Independent Investigation of Milwaukee PD Is Urged

[WaTcHeR]

04/17/2006 - MILWAUKEE - Religious leaders called for an independent investigation of the Milwaukee police department following the acquittal of three former police officers of beating a man.

More than 500 people attended a meeting Sunday night hosted by several dozen black ministers just days after the acquittal of the former officers, all white, in the beating of Frank Jude Jr., who is biracial.

The ministers urged legislators to craft a law that would require the firing of any officer who witnesses another officer commit a crime and does not report it.

The ministers also called for an independent investigator to look at claims of police misconduct.

"There is never any reason why the people we pay to protect our community ... (should) feel like they have the right to kick and pull knives on you," said Milwaukee Bishop Sedgwick Daniels of Holy Redeemer Institutional Church of God in Christ. "We will not be silenced."

The Milwaukee Police Accountability Coalition said it has 2,300 signed petitions calling for a Civilian Review Board, made of elected members, to review complaints against police officers. The group has scheduled a news conference for Monday morning outside the Milwaukee County Courthouse.

Daniels told the crowd Sunday night that it should stay calm but ask for change in the Milwaukee Police Department.

"This is not Birmingham, Ala. We're not getting ready to go down Martin Luther King Boulevard and destroy our own buildings," he said.

Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann and Mayor Tom Barrett both addressed the crowd at the request of the religious leaders.

McCann said many white people had asked him how the jury could acquit the officers.

"This isn't an issue that black people saw differently from white people," said McCann, calling the Friday night verdicts a "mockery of justice."

The district attorney, who was to meet Monday with U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic today to discuss the possibility of federal charges against the former officers, said the Police Department must change from within so officers will not be ostracized if they speak out against their colleagues.

Barrett said he was shocked by the acquittals, and said it was time the state law that allows fired Milwaukee police officers to continue to receive paychecks while appealing their dismissal is changed.

"There are many that feel that justice died on Friday in Milwaukee. But it's not over yet. We must persevere," the mayor said.

[WaTcHeR]

A jury of all crackers finds white police officers that beat black man "innocent," this truly must be America!

[WaTcHeR]

04/24/2006 - MILWAUKEE - An all-White jury delivered a verdict of “not guilty” Mar. 14 to three White former police officers in the beating of Frank Jude Jr., who is Black, by The Milwaukee County jury deadlocked on one of the five charges, while acquitting the men of wrongdoing in the remaining four.

Mr. Jude, 27, was severely beaten after an off-duty police party Oct. 24, 2004 in a predominantly White suburb on the city’s south side. He allegedly grabbed an officer’s badge, which resulted in the attack. The badge was never found in the investigation.

Ex-officers Jon Bartlett, Andrew Spengler and Daniel Masarik sat unemotionally as Circuit Judge David Hansher read the verdict to a packed courtroom before midnight, after the jury had deliberated for over 25 hours.

U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic indicated that his office would immediately begin reviewing the case for possible federal charges. He has already met with District Attorney E. Michael McCann and plans to quickly move for possible criminal prosecution.

All three former police officers were cleared of being a party to a crime of substantial battery. Ex-officers Bartlett and Masarik were also cleared of being a party to a crime of second-degree recklessly endangering safety. Mr. Bartlett still faces further court action on a battery charge.

Police Chief Nannette Hegerty said that an internal investigation would be started to review the validity of the officers’ statements after the trial.

Atty. McCann constantly berated on a ‘police code of silence” during the 13-day trial, noting that a half-dozen non-police witnesses saw kicking and beating, while all of the eight police witnesses who testified for the defense claim that they did not see that. Yet, Mr. Jude’s face was beaten to the point that he required reconstructive facial surgery.

During a Mar. 16 town hall meeting, Atty. McCann called the case a “mockery of justice” and vehemently indicated that there must be a change. “It’s time to tear down the walls of silence in the Milwaukee Police Department.” He concluded by stating that Mr. Jude was a victim of “police perjury.” He also argued that it was a “cover-up case,” after suffering his first defeat in a felony jury trial in his 42-year prosecuting career.

Ald. Michael McGee Jr. led hundreds of people who packed the town hall meeting at Holy Redeemer Church of God in Christ by vocalizing to the chanting of irate residents: “No justice, no peace!”

Mayor Tom Barrett said he was “shocked and outraged” by the verdicts and indicated that justice had not been rendered. “Frank Jude (Jr.) was beaten, and beaten bad,” he declared.

The jury case was the largest criminal case involving police officers in Milwaukee in at least 25 years. Defense attorneys succeeded in removing the last two Blacks from the jury pool because they said they were not attentive during jury questioning. In a statement released after the verdict, the Milwaukee branch of the NAACP stated that the all-White jury brought focus to “flaws in the justice system.”

“A system that accommodates the exclusion of African Americans and Latinos from jury service is wrong,” the statement read in part. “We believe people of all colors can be objective. We demand that the jury selection process include more African Americans and Latinos.”

Defense attorney Gerald Boyle, who defended Mr. Bartlett, reflected: “We are elated with the outcome of this case.” He also inferred that the racial make-up of the jury had nothing to do with the outcome. “They were all human beings,” he stressed. “I don’t think it has anything to do with color.”

All former police officers cleared in the case will continue to draw full pay and benefits under a state law unique to Milwaukee police, until a final ruling by the Fire and Police Commission on any appeal of a termination. Each of the officers charged in the beating has drawn more than $60,000 in pay and benefits since being fired. In all, 13 Milwaukee police officers were fired or disciplined for their roles in the case.

Religious leaders convened at the church to calm residents and keep the peace in the streets so that they would not destroy the communities in which they live by rioting.

Mr. Jude’s attorney, Johnathan Safran lamented that his client was “sick to his stomach,” “depressed about what happened,” “devastated and disgusted and felt violated again.”