly white police officers pulling three African-American men out of a car after a pursuit.

The video footage shows the officers kicking, punching and striking the suspects with batons, while the men lie restrained on the ground.

Police Looting Wal-mart After Katrina

Americans To Be Tortured For Refusing To Show ID?

This a horror video that wouldn't look out of place in Maoist China or Nazi Germany shows a student being repeatedly shot with a stun gun by UCLA police for the crime of not showing his ID. As similar cases begin to pile up how long will it be before Americans are routinely tortured for noncompliance and refusing to have their 4th amendment violated?

Source: JonesReport

Baltimore Cop Strikes Again!

The same Baltimore cop who was beating up the 14yo skater, has been seen again.
New charges against Baltimore City cop';2nd Incident Caught on Tape
2/15/08 New video of Baltimore police officer Salvatore Rivieri in action at the Inner Harbor. This time he confronts Billy Friebele, an artist from Washington D.C., who was videotaping at the Harbor last summer.

Friebele said he was taping the reactions of passersby to a box he was moving with a remote controlled car. Officer Rivieri is seen on tape kicking the box off of the car and then kicking the car. The officer then orders Friebele to leave the area.

Rivieri is the same officer caught on a video wrestling a 14 year old skate boarder to the ground. A spokesperson for the Baltimore Police Department declined to comment on this latest videotape. Officer Rivieri is suspended without pay pending the outcome of an internal investigation of the incident with the skate boarder.

Police Physical Abuse Complaints Rise 40%

The video of the violent Philadelphia Police arrest of three shooting suspects has led to several investigations.

“We investigate them all and try to get to the bottom of it,” said Chief Inspector Anthony DiLacqua. He said it’s one of many alleged police involved incidents Internal Affairs is investigating. In fact, they’ve received more complaints this year than in the same time last year and they’ve seen an increase since the arrest that was caught on tape.

“There were five additional jobs this week compared to the same week last year.”

Overall, complaints against police are up 14%. Internal Affairs data shows complaints of police committing verbal abuse are up 77% and physical abuse complaints against police are up 40% so far this year. It’s important to note that physical abuse complaints are not always extreme.

“It could be everything to I was beat up by police to my handcuffs were too tight and my wrists are sore,” said Chief Inspector DiLacqua.

William Johnson is with the Police Advisory Commission and said, “We noted that there were about 87 complaints filed with the police department around this time last year we’ve received about 131.” Johnson said they take all complaints seriously, not just violent ones.

“Issues of abuses of authority are most common. Illegal searches, seizures and detainments are reported too.”

Chief Inspector DiLacqua also stressed that not all complaints are founded and in some cases the officers are exonerated. He cites the violent arrest as a possible example.

“There were many officers on the scene that simply pulled up and got out of the vehicle and were just standing by who had no physical contact at all with any of the three defendants who were arrested but we look into them.”

Minneapolis SWAT Team Raids Wrong House

MINNEAPOLIS — With her six kids and husband tucked into bed, Yee Moua was watching TV in her living room just after midnight when she heard voices — faint at first, then louder. Then came the sound of a window shattering.

Moua bolted upstairs, where her husband, Vang Khang, grabbed his shotgun from a closet, knelt and fired a warning shot through his doorway as he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. He let loose with two more blasts. Twenty-two bullets were fired back at him, by the family's count.

Then things suddenly became clear.

"It's the police! Police!" his sons yelled.

Khang, a Hmong immigrant with shaky command of English, set down his gun, raised his hands and was soon on the ground, an officer's boot on his neck.

The gunmen, it turned out, were members of a police SWAT team that had raided the wrong address because of bad information from an informant — a mistake that some critics say happens all too frequently around the country and gets innocent people killed.

"I have six kids, and only one mistake almost took my kids' life," said Moua, 29. "We will never forget this."

No one was hurt in the raid Sunday, conducted by a task force that fights drugs and gangs, though two police officers were hit by the shotgun blasts and narrowly escaped injury because they were wearing bulletproof vests.

Police apologized to the family and placed the seven officers on leave while it investigates what went wrong.

Such mistakes are a fact of police work, some experts said.

"Does going to the wrong address happen from time to time? Yes," said John Gnagey, executive director of the National Tactical Officers Association in Doylestown, Pa. "Do you corroborate as best you can the information the informant gives you? Absolutely. But still from time to time mistakes are made."

One of the biggest botched raids in recent years happened in Atlanta in 2006, when police killed a 92-year-old woman in a hail of nearly 40 bullets after she fired a shot at what she thought were intruders. Police had gone to her house on a drug raid, but no drugs were found.

Prosecutors said that in obtaining a search warrant, Atlanta police falsely told a judge that an informant had confirmed drug dealing there. The scandal led to a shake-up in the department, two officers pleaded guilty to manslaughter and civil rights charges, and the city faces at least two lawsuits.

Reliable figures on the frequency of erroneous raids are hard to come by. Federal agencies, including the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service, said they do not keep track.

A study last year by the libertarian Cato Institute said: "Because of shoddy police work, over-reliance on informants, and other problems, each year hundreds of raids are conducted on the wrong addresses, bringing unnecessary terror and frightening confrontation to people never suspected of a crime."

Gnagey disputed the reliability of the research behind those figures, and said it is impossible to know whether they are too high or too low. He said no dependable estimates exist.

"Going to the wrong home is an extreme rarity," said Mark Robbins, a law enforcement professor at Minnesota State University, Mankato. "It's just unfortunate that when it does, it often ends up in violent and even tragic incidents."

In the Minneapolis case, the nature of the tip and precisely what police were looking for were not disclosed; they have not released the search warrant. And it was not clear how far off the mark the informant was in supplying the address.

No charges were brought against Khang, a laid-off machine operator who lives in crime-ridden north Minneapolis. Khang used the shotgun for hunting, said his brother, Dao Khang. In Minnesota, no license is required to own a shotgun.

Khang, who speaks some English but used an interpreter during an interview, said he does not remember hearing any calls of "Police!" until his sons shouted. He said he would never knowingly shoot at officers.

"That's why I reacted the way I did, to protect my family and two sons," said Khang, 34, whose children are ages 3 to 15.

Lt. Amelia Huffman, a police spokeswoman, said the information in the search warrant came from a source who had been reliable in the past.

Huffman said officers who routinely work on drug and gang cases are trained to try to corroborate their information. As for why the process didn't work this time, "that's one of the things the internal investigation will go through in exhaustive detail," she said.

The Hmong are hill people from Laos who aided the CIA during the Vietnam War by fighting the Viet Cong. Hmong refugees began arriving in Minnesota in the late 1970s, and there are perhaps 60,000 Hmong in Minnesota today.

The Khang family is living with relatives until the house gets cleaned up. The raid left six windows broken and walls and ceilings pocked with pellet and bullet holes.

"The whole family is badly shaken and still trying to understand what happened," Moua said.

Source: FoxNews

Police Beating in Philadelphia Caught on Video - Suspects had no weapons!!!!!!!!!!!

Philadelphia police, in shock over Saturday's murder of one of their own, are facing a probe over the violent beating of three shooting suspects by up to 15 officers - an arrest captured on video by a news helicopter hovering overhead. The beating, Monday night in North Philadelphia, is seen on roughly one minute of an 11-minute video that Fox29 broadcast early today and streamed over its Web site. Mayor Nutter and Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey today promised a full investigation of the beating, which the commissioner said might be related to the stress police personnel are under as they hunt for the fugitive wanted in Saturday's murder of Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski. Ramsey said the officers in the Fox29 video would be taken off street duty as soon as they were identified. Although police did not identify the three suspects in the video, Center City lawyer D. Scott Perrine announced today that he would represent all three at their bail hearings on charges to be lodged against them. Perrine identified one suspect as one of his long-standing clients, Dwayne Dyches, 24, and Brian Hall and Pete Hopkins. Perrine said they had been chased and apprehended without probable cause and called the beating "police conduct that should have stopped in the 1970s." "This was one of the most reprehensible displays of police brutality I have ever seen," he said. Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said officers had been on edge since Liczbinski was shot. In an incident two days later, video taken by a television news helicopter showed three suspects being kicked, punched and beaten after they were pulled out of a car following an unrelated shooting.

Baltimore cops V.S. skateboarder

Woman killed because of a marijuana seed in garbage.

At 4:30 a.m. on Jan. 21, 2005, Noel and her husband, Charles, were asleep in the master bedroom of their row house when the heavily-armed Baltimore County SWAT team stormed through her home. According to the suit, officers had found “trace amounts of drugs”(marijuana seed) in trash cans outside of the home.

Cheryl Noel feared criminal intruders had broken into her home and grabbed a lawfully registered gun and held it pointed at the floor, the suit states.

Artson kicked in her bedroom door with his boot and, without identifying himself or telling Noel to drop her weapon, shot her three times, including once after she already had slumped to the floor, according to the suit.

“The use of a SWAT team to execute a routine drug warrant was excessive and overkill,” Roberts said. “The woman never knew the police had entered her home. She was doing everything that could be expected of a law-abiding citizen to protect her own life. She was shot and killed without any warning that the police were present or to drop her gun.”

Roberts said his clients “vigorously dispute” arguments that Noel was pointing her gun at the police officer when the officer shot her.

“Clearly, a third shot was wholly unnecessary and grossly excessive,” he said.

Baltimore County Police spokesman William Toohey said police did nothing wrong and the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s backs the officers.

“The State’s Attorney’s Office ruled that the shooting was justified,” he said.

After 50 Shots: Detectives In Sean Bell Case Acquitted Of All Criminal Charges

"I've got to get out of here," Paultre Bell said.

Justice Arthur Cooperman was announcing the verdict clearing Detectives Michael Oliver and Gescard Isnora of manslaughter, assault and reckless endangerment in the death of Sean Bell.

Detective Marc Cooper was cleared of reckless endangerment.

"What we saw in court today was not a miscarriage of justice," the Rev. Al Sharpton said on his radio program.

"Justice didn't miscarry," he said. "This was an abortion of justice. Justice was aborted."

Sharpton, who has been advising Bell's family, had called for calm Wednesday.

Bell, 23, died in November 2006 in a 50-bullet barrage -- 31 fired by Oliver -- hours before he was to be married. Two of his companions were wounded in the gunfire outside a Queens nightclub.

Alexander Jason, an expert witness for the defense, produced a video demonstrating how quickly Oliver could have fired off 31 rounds, including a pause to reload.

The three officers made brief statements more than four hours after the verdict.

"I want to say sorry to Bell family for the tragedy," Cooper said.

Isnora thanked the judge "for his fair and accurate decision today."

Oliver praised Cooperman "for a fair and just decision."

That's not how one community leader viewed it.

"This case was not about justice," declared Leroy Gadsden, chair of the police/community relations committee of the Jamaica Branch NAACP. "This case was about the police having a right to be above the law. If the law was in effect here, if the judge had followed the law truly, these officers would have been found guilty.

"This court, unfortunately, is bankrupt when it comes to justice for people of color."

Patrick Lynch, president of the New York Police Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, said "there's no winners; there's no losers" in the case.

"We still have a death that occurred. We still have police officers that have to live with the fact that there was a death involved in their case," Lynch said.

But, he added, the verdict assured police officers that they will be treated fairly in New York's courts.

Many people outside the courthouse saw it differently.

"You can't be proud of wearing that hat. You can't be proud of wearing that badge," a black woman shouted at a black police officer. "You must stop working for the masters! Stand down! Stop working for the masters!"

"Fifty shots is murder. I don't care what you say. That's what it is," another woman said.

Despite the evident anger and a brief fistfight, the crowd remained generally orderly.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg issued a statement saying, "An innocent man lost his life, a bride lost her groom, two daughters lost their father, and a mother and a father lost their son. No verdict could ever end the grief that those who knew and loved Sean Bell suffer."

However, he said, the legal system must be respected.

"America is a nation of laws, and though not everyone will agree with the verdicts and opinions issued by the courts, we accept their authority."

Bloomberg also said he had spoken briefly with Paultre Bell on Wednesday and agreed with her on the need to ensure that similar incidents would not occur in the future.

Queens County District Attorney Richard A. Brown echoed the mayor's sentiments.

"I accept his verdict, and I urge certainly that all fair-minded people in this city to the same," Brown said.

"The bottom line is that all of us working together -- the law enforcement community, our elected public officials, our individuals who are involved -- have got to make certain that that which occurred ... is never again repeated."

In announcing the verdict, Cooperman said he found problems with the prosecution's case. He said some prosecution witnesses contradicted themselves, and he cited prior convictions and incarcerations of witnesses.

"At times, the testimony just didn't make sense," Cooperman said, according to a transcript released by his office.

He also cited the demeanor of some witnesses on the stand.

Bell was killed just before dawn on his wedding day, November 25, 2006. He and several friends were winding up an all-night bachelor party at the Kalua Club in Queens, a strip club that was under investigation by a NYPD undercover unit looking into complaints of guns, drugs and prostitution.

Undercover detectives were inside the club, and plainclothes officers were stationed outside.

Witnesses said that about 4 a.m., closing time, as Bell and his friends left the club, an argument broke out. Believing that one of Bell's friends, Joseph Guzman, was going to get a gun from Bell's car, one of the undercover detectives followed the men and called for backup.

What happened next was at the heart of the trial, prosecuted by the assistant district attorney in Queens.

Bell, Guzman and Trent Benefield got into the car, with Bell at the wheel. The detectives drew their weapons, said Guzman and Benefield, who testified that they never heard the plainclothes detectives identify themselves as police.

Bell was in a panic to get away from the armed men, his friends testified.

But the detectives thought Bell was trying to run down one of them, believed that their lives were in danger and started shooting, according to their lawyers.

A total of 50 bullets were fired by five NYPD officers. Only three were charged with crimes.

No gun was found near Bell or his friends.

Paultre Bell, Guzman and Benefield have filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in federal court that has been stayed pending the outcome of the criminal trial.

Federal prosecutors will conduct a review to determine whether there were any civil rights violations, Brown said.

Source: CNN

Police Brutality at Drive Thru in Ohio

Murder charges for defending home.

On the night of January 17, 2008, a police SWAT team surrounded Ryan Frederick´s home in Chesapeake, Va. The police were there to serve a drug warrant based on a tip from a criminal informant.

As usual, 28 year-old Ryan Frederick had gone to sleep early in order to leave the house before dawn for his job with a soda distributor. He awoke to a commotion of screams and the distinct sound of someone breaking down his front door.

Frederick´s house had been broken into a few days earlier, being a slight man of only a little over 100 pounds, Frederick feared for his safety. After the break-in, he purchased a gun.

Understandably frightened, Frederick grabbed his gun and when he got to the front of his house, he saw a man trying to crawl through the bottom portion of his door. Terrified that the intruders had returned, he fired.

The man he shot was not an aggressive burglar, nor a drug-crazed murderer, he was Det. Jarrod Shivers. The police detective and military veteran died almost immediately. Frederick was charged with first-degree murder and now sits in a jail cell awaiting trial.

As for the marijuana-growing operation for which police were looking, nothing was found. Only a very small amount of marijuana was discovered on the Frederick property, only enough to charge him with misdemeanor possession. Frederick has admitted that he uses marijuana occasionally but has never been involved with producing nor selling the drug.

Ryan Frederick has no prior history of violence, nor any criminal history whatsoever. He took care of his grandmother until her death two years ago, had a full-time job, and recently became engaged. In his spare time, he worked in his yard and tended to his Koi pond…Not quite the drug kingpin type!

However, based solely on the word of an informant, police obtained a warrant and stormed into this man´s house in the dark of night. The information turned out to be false, a police officer and father of three is dead, and a decent young man´s life is now over.

When Ryan Frederick awoke to the sounds of his home being invaded, he did what many of us would do. He acted reasonably when he grabbed his gun to defend himself and fired at a man who he believed was breaking into his home to do him harm.

Had the police simply went to his home during the daytime and knocked on his door, they could have questioned Frederick and found their information to be groundless. A little traditional police work could have saved the life of a police officer and the Shivers and Frederick families would have remained whole.

The Ryan Frederick story is truly frightening because this same scenario could play itself out in your home or mine. In the age of militarized police departments, we are all in danger.