The power of knowing your rights

Every American has the constitutional right to be politically active. But more and more, these are the Americans being targeted by the programs put in place to survey Muslims. Whether it’s the Tea Party, or the ANSWER Coalition, activists on both sides of the aisle are finding themselves the subject of inquiry. So, it’s important for Muslims, but also all Americans, to know what they can do to protect themselves when stopped, searched or arrested or searched by any law enforcement officer or federal agent.

To be clear from the outset, what follows does not constitute legal advice. I am not a lawyer. However, this is consistent with the advice of attorneys working for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Asian Law Caucus (ALC) and the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), who should be consulted to clarify any misunderstanding.

The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution reads, “No person shall… be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law.”

This amendment is the single most important thing to keep in mind when visited by any officer or agent. The best thing you can do, even if you are a law abiding citizen, is keep your mouth shut and demand legal counsel. You are not obligated to answer any questions with two important exceptions. In most states you obligated to identify yourself by name if asked, and obligated to present your papers if stopped while driving.

Under current law, you have the legal right to have a lawyer present whenever speaking with law enforcement, whether you are a citizen or not. Refusing to answer questions cannot be held against you, but answering incorrectly, even by accident, could be construed as a serious crime. Even if your intention is to help law enforcement to the best of your ability you are safer, and your rights more secure, with a lawyer present.

Many people choose to cooperate without legal counsel imagining that officers will go easy on them if they have nothing to hide. Instead, what we have seen is that one interview leads to others as agents try to establish permanent informants in the community, or agents use minor discrepancies in someone’s recollection to threaten them with prosecution and coerce further cooperation. Always remember, lying to an agent, even by accident is a crime, but they can legally lie to you. What we have seen is that agents make promises, such as offering to resolve someone’s immigration issues, in exchange for help in an investigation, when in reality they never actually help the person, and likely don’t have the power to do what they promised anyway.

Remaining silent does not make you look guilty, and cooperating does not make things easier. The very best thing you can do when approached by a law enforcement officer is get their business card and tell them you will have your lawyer call them. Practice saying, “I will have my attorney call you” because it can be very nerve wracking the first time you have to say it to a man with a badge and a gun. Even if you don’t have a lawyer, this should buy you the time to find one. The ACLU, ALC and CAIR all offer free legal services, and the ALC has Arabic speakers on hand if needed. Their contact information is provided bellow.

If you decide to speak with an officer it’s very important to stay calm. Expressing frustration or appearing aggressive will escalate hostility. If they can reasonably claim that they felt intimidated or threatened by you they can hurt you. Understand that officers are trained to use deceptive and intimidating language to trick you. When they say “I’m going to have to ask you…” this is likely a request not an order. When in doubt remember even if you have already engaged in conversation you can choose to remain silent at any time. You can choose which questions you are comfortable answering and which you are not. Once you say you want a lawyer they officer should stop asking questions. If he does not, you can still remain silent.

If an officer comes to your door you do not have to let them in your home or office if they do not have a valid warrant. If they claim to have a warrant, you may ask to see it before allowing them in. If they do not have a warrant and you decide to speak to them it is best to step outside and close the door behind you. People have been arrested for making minor mistakes in conversations with law enforcement and if they decide to arrest you they can search the immediate area without a warrant. If you are standing in the door way they may search the room. So, it’s best to speak to them outside just in case.

If they have a warrant you should be polite, so as not to escalate tension, but you may still remain silent. It is a good idea to state, for the record, that you do not consent to the search so that they may not search beyond what is specified in the warrant.

In any interaction it is a good idea to get the names, badge numbers and business cards of all agents and officers involved. If you have a cell phone a good trick is to record the conversation by calling yourself and leaving a message. You’ll get 10-15 minutes of recording time that they cannot delete if they confiscate your phone.

Afterwards you should report the incident to the ACLU, ALC or CAIR. Reports are completely confidential and their legal services are free. These organizations document incidents on an ongoing basis and collaborate to identify patterns of rights violations. Even if you have been questioned in the past, reporting the encounter can help these organizations better protect the rights of all Americans in the future.

Original report here




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ACLU sues Illinois over absurd law forbidding recording of cops

There’s been a misconception in the media lately about it being illegal to videotape cops in three states; Maryland, Massachusetts and Illinois. That’s not exactly true.

In Massachusetts, it is illegal to secretly record anybody without their consent, but there is no law against openly videotaping anybody in public with or without their consent, including cops. In fact, charges have been dropped against people who have been arrested for videotaping cops in public in Massachusetts.

In Maryland, state police and a certain prosecutor treat it as if it is illegal but another state attorney as well as the attorney general disagree that it is illegal to videotape cops in public. The debate should be settled entirely by the time Anthony Graber goes to trial on October 12. Also, the ACLU, which is backing Graber in this case, is asking the law to be further clarified.

That leaves us with Illinois where Radley Balko reported that it is illegal to audio record cops, even if they happen to be in public with no expectation of privacy.

Fortunately, the ACLU is now trying to change this law after filing a federal lawsuit in Chicago Wednesday to challenge the Illinois Eavesdropping Act, according to the Chicago Tribune:

Unfortunately, the article also builds on the misconception that it is illegal to record cops in public in other states.

Illinois is one of only a few states, including Massachusetts and Oregon, where it is illegal to record audio of conversations that take place in public settings without the permission of everyone involved.

In Oregon, it is not illegal to record conversations that take place in public settings because they would not have an expectation of privacy. This issue was clarified in a memo from the Beaverton City Attorney last month that was distributed to police departments, which didn’t stop a certain police chief to vow continuing arresting people videotaping officers in public.

The ACLU lawsuit mentions six Illinois residents who have faced felony charges for recording cops in public, including Charles Drew, a street arrest who is still awaiting trial for having recorded police who were shaking him down for trying to sell art without a permit.

Coincidentally, I received an email yesterday from Jeremy Lindsey who was investigated by Granite City Police Chief Rich Miller for posting videos of cops he shot in public. Lindsey ended up removing the audio from two videos in order to comply with the law.

This is what the chief told him in an email.

It is illegal to record a persons conversation without permission. In fact we are reviewing your post yesterday of Officer Klump to see if you violated he law. I am aware you have altered it today. I have the Original post. Also when at a call for service you should refrain from interfering or you are subject to arrest for obstructing. Chief Miller

While it is a step in the right direction for the ACLU to attempt to change state laws in compliance with common sense First Amendment laws, we need to go a step further and pass a national law that specifically allows citizens to videotape cops in public as long as they are not interfering.

The resolution introduced by Democratic Congressman Ed Towns last month is the first step in doing this. The National Press Photographers Association, which got involved with our Metrorail escapade, is also asking Towns to change his resolution to a Congressional Bill.

According to last month’s NPPA press release:

Despite consistent court rulings protecting the First Amendment rights of both citizens and the media to take photographs in public places, and despite many law enforcement agencies spelling it out in their official policies, the officer on the street either doesn’t get the word or decides to act on his own in the name of “security” or “terrorism laws,” often citing rules that don’t exist and exerting authority that’s non-existent. And recently in some states police have started citing old wiretapping laws that have been on the books for decades as their excuse for ordering photographers to cease videotaping officers as they’re doing their jobs in public, either during traffic stops or street arrests or while interfering with photographers who are breaking no rules and who are posing no threats to safety.

“It is extremely disturbing that some states have misrepresented the intent of wiretapping laws and modified them to affect news photographers and everyday people who are photographing or videotaping police actions in a public place,” NPPA president Bob Carey wrote to Rep. Towns today.

“We believe that such misuse of these state laws are unconstitutional and need to be addressed at both the state and national levels. NPPA has been dealing with police interference with visual journalists in public places for years. We are pleased that your Resolution is currently before the Judiciary Committee and we stand ready to testify if needed.”

Original report here




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Israel: Baranes awarded NIS 5m., 34 years after wrongful murder conviction

Thug police coerce confession

A man wrongfully convicted of murder was awarded NIS 5 million in damages by the Tel Aviv District Court on Thursday, over thirty years since he was sentenced to life in prison for a crime he did not commit.

Amos Baranes, 66, was convicted in 1976 of the murder of 19- year-old soldier Rachel Heller, whose naked body was found on the side of a highway between Ceasariya and Or Akiva earlier that year. A few months after Heller's body was found, two separate special police investigative teams set up to crack the case hit a dead end.

Baranes was first questioned about the murder after he voluntarily went to police and offered to assist their investigation, saying that he was an acquaintance of Heller's from the Rutenberg Institute in Haifa. Several months later, after public pressure had forced police to set up a third special investigative team, Baranes was called back in for questioning and eventually confessed to the murder, after he was subjected to a violent interrogation in which he was deprived of sleep for four days and repeatedly struck by police.

In the ruling on Thursday, presiding Judge Magen Altuvia said that during the 1976 trial the court was not aware of evidence that may have helped Baranes' defense, therefore denying him the right to a fair trial.

Baranes' compensation includes NIS 4 million for his loss of freedom and social ostracism, NIS 720,000 for damage to his ability to be employed, NIS 144,000 for emotional suffering, and an additional NIS 95,000 for legal expenses.

Eight and a half years after he was sentenced to life in prison, Baranes' sentence was commuted by then-president Chaim Herzog. Baranes decided to continue the fight to clear his name and sought a full exoneration. A man of principle, Baranes denied all compromises that would have implied an admission of guilt, insisting on nothing less than a retrial to clear his name.

In 2002, Baranes was finally granted a retrial, which ended with the state retracting the murder charge it had filed against him. The 2002 acquittal was the first of its kind in Israel.

"All I can say is that the court accepted my version of the story and understood the depth of the scars that I have for the rest of my life," Baranes said Thursday. "For 30 years I was in the garbage of Israel. I wasn't a citizen, I was a war criminal. My words weren't heard. Today, they were heard clearly."

Baranes' story has fascinated Israelis for decades and was the subject of the 2005 docu-drama Murder for Life. The film covered the murder and the decades-long legal battle waged by Baranes to clear his name. The movie claims that Baranes' conviction was the result of conspiracy on the part of police and prosecutors to find a scapegoat for the murder, largely due to public pressure to solve the case.

The state has still never admitted that it erred in the identity of Heller's murderer, only that the investigation and trial of Baranes were flawed.

Original report here




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A lying cop gets fired!



A SENIOR South Australian police officer has been sacked for helping to set up a fake internet dating profile that offered his ex-girlfriend for sex.

Detective Sergeant Darren James Clohesy was fired yesterday after he failed to attend a disciplinary hearing with Police Commissioner Mal Hyde. He received an 18-month suspended sentence and orders to perform 320 hours of community service last week after he pleaded guilty to offensive behaviour, breaching his bail conditions and improperly accessing the police computer system.

Clohesy, 41, helped to set up a fake profile on an adult internet dating site after his girlfriend, Tania Milsom, also a police officer, ended their relationship last year. The profile, dubbed "SexyMillie888", provided Ms Milsom's phone number and address, asking men to contact her for sex. A number of men went to Ms Milsom's home with plans of her house, with at least one knocking on her bedroom window.

"The commissioner determined Mr Clohesy's offending was of a serious nature and his behaviour unacceptable and incompatible with the service expected of a police officer," a police spokesman said yesterday. "Mr Clohesy did not attend today's hearing, nor was he represented."

Chief Magistrate Elizabeth Bolton said in sentencing Clohesy that he had provided personal information about Ms Milsom for a nasty, hurtful and malicious scheme. Ms Bolton said the plan had been designed to embarrass, frighten and degrade the woman who had rejected Clohesy.

Original report here. (Via Australian Politics)




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NC: Review finds flawed cases, including executions

Gov't-ordered review finds crime lab evidence errors in 190 NC cases, including 3 executions

Analysts at North Carolina's crime lab omitted, overstated or falsely reported blood evidence in dozens of cases, including three that ended in executions and another where two men were convicted of killing Michael Jordan's father, according to a scathing independent review released Wednesday.

The government-ordered inquest by two former FBI officials found that agents of the State Bureau of Investigation repeatedly aided prosecutors in obtaining convictions over a 16-year period, mostly by misrepresenting blood evidence and keeping critical notes from defense attorneys. The Associated Press obtained the review of blood evidence in cases from 1987 to 2003 in advance of the report's release.

It calls for a thorough examination of 190 criminal cases, stating that, at times, "information that may have been material and even favorable to the defense of an accused defendant was withheld or misrepresented."

The report does not conclude that any innocent people were convicted, noting the evidence wasn't always used at trials and defendants may have admitted to crimes. But it states prosecutors and defense lawyers need to check whether tainted lab reports helped lead to confessions or pleas.

Attorney General Roy Cooper ordered the review in March after an SBI agent testified the crime lab once had a policy of excluding complete blood test results from reports offered to defense lawyers before trials. The existence of the policy was later confirmed by a former SBI director. Agent Duane Deaver's testimony led to the exoneration of a murder convict imprisoned nearly 17 years.

Cooper said Wednesday that he will send the cases cited in the report back to the counties where they were tried for review.

The review by Chris Swecker and Mike Wolf, two former assistant directors of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, found 230 cases in which eight SBI analysts filed reports that, at best, were incomplete. Of those, 190 resulted in criminal charges and should be reviewed.

The report says the lab may have violated federal and state laws mandating that evidence favorable to defendants be shared with their lawyers. It also bolsters a long-held skepticism by defense attorneys, who have alleged the ostensibly neutral lab is in the pocket of law enforcement.

Besides the executions, the report urged a closer look at the cases of four people on death row and one whose death sentence was commuted to life.

The cases also include the 1993 murder of James Jordan, father of the NBA star, who was sleeping in his car along a highway when he was killed. Two men were sentenced to life in prison. The review states an SBI analyst reported that an examination of the scene indicated the presence of blood, but didn't say that four subsequent tests were inconclusive.

The problems detailed in the report follow similar story lines: Lab results that contradict preliminary tests indicating blood at a scene were routinely kept from defense lawyers. Those secondary results were in analysts' handwritten notes, but not in evidence presented at court.

The report blames the flaws on "poorly crafted policy, inattention to reporting methods which permitted too much analyst subjectivity; and ineffective management and oversight."

The review recommends looking at cases that were overstated or falsely reported to determine whether mistakes were deliberate, negligent or the results of typographical errors or confusion over reporting policy.

The lab's operations have changed substantially since 2003, when it began using more modern blood testing. Prosecutors also now have online access to all lab files, and can make them available to defense attorneys.

Deaver is linked to the five cases the report characterizes as the most egregious violations, and it accuses him of overstating or falsely reporting blood test results, including one in the case against Desmond Keith Carter, who was executed in 2002. In two of the cases, including Carter's, Deaver's final report on blood analyses said his tests "revealed the presence of blood" when his notes indicated negative results from follow-up tests. His notes indicate that he got a negative result because he didn't have enough sample left for the confirmatory test.

In three other cases, the review said Deaver's reports stated further tests were "inconclusive" or "no result" while his lab notes reflected negative results.

The Attorney General's Office said Carter confessed to the crime, and the evidence in question wasn't introduced at trial, the report said.

Deaver still works for the SBI, although no longer in the crime lab.

Swecker and Wolf said they couldn't determine how Deaver's mistakes happened, and they leave open the possibility that he didn't purposely misreport results.

Attorney David Rudolf, who has represented clients who have sued the SBI, said new trials should be given in all cases in which Deaver's testimony played a significant role. "Justice is the cornerstone of our society, and it can't be done on the cheap," he said in an e-mail.

Among the report's recommendations are: automation of historical lab files; posting of lab policies and other rules on a public website; and the appointment of an ombudsman to review lab issues or mistakes.

In addition to the Deaver cases, the review found 35 cases where a report states there were indications of blood and that no further testing was done. But handwritten lab notes reflect confirmatory tests got negative or inconclusive results.

In a third category, the review found 105 cases in which reports omitted negative or inconclusive results, instead saying there were chemical indications for the presence of blood.

The review found 85 cases in the least serious category, which involved reports that didn't mention negative or inconclusive confirmatory tests but did ultimately state that the presence of blood wasn't conclusive. In 80 of the cases, just one agent used the language.

Original report here




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Dangerous child porn hysteria

One of the most significant consequences of the current hysteria surrounding child porn is also one of the least discussed: namely, how many innocent lives are ruined by the rush to punish almost anyone who is accused. It is easy to unknowingly download child porn onto your personal computer. Just click on the wrong link in a scam email or on an untrustworthy site you visit and -- voila! -- a virus can invisibly commandeer part of your computer for its own purposes. Sometimes the purpose is to broadcast advertising for Viagra or investment schemes; other times, it is to broadcast pornography far and wide and for free by using other people's bandwidth. Then, when the unwittingly-downloaded child porn is found on your computer, the police can use it as evidence against you. The burden of proving you are innocent is firmly on your shoulders.

The preceding scenario describes lives that are ruined by strangers who are trying to profit and don't give a damn about whom they harm in the process. But lives are also ruined by non-strangers who bear a grudge. The non-strangers include ex-partners, ex-spouses, rivals in business or love, resentful family members, 'wronged' friends, malicious neighbors, the envious... (Of course, the common factor in both types of ruination is the willingness -- nay, the eagerness -- with which law enforcement and the legal system turn, like ravening dogs, on anyone accused of this crime.)

Eddie Thompson was one such innocent life that was being ruined by a malicious non-stranger. In a commentary entitled "Planting Child Porn on Your Boss's PC Will Make Him Totally Regret Being a Huge Jerkface," Gizmodo reports: "Neil Weiner did not like his boss, Eddie Thompson. He also wanted Eddie's job. So he allegedly sent London police a CD filled with 177 pictures of child pornography, claiming they came from Thompson's computer. Investigating, police found 235 more images depicting child pornography on Thompson's computer, and he was arrested in 2006. His life was ruined. He claimed that the images must've been planted by a colleague, because he's "grumpy, bad tempered and irascible."

Weiner, a school handyman, shared a computer with Thompson, a school caretaker. Thompson was arrest in 2006. The UK Press reports: "When the allegations were made public, he and his wife became afraid to leave the house, after he received threats and when he returned from suspension to Swanlea secondary school, in Whitechapel, east London, where he had worked since 1993, he said he was shunned by "almost all" of the staff."

Weiner was arrested in 2007 when the mobile phone used to make the anonymous call to the police was traced to him. he has subsequently been convicted "of perverting the course of justice and two counts of possessing indecent images of children...He was placed on the sex offenders' register and remanded in custody, and warned by Judge David Paget that he faced a "substantial custodial sentence."

A statement Weiner had made at a BBQ the month before Thompson's arrest came out in court: he wanted to plant child porn on Weiner so he could have his supervisor sacked.

In short, Weiner is a profoundly stupid man. What if he had been a tad smarter and used a disposable phone for the anonymous tip to the police? What if he had refrained from venting his intentions at the BBQ? I expect Thompson would be cooling his heels in prison for a very long time; some of the child porn images were apparently Level 4, considered in Britain to be the second worst type. The police and court system may now posture as "aggrieved parties" but they are the active partners of the likes-of-Weiner because they accept and pursue anonymous tips, they presume guilt until innocence can be proven, they broadcast the names of those accused before trial, they encourage an atmosphere of hysteria within society on this issue....

If you are ever "set up" by a malicious non-stranger, I hope very much the culprit is profoundly stupid enough for even the police and the court system to have a clue that something is amiss.

Original report here




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DC: FBI police harass student for photographing “sensitive” area

Jerome Vorus, who is becoming a full-fledged photo rights activist while still in his teens, had yet another confrontation Friday over his photography.

The 19-year-old college student was taking pictures outside the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington DC when an FBI police officer ordered him not to take her photo. First he turned on the video camera on his cell phone. Then he informed her that that she didn’t have an expectation of privacy.

“I wasn’t even taking her photo in the first place,” he said in a phone interview with Photography is Not a Crime.

As he was walking away, another FBI cop pulled up in a car and ordered him to stop. That cop told him he was not allowed to photograph a ramp that leads into a parking garage because it was somehow “sensitive” – even though it is not only visible from the public eye, it is off a public sidewalk.

The cop then demanded to see identification, prompting Vorus to ask if he was being detained. At first, the cop said yes, he was being detained; for photographing this so-called sensitive area, the one in which groups of people are walking by nonchalantly in the above video as the two men debate.

The cop, who doesn’t appear much older than Vorus, appears at a loss of what to do. He ends up calling his supervisor while telling Vorus he is free to leave. “I was followed for a block until I walked into an alleyway that is not accessible by vehicles,” he said.

Vorus is considering returning today. “I’m really trying to stand up for photographers’ rights and make it aware to law enforcement agencies that photography is not a crime,” he said.

Original report here (Video at link)




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The latest in a VERY long saga of injustice

In the 1988 film "A Cry in the Dark" (also called "Evil Angels"), Lindy Chamberlain was played by Meryl Streep

Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton wants her daughter Azaria's death certificate to record how she died - and not the open finding that remains 30 years to the day since she was taken by a dingo.

In an emotional letter to what she calls "Open-Minded Australians", Lindy wants the Northern Territory government to have the courage to finally record a cause of death and let Azaria rest.

She says that it is Azaria who has been denied justice. "Our family will always remember today as the day truth was dragged in the dirt and trampled upon, but more than that it is the day our family was torn apart forever because we lost our beautiful little Azaria," she says in the letter released by her agent, Lauren Miller Cilento. "She will always ever be what this ongoing fight for justice has been all about. She deserves justice.

"In light of all the evidence before the commission this should be reflected on her death certificate and not the open finding that is there now."

Despite three inquests, a trial, Lindy's conviction for murder that was overturned and the country's first Commission of Inquiry, the death of Azaria remains officially unsolved. The police file is still officially open, the last inquest in 1995 recorded an open verdict, finding the cause of death as "unknown".

The 1987 commission, headed by Justice Trevor Morling, exonerated the Chamberlains. Their daughter was taken by a dingo from the family's tent while the family camped at what was then known as Ayres Rock - now Uluru.

"It is not like the eyewitnesses are dead or that there was not a recommendation from the Royal Commission and the NT Supreme Court who quashed our convictions," says Lindy, who is currently overseas. "It would not take more taxpayers money to do it. These courts were exhaustive, why not adopt their recommendations and stop wasting everyones time, money and intelligence?

"Lindy or a dingo was the NT claim. Their own Commission proved it was not me, as I had told them all along, so why don't they accept their own claim now? It makes one wonder are they really after the truth, or just too stubborn or proud to admit that a mistake has been made.

"Who knows the reason, but most of all please do not forget that a beautiful little girl died tragically on this date thirty years ago."

Convicted by a nation before even a trial had been held, Lindy says people should get a backbone and stop their obession with gossip. She says she has forgiven "everyone involved in creating the fiasco of the last thirty years and the public so willing to believe the worst and spread nasty rumours", including the police and politicians.

But despite that, she's still tough on those who believed in her guilt. "Come on Australia. Surely you cannot be proud of the fact that you can let yourself be duped again and again and come back for more of the same," she says.

"We used to be a proud nation who saw through corruption and were willing to give a fair go. How many times do you have to be hoodwinked and led along by the nose before you demand something better from our courts, police force, politicians and media?"

Original report here



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Long Beach Wrongful Conviction: Man Wrongly Jailed for 24-years Settles for $8M

An $8 million wrongful conviction settlement has been reached between the city of Long Beach, and a man who was wrongly jailed for 24 years for a murder conviction that was largely based on a testimony by an incredible jailhouse informant, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

Thomas L. Goldstein, a Marine Corps veteran, was convicted of a shotgun slaying of John McGinest in 1979; after Edward Fink, the informant, testified that Goldstein confessed to the shooting while he and Fink were in the Long Beach Jail.

Twenty-four years later, a judge overturned the conviction after concerns were raised over Fink’s credibility. Apparently the prosecutors failed to inform Goldstein’s attorney that they had previously struck a deal with Fink in another case.

Goldstein was released from jail in 2004, and subsequently sued the Los Angeles County prosecutors who were involved in the case. The lawsuit asserted that officials routinely used jailhouse informants without confirming that they were telling the truth. Last year the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit, stating the district attorneys are immune from wrongful conviction suits.

Goldstein also sued the city of Long Beach, who settled with him on Wednesday, August 11, 2010 for $8 million. Goldstein’s attorney stated, “The information the authorities suppressed would have led to his acquittal. Their conduct resulted in Tom spending 24 years in prison, years he can never recover.”

Original report here



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Ignorance of the law is no excuse

Unless you work in law enforcement

Ignorance of the law is no excuse. That's the standard line motorists hear when they say they weren't aware of the speed limit, or gun owners hear when they say didn't know about the gun laws in the jurisdiction they happened to get arrested in. Yet that ignorance is pretty understandable in an America where just about everything is being criminalized. At the federal level alone there are now more than 4,500 separate crimes, and that's not counting the massive regulatory code, violations of which also can sometimes be punished with criminal charges.

As citizens, we're expected to know and obey all of these laws, in addition to state and local statutes and the relevant court opinions that interpret the breadth and depth of all of those laws.

But what happens when law enforcement officials don't know the law? What happens when they illegally detain, arrest, and charge you even though you've done nothing wrong? Unlike you, their ignorance doesn't result in arrest or jail. And unless the violation is pretty egregious, they're unlikely to be punished for it.

Consider the case of Brian Kelly. On May 24, 2007, Kelly was riding with a friend in the town of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Officer David Rogers of the Carlisle Police Department pulled Kelly's friend over for speeding. Rogers told the two that the traffic stop was being recorded with a microphone attached to his uniform. Kelly, who had a video camera with him, began recording the stop as well. When Rogers returned from writing a ticket, he noticed Kelly's camera. Rogers demanded Kelly turn the camera off and hand it over to him. Kelly complied.

Rogers then returned to his car and called John Birbeck, an assistant district attorney in Cumberland County. Rogers asked Birbeck if Kelly's recording violated Pennsylvania's wiretapping law. Birbeck incorrectly told him it did. Rogers then called in back-up officers and placed Kelly under arrest. During the arrest, Rogers "bumped" (the term Kelly used in his lawsuit) Kelly, causing a staple from a rugby injury to rupture, causing Kelly's leg to bleed. Kelly spent the night in jail. He was eventually charged with a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison. Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed would later tell the Patriot-News that while he sympathized with Kelly not being aware that what he did was illegal, and that he might (graciously!) allow Kelly to plead to a misdemeanor, "Obviously, ignorance of the law is no defense."

Here's the problem: Freed was the one who was ignorant of the law. So was Birbeck. And so was Rogers. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that recording on-duty public officials is not a violation of the state's wiretapping law because public officials have no legitimate expectation of privacy while they're on the job. The order for Kelly to stop videotaping was illegal. So was Kelly's arrest and his incarceration. Freed eventually dropped all charges.

Kelly filed a civil rights lawsuit against Rogers and the town of Carlisle. In May of last year, Federal District Court Judge Yvette Kane dismissed Kelly's suit. The reason? As a police officer, Rogers is protected by the doctrine of qualified immunity. In order to even get his case in front of a jury, Kelly has to show that Rogers (a) violated Kelly's civil rights, and (b) the rights Rogers violated have been clearly established. Even if Kelly can meet those two burdens, he must also show that Roger's actions in violating Kelly's rights were unreasonable.

So it isn't enough that the police are wrong about the law. They have to be very obviously wrong for you to collect any damages from a wrongful arrest.

Kane found that because Rogers sought advice from the local prosecutor's office it was reasonable for him to act on that advice, even if the advice happened to be wrong on the law. Moreover, Kane found that because the federal appeals courts have yet to find a specific right to make audio recordings of police, that right is not yet clearly established. Kelly is appealing.

Suing Birbeck isn't likely an option for Kelly, either. Prosecutors enjoy an even stronger protection called absolute immunity. Under absolute immunity, there is virtually nothing a prosecutor can do in the course of his job that would subject him to a lawsuit.

The contradiction couldn't be starker. Kelly, a citizen who neither works in law enforcement nor has been to law school, was arrested, jailed, and charged with a felony for not knowing that an antiquated law pertaining to wiretapping prevented him from using a wireless video camera to record a traffic stop that the police officer himself was recording. Even if Kelly had broken the law, at worst he made a recording of Rogers without Rogers' consent in addition to the recording Rogers was already making. Rogers wasn't harmed at all. And for that, Kelly could have gone to prison for seven years.

On the other hand, Freed, Birbeck and Rogers are all paid by taxpayers to know and enforce the law. Freed and Birbeck presumably went to law school, and presumably passed the Pennsylvania bar exam. Knowing the state's criminal code and the court decisions that affect it is a fairly integral part of their jobs. The harm caused by their ignorance of the law is far from insignificant: A man was wrongly arrested, detained, and jailed. His First Amendment rights were violated. And he was injured in the course of his arrest. Yet they won't be going to jail. In fact, they're unlikely to be sanctioned or punished at all.

And Kelly isn't the only person this has happened to. Last month, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania settled a lawsuit with Elijah Matheny, who was arrested and charged in 2009 for recording the police with a cell phone camera. Part of the settlement requires the Allegheny County DA's office to instruct local police that citizens in Pennsylvania have the right to record on-duty police officers.

That's a start. But it's one county, in one state. There have also been recent wiretapping arrests of citizens recording police in Maryland, New Hampshire, and Oregon, despite the fact that all three states have privacy provisions in their wiretapping laws, and that no court in the country has ruled that on-duty cops have an expectation of privacy in public spaces or while performing their official duties. The justification for those arrests is that the citizens of those states should know that antiquated laws covering the tapping of phone lines also make it illegal to record a police officer with a cell phone. But just as in Pennsylvania, it is law enforcement officials themselves who are wrong on the law. And even in the rare case where a wrongful arrest leads to a cash settlement, it's generally paid for by taxpayers, not the law enforcement officials who broke the law in the first place.

And the problem goes beyond wiretapping laws. Last month, police in Washington, D.C. detained and threatened to arrest Jerome Vorus, who photographed a traffic stop in Georgetown. D.C. Police Chief Kathy Lanier subsequently acknowledged on a radio call-in show that there's no law against photographing police in D.C., but then went on to excuse her officers' violation of the photographer's rights, explaining that cops don’t like having their photos taken because “we can have our pictures end up on all sorts of websites, and that can be dangerous for us." The message to D.C. cops? Citizens are permitted to photograph you, but nothing's going to happen to you if you stop those citizens from exercising their rights.

More here



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Why have Australian authorites kept setting a dangerous criminal free?

FOR some reason authorities keep setting killer, alleged drug dealer and would be hit man Graham Potter free. The "Head and Fingers" killer, as he became known after murdering teenager Kim Barry in 1980, is on the run again - granted bail by a Melbourne magistrate on charges of conspiracy to murder.

Potter failed to appear in court in February and has been the subject of a manhunt ever since. Given his violent history, it is remarkable that Potter was once again allowed to go free.

His infamy began when he murdered 19-year-old Ms Barry, a casual acquaintance, after crossing paths with her on the dance floor of a Wollongong disco while on his bucks night in 1980. That night, February 6, he took Kim back to his flat where he hit her so violently with two blows to the head her skull was crushed, killing her instantly.

He then put her body in a bath and used a hacksaw to cut off her head and fingers to try to hide her identity. Kim's body was found two days later on the side of a mountain at Jamberoo, south of Wollongong. A bag containing her skull and fingers was found three weeks later.

When he was finally arrested after 36 days on the run, Potter said he could explain it all - two drug dealers dressed in dark glasses and suits killed her and made him cut up her body. It took the jury 67 minutes to disbelieve his fantastic tale and find him guilty. He was sentenced to life in prison, but only served 14 years, despite escaping from Bathurst jail in 1990.

After his release the former coal miner lived on the NSW South Coast and in 2002 moved to Tasmania with his wife Sheree Jones, his fiance at the time of the murder and who had married Potter while he was in prison.

Police allege that while in Tasmania he became deeply involved in criminal activity, particularly the drug trade. In 2008, Operation Inca set up by federal police arrested Potter over his alleged part in the importation of $440 million worth of cocaine and ecstasy - one of the largest in Australian history. He was extradited to Victoria but for some reason was granted bail.

Freed by the courts, Potter soon got himself involved in the Melbourne underworld and was again in trouble with the law, this time as a gun for hire. Victoria Police allege Potter and two other men were involved in a plot to kill two men, one an associate of Melbourne underworld figure Mick Gatto. One of the murders was allegedly to have taken place at the wedding of Gatto's son.

In May last year, despite his criminal history and police opposing his release, Potter was again granted bail. Not surprisingly, he failed to appear at Melbourne Magistrates Court on February 1 to face conspiracy to murder charges and has been on the run ever since. He was last seen in Woombye, in southern Queensland, on January 30.

Police would not reveal much about their hunt for Potter except that he was not to be approached and he sometimes used the alias Josh Lawson.

Retired detective Henry Delaforce worked on the Barry case back in 1980. "It was a gruesome murder. Potter had worked as a morgue attendant and was quite familiar with bodies," Mr Delaforce said.

Mr Delaforce said Potter was a pathological liar. "Liars of his calibre end up believing in their own innocence," he said. "He considered himself charming and suave and in some ways he could be, which is how I suppose he could get people's confidence."

Original report here. (Via Australian Politics)



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DNA fingerprinting techniques 'can sometimes give the wrong results'

This is a pretty alarming study

DNA evidence is not an infallible tool for criminal investigations, experts have warned. Interpretation of samples can be highly subjective and prone to error, a study has found.

The incredibly small amounts of DNA in samples and pressure to gain a conviction can lead to bias, according to an investigation by New Scientist.

The magazine sent a sample of DNA from a real crime scene to 17 experienced analysts in an U.S. laboratory. The experts' differing results cast doubts over the technique's reliability.

The sample, from a gang rape, had already been used to convict a man - but only one of the 17 scientists came to the same conclusion. Four said the evidence was inconclusive and 12 said he could be excluded.

Itiel Dror, a University College London scientist who helped set up the investigation, said: 'It is time DNA analysts accept that under certain conditions, subjectivity may affect their work.'

Christine Funk, a defence lawyer in the U.S., said: 'The difference between prison and freedom rests in the hands of the scientist assigned the case.'

The chances of two people having the same DNA fingerprint are between 800,000 and one billion to one. But there are concerns that increasing reliance on tiny samples of blood and saliva, often from more than one person, leaves interpretation open to the scientist's judgment.

New Scientist added: 'Profiling is generally seen as infallible and always able to get its man. But DNA profiling is far from perfect.'

British experts said techniques used here are more advanced and highly regulated. Kay Francis, of the government funded Forensic Science Service, which handles the bulk of the police's forensics work, said: 'The UK has led the world in terms of breakthroughs in forensic science. North America is quite a bit behind in that aspect. 'A case is never hung solely on DNA evidence. The Crown Prosecution Service is very clear that nothing will go to court on just DNA evidence.'

Original report here



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FL: Wet t-shirt leads to arrest

A Lake County mother was arrested at a children’s splash park after her white shirt got wet. Now, she's suing the city of Tavares over her arrest. She told WFTV police took an embarrassing situation and turned it into discrimination.

A hot day in April at the Tavares splash park turned into Janet Lovett's own personal nightmare. She took her 7-year-old son to cool off, but before the day was done she found herself behind bars, facing an arrest record for obstruction of justice and resisting arrest without violence. “I started shaking. I feel nervous. My son was inside park with husband. I was alone,” she told WFTV (watch full interview).

A park employee asked Lovett to leave, because the white t-shirt she was wearing had become wet and her padded bra was showing. She says she left, but outside the park gate a police officer approached her and asked her for ID and her name.

The police report indicates Lovett didn't give her name fast enough. The mom says she was scared and wanted to know why she was getting arrested.

Lovett’s attorney, Howard Marks, is demanding those same answers from the city. He says the police had no legal right to ask Lovett for ID, because no crime had been committed.

‘If they were wearing a bra, it's not illegal in the state of Florida. It's not indecent exposure. It's not a crime,” Marks said

Marks intends to sue the city for violation of civil rights, false arrest and malicious prosecution. He thinks there was more to her arrest that day than the outfit that was deemed inappropriate.

“Either the police were so lacking in training and so incompetent to the law or trying to ID someone who was a potential illegal alien,” Marks said.

Lovett is a U.S. citizen. The charges against her have since been dropped, but she still spent five hours in jail and paid a $1,500 fine.

The city of Tavares said it does not comment on pending litigation. The police chief told WFTV his officers operated within policy that day.

Original report here



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CA: Photojournalist wins settlement after frightening altercation with police chief

An Oakland Tribune photojournalist is now $99,000 richer thanks to the jackass who was school district police chief at the time.

In November 2008, Jane Tyska was covering an immigration demonstration when Oakland School District Police Chief Art Michel side-swept her with his car. Michel then stopped the car, jumped out and began threatening to arrest Tyska for hitting his car with her elbow. That’s right, her elbow.

You really have to hear the exchange in the above video to believe it.

I’m betting Michel assumed Tyska was only carrying still photo cameras because he then began insulting her as well as accusing her of inciting a riot.

Michel resigned two months after the incident.

This incident really demonstrates the importance of continuing to videotape in the face of adversity because without the videotape, we would have seen a completely different outcome.

Original report here (Video at link)




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Not a penny for British man acquitted after six years in jail

"Innocent until proven guilty" does not apply in Britain, apparently. British law really has deteriorated

Sion Jenkins has been refused compensation for the six years he spent in jail accused of murdering his foster daughter. The former deputy headmaster had sought up to £500,000 damages for the prison term he served before he was acquitted over Billie-Jo’s death.

But although Mr Jenkins said he fitted ‘all the criteria’ for a payout, the Ministry of Justice rejected his request after officials assessed the case.

Rules state that applicants for miscarriage of justice compensation must show they are ‘clearly innocent’ if they are to receive money.

The snub, confirmed by informed sources, is a major setback for Mr Jenkins, who has always protested his innocence. He was initially found guilty in 1998 of 13-year-old Billie-Jo’s murder.

She had been battered to death with a metal tent peg on the patio of her foster family’s home. Six years after his conviction, he won an appeal against it and was released on bail pending a new trial. He was formally acquitted in February 2006 following two retrials when neither jury could reach a verdict.

Details of his compensation claim were revealed in 2008 after the publication of his book The Murder Of Billie-Jo. In it, for the first time, he mentioned his own prime suspect – a man he says he saw in the hall of his home in Hastings, East Sussex, on the day of the attack.

Around that time, Mr Jenkins said: ‘I believe the Government should compensate me for taking away my liberty for six years which also meant I lost the childhood of my daughters. ‘Family members have died while I was inside. I had a kicking while I was inside. I have raged inside because I have not been able to cope with what happened to me. ‘I believe the Government should pay for that. I have just filled in the forms. I am waiting for decision. I fulfil all the criteria. The amount is not the important thing.’

Billie-Jo was killed in February 1997. In the days after her death, Mr Jenkins was arrested for her murder. He has always maintained that he found her body when he returned from a trip to a DIY store.

After he was convicted, his wife Lois divorced him and moved with their four daughters to Tasmania, severing contact. Days after his acquittal she revealed how he had beaten her and their children. In her diary she alleged that her former husband had a history of domestic violence, violent mood swings and a fascination for corporal punishment. She had given similar evidence during his appeal hearing but the allegations were never heard by the jury. In a TV interview after his acquittal, Mr Jenkins denied the domestic violence.

During his first trial, it also emerged that he had faked his CV in order to get his deputy head post in Hastings, East Sussex. Mr Jenkins has since put this down to ‘stupidity’.

In February 2005, while awaiting the first of his two retrials, he secretly wed second wife Tina Ferneyhough, a 58-year-old millionaire art dealer.

Following Mr Jenkins’s acquittal, Sussex Police carried out a review of Billie-Jo’s murder but identified no new leads or suspects. A force spokesman said yesterday: ‘The murder of Billie-Jo Jenkins remains an unresolved case and is therefore subject to review in the event of any new and compelling evidence coming to light. ‘We will continue actively to pursue any viable lines of enquiry put to us, but none have emerged.’

Victims of miscarriages of justice are not automatically entitled to compensation after their original convictions are quashed. They must prove they are ‘clearly innocent’ to receive a payout. Claims for damages are considered under section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. The amount paid for ‘suffering and harm to reputation’ is judged by factors including the seriousness of the offence and severity of punishment, the conduct of investigation and prosecution of the offence.

If ministers rule an applicant deserves a payout, an independent assessor, often a senior lawyer is appointed to decide how much. The Ministry of Justice said: ‘In order for it to be shown that it is beyond reasonable doubt there has been a miscarriage of justice for the purposes of paying compensation, the applicant must be shown to be “clearly innocent”.’

The department refused to discuss the outcome of Mr Jenkins’s damages claim. It is not known whether he is appealing the ruling.

Original report here



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Judicial negligence in New York

Man murdered in Coney Island less than two weeks after shooting 2-year-old girl. In this case I rather like the outcome but it is disturbing that such heavy criminals can be so lightly released from custody

A Brooklyn thug who wounded a 2-year-old girl during a vicious gunfight was murdered yesterday — less than two weeks after he was sprung from the clink without bail.

Despite a rap sheet that includes 22 arrests, as well as pending felony charges from May, Vincent Carmona, 24, was set free just five days after he shot little Jayleen Jones in front of her Coney Island home, according to online court records.

Yesterday, Carmona was found shot three times — twice in the chest and once in the neck — around 3:15 p.m. on West 32nd Street and Mermaid Avenue.

The slaying was just blocks from where he wounded Jayleen on July 25. The girl was riding her bike in front of her home when she was hit by a slug as Carmona and Devin Dortch, 17, fired at a third man in revenge for an earlier mugging, cops said.

No motive was immediately known for yesterday’s bloodshed.

Carmona, whose has arrests for drug possession, robbery and larceny, was picked up the next day and charged with weapons possession, attempted assault and reckless endangerment.

After initially being held without bail, he was let go July 30. Carmona had another open felony case —on May 25, he was charged with making a terroristic threat and criminal trespassing. He was also released without bail on those charges.

Original report here



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OH: Cops attempt to justify arrest by calling themselves cowards and idiots

A woman in Ohio using her cell phone to videotape police questioning her boyfriend caused deputies to fear for their lives because she could have easily been holding a “cell-phone gun.”

After all, cell-phone guns have become the latest rage in the criminal underworld; everyday occurrences that threaten officers at every turn.

At least according to Delaware County Sheriff Walter L. Davis III:

In a statement, Delaware County Sheriff Walter L. Davis III said that cell-phone guns are an example of everyday items that have been altered into deceptive weapons that endanger the safety of officers and the public.

However, the Columbus Dispatch prodded a little deeper into this deadly trend and discovered that the sheriff was most likely hyping up the threat of cell-phone guns to justify his deputy’s arrest of the woman for videotaping them against their wishes.

Neither the sheriff’s office nor the Columbus office of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has ever come across one of the black-market devices that apparently are made in Eastern Europe.

Several online sources, including Snopes, confirmed the existence of the these phones but say they very rare and they have not yet made it into the United States

Melissa Greenfield, the 115-lb, 20-year-old woman was wearing a neck brace when she began videotaping deputies talking to her boyfriend at a truck stop. She was charged with obstructing official business and resisting arrest, which are common contempt-of-cop charges.

Greenfield say when deputies returned her cell-phone, she discovered they had deleted her videos.

However, the sheriff says they did no such thing because that would have required a warrant and they are not going to twist the law in their favor.

Deputies did not delete any video, Davis said. A warrant would have been required to search the phone, and one was not obtained, he said.

And we are to completely believe every word out of Davis’ mouth because he would never tell a lie. Well, he might exaggerate about the widespread use of cell-phone guns. But lie? Never.

Original report here



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Australia: It's OK to tell police officers to 'f*ck off'

It would be dangerous to risk it in America, though

A Queensland magistrate has ruled that it is acceptable for people to tell police officers to "f*ck off". Magistrate Peter Smid yesterday threw out the court case against Mundingburra man Bardon Kaitira, 28, who swore at a female officer outside the Consortium night club on December 20, last year at 2.40am, The Townsville Bulletin reports.

Constable Belinda Young gave evidence that Mr Kaitira used the swear word twice towards her after a group of officers patrolling Flinders St East poured out his girlfriend's drink. "The defendant said 'f*ck off' and starting walking away and I asked: 'What did you say?'," she said. "He said 'f*ck off" again and then said: 'I don't like the police you think you are all heroes'.

"I told him it was an offence to swear at an officer and gave him two choices - a fine or be arrested." Mr Kaitira opted to be put in handcuffs and taken to the watch house.

After winning the landmark case he explained outside court why he pleaded not guilty - despite admitting to swearing at Constable Young. "On the night it was completely over the top and I didn't think it was fair," Mr Kaitira said. "Most people just cop a fine but I didn't want to do that."

The defendant instead read through hundreds of similar legal cases before employing a leading criminal barrister and a solicitor to take on his public nuisance case at a cost of $4622.11.

It was worth it for the horticulturist as Magistrate Smid said he was not satisfied Mr Kaitira committed an offence and police could be liable for his legal bills. "The defendant spoke normally, he had his hands in his pockets and walked away," Magistrate Smid said. "It's not the most polite way of speaking but those who walk the beat would be quiet immune to the words."

The magistrate said overall the conduct of the defendant was not a nuisance to the public because it didn't interfere with fellow night club goers.

"It was overkill by the officer who was not offended anyway," Mr Smid said. "But she pursued him clearly annoyed he hadn't shown remorse."

Defence barrister Justin Greggery said the case was "doomed to fail" from the start, arguing that saying the f-word to police was "not an offence". "It was simply f*ck off - a common enough expression which wasn't descriptive like f*ck you or you f*ck," he said. "Really the word has lost its affect due to its use in books, films, and general speech."

Mr Greggery added that police were trying to criminalise language, which set a dangerous precedent. "When they try to set the bar this low they are saying the word f*ck is criminal conduct," he said. "This is language they use themselves on the job (while arresting offenders and to other officers)."

However, police prosecutor Sergeant Richard Scholl argued Mr Kaitira's code of conduct was offensive and stinging towards the policewoman. "He displayed behaviour and made jibes with the intention to insult. Police should be shielded from this type of language and the community cannot accept it's OK for a private citizen to tell police to f*** off," he said.

Queensland Police Union President Ian Leavers agreed and called for an urgent appeal of the case, which could set a precedent in Queensland law. "It is a sad day when the courts and government say it is OK to use four letter words at police," he said. "To say it's OK to use offensive language at police in the street, who are just doing their job makes, no sense at all."

Mr Smid will decide today whether the Queensland Police Service will cover Mr Kaitira's legal bills, which legal counsel later reduced to $2527.50 after a successful outcome. By law the maximum amount that can be reimbursed is $1500.

The case follows that of Sydney student Henry Grech, who was cleared in May of an offensive language charge against police after a local court magistrate ruled the word "prick" was part of every-day speech.

Original report here. (Via Australian Politics)



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Murder of British family: New evidence could clear 'killer'

The new evidence should certainly show the conviction as "unsafe" (in British terms) and needing reversal

Jeremy Bamber, the man convicted of massacring five family members at an Essex farmhouse in 1985, could launch a fresh appeal after new evidence came to light.

A phone log not used as evidence during his trial appears to support what Bamber insisted from the start – that his schizophrenic sister Sheila, known as Bambi, shot her parents and children before turning her gun on herself.

Bamber, 50, was jailed for life for the killings but could now be proved innocent after the fresh evidence raised questions over a key element of the prosecution's case against him.

The document appears to show that Bamber's father Jeremy called police on the night he died alongside his wife, daughter and two grandchildren, saying his daughter had gone "berserk" and stolen one of his guns.

The log, entitled "Daughter gone berserk", reads: "Mr Bamber, White House Farm, Tolleshunt d'Arcy – daughter Sheila Bamber, aged 26 years, has got hold of one of my guns."

It came ten minutes before a second emergency call from Bamber himself, who told officers his father had telephoned him in distress before describing an almost identical situation.

According to the second log, Bamber told police: "You've got to help me. My father's just phoned me, he said, 'Please come over, your sister has gone crazy and has got the gun'." The judge told the jury – who were unaware of the first log – that whether the conversation between the two took place or not was a key point on which the case hinged.

Prosecutors initially claimed Bamber fabricated the conversation with his father, Nevill, in order to help his defence but the close similarities between the two logged calls could support Bamber's claim that the pair had spoken. The documents, obtained by the Daily Mirror, are among 100,000 papers being examined by Bamber and his lawyers.

The evidence has been submitted to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, meaning Bamber could now have a third appeal.

He was found guilty of the murders of Nevill, 61, his mother June, Sheila, and her twins Nicholas and Daniel, both six, in order to receive an inheritance of £436,000.

Police who attended the farmhouse found the bodies of Bamber's father, mother and two nephews riddled with bullets, while Sheila, a former model, was lying next to a Bible with two gunshot wounds to her neck.

Officers initially believed Bamber's claim that Sheila had carried out the massacre, until his ex-girlfriend Julie told police he had discussed having his parents murdered by a contract killer.

Further forensic examination of the rifle's silencer appeared to link Bamber to the murders and he was convicted by a 10-2 majority in October 1986, but the decision could now be reversed. A spokesman for the Criminal Cases Review Panel said: "We're still reviewing the evidence. No decision has been made whether to refer the case."

Original report here



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Arrogant police thugs in Vermont arrest man for being ill while black

Coverup in full swing, of course

The circumstances have been likened to those last year involving a Cambridge police officer and Henry Louis Gates Jr., a Harvard professor. In this case, the trouble began May 29, when a cleaning firm employee called police in Hartford to report that a condo she had been hired to clean appeared to have been ransacked and burglarized.

According to The Valley News of West Lebanon, N.H., officers went to the condo in the town’s Wilder section and found a naked black man in a third-floor bathroom. Police sprayed the man with pepper spray, hit him with a baton, handcuffed him, wrapped him in a blanket, and pulled him outside.

The man, Wayne Burwell, was the home’s owner. He has a medical condition involving low blood sugar that made him dazed and disoriented. When Burwell’s neighbor, Bob McKaig, a retired New Jersey police officer, tried to tell the officers Burwell owned the home and had a medical condition, the officers threatened to arrest him for interfering in their work, the paper reported.

Paramedics later arrived and took him to a hospital for treatment of his condition and for cuts caused by the handcuffs.

“The only explanation so far is that it’s a terrible example of racial profiling,’’ Allen Gilbert, executive director of the Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said yesterday. “But it’s not fair to draw that conclusion until you’re able to get the basic information you need to reach that conclusion.’’

The Valley News and the website vtdigger.org, an investigative journalism website, asked the town of Hartford for a tape of the 911 call that triggered the incident, as well as the police report and the names of responding officers. The town refused, saying it had turned over the matter to State Police and the state attorney general’s office.

The records were related to a matter under investigation, so they were exempt from the public records law, the town said. “We’re not necessarily saying we’re not giving them out; we’re just saying we’re not giving them out right now,’’ town manager Hunter Rieseberg, told the Associated Press yesterday.

The state’s public records law exempts materials related to an investigation from disclosure, but there is an exception, “records reflecting the initial arrest of a person’’ are public, Gilbert said. The town maintains there was no arrest; it was a case of “temporary custody,’’ Rieseberg said.

Original report here



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Man British police arrested for being drunk was having an epileptic fit and died just hours later

Cops thought they knew it all. Ignored advice. A man is dead but a piece of paper is the only punishment the cops got

Two police officers have received written warnings after arresting a man they thought was drunk but who had just suffered an epileptic fit and later died in hospital.

Sean Hardy, 30, had called paramedics requesting help but they were unable to get into his flat and phoned for police back up. But when two Pcs arrived at his home in Pinxton, Derbyshire, they thought Mr Hardy was drunk and arrested him for an outstanding offence, the Independent Police Complaints Commission said today.

He was taken to Ripley police station, but by the time he arrived he was unable to stand and the senior custody sergeants ordered him to be taken to hospital.

The two Pcs then drove to nearby Alfreton police station with Mr Hardy so that he could be driven by other officers to hospital. But by the time he eventually reached the hospital he had stopped breathing. He died a few hours later.

Following an investigation by the IPCC, the two officers who attended the first call-out received written warnings. The acting sergeant they spoke to at Ripley and a Pc who joined them for the trip to Alfreton received advice.

IPCC commissioner Amerdeep Somal said: 'From our investigation it appears that Mr Hardy's best chance of surviving was if he had been taken to hospital from his flat. However, from the point when his care was the sole responsibility of the police, there were a number of opportunities to realise that he needed urgent medical care. Sadly these were not taken.

'A number of officers recognised Sean's need for medical treatment. Those directly responsible for him though believed he was acting and, despite the direction of senior officers, did not take him to hospital immediately.

'It was obviously very important for Sean's family to understand if this delay contributed to his death. Our investigation sought expert opinion which concluded that even if he had arrived at hospital sooner it is not certain he would have lived.'

Original report here



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British cop found guilty of 'excessive' assault

There'll be no significant penalty for it, of course

An assault on a drunken off-duty soldier by a special constable was "violent, excessive and unjustified", the police watchdog said today.

Peter Lightfoot, 40 was today found guilty of assaulting Lance Corporal Mark Aspinall after they viewed CCTV footage of him pushing his head into the ground and striking him with a police helmet.

The attack on the soldier, who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, happened in the early hours of July 27, 2008 outside a bar in Wigan, Greater Manchester.

Original report here. Video at link.



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TX: After 27 years, man exonerated by DNA evidence

Lazy police were sure they had their man -- and let the real crooks get away Scot free

Imprisoned for 27 years for a rape he didn't commit, Michael Anthony Green walked out of jail a free man on Friday and in the process was able to leave behind some of the anger that had fueled his survival behind bars.

Accompanied by his attorney, Green walked out of the Harris County Jail and into the arms of about 20 family members who cheered him. "Live life," Green said, when asked what he is going to do now.

Green, 44, was released after the Harris County District Attorney's Office reopened his case and new DNA tests it commissioned showed he did not commit the 1983 rape of a woman who had been abducted. During a court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that Green be released on a $500 bond, allowing him to be free while the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals makes a final ruling on his innocence.

Asked what kept him going the last 27 years, Green said that in part it was his anger. "I took and channeled my anger into studying the law," said Green, clutching a photograph of his mother, who died while he was in prison. "That's how I lived, day by day ... doing what I did. Get up in the law, try to find me a way out."

Some of the anger that Green had held onto for so many years came to the surface on Thursday, when he had been originally scheduled to be freed on bond. His release was delayed to give him time to calm down after he became upset that he was put in handcuffs and leg restraints one final time as he was taken from the county jail to the courthouse, said Bob Wicoff, his attorney. Green said he got upset because one of the deputies escorting him tightened his handcuffs and threatened him.

Wicoff called it a misunderstanding but said Green was justified in his anger as his life had been taken away. Green entered prison at age 18. Some of the nieces and nephews who greeted him on Friday hadn't been born when he was locked up.

Green said that while in prison, he didn't give up hope, writing to state lawmakers, the Harris County District Attorney's Office and others proclaiming his innocence and asking that his case be reviewed.

In 1983, four men abducted a woman from a pay telephone in north Houston, taking her to a remote location where three of them raped her. The men drove off, leaving the woman there, and were later chased by police. The men abandoned their car and fled on foot. Green was detained by officers that night as he walked in the area.

The victim could not identify Green in person when he was first detained but later picked him from a photo lineup as one of her attackers. Green was convicted of aggravated sexual assault and sentenced to 75 years in prison. He was the only person convicted in the case.

After District Attorney Pat Lykos was elected in 2008, she formed the Post-Conviction Review Section and it chose Green's case as one of the first to look at. The review team found the only remaining evidence in the case — clothing worn by the victim during the rape — and had it tested. The results excluded Green.

Authorities were able to identify the four men who abducted the women. But because the statute of limitations on the rape has run out, they cannot be prosecuted. "The tragedy in the Green case is not only was an innocent man in prison, the victim was denied justice, society was denied justice and the real criminals were free," Lykos said Friday.

Lykos declined to criticize her predecessors when asked why it took so long for Green's case to be reviewed. She said DNA testing was not available when Green was convicted, it didn't come to the forefront until the 1990s and that even now Harris County — the country's third-largest county — doesn't have the resources to do all the testing it needs to do.

Green said he was grateful for the efforts by the district attorney's office. He and his attorney blame bad police work for his wrongful imprisonment, saying improperly suggestive identification procedures that were used in photo spreads and a live lineup helped lead to the victim incorrectly identifying Green as one of her attackers.

Houston police have declined to comment on Green's case. Wicoff said Green forgives the victim but is unsure if he will ever forgive the police.

Adrian Taylor, 50, Green's older brother, said he's disappointed it took so long for his brother to be released but now he wants to help him look to the future. "I now have to get him to forgive, forgive and move on," Taylor said.

Original report here



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British fireman is jailed in Portugal for crime he 'did not' commit

A retired British fireman twice commended for bravery but now in jail in Portugal is the victim of an extraordinary betrayal by British politicians and the European legal system, according to his partner.

Speaking out for the first time, Suzanne Lloyd-Baker said flaws in the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) legislation have left Garry Mann, 52, jailed for a crime he did not commit after a highly questionable trial process – and that others could suffer the same fate.

Mr Mann was arrested after a disturbance in the Algarve resort of Albufeira during the 2004 European Championships and convicted of football hooliganism by a specially convened court – in which the only interpreter was a local hairdresser.

The England fan has always protested his innocence, but given the choice of being deported or serving a jail sentence in Portugal, he chose to be deported. He returned to the UK in 2004 to resume his normal life in the belief that the matter was settled.

Yet in May he began a 24-month term in a prison in Portugal, after the authorities there changed their mind last year and decided he should be jailed after all and so issued an EAW: a fast-track, no-questions-asked extradition procedure introduced in 2002 to tackle terrorism cases.

‘We still can’t believe this has happened to us. We’re just an ordinary hard-working family,’ said Ms Lloyd-Baker, 40, his partner of eight years. ‘It isn’t easy for me talking like this, but I’d never forgive myself if I hadn’t tried everything I could to bring him back.’

She is lobbying the Government to take up her campaign for his release. His cause has the support of a senior judge who called the case a ‘travesty of justice’, and campaigners Fair Trials International (FTI).

After seeing England’s first 2004 tournament match in Lisbon, Mr Mann went to Albufeira to meet up with brother Mark and some friends. At about 1am on June 15, a riot broke out in the town. Mr Mann says he was nowhere near the trouble and entirely unaware of it at the time. He insists he was in a bar and says that he has witnesses to prove it.

When he left the bar at about 4am, several hours after the riot, he was arrested by two police officers who claimed he was involved.

His family fear his shaven head and powerful build may have gone against him. Within 48 hours, he was arrested, charged and convicted of inciting a riot.

He stood in the dock at a hastily convened court with 11 other suspects all represented by just one lawyer. They understood little of the proceedings, ineffectively translated by a hairdresser friend of the judge’s wife. Mr Mann says he became aware of the charges against him only a few minutes before he was convicted.

‘The deal, as far as we understood, was Garry was not allowed back to Portugal for a year, otherwise he’d have to serve two years in prison,’ said Ms Lloyd-Baker. ‘That was fine by us as he had no plans to go back.’

Mr Mann, from Faversham, Kent, had been in the news before – but only for receiving two Chief Fire Officer Commendations for bravery in the line of duty, once attempting to save the lives of a family of seven, receiving burns to his hands, wrists and chin.

In the furore following Mr Mann’s conviction, then Home Secretary David Blunkett declared he was frustrated with the lenient punishment and that he wanted to ‘nail him’. ‘Garry was all over the news. He was vilified by everyone,’ Ms Lloyd-Baker said. The police applied for a worldwide football banning order to stop Mr Mann travelling to matches abroad.

'But in 2005, Uxbridge magistrates refused to grant it after evidence of serious flaws in the 2004 trial. 'At the hearing, Detective Constable Alan Rutter, an experienced officer who represented UK police in Portugal 2004 and was in the riot court, called the trial ‘a farce’.

Mr Mann was able to return to some semblance of normality, continuing to work as a fireman. But early last year he learned an EAW had been issued after Portuguese courts decided he should go to jail after all.

‘We couldn’t believe what was happening,’ Ms Lloyd-Baker said. ‘Garry appealed against extradition. It was a long process with more than 30 court appearances. For over a year, we were living with our lives in limbo.’

Reviewing the case, Appeal Court judge Lord Justice Moses said Mr Mann had suffered a ‘travesty of justice’, calling the situation an ‘embarrassment’ to Portugal and the UK, but British courts were powerless to stop the extradition.

Mr Blunkett has now had second thoughts, saying he regrets his ‘premature’ comments in 2004. ‘I admit I was injudicious in my initial remarks regarding Garry Mann,’ he told The Mail on Sunday.

He believes the EAW, which he pushed to bring in, needs to be overhauled as it was intended for absconders, not those already convicted and released.

He said he was also unhappy about warrants executed many years after alleged events, saying he would like to see a time limit imposed. Jago Russell, chief executive of FTI, also says the EAW needs to be reviewed. ‘It’s removed all political discretion in extradition decisions,’ he said. ‘It was intended to deliver justice, but the current system is actually resulting in cases of serious injustice.’

FTI hopes to send a delegation to Portugal to argue for a pardon for Mr Mann. Around 30 prisoners in Portugal receive a pardon annually, usually around Christmas.

Mr Russell says in 2008, extraditions from the UK to other EU states numbered 515. That is predicted to rise by 250 per cent when a new EU information-sharing scheme comes into force soon. He says other cases prove the EAW is failing the innocent.

In June, UK-based father-of-three and chef Edmond Arapi was found innocent of murder after having been given a 16-year sentence in his absence in Italy. Despite proof he was in Britain at the time of the murder, an EAW was issued. He spent weeks in custody in the UK before getting bail. Only when Italian authorities realised they had fingerprint evidence of his innocence were charges dropped and the warrant withdrawn.

Ms Lloyd-Baker is exploring options, including getting a transfer to a UK jail. ‘I wanted to tell our story as we want any chance to get him home quicker. He’s been terribly let down by our Government and courts. I only hope the new Government do the right thing to review this dreadful law and help get him home soon.’

Original report here



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