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Post by WaTcHeR on Apr 18, 2006 12:56:41 GMT -5
04/18/2006 - Even though the hit-and-run case against a Davis teenager has been dropped, her family says they are going to file a civil suit against the Davis Police Department on allegations of ethnic bias.
In June 2005, a witness reported to police seeing an SUV hit a parked car and drive off. A Davis police officer investigating the report believed then 16-year-old Halema Buzayan was driving. The family said it was the mother.
Six days later the officer came to the Buzayan home, took Halema Buzayan, who was in her pajamas, from her home and arrested her for misdemeanor hit-and-run.
The Buzayans paid $870 for the vehicle damage shortly after the incident. In one court hearing the victim of the parking lot fender-bender testified on Halema Buzayan's behalf. On Monday, 10 months after the incident, a Yolo County Superior Court judge dismissed the case.
The Buzayans believe they were investigated and prosecuted differently because they are Muslim. They have the support of community activists who last week petitioned the Davis City Council to create an oversight commission for the police department. "When the community showed up they really provided a comfort that kind of made up for the discomfort caused by the police department," said Halema Buzayan. "So it meant so much to me and it was such a wonderful feeling."
The council has yet to respond to the commission proposal but earlier this year established a citizen's advisory panel to meet with the Davis police chief monthly.
The Buzayans say they will file a civil complaint against the Davis Police Department for abuse of process. They said they may also seek to charge the Yolo County District Attorney with malicious prosecution, violations of the Fourth Amendment and the California Constitution.
The district attorney's office did not answer questions about the Buzayan case. The police department has told The Davis Enterprise it handled the Buzayan case no differently than other juvenile hit-and-run arrests it made last year.
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Post by WaTcHeR on Apr 18, 2006 12:56:41 GMT -5
04/18/2006 - Even though the hit-and-run case against a Davis teenager has been dropped, her family says they are going to file a civil suit against the Davis Police Department on allegations of ethnic bias.
In June 2005, a witness reported to police seeing an SUV hit a parked car and drive off. A Davis police officer investigating the report believed then 16-year-old Halema Buzayan was driving. The family said it was the mother.
Six days later the officer came to the Buzayan home, took Halema Buzayan, who was in her pajamas, from her home and arrested her for misdemeanor hit-and-run.
The Buzayans paid $870 for the vehicle damage shortly after the incident. In one court hearing the victim of the parking lot fender-bender testified on Halema Buzayan's behalf. On Monday, 10 months after the incident, a Yolo County Superior Court judge dismissed the case.
The Buzayans believe they were investigated and prosecuted differently because they are Muslim. They have the support of community activists who last week petitioned the Davis City Council to create an oversight commission for the police department. "When the community showed up they really provided a comfort that kind of made up for the discomfort caused by the police department," said Halema Buzayan. "So it meant so much to me and it was such a wonderful feeling."
The council has yet to respond to the commission proposal but earlier this year established a citizen's advisory panel to meet with the Davis police chief monthly.
The Buzayans say they will file a civil complaint against the Davis Police Department for abuse of process. They said they may also seek to charge the Yolo County District Attorney with malicious prosecution, violations of the Fourth Amendment and the California Constitution.
The district attorney's office did not answer questions about the Buzayan case. The police department has told The Davis Enterprise it handled the Buzayan case no differently than other juvenile hit-and-run arrests it made last year.
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Post by WaTcHeR on Apr 22, 2006 14:50:39 GMT -5
04/22/2006 - GLENWOOD SPRINGS — An Eagle County Sheriff’s deputy allegedly got into a fist fight with a bar doorman early Friday morning, resulting in his arrest.
Dep. Craig Sjoerdsma, 42, was arrested by Glenwood Springs police on a misdemeanor charge of third-degree assault, said Glenwood police Chief Terry Wilson. Police continue to piece together information, but Wilson said a fist fight broke out at Club Roxie when the doorman tried to restrain Sjoerdsma.
The doorman suffered minor injuries and pressed charges against Sjoerdsma, who posted bail on a $1,000 bond after being taken to the Garfield County jail.
Wilson refused to say whether Sjoerdsma was drunk. Police are obtaining information from other witnesses, although additional charges are unlikely to be filed, Wilson said.
Whether Sjoerdsma will face consequences from the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office remains to be seen, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Kim Andree.
“At this time it’s a personnel issue,” Andree said. “We’ll make a decision whether there will be any consequences when the report is complete.”
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Post by WaTcHeR on Apr 22, 2006 14:50:39 GMT -5
04/22/2006 - GLENWOOD SPRINGS — An Eagle County Sheriff’s deputy allegedly got into a fist fight with a bar doorman early Friday morning, resulting in his arrest.
Dep. Craig Sjoerdsma, 42, was arrested by Glenwood Springs police on a misdemeanor charge of third-degree assault, said Glenwood police Chief Terry Wilson. Police continue to piece together information, but Wilson said a fist fight broke out at Club Roxie when the doorman tried to restrain Sjoerdsma.
The doorman suffered minor injuries and pressed charges against Sjoerdsma, who posted bail on a $1,000 bond after being taken to the Garfield County jail.
Wilson refused to say whether Sjoerdsma was drunk. Police are obtaining information from other witnesses, although additional charges are unlikely to be filed, Wilson said.
Whether Sjoerdsma will face consequences from the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office remains to be seen, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Kim Andree.
“At this time it’s a personnel issue,” Andree said. “We’ll make a decision whether there will be any consequences when the report is complete.”
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Post by WaTcHeR on Apr 22, 2006 15:38:33 GMT -5
04/22/2006 - A Minneapolis Park Police Officer has been arrested for attacking his wife.
Sixty-year-old Robert Allen Dehn was charged with misdemeanor domestic assault after being arrested in his Blaine, Minn., house. His 44-year-old wife, Tamara Dehn, said he attacked her.
Robert Dehn denies an assault, but Blaine police arrested him after finding probable cause.
Blaine Police Chief David Johnson said, "They saw marks on her body that were consistent with the assault she described."
For two years, Robert Dehn has been a uniformed Patrol Officer for the Minneapolis Park Police. Before that, he logged 28 years as an officer with the Minneapolis Police Department.
This isn't the first time he's been in trouble.
In 1994, WCCO-TV undercover cameras caught him spending hours in a bar and a strip club, instead of walking his downtown beat.
Plus he was seen sleeping in a movie theater while an assault occurred in its lobby. He was fired, but later reinstated after an appeal.
Dehn retired in 2003 and then applied to the Park Police Department a year later.
Lt. Ken Baribeau said, "We were aware of his history, but he'd been reinstated and worked for almost 10 more years, so we had no reason to disqualify him."
Dehn made his first court appearance Thursday at the Anoka County Courthouse. He pleaded not guilty.
The Minneapolis Park Police say they're conducting their own internal investigation and that Dehn will be assigned office duty while his case is pending.
If Dehn is convicted of the charge against him, he will lose his right to own or carry a firearm.
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Post by WaTcHeR on Apr 22, 2006 15:38:33 GMT -5
04/22/2006 - A Minneapolis Park Police Officer has been arrested for attacking his wife.
Sixty-year-old Robert Allen Dehn was charged with misdemeanor domestic assault after being arrested in his Blaine, Minn., house. His 44-year-old wife, Tamara Dehn, said he attacked her.
Robert Dehn denies an assault, but Blaine police arrested him after finding probable cause.
Blaine Police Chief David Johnson said, "They saw marks on her body that were consistent with the assault she described."
For two years, Robert Dehn has been a uniformed Patrol Officer for the Minneapolis Park Police. Before that, he logged 28 years as an officer with the Minneapolis Police Department.
This isn't the first time he's been in trouble.
In 1994, WCCO-TV undercover cameras caught him spending hours in a bar and a strip club, instead of walking his downtown beat.
Plus he was seen sleeping in a movie theater while an assault occurred in its lobby. He was fired, but later reinstated after an appeal.
Dehn retired in 2003 and then applied to the Park Police Department a year later.
Lt. Ken Baribeau said, "We were aware of his history, but he'd been reinstated and worked for almost 10 more years, so we had no reason to disqualify him."
Dehn made his first court appearance Thursday at the Anoka County Courthouse. He pleaded not guilty.
The Minneapolis Park Police say they're conducting their own internal investigation and that Dehn will be assigned office duty while his case is pending.
If Dehn is convicted of the charge against him, he will lose his right to own or carry a firearm.
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Post by WaTcHeR on Mar 14, 2006 11:39:22 GMT -5
03/16/2006 - NEW YORK - Two retired detectives accused of moonlighting as hit men for the mob went on trial Monday. Prosecutors say the men used their gold shields to kidnap and kill victims picked out by a Mafia underboss.
But a defense attorney said Louis Eppolito and Steven Caracappa were honest public servants targeted by mobsters intent on staying out of jail.
The mobsters "called each other tough guys, goodfellas, until the jail door shut," said attorney Bruce Cutler, best known for his defense of Gambino boss John Gotti, during a theatrical opening statement in federal court. "Then they wet their pants and called mommy - the government."
Eppolito, 57, and Caracappa, 64, are charged with racketeering, conspiracy and other charges for allegedly going on the payroll of Luchese family underboss Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso.
"The two men were not traditional mobsters," prosecutor Mitra Hormozi told the jury. "They were better. They could get away with murder because these two men were New York City police detectives."
The government says the men were involved in eight murders while working for Casso. In return, they helped him avoid arrest, warned him of impending investigations and committed killings for up to $65,000 a hit, Hormozi said.
The defendants listened intently during opening statements. The heavyset Eppolito leaned back in his chair, while the thinner Caracappa - known while on the job as "The Stick" - sat with pen in hand for taking notes.
Hormozi told the jury how the detectives arrested a mobster named Jimmy Hydell in 1986, then turned him over to Casso for execution and a $30,000 payoff.
That same year, the pair also provided the underboss with information to locate Nicholas Guido, a mobster involved in a murder plot against Casso, the prosecution says. The inaccurate tip led to an innocent man with the same name; he was killed in a hail of gunfire on Christmas Day 1986, authorities say.
Prosecutors say Casso referred to the former detectives as his "crystal ball."
Attorney Edward Hayes, representing Caracappa, rubbed his client's shoulders like a cornerman at a fight while addressing the jury. The courtroom was filled with reporters, the public and the defendants' family, and Hayes said his client welcomed the scrutiny.
"The government is trying to humiliate him. ... Good! Bring it on," he said.
Caracappa spent 23 years with the New York Police Department, helping establish its nerve center for Mafia murder investigations before retiring in 1992.
Eppolito grew up in a mob family: His father, grandfather and an uncle were members of the Gambino family. The contrast between his police work and his "family" life was detailed in his autobiography, Mafia Cop: The Story of An Honest Cop Whose Family Was the Mob.
The partners retired to Las Vegas but were arrested a year ago.
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Post by WaTcHeR on Mar 14, 2006 11:39:22 GMT -5
03/16/2006 - NEW YORK - Two retired detectives accused of moonlighting as hit men for the mob went on trial Monday. Prosecutors say the men used their gold shields to kidnap and kill victims picked out by a Mafia underboss.
But a defense attorney said Louis Eppolito and Steven Caracappa were honest public servants targeted by mobsters intent on staying out of jail.
The mobsters "called each other tough guys, goodfellas, until the jail door shut," said attorney Bruce Cutler, best known for his defense of Gambino boss John Gotti, during a theatrical opening statement in federal court. "Then they wet their pants and called mommy - the government."
Eppolito, 57, and Caracappa, 64, are charged with racketeering, conspiracy and other charges for allegedly going on the payroll of Luchese family underboss Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso.
"The two men were not traditional mobsters," prosecutor Mitra Hormozi told the jury. "They were better. They could get away with murder because these two men were New York City police detectives."
The government says the men were involved in eight murders while working for Casso. In return, they helped him avoid arrest, warned him of impending investigations and committed killings for up to $65,000 a hit, Hormozi said.
The defendants listened intently during opening statements. The heavyset Eppolito leaned back in his chair, while the thinner Caracappa - known while on the job as "The Stick" - sat with pen in hand for taking notes.
Hormozi told the jury how the detectives arrested a mobster named Jimmy Hydell in 1986, then turned him over to Casso for execution and a $30,000 payoff.
That same year, the pair also provided the underboss with information to locate Nicholas Guido, a mobster involved in a murder plot against Casso, the prosecution says. The inaccurate tip led to an innocent man with the same name; he was killed in a hail of gunfire on Christmas Day 1986, authorities say.
Prosecutors say Casso referred to the former detectives as his "crystal ball."
Attorney Edward Hayes, representing Caracappa, rubbed his client's shoulders like a cornerman at a fight while addressing the jury. The courtroom was filled with reporters, the public and the defendants' family, and Hayes said his client welcomed the scrutiny.
"The government is trying to humiliate him. ... Good! Bring it on," he said.
Caracappa spent 23 years with the New York Police Department, helping establish its nerve center for Mafia murder investigations before retiring in 1992.
Eppolito grew up in a mob family: His father, grandfather and an uncle were members of the Gambino family. The contrast between his police work and his "family" life was detailed in his autobiography, Mafia Cop: The Story of An Honest Cop Whose Family Was the Mob.
The partners retired to Las Vegas but were arrested a year ago.
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Post by WaTcHeR on Mar 22, 2006 17:59:08 GMT -5
03/21/2006 - LOS ANGELES – The judge overseeing federally mandated changes designed to weed out corruption and cut racial profiling at the Los Angeles Police Department said on Tuesday his oversight would not end until “real reform” was achieved.
The statements by U.S. District Judge Gary Feess means that federal monitoring of the department – which started in 2001 in the wake of the corruption scandal at the city's Rampart Division – could last for several more years past a June deadline and possibly cost the city millions more dollars.
Police Chief William Bratton and the federal monitor overseeing the department have strongly indicated in recent months that the consent decree would be extended past June because of delays in creating a computerized system to track problem officers, known as TEAMS II.
“There is no way the consent decree can expire at this point,” Feess said, adding that TEAMS II is “the heart and soul” of changes needed in the department.
Feess, who made his comments during a court hearing, noted that since the Watts riots in 1965 through time of the Rodney King beating, reports on how to improve the LAPD have been issued and “ignored.”
“That's not going to happen again,” he said. “This consent decree is going to effect real reform. It is not going to be extinguished until that happens.”
With Feess' statements Tuesday, the only questions remaining about the extension of the consent decree were how long it would last and what areas it would continue to cover.
The consent decree was reached in 2001 after U.S. Department of Justice officials determined that the LAPD engaged in a pattern and practice of civil rights violations. Attention on the department intensified following the testimony of a corrupt police officer who told authorities about misconduct by fellow officers in exchange for a lighter sentence for stealing cocaine from an evidence room.
The proposed changes included improved police training, a better system of monitoring officers' performance, increased oversight of the department's anti-gang units and a ban on racial profiling.
Bratton said the judge's statements did not surprise him.
“The consent decree is going to be around in some form for several years,” he said outside court.
By some accounts, extending the consent decree could cost the city $30 million to $50 million per year. But Bratton has disputed that there would be additional costs.
A hearing on the future of the consent decree will be set for later this year.
Feess' statements came during a hearing he called to address a proposed change to a section of the consent decree that forces police officers to regularly make financial disclosures.
The financial reviews are recommended as a way of making sure officers are not taking bribes or earning money by some other corrupt means. The proposed change would limit which officers are forced to make regular disclosures.
The changes were agreed to by the city and the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division lawyers, but Feess said he was “not at all persuaded” the changes would improve the consent decree. Feess did not make a final ruling on the matter.
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Post by WaTcHeR on Mar 22, 2006 17:59:08 GMT -5
03/21/2006 - LOS ANGELES – The judge overseeing federally mandated changes designed to weed out corruption and cut racial profiling at the Los Angeles Police Department said on Tuesday his oversight would not end until “real reform” was achieved.
The statements by U.S. District Judge Gary Feess means that federal monitoring of the department – which started in 2001 in the wake of the corruption scandal at the city's Rampart Division – could last for several more years past a June deadline and possibly cost the city millions more dollars.
Police Chief William Bratton and the federal monitor overseeing the department have strongly indicated in recent months that the consent decree would be extended past June because of delays in creating a computerized system to track problem officers, known as TEAMS II.
“There is no way the consent decree can expire at this point,” Feess said, adding that TEAMS II is “the heart and soul” of changes needed in the department.
Feess, who made his comments during a court hearing, noted that since the Watts riots in 1965 through time of the Rodney King beating, reports on how to improve the LAPD have been issued and “ignored.”
“That's not going to happen again,” he said. “This consent decree is going to effect real reform. It is not going to be extinguished until that happens.”
With Feess' statements Tuesday, the only questions remaining about the extension of the consent decree were how long it would last and what areas it would continue to cover.
The consent decree was reached in 2001 after U.S. Department of Justice officials determined that the LAPD engaged in a pattern and practice of civil rights violations. Attention on the department intensified following the testimony of a corrupt police officer who told authorities about misconduct by fellow officers in exchange for a lighter sentence for stealing cocaine from an evidence room.
The proposed changes included improved police training, a better system of monitoring officers' performance, increased oversight of the department's anti-gang units and a ban on racial profiling.
Bratton said the judge's statements did not surprise him.
“The consent decree is going to be around in some form for several years,” he said outside court.
By some accounts, extending the consent decree could cost the city $30 million to $50 million per year. But Bratton has disputed that there would be additional costs.
A hearing on the future of the consent decree will be set for later this year.
Feess' statements came during a hearing he called to address a proposed change to a section of the consent decree that forces police officers to regularly make financial disclosures.
The financial reviews are recommended as a way of making sure officers are not taking bribes or earning money by some other corrupt means. The proposed change would limit which officers are forced to make regular disclosures.
The changes were agreed to by the city and the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division lawyers, but Feess said he was “not at all persuaded” the changes would improve the consent decree. Feess did not make a final ruling on the matter.
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Post by WaTcHeR on Apr 27, 2006 11:23:32 GMT -5
04/26/2006 - Deltona -- The Sheriff's Office is investigating whether a deputy acted appropriately while breaking up a fight in a school cafeteria during which two teenage girls -- one of them pregnant -- kicked, punched and bit adults trying to restrain them.
According to sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson, the fight broke out during the Monday lunch period at Deltona High School. When Deputy Christine Faer, a school resource officer, tried to break it up, Crystal Vega, 18, shoved her, punched her in the face and rammed her with her shoulder, Davidson said, adding that Vega also kicked, punched and bit other deputies who came to help restrain her.
Vega, a 10th-grader who is seven months pregnant, was fighting with an unidentified girl about a boyfriend.
Reports by several deputies who came to the scene said Vega continued to fight even after deputies restrained her. Faer said she grabbed Vega's hair to control her. That action is being reviewed by Internal Affairs to determine whether it was appropriate, Davidson said.
Vega, of Deltona, was arrested and charged with battery on a law-enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence and disorderly conduct. She remained in the Volusia County Branch Jail on Wednesday, with bail set at $6,250.
Her 15-year-old sister, Carrie Vega, also was arrested after she jumped into the fight, cursed at the deputies and, according to reports, bit a campus adviser on the hand.
Carrie Vega, also a 10th-grader, was charged with battery on a law-enforcement officer, battery on a school employee, resisting an officer with violence and disorderly conduct. She was taken to the Volusia Regional Juvenile Detention Center.
A 17-year-old boy was charged with a misdemeanor for slapping a student during the incident, and a 16-year-old boy was charged with obstruction of justice for refusing to leave the scene of the fight, according to reports.
Faer was treated at the hospital for two strained tendons in her right hand, a black eye and scratches on her left hand. She is on medical leave for the rest of the week.
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Post by WaTcHeR on Apr 27, 2006 11:23:32 GMT -5
04/26/2006 - Deltona -- The Sheriff's Office is investigating whether a deputy acted appropriately while breaking up a fight in a school cafeteria during which two teenage girls -- one of them pregnant -- kicked, punched and bit adults trying to restrain them.
According to sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson, the fight broke out during the Monday lunch period at Deltona High School. When Deputy Christine Faer, a school resource officer, tried to break it up, Crystal Vega, 18, shoved her, punched her in the face and rammed her with her shoulder, Davidson said, adding that Vega also kicked, punched and bit other deputies who came to help restrain her.
Vega, a 10th-grader who is seven months pregnant, was fighting with an unidentified girl about a boyfriend.
Reports by several deputies who came to the scene said Vega continued to fight even after deputies restrained her. Faer said she grabbed Vega's hair to control her. That action is being reviewed by Internal Affairs to determine whether it was appropriate, Davidson said.
Vega, of Deltona, was arrested and charged with battery on a law-enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence and disorderly conduct. She remained in the Volusia County Branch Jail on Wednesday, with bail set at $6,250.
Her 15-year-old sister, Carrie Vega, also was arrested after she jumped into the fight, cursed at the deputies and, according to reports, bit a campus adviser on the hand.
Carrie Vega, also a 10th-grader, was charged with battery on a law-enforcement officer, battery on a school employee, resisting an officer with violence and disorderly conduct. She was taken to the Volusia Regional Juvenile Detention Center.
A 17-year-old boy was charged with a misdemeanor for slapping a student during the incident, and a 16-year-old boy was charged with obstruction of justice for refusing to leave the scene of the fight, according to reports.
Faer was treated at the hospital for two strained tendons in her right hand, a black eye and scratches on her left hand. She is on medical leave for the rest of the week.
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Post by WaTcHeR on Apr 8, 2006 12:41:00 GMT -5
04/08/2006 - When Sparta Community Hospital officials refused to let a Randolph County sheriff's deputy serve a protective order on a drugged elderly patient last year, the deputy arrested a nurse, handcuffed her and took her to jail, the nurse claims in a lawsuit seeking $2 million.
Karen Shipman filed suit in federal court in East St. Louis on March 24, claiming she was hauled to jail on April 28, 2005, because the deputy said "it was not possible for him to arrest the director of nursing or the on-call physician."
According to the lawsuit, Deputy Eric Hamilton tried to serve court papers to an elderly man who was "asleep, medicated, and on intravenous therapy in the intensive care unit." The on-call doctor said the patient wasn't going anywhere and the deputy could come back in the morning.
The lawsuit states Shipman was "the only registered nurse on duty at the time of her arrest," although her lawyer said Thursday that other medical assistants with less training were working that night. She is suing Hamilton, who probably is covered by the county's insurance carrier.
County Sheriff Fred Frederking did not return calls seeking comment.
Attorney Trish Murphy, who filed the suit, said Shipman was a "contract nurse," meaning she was employed by an outside nursing agency, and the arrest happened on her third night of work at the hospital. Murphy said Shipman was charged with obstructing a police officer and obstructing service of process for failing to identify herself. Those charges were later dropped, Murphy said.
"She couldn't lock up the medications or look after the patients she was responsible for," Murphy said of the arrest.
Shipman is from Johnson County, Ill., Murphy said. The suit seeks $1 million for pain, humiliation, emotional distress and loss of income and $1 million for punitive damages.
Steve Eaton, chairman of the board at Sparta Community Hospital, said he recalled the incident but could not remember any details.
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Post by WaTcHeR on Apr 8, 2006 12:41:00 GMT -5
04/08/2006 - When Sparta Community Hospital officials refused to let a Randolph County sheriff's deputy serve a protective order on a drugged elderly patient last year, the deputy arrested a nurse, handcuffed her and took her to jail, the nurse claims in a lawsuit seeking $2 million.
Karen Shipman filed suit in federal court in East St. Louis on March 24, claiming she was hauled to jail on April 28, 2005, because the deputy said "it was not possible for him to arrest the director of nursing or the on-call physician."
According to the lawsuit, Deputy Eric Hamilton tried to serve court papers to an elderly man who was "asleep, medicated, and on intravenous therapy in the intensive care unit." The on-call doctor said the patient wasn't going anywhere and the deputy could come back in the morning.
The lawsuit states Shipman was "the only registered nurse on duty at the time of her arrest," although her lawyer said Thursday that other medical assistants with less training were working that night. She is suing Hamilton, who probably is covered by the county's insurance carrier.
County Sheriff Fred Frederking did not return calls seeking comment.
Attorney Trish Murphy, who filed the suit, said Shipman was a "contract nurse," meaning she was employed by an outside nursing agency, and the arrest happened on her third night of work at the hospital. Murphy said Shipman was charged with obstructing a police officer and obstructing service of process for failing to identify herself. Those charges were later dropped, Murphy said.
"She couldn't lock up the medications or look after the patients she was responsible for," Murphy said of the arrest.
Shipman is from Johnson County, Ill., Murphy said. The suit seeks $1 million for pain, humiliation, emotional distress and loss of income and $1 million for punitive damages.
Steve Eaton, chairman of the board at Sparta Community Hospital, said he recalled the incident but could not remember any details.
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Post by WaTcHeR on Apr 5, 2006 10:34:39 GMT -5
04/05/2006- NEW ORLEANS The F-B-I is looking into allegations that three white New Orleans police officers beat up the wife of a black officer.
F-B-I spokeswoman Sheila Thorne says the agency is engaged in a preliminary inquiry to determine whether the case warrants further investigation.
Police Superintendent Chief Warren Reilly says the victim allegedly ran a stop sign at an intersection early Tuesday. He said an officer followed her to her home and at some point there was an altercation after backup officers arrived.
Reilly say the victim sustained a bruise to her face, a hairline fracture to her wrist, and a scratch across her forehead.
The victim was married to Officer Desmond Pratt, a 10-year veteran of the New Orleans Police Department. She was arrested and charged with running a stop sign, resisting arrest, and battery on a police officer.
The New Orleans chapter of the N-A-A-C-P called for the federal investigation.
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Post by WaTcHeR on Apr 5, 2006 10:34:39 GMT -5
04/05/2006- NEW ORLEANS The F-B-I is looking into allegations that three white New Orleans police officers beat up the wife of a black officer.
F-B-I spokeswoman Sheila Thorne says the agency is engaged in a preliminary inquiry to determine whether the case warrants further investigation.
Police Superintendent Chief Warren Reilly says the victim allegedly ran a stop sign at an intersection early Tuesday. He said an officer followed her to her home and at some point there was an altercation after backup officers arrived.
Reilly say the victim sustained a bruise to her face, a hairline fracture to her wrist, and a scratch across her forehead.
The victim was married to Officer Desmond Pratt, a 10-year veteran of the New Orleans Police Department. She was arrested and charged with running a stop sign, resisting arrest, and battery on a police officer.
The New Orleans chapter of the N-A-A-C-P called for the federal investigation.
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Post by WaTcHeR on Apr 27, 2006 10:57:44 GMT -5
04/25/2006 - CHARLOTTESVILLE — Earl Washington Jr.’s lawsuit over a murder conviction that sent him to death row comes down to one line in a police report:
Washington “gave pertinent information about the crime that no one knew with the exception of himself.”
It was written by State Police Special Agent Curtis Reese Wilmore, one of the lead investigators who interrogated Washington in the 1982 rape and murder of Rebecca Lynn Williams. Washington’s lawyers argue that the sentence means Wilmore coached the confession and then perpetrated the story that Washington’s statement was all his own.
Wilmore died in 1994. Lawyers for his estate argue that Wilmore was a seasoned investigator with a reputation for integrity. Washington confessed without prompting, Wilmore’s lawyers said.
The trial began Monday in U.S. District Court. Wilmore’s son and daughter were in the courtroom.
There is no dispute about Washington’s innocence. In 2000, DNA testing revealed that semen taken from the crime scene in the bedroom of Williams’ apartment in Culpeper eliminated Washington . Earlier DNA testing had already been the basis for then-Gov. L. Douglas Wilder’s decision to commute Washington’s sentence from death to life in prison.
Washington has been released and now lives with his wife, Pam, in Virginia Beach.
Washington served nearly 18 years in prison for Williams’ murder and an unrelated assault on an elderly woman. Nine and a half years of his sentence for Williams’ murder was spent on death row, and Washington came within nine days of execution. One of his lawyers, Peter Neufeld, said in his opening statement that Washington has psychological scars from his time on death row, where he could see the electric chair he was set to die in.
Neufeld told jurors that Wilmore had been trained to be a careful interrogator, allowing a suspect to describe a crime in detail by asking open-ended questions. That’s how he started his interview with Washington, Neufeld said. But Washington gave wrong answers about details in the case.
Washington at first said the victim was black. She was white. He said he stabbed her a couple of times, but Williams’ body bore 38 stab wounds. Washington said he and Williams were alone in the apartment, but the crime happened in front of her two young children.
The interview came nearly a year after Williams’ death, Neufeld said, and the case had a high profile in the small town of Culpeper , about 40 miles north of Charlottesville.
“Wilmore decided to cross the line,” Neufeld said. “He decided to help him give the right answers to corroborate his confession.”
Neufeld argued that Wil-more fed Washington details about the murder that only the killer and investigators would have known, such as the location of a blood-stained shirt left in the apartment, and that a halter top was removed from Williams.
“We’re not saying that Curtis Reese Wilmore tried to frame an innocent man,” Neufeld told jurors. “Our position is that Curtis Reese Wilmore sincerely believed Earl Washington committed the crime and he was questioning a guilty man. But whether or not he believed Earl Washington was guilty is not a defense.”
William Broaddus, one of the laywers representing Wilmore’s estate, told jurors there was no evidence to support Neufeld’s theory. Wil-more’s report included wrong answers Washington gave, Broaddus said. Wilmore wrote that Washington first pointed to the wrong apartment when police asked him to identify the crime scene.
“Ask yourselves: Would this man deliberately lie?” Broaddus said of Wilmore.
If the trial is about accountability, Broaddus said, jurors must also look at Washington.
“Is he to be held accountable for telling Wilmore he did it?”
Lawyers expect the trial to last about two weeks. The first witness was Richard Leo, a professor of criminology and psychology who studies false confessions. He said people like Washington, who is mildly mentally retarded, are susceptible to making false confessions.
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Post by WaTcHeR on Apr 27, 2006 10:57:44 GMT -5
04/25/2006 - CHARLOTTESVILLE — Earl Washington Jr.’s lawsuit over a murder conviction that sent him to death row comes down to one line in a police report:
Washington “gave pertinent information about the crime that no one knew with the exception of himself.”
It was written by State Police Special Agent Curtis Reese Wilmore, one of the lead investigators who interrogated Washington in the 1982 rape and murder of Rebecca Lynn Williams. Washington’s lawyers argue that the sentence means Wilmore coached the confession and then perpetrated the story that Washington’s statement was all his own.
Wilmore died in 1994. Lawyers for his estate argue that Wilmore was a seasoned investigator with a reputation for integrity. Washington confessed without prompting, Wilmore’s lawyers said.
The trial began Monday in U.S. District Court. Wilmore’s son and daughter were in the courtroom.
There is no dispute about Washington’s innocence. In 2000, DNA testing revealed that semen taken from the crime scene in the bedroom of Williams’ apartment in Culpeper eliminated Washington . Earlier DNA testing had already been the basis for then-Gov. L. Douglas Wilder’s decision to commute Washington’s sentence from death to life in prison.
Washington has been released and now lives with his wife, Pam, in Virginia Beach.
Washington served nearly 18 years in prison for Williams’ murder and an unrelated assault on an elderly woman. Nine and a half years of his sentence for Williams’ murder was spent on death row, and Washington came within nine days of execution. One of his lawyers, Peter Neufeld, said in his opening statement that Washington has psychological scars from his time on death row, where he could see the electric chair he was set to die in.
Neufeld told jurors that Wilmore had been trained to be a careful interrogator, allowing a suspect to describe a crime in detail by asking open-ended questions. That’s how he started his interview with Washington, Neufeld said. But Washington gave wrong answers about details in the case.
Washington at first said the victim was black. She was white. He said he stabbed her a couple of times, but Williams’ body bore 38 stab wounds. Washington said he and Williams were alone in the apartment, but the crime happened in front of her two young children.
The interview came nearly a year after Williams’ death, Neufeld said, and the case had a high profile in the small town of Culpeper , about 40 miles north of Charlottesville.
“Wilmore decided to cross the line,” Neufeld said. “He decided to help him give the right answers to corroborate his confession.”
Neufeld argued that Wil-more fed Washington details about the murder that only the killer and investigators would have known, such as the location of a blood-stained shirt left in the apartment, and that a halter top was removed from Williams.
“We’re not saying that Curtis Reese Wilmore tried to frame an innocent man,” Neufeld told jurors. “Our position is that Curtis Reese Wilmore sincerely believed Earl Washington committed the crime and he was questioning a guilty man. But whether or not he believed Earl Washington was guilty is not a defense.”
William Broaddus, one of the laywers representing Wilmore’s estate, told jurors there was no evidence to support Neufeld’s theory. Wil-more’s report included wrong answers Washington gave, Broaddus said. Wilmore wrote that Washington first pointed to the wrong apartment when police asked him to identify the crime scene.
“Ask yourselves: Would this man deliberately lie?” Broaddus said of Wilmore.
If the trial is about accountability, Broaddus said, jurors must also look at Washington.
“Is he to be held accountable for telling Wilmore he did it?”
Lawyers expect the trial to last about two weeks. The first witness was Richard Leo, a professor of criminology and psychology who studies false confessions. He said people like Washington, who is mildly mentally retarded, are susceptible to making false confessions.
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Post by WaTcHeR on Apr 27, 2006 14:10:22 GMT -5
04/26/2006 - SMITH CENTER, Kan. - Smith County Sheriff Ellsworth Murphy is trying to stop a May recall election in which he could lose his current job for transgressions 15 years ago.
Murphy, 72, was sheriff from 1989 to 1991 but was forced to resign. He was convicted of official misconduct in office and one misdemeanor count of illegal eavesdropping for installing an electronic device at the home of then-Smith Center Police Chief Karen Bortz.
However, last summer, the Smith County Republic Central Committee picked Murphy to head the sheriff's department after Sheriff Andy Holmes resigned.
A subsequent petition drive resulted in a recall election being scheduled for May 23.
Murphy filed a petition in Smith County District Court on Friday seeking to stop the election.
His son, Kevin Murphy, an attorney in Overland Park, said a person can't be recalled for something that happened 15 years ago in an earlier term and noted that the misconduct statute was thrown out by the Kansas Supreme Court in 1994.
"He could probably get that conviction expunged," Murphy said of his father.
Smith County Attorney Allen Shelton, one of the defendants named in the Murphy's petition, said the misconduct statute does not say "misconduct in the current term of office" but simply "misconduct," which is grounds for a recall.
Shelton also said the "prior term rule" does not apply if the person continues to deny wrongdoing or is a sheriff. He pointed to a 1999 case in which the courts ruled against Sheriff David Meneley in Salina, who argued he could not be removed from office because his wrongdoing occurred during a previous term.
Shelton also said the grounds for the recall should be secondary and that if 40 percent of the voters want a recall election, they should have one.
Kevin Murphy also noted some technical problems with the petition seeking the recall. He said it had the wrong statute number and that those seeking the recall improperly added a sponsor.
Shelton said the recall petition explained the elements of the crime and was not misleading, even if the statute number was wrong.
"Let's forget the appeals and the crossing of the t's right and dotting the i's right," he said. "It was intended to be a citizen-driven initiative."
County Clerk and Election Officer Sharon Wolters, another defendant, said county officials have talked to several attorneys and the secretary state and all have said they are acting within the law.
Wolters said she will continue to prepare for the May 23 recall election unless a judge orders her to stop.
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Post by WaTcHeR on Apr 27, 2006 14:10:22 GMT -5
04/26/2006 - SMITH CENTER, Kan. - Smith County Sheriff Ellsworth Murphy is trying to stop a May recall election in which he could lose his current job for transgressions 15 years ago.
Murphy, 72, was sheriff from 1989 to 1991 but was forced to resign. He was convicted of official misconduct in office and one misdemeanor count of illegal eavesdropping for installing an electronic device at the home of then-Smith Center Police Chief Karen Bortz.
However, last summer, the Smith County Republic Central Committee picked Murphy to head the sheriff's department after Sheriff Andy Holmes resigned.
A subsequent petition drive resulted in a recall election being scheduled for May 23.
Murphy filed a petition in Smith County District Court on Friday seeking to stop the election.
His son, Kevin Murphy, an attorney in Overland Park, said a person can't be recalled for something that happened 15 years ago in an earlier term and noted that the misconduct statute was thrown out by the Kansas Supreme Court in 1994.
"He could probably get that conviction expunged," Murphy said of his father.
Smith County Attorney Allen Shelton, one of the defendants named in the Murphy's petition, said the misconduct statute does not say "misconduct in the current term of office" but simply "misconduct," which is grounds for a recall.
Shelton also said the "prior term rule" does not apply if the person continues to deny wrongdoing or is a sheriff. He pointed to a 1999 case in which the courts ruled against Sheriff David Meneley in Salina, who argued he could not be removed from office because his wrongdoing occurred during a previous term.
Shelton also said the grounds for the recall should be secondary and that if 40 percent of the voters want a recall election, they should have one.
Kevin Murphy also noted some technical problems with the petition seeking the recall. He said it had the wrong statute number and that those seeking the recall improperly added a sponsor.
Shelton said the recall petition explained the elements of the crime and was not misleading, even if the statute number was wrong.
"Let's forget the appeals and the crossing of the t's right and dotting the i's right," he said. "It was intended to be a citizen-driven initiative."
County Clerk and Election Officer Sharon Wolters, another defendant, said county officials have talked to several attorneys and the secretary state and all have said they are acting within the law.
Wolters said she will continue to prepare for the May 23 recall election unless a judge orders her to stop.
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