TheAgitator.com
New Professionalism Roundup
Wednesday, December 19th, 2007• Two reports from USA Today. One shows a steep climb in the number of federal prosecutions of police brutality case. The other, a disturbing example of why federal prosecutions are sometimes necessary. In this case, jury deference to police officers and local prosecutors’ inability to get police to testify against other officers (stop snitchin’, anyone?) resulted in acquittal of seven officers accused of severely beating of two Milwaukee men. Federal prosecutors were able to secure a conviction. I should add here that the federal involvement doesn’t particularly bother me in these cases. Police officers are government officials. And the Fourteenth Amendment allows for the federal government to intervene when state and local governments are violating civil rights. Same reason I’d be more than happy if the FBI’s investigation of public corruption in the Rack ‘n’ Roll case results in federal charges.
• Little nugget pulled from this Slate Explainer piece on suspected wife-killing cop Drew Peterson:
New evidence suggests that Peterson used official law-enforcement databases to check up on his fourth wife and her associates before she disappeared. Peterson’s attorney says it was common practice for Bolingbrook police to run checks for friends and family, and to run prank names to alleviate boredom.
• Charlottesville, Virginia cop loses his temper with a couple of jaywalkers, roughs them up. That would include shoving to the ground a woman who later discovered she was pregnant at the time. Witnesses say the police officer was clearly the aggressor. So guess who’s facing charges?
• Here’s at least one story resulting in a just resolution: The city of Denver has agreed to pay $900,000 to the family of a man shot and killed by a Denver cop. Frank Lobato was killed when Denver police mistakenly entered his home looking for someone else. Officer Ranjan Ford apparently mistook a soda can Lobato was holding for a gun, and shot and killed him.
• Details are sketchy, because the prosecutor and police department aren’t talking much, but a Montana police officer has been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing by a grand jury after shooting and killing a man during a road rage altercation while he was off duty. The incident apparently started when someone in a truck flicked a cigarette out the window, which landed on the cop’s personal vehicle. He then approached the truck out of uniform, an altercation ensued, and ended up shooting one of the men in the truck twice. The officers was the only one of the three men with a weapon. Make of it what you will. Something tells me that if a regular person instigated a road rage confrontation that ended with him shooting and killing someone, he likely wouldn’t have gotten off so easy.
C’mon, Radley, they’re just like you and me, only better.
Here in North Alabama an officer was recently shot and killed while responding to a routine traffic stop. This is a sad thing. However the way it has been covered by the local media disgusts me in that the whole affair is being treated as if Superman had been killed. It just shows that to most of the people of this country the Police are special and apart from the rest of us.
You know the score, pal. If you’re not cop, you’re little people.
We need a system that allows groups like the Institute for Justice and ACLU to bring criminal charges against government officials. Groups like the IJ and ACLU should be able to supply their own prosecution in corruption cases, so that we are not utterly dependent on the system working.
In fact, I would go a step farther, and suggest that we abolish the position of state prosecutor altogether and go to a system where prosecutors are simply contractors who are on at-will employment, and the only permanent positions are public defenders.
The “Montana” police officer is actually a Colorado cop, with a last name of Montana, who shot someone from Montana. (Strange and confusing.)
“Montana was treated for facial injuries at a hospital. His blood was also taken to determine whether he was intoxicated, Davis said.”
I really, really, realllllly hope the family’s lawyer can get their hands on the blood test, or the blood itself, to have it retested.
I am in favor of the death penalty, but only if it is applied to crooked cops. It might actually work as a deterrent there.
The two folks in C’ville were at least found not guilty of all charges according to Virginia’s judicial website.
When a person is brought before a grand jury for indictment for a homicide, why is their occupation relevant to the grand jury’s decision. Why did they even know he was a cop?
“I am in favor of the death penalty, but only if it is applied to crooked cops. It might actually work as a deterrent there.”
Or it could lead more killings as cops decide to eliminate any witnesses (since they’d already be facing death for the initial murder.)
I suspect that even if the cop if found to have alcohol and/or drugs in his system he won’t even be charged with that. The incredible double standard is proof that our system is broken. I like the idea of the prosocuters for hire but that would obviously encourage even more manufacturing of evidence to increase conviction rates. Go figure, justice for the innocent is fleeting unless you have proof of being in another state at the time. Then you might just be charged with conspiracy.
I like the idea of private prosecutors as well, but don’t forget, the Bill of Rights only applies with respect to the government (or individuals acting as agents or at the behest of the government). Private prosecutions would necessitate these agencies being deputized in some form and/or required to follow all the same procedural rules as the state and that could likely become very onerous. Afterall, if the potential punishment is prison all the BoR rights apply, privae prosecutor or not.
I would love to see some way to make it easier to take the decision to prosecute corrupt officials out of the hands of OTHER officials, but just wanted to point out that handing it over to private groups raises a host of dilemnas. This is why the Feds are a good solution if only they would make this a bigger priority.
I like the idea of private prosecutors as well,
Imagine what the lobbying business would look like then! You think we have a fucked up system now….
Something tells me that if a regular person instigated a road rage confrontation that ended with him shooting and killing someone, he likely wouldn’t have gotten off so easy.”
That really depends on how much justice you can afford.
Here’s some professionalism: A former Hamden, Ct detective is charged with counterfeiting. Interesting.
http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=7517225
While searching for the results of the Charlottesville trial, I came upon yet another tale of misconduct from Beaver Village, OH:
http://www.nationalexpositor.com/News/518.html
Sadly, Radley, the light at the end of the tunnel seems to be an oncoming train.
911 call in the Charlottesville case:
http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2007/12/18/austin-silva-911-tape-released/
The Charlottesville case also had an interesting freedom of the press angle:
http://www.readthehook.com/stories/2007/12/06/NEWS-SIDE-BrutalityAccuserscourteney-A.rtf.aspx