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Not to put too a fine point on it Blitz, but there IS a bit of a difference between accused and convicted...why not wait till the courts rule before you rant? Just a thought.
 
Cops: On Duty Officer Raped Young Woman On Squad Car

"SAN ANTONIO - Friday morning. On duty. Full Uniform. Marked Squad Car. Officer Jackie Neal, 40, made a traffic stop and then allegedly sexually assaulted a 19-year-old woman, according to the San Antonio Police Department.

Police said the 11-year veteran pulled the victim over on the south side and managed to get her to stand behind his squad car. San Antonio police Chief William McM**** described the events that followed as "unthinkable."

An investigation was opened after the victim contacted police. According to a statement issued by the department, Neal was taken into custody by SAPD Special Victims' Unit detectives after officers pulled him over around 2 a.m. Saturday. He was arrested on a warrant for sexual assault, a second-degree felony.

"I am angry. I am outraged. It's a punch in the eye to the police department, this kind of conduct," McM**** said. "We won't tolerate it for a second. And I think the swiftness of the investigation and the arrest is indicative of that."

Neal has been placed on administrative leave with pay, in accordance with department protocol. If indicted, the pay would cease. He was released from custody Saturday morning at 7:25 a.m.

He was suspended in September, according to an agenda for the San Antonio Police and Firefighter Civil Service Commission, but circumstances surrounding that suspension have not been made clear. "


Oops... sorry, that was already posted.
 
Advocate: Decision reeks, beyond a reasonable doubt - Times Union

"Outrageous and inexplicable.

Those are the words — among other choice adjectives — that jump to mind after Justice Lisa Anne Proskin's stunning refusal to convict Albany police officer Brian Lutz for DWI.

This was a stomach-turning decision, a brazen disregard for objectivity and an affront to anyone who wants to curb drunk driving.

Let's look at the facts, as laid out in a Menands Village Court trial that ended Thursday. In December 2010, Lutz is sleeping behind the wheel of an SUV parked in the right lane of I-787. The driver-side door is open, and there's vomit on the road. It's just before 6 a.m.

Let that sink in. Lutz's car is stopped IN A HIGHWAY LANE in the morning darkness. It's a miracle some poor soul didn't crash into him.

Menands officer Thomas Johnson, according to his testimony, rouses Lutz and tells him to get the SUV "on the (bleeping)-ing shoulder." The order makes sense, since I'm sure Johnson didn't want to question Lutz while standing IN A HIGHWAY LANE.

What does Lutz do?

He drives away, exiting 787 and stopping in a Price Chopper parking lot. Lutz likely knew if he stayed on the highway a.) his car could be towed and b.) a state trooper might pull up and insist on his arrest.

It was a savvy move, but I wouldn't advise it. If you're not a cop and you drive away from a traffic stop, I'm guessing you'll soon be face down on the pavement. Nothing like that happened to Lutz. But when he failed a sobriety test, showing blood-alcohol of 0.21, Menands police did the right thing and arrested him. At the station, things really got to be fun. That's where a camera captured Lutz pleading — "Why are you doing this to me?" he said, slurring his words — and the arrival of a police union president and another off-duty Albany officer. With unfettered access to Lutz in the booking room, and apparently unaware of the camera, the pair told their colleague how to limit the self-inflicted damage.

They advised Lutz not "to blow," meaning he should refuse the more formal blood-alcohol test. Since the field test isn't admissible in court, why provide such damning proof? Not that there wasn't plenty of other evidence, including the embarrassing video.

At trial, every witness — four officers — testified Lutz appeared drunk. Lutz himself even admitted he'd been drinking that night. He also told internal affairs investigators he was under the influence, he said. But none of this swayed the judge, who convicted Lutz only on the lesser driving while ability impaired charge, a non-criminal violation.

"The proof was not beyond a reasonable doubt," said Proskin, who may also doubt that Earth is round, dogs chase cats and Alex Rodriguez took steroids. It makes you wonder if anything could have convinced her, short of Lutz taking the stand and saying, "Dude, I was hammered!"

"The evidence was overwhelming," said Assistant District Attorney Mary Tanner-Richter, an experienced DWI prosecutor. "I've never had more evidence in a case like this."

Here's an unfortunate lesson provided by Proskin's decision: Drunk drivers should refuse a blood-alcohol test and its nearly irrefutable evidence. If judges are going to set the reasonable-doubt bar so insanely high, nobody who does so can be convicted for DWI. Another lesson is that police shouldn't bother arresting drunk cops. No officer wants to testify against another, and why bother if you can't get a conviction? It isn't worth the trouble.

The case also shows the continuing resistance to stricter DWI policies put in place by District Attorney David Soares, who has imposed mandatory penalties for the most egregious drunk drivers. Defense attorneys hate the rules, because they can't negotiate deals. The lawyers can't do much for their paying clients. Well, there's an exception. If a lawyer can get the case in front of a sympathetic judge, one who ignores overwhelming evidence, that changes everything.

Calling Justice Proskin!!

Was Proskin's ruling intended as a thumb-in-the-eye to Soares? We'll probably never know. But she seemed hostile to Tanner-Richter and generous to Lutz's attorney during the trial. And when Proskin's not a part-time judge, she's a lawyer for a firm that handles DWI cases. The Proskin Law Firm was founded by her father, Arnold Proskin, a former DA and state legislator.

Those facts make it easy to see Proskin's ruling as a victory for Albany County's club of legal insiders at the expense of Menands Police and everyone who wants safer roads and fewer drunk drivers.

The decision reeks."
 
Ind. officer convicted in 2010 fatal crash

"FORT WAYNE, Ind. — An Indianapolis police officer was found guilty Tuesday of driving drunk and reckless homicide in a 2010 vehicle accident that killed one motorcyclist and severely injured two others.

David Bisard, a 12-year Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department veteran, was found guilty of nine felony counts for an August 2010 vehicle accident that killed motorcyclist Eric Wells, 30, and critically injured bikers Kurt Weekly and Mary Mills. The canine unit officer crashed his squad car into the victims on Indianapolis' Northeastside while he was rushing to assist other officers on a non-emergency call.

Bisard faced reckless homicide, criminal recklessness, drunken driving and other charges in the crash.

Bisard faces up to 20 years in prison for the most serious charge, killing someone while driving with a blood alcohol content above 0.15%, a class B felony. The legal limit to drive in Indiana is 0.08%. He will be sentenced Nov. 26 by Superior Court Judge John Surbeck in Allen County, Ind., where the trial was moved because of intense publicity in Indianapolis.

The case has haunted the victims' families, the police department and Indianapolis for more than three years, resulting in the resignation of the police chief over the handling of Bisard's blood sample.

The case focused on whether Bisard was drunk at the time of the crash and whether blood samples taken during the investigation were mishandled.

Prosecutors said tests showed Bisard had a blood alcohol level of 0.19% the day of the crash. But defense attorneys challenged those results, arguing that the blood was drawn at an unauthorized facility and that two vials had been mishandled.

As Bisard left the courthouse Tuesday, he said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's not true."

Bisard's attorney, John Kautzman, said, "My client is devastated, as is his family."

Kautzman declined to say whether he would appeal. "We respect the process but disagree with the jury verdict."

As the verdict was read, Wells' mother, Mary,held back tears and rubbed the back of her husband, Aaron.

"All nine," she said. "All nine."

Aaron Wells said the sweeping verdict "somewhat surprised" him "because we had been preparing ourselves for something less.

INTERACTIVE: Timeline of events in David Bisard case

"You want to jump for joy, but at the same time there is nothing to be joyous about except that justice has been served."

The verdict "sends a strong message to (the police department) and other law enforcement agencies that they will be held accountable," Aaron Wells said.

Indianapolis Police Chief Rick Hite said that the verdict provides a sense of closure for the victims and the case has provided many lessons for his department.

"It has been a long and difficult three years for the victims in this case and for our city," Hite said in a statement. "We hope that today's verdict provides some level of closure for those that have been affected. IMPD learned many lessons through this incident, and as a result, we have made policy changes commensurate with the new direction of the department. Because of these changes we are a better police department."

Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said in a statement that there is "no reason to celebrate today."

"The events of August 6, 2010, are without question a tragedy for all involved. It is an unimaginable tragedy for the family of Eric Wells -- his wife Luisa and his parents Aaron and Mary. It is a horrible tragedy for Mary Mills and Kurt Weekly, whose lives are forever altered. But it is also a tragedy for the family of Officer Bisard, Officer Bisard himself, and our police department.

"We take no pleasure in prosecuting a police officer, and it certainly should never be suggested that Officer Bisard is an evil person. However, all of us -- whether a police officer, attorney, teacher, or otherwise -- must accept responsibility for our actions. The message of the jury's verdict is that Officer Bisard must accept such responsibility and be held accountable for his actions on that day."

Bisard was initially free on bond and was allowed to keep his driver's license while awaiting trial. But he was ordered jailed after his arrest in April on misdemeanor drunken driving charges after a pickup truck he was driving ran into a guard rail along a winding, narrow road in Indianapolis. No one was injured.

A blood test showed he had a blood alcohol level of 0.22%, according to court documents.

Bisard has been suspended without pay since the crash. Public Safety Director Troy Riggs said the department would move to fire him now that the verdict is in.

Deputy Prosecutor Denise Robinson said she had not considered what sentence to impose.

"He has no criminal history, so that has to be taken into account," said Robinson."
 
Spokane police officer convicted in fatal beating - latimes.com

"A former Los Angeles police officer working in Spokane, Wash., was convicted by a federal jury Wednesday of using excessive force in the beating of a mentally ill man who died after being struck with batons, hogtied, shocked and smothered.

The officer, Karl F. Thompson Jr., was convicted of civil rights violations and obstruction charges stemming from what federal authorities called an "extensive cover-up" within the Spokane Police Department after the 2006 incident.

The victim, Otto Zehm, 36, who was developmentally disabled and taking medication for schizophrenia, was accosted by the officer in a convenience store after being suspected, wrongly, of taking money from a nearby ATM.

He had just picked up a soda bottle when Thompson rushed up to him and unleashed a hail of blows with a baton, federal prosecutors said.

Zehm's last words, witnesses testified, were,"All I wanted was a Snickers."
The trial was held in Yakima to avoid the tumultuous publicity that has rocked the Police Department, where Thompson was once considered a potential candidate to become police chief.

"The defendant was given considerable power to enforce the law, but instead he abused his authority when he brutally beat an innocent man," Thomas E. Perez, assistant U.S. attorney general for civil rights, said in a statement after the verdict.

Prosecutors said Thompson was acting on a vague report from some teenagers who had seen Zehm behaving in an odd manner at a nearby ATM. They said they weren't sure whether any money had been taken. It turned out Zehm was probably trying to figure out how to cash his paycheck, which was found in his pocket.

Security video from the convenience store introduced at trial showed Thompson running into the store and drawing his baton as he ran at Zehm from behind. Witnesses testified that Zehm appeared to be unaware that anyone was approaching him as he picked up the soda to purchase.

Less than 2.5 seconds after Zehm turned to see Thompson running toward him, the police officer delivered two baton blows to his head, knocking him backward to the floor, according to the prosecution and witness testimony.

"Witnesses testified that Thompson then stood over the victim and fired Taser probes down into [his] chest as he was in the fetal position on the floor beneath him," the prosecution said in a statement. "The victim never returned to his feet, but Thompson continued to deliver overhand baton blows, including a final flurry of seven baton strikes in eight seconds."

Several other officers arrived as backup, and Zehm was hogtied on the floor, his face covered by a plastic mask, purportedly to keep him from spitting at the officers, according to court documents. Within minutes, he stopped breathing. He was revived and hospitalized but never regained consciousness. He was pronounced dead two days later. The cause of death was lack of oxygen to his brain.

Thompson, 64, testified that he had considered the soda bottle in Zehm's hand a potential weapon, and that he beat and shocked him in a difficult attempt to subdue him before he could rise and threaten police officers.

"I gave him commands. They were quick, but he gave me quick responses," Thompson testified, according to the Spokane Spokesman-Review. "It was 'Why' [did I want him to drop the soda bottle] and 'No.' "

"It was a profound tragedy for his family, his friends, for me," Thompson testified.

The officer worked for the Los Angeles Police Department from 1969 into the 1970s, prosecutors said, when, like many ex-Los Angeles police officers, he moved to northern Idaho. He joined the Spokane department's patrol division in 1997.

Thompson was never charged with killing Zehm. Instead, he was charged under federal civil rights laws. The jury convicted him of violating Zehm's civil rights by using excessive force and of making a false statement. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine, but prosecutors are likely to seek less time.

Thompson's attorney, Carl Oreskovich, told the Spokesman-Review after the verdict, "This is not over."

"I am surprised and stunned by the outcome of this case," he said. "We believe Officer Thompson is an innocent man. We are going to keep fighting for him. This is a devastating day for him and us."

Zehm's cousin, Dale Zehm, told reporters in Spokane that the family was "relieved and grateful" after the verdict.

"The family is relieved that the system worked and that Otto's death was not ignored," he said. "We now hope for ... real healing in the community and a change in ... how officers are trained and supervised, [so] that each officer knows that people like Otto deserve respect and protection of the laws." "
 
Former Officer Convicted Of Assaulting Handcuffed Inmate « CBS Pittsburgh

"PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A former police officer has been convicted of throwing a handcuffed prisoner into a holding cell, causing the man serious injury.

Video from the Avalon Police Department jail shows former officer Walter Johnson bringing a suspect into a jail cell last April.

With both of his hands handcuffed behind his back, the video shows Officer Johnson literally throwing an assault suspect at the time, identified as Robert Zilagee, across the jail cell.

You cannot see the impact on surveillance video; however, in reports investigators say the victim was thrown with such force "as to cause him to leave his feet, hurtling head-first toward the floor and near the rear of the holding cell."

The report goes on to say the victim had "dislocated fractures of the mandible (jaw), lacerations on the chin and left cheek, and loose teeth. A tooth was found lodged in the victim's airway."

The surveillance video shows the Zilagee sitting in a pool of blood on the cell floor.

He was taken to the hospital shortly after the incident.

Johnson has now been convicted of simple assault and official oppression.

The fired officer will report to the Allegheny County Jail in January to serve a two-week sentence and will also serve two years of probation.

The Avalon Police chief originally reported his concerns about the incident last year, and his department provided the surveillance video to investigators.

Johnson had a non-jury trial that lasted two days. He had no comment as he left the courthouse."
 
Sometimes. But hundreds if not thousands of bad LEOs need to be fired, made to pay a huge fine and serves time in prison as well. The majority of the bad LEOs get away with their evil acts, don't be fooled by the few posts here.
 
Not to put too a fine point on it Blitz, but there IS a bit of a difference between accused and convicted...why not wait till the courts rule before you rant? Just a thought.


With the way the court system works with the D. A. And if they held the cops to the same standard as civilians I wold agree with you but we have seen videos where the cops were completely in the wrong but the D. A. said no charges will be brought about. So since they are held to a different standard in court, they should be held to a different standard on forums like this. So Blits is right spot on with his post.
 
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