Dubious arrest of defiant black woman

Defying cops is never smart for anyone. It just makes your situation worse. Sadly, many blacks fail to be civil and co-operative in dealings with police -- due in part to constant assertions from the Left and black leaders which demonize the police. It's a vicious circle and a self-fulfilling prophecy

ALMOST two weeks after Sandra Bland was found dead in her jail cell, Texas authorities have released footage of her arrest and it doesn’t look good.

Despite a medical examiner ruling that her death was suicide, the 28-year-old’s family and friends believe something else happened to the anti-racism activist during those three days.

And the video, which shows the roadside encounter escalate into a shouting confrontation, may add to their suspicions.

The video, posted by the Texas Department of Public Safety, shows the trooper stopping Bland for failure to signal a lane change.

The dashboard footage shows the state trooper trying to pull Ms Bland out of the vehicle, then drawing his stun gun and saying "I will light you up" after she refuses to follow his order.

After he hands her a written warning the trooper remarks that Bland seems irritated. The Illinois woman replies that she is irritated because she had changed lanes to make way for the trooper’s car.

The conversation quickly turns hostile when the officer asks Bland to put out her cigarette and she asks why she can’t smoke in her own car.

The trooper then orders Bland to get out of the vehicle. She refuses, and he tells her she is under arrest.

Further refusals to get out bring a threat from the trooper to drag her out.

Bland was taken to the Waller County Jail that day

Days later Ms Bland was found dead in a jail cell. Authorities said she hung herself with a plastic garbage bag.

However her family dispute the "spontaneous" and "outgoing" woman would have taken her life.

The day she was arrested she was on her way to a job interview with her former university, Prairie View A & M University.

Ms Bland’s sister Sharon Cooper told reporters in the days after her death that people who "knew her, truly knew her", know that suicide is "unfathomable right now". "Based on the Sandy I knew, this is unfathomable to me," Ms Cooper said.

"She was someone who was extremely spontaneous, spunky, outgoing, truly filled with life and joy. So when you think through the circumstances shared with us through this point, this is unimaginable."

Ms Bland was reportedly fighting internal demons. According to CNN, the 28-year-old suffered from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder as recently as March. She addressed her mental health struggles in videos posted online.

In other videos, she addressed the issue of racism.

Before being jailed, Ms Bland used her voice to encourage others to support the Black Lives Matter movement that took hold following the deaths of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown.

What exactly happened to Ms Bland has also resonated on social media, with posts questioning the official account and featuring the hashtags #JusticeForSandy and #WhatHappenedToSandyBland.

Others referred to #SandySpeaks, the hashtag #Bland used in monologues she posted on Facebook in which she talked about police brutality and said she had a calling from God to speak out against racism and injustice.

The trooper said in an affidavit that after handcuffing Ms Bland for becoming combative, she swung her elbows at him and kicked him in his right shin.

In the affidavit released Tuesday, trooper Brian Encinia said he then used force "to subdue Bland to the ground," and that she continued to fight back. He arrested her for assault on a public servant.

The trooper has been placed on administrative leave for violating unspecified police procedures and the Department of Public Safety’s courtesy policy.

The agency would not address questions about whether the trooper acted appropriately by drawing his stun gun or pulling her out of the vehicle.

"Regardless of the situation, it doesn’t matter where it happens, a DPS state trooper has got an obligation to exhibit professionalism and be courteous ... and that wasn’t the case in this situation," said Steven McCraw, the department director.

Bland was taken to the Waller County Jail about 100 kilometres north west of Houston on July 10 and found dead July 13.

A Texas Rangers investigation into her death is being supervised by the FBI.

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards last week cited the jail for not providing documents proving that jailers in the past year had undergone training on interacting with inmates who are mentally disabled or potentially suicidal.

The citation also showed that jailers fell short by not observing inmates in person at least once every hour.

The sheriff’s office said Friday in a statement that jailers checked on Bland via an intercom on one occasion rather than in person.

Commission Executive Director Brandon Wood has declined to say if the citation is related to Bland’s death.

But sheriff’s officials mentioned her when explaining the violations, noting that they don’t believe "either one of these deficiencies had any part in the death of Ms. Bland."

Original report here

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Don't Blame Juries for Wrongful Convictions

As of this post's press time, the National Registry of Exonerations shows the number 1,625. Those are the documented ones, at least, marking the number of people convicted of serious crimes who have been later shown to be not guilty. As our understanding of the prevalence of wrongful convictions grows, scholars and advocates are looking into the reasons why. Kara MacKillop and Neil Vidmar of Duke Law School have a new article in the Chicago-Kent Law Review (MacKillop & Vidmar, 2015), in which they ask, "With estimates of wrongful conviction rates as high as 5% in serious felony cases, how are juries getting it wrong?" After all, one reaction to the risks of convicting the innocent is to just consider it an inevitable by-product of a justice system that depends on fallible human judgment. The analysis provided by MacKillop and Vidmar, however, offers a sobering response: In most cases, based on what they were told, the jury seems to have the right decision, or at least a justifiable one. Instead of the blame lying with the 12 individuals, good and true, responsibility rests with the quality of evidence that does or doesn't make it into trial. "When the evidence presented is false or misleading or simply nonexistent at trial," they write, "the jury cannot be held responsible for creating an erroneous narrative and thus a wrongful verdict."

The article is entitled, "Decision-Making in the Dark: How Pre-Trial Errors Change the Narrative in Criminal Jury Trials" and it is currently available in a free download. MacKillop and Vidmar review research showing that jurors work hard, take their roles seriously, and apply a rational system in resolving cases by trying to form a complete narrative. The main problem, they say, is not with that process, but with the information that is fed into it. For example, they report on one recent analysis (Garrett, 2012) of the first 250 DNA exonerations showing clear patterns of error in those cases regarding the evidence that was let in or kept out. And when those errors are explored, the appeals process applies a bias for finality and a very high standard for tossing out a verdict and ordering a new trial. As a result of what the authors describe as "astonishingly consistent problems with withheld, suppressed, and misleading evidence," jurors try to complete the story, but frequently don't have the necessary information to reach a fair conclusion. MacKillop and Vidmar draw out of this some implications for court reform, but their investigations carry some broader implications for jury trials generally.

The Root Cause of Wrongful Convictions

The authors both work with the Duke Wrongful Convictions Clinic and the article is part of their development of a "root cause analysis" methodology to look at what policies and doctrines are most responsible for erroneous verdicts. As part of that effort, they also looked at the jury's role, but found little evidence to support the idea that juries are making independent errors of their own to any substantial degree. Instead, their analysis points to the way the two keystone cases on withheld evidence (Brady v. Maryland) and false evidence (Napue v. Illinois) are being applied by the courts. At the appeals level, courts apply a high standard of whether the evidence's presence or absence would have likely led to a different result, and all mistakes that don't rise to that level are tossed into a bin labeled "harmless error." The problem with that approach is that it ignores the fact that jurors aren't just processing evidence, but are instead trying to form their own narrative of what happened, and if the error leads to jurors not reaching a complete and accurate story, then the error isn't harmless. As MacKillop and Vidmar argue, "Without question, the allowance of absent, misleading, or false evidence must influence the narrative the jury develops, and the final verdict absolutely springs from that narrative."

In keeping with their focus on narrative, the authors also provide two stories to illustrate these problems, and both are worth reviewing in the article. The first involves LaMonte Armstrong, convicted and sentenced to life in a 1988 murder. His conviction was based on testimony from a number of incentivized jailhouse sources that would have been much less credible if jurors had heard the full extent of their prior activities. Prosecutors also presented misleading information about the relationship between Mr. Armstrong and the murder victim, a neighbor, and suppressed evidence denying the state's implication that Armstrong had a motive in the form of an attempt to borrow money. The second story focuses on J.L. Hardee, a juror who wrote a 2012 account of his own experience as a capital juror in a 1999 conviction. That case also involved several problems including a very questionable confession along with suppressed evidence on an alternate suspect and indications of a lack of communication and a broken-off relationship between the supposed co-conspirators. In both cases, the reasons for the wrongful conviction stem from the inaccurate and incomplete information that made up the jurors' story.

The Implication for Civil Trials

Drawing lessons from both stories, MacKillop and Vidmar focus their implications on criminal trials, paving the way for what is likely to be a broader set of recommendations on handling Brady and Napue issues in trial. In thinking more broadly on juries and the causes of questionable verdicts, however, I believe that the work carries implications for civil trials as well.

The main implication is to expect jurors to want a complete story in every case. MacKillop and Vidmar rely on Hastie, Penrod & Pennington's story model (1983), noting that "jurors construct a story that embraces the facts presented, as well as their own knowledge and experience, into a coherent whole." That insight suggests that treating narrative gaps as "harmless errors" is a problem not just for criminal trials but for all trials. To make sense of the events and to work their way to a resolution that feels just, jurors need to knit the disparate facts together until they form a continuous narrative.

One lesson of the story model is that jurors will be unsatisfied with any unfilled gaps, and will have a powerful incentive to fill in those gaps with inferences, probabilities and even speculation. And that is where the perspective runs up against the rules of evidence, which understandably aren't interested in "the full story," but in what is relevant and material. Still, it is every litigator's responsibility to know about the likely gaps and to make reasonable efforts to understand how jurors are likely to fill them. If a focus group, for example, tells about a key assumption that jurors are likely to make, then steps are taken to address it. You can, for example, call it out to them by acknowledging where they'll be tempted to speculate, and then reminding them that they'll be instructed to resist that temptation. There is some evidence that becoming sensitized to a bias can provide jurors with improved armor in combatting that bias. In addition, litigators and judges should also think broadly about relevance and materiality, understanding jurors' natural pull toward resolving issues in the context of the full story.

Ultimately, a jury's decision can only be as good as the information that is allowed in to support that decision. While the stakes are definitely higher in serious criminal cases, the narrow and selective processes that can lead a reasonable jury to an unreasonable conclusion are a risk in any case.

Original report here

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Top detective who worked on some of Britain's biggest murder cases is sacked for sexually harassing female colleagues

A top murder squad detective has been sacked for sexually harassing female colleagues.

Detective Chief Inspector Wayne Jones, who has worked on some of the country's biggest murder cases, was suspended after a married junior officer reported him to West Midlands Police bosses in January 2014.

The victim complained her life was made 'hell' with persistent sexually inappropriate comments after she rejected his advances between 2012 and 2013.

Her actions prompted three other female colleagues to come forward who also claimed DCI Jones had made repeated unwanted advances and lewd comments.

Force bosses launched an investigation and the complaints were upheld following a four-day hearing overseen by the force's Professional Standards Department.

DCI Jones was dismissed on May 22 for gross misconduct but it is understood he plans to appeal the decision and take the force to an employment tribunal.

Chief Inspector Darren Walsh, from West Midlands Police's Professional Standards Department, said: 'While our investigation uncovered evidence of sexual harassment, the officer's behaviour was not found to amount to a criminal offence.

'The vast majority of people who work for us treat one another with respect. However, this officer's behaviour clearly fell short of the standards expected of him.

'We hope his dismissal will reassure our employees and the wider public of our commitment to take action where evidence of wrongdoing is found.'

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: 'An investigation by the force's Professional Standards Department was launched in January 2014 following complaints the former Chief Inspector had made inappropriate comments of a sexual nature towards four female colleagues between 2012 and 2013.

'The officer was suspended and the matter was referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, who determined a local investigation should be conducted.

'Evidence from the investigation was then presented at the misconduct hearing - conducted by Assistant Chief Constable Garry Forsyth - which found the officer had breached the standards of professional behaviour expected of him.

'He was dismissed from the force with immediate effect.'

DCI Jones headed up the force's elite Serious Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) from June 2013 to the time of his suspension and has worked on more than 50 murder cases.

He joined the force in 1993. In addition to heading SOCU, the former DCI also led the force's Murder Investigation and Review Team from June 2012 to June 2013.

The role involved overseeing murder investigations ranging from domestic homicide to a terrorist-related killing, with responsibility for three teams across the force.

His profile lists his 'responsibilities and key achievements' as including 'training and recruitment of staff including coaching, guiding and mentoring within all levels of the business.'

He also states he guarantees 'high operational standards evident to the customers and so ensuring high public satisfaction.'

Original report here

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British cops ruled to have behaved wrongly over harassment of whistleblowing journalist

Police and prosecutors were wrong to treat a Mail on Sunday journalist as a suspect after he exposed a drug-taking doctor, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service has ruled in a major victory for press freedom.

CPS chief executive Peter Lewis said West Yorkshire Police should not have questioned the reporter under caution on suspicion of voyeurism and supplying drugs, following his investigation into shamed Dr Colin Ferrie.

Mr Lewis also admitted local staff had blundered by failing to refer the case to senior colleagues as rules required. And he pledged to remind every Chief Crown Prosecutor of how they should deal with media cases where there may be a public interest in not pressing charges.

However, last night West Yorkshire Police struck a defiant tone by claiming they were right to interview the reporter and insisting he was still under investigation.

Mr Lewis said in a letter to MoS lawyers: ‘The Director of Public Prosecutions and I are both very clear that investigative journalism in the public interest plays a vital role in a democratic society.’

Last night, the reporter, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: ‘I am glad that this letter has helped to clarify the law for the protection of investigative journalists.

‘I am sorry that the matter ended up in the hands of the police when the story was about health and safety at work and making sure Dr Ferrie’s patients were ok. I hope West Yorkshire Police will drop their investigation now.’

As this newspaper revealed last week, our award-winning journalist had carried out an investigation into Dr Ferrie, a consultant paediatric neurologist at Leeds General Infirmary, after being told he regularly took illegal drugs before going on duty.

Hidden cameras set up in a house visited by the doctor captured him snorting almost three grams of Class A cocaine with an acquaintance, along with multiple doses of the sedative GHB. Shortly after his mid-afternoon binge, Dr Ferrie went ‘on call’ to give advice about the treatment of seriously ill children.

Dr Ferrie, 52, was suspended after the story was published in January, while West Yorkshire Police arrested him and his acquaintance. He has now resigned from his job.

The MoS publishes shocking pictures and footage of NHS consultant Dr Colin Ferrie snorting cocaine while on call as a paediatric neurologist. He is suspended by the General Medical Council later that month, pending an investigation.

But earlier this month our reporter was told he was to be interviewed under caution as a suspect rather than treated as a helpful witness. During a 90-minute interview at a Leeds police station, he was accused of supplying drugs and voyeurism, even though the secret cameras did not show Dr Ferrie having sex.

The journalist, who denied the allegations, was asked: ‘The camera was installed in the bedroom . . . was that done in any way for the purpose of your own sexual gratification?’

Following the interview, the MoS’s lawyers wrote to Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders to blast the ‘heavy-handed and un-co-operative’ approach to the ‘preposterous’ allegations, which would have a ‘chilling impact’ on journalism. Now it can be revealed that the CPS has admitted serious mistakes in the handling of the case.

Mr Lewis wrote back to our lawyers on Friday: ‘Cases such as these involving journalists should be referred to the CPS Special Crime Central Casework Division.

‘Had this case been referred in accordance with the guidelines, I am confident that the police would have been advised not to interview [your reporter] as a potential suspect.’

He added: ‘Clear advice has been given to West Yorkshire Police with regards to the CPS guidelines referred to above, and the public interest protection afforded to journalists in law. As a result of the issues highlighted by this case, a reminder will be circulated to all Chief Crown Prosecutors.’

Gavin Millar QC, a barrister at Matrix Chambers, said: ‘The CPS has acknowledged that the police should not have dealt with the reporter as a suspect, interviewing him under caution. This is correct and welcome.

‘But the police should have known they cannot treat investigative journalists in this way, just for doing their work. Chief constables need to ensure all police officers know this.’

Bob Satchwell of the Society of Editors added: ‘I’m very pleased the CPS has shown common sense. Sadly, we seem to be getting too many occasions when the police seem to forget the role of the media in an open and democratic society. They should certainly not be trying to get hold of their sources, hinder their investigations or question their motives.’

But last night West Yorkshire Police insisted the CPS had told them ‘the investigation would not be complete without [the reporter] being spoken to’.

A spokesman added: ‘Any interviews with people suspected of an offence will adhere to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 which affords suspects the protection of the criminal caution and does not allow special arrangements to deviate from this, regardless of the individual’s role or standing.’

Original report here

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UK: Brothers-in-law Tasered and pepper-sprayed by cops during a stag do win a payout from police

CCTV catches lying thug cops

Two men who were Tasered by police during a bizarre incident on a stag do have won a five-figure payout in compensation. Darren Corbridge and John Naylor, who are brothers-in-law, secured the payment after being wrongly arrested and convicted of assaulting an officer.

The pair were pepper sprayed and Tasered by police in Weymouth, Dorset in August 2010 while on a stag do for Stewart Roberts, who was marrying Mr Corbridge's sister Ellie.

At the time they were trying to help Mr Roberts get home in the early hours of the morning while he was dressed in a 6ft penis costume.

But after a taxi driver refused to take the groom as a passenger, police accused the two men of becoming aggressive and arrested them.

Mr Corbridge, a company director, and car mechanic Mr Naylor were subsequently convicted of assaulting a police officer, while Mr Naylor was also convicted of resisting arrest.

The men were each sentenced to wear an electronic tag, but they appealed against the convictions at Bournemouth Crown Court and were cleared in 2012 after a judge saw CCTV footage of the incident.

Now Dorset Police has agreed to pay an undisclosed five-figure sum of compensation, as well as £90,000 worth of legal costs.

Lawyer Sophie Khan of Sophie Khan & Co, who represented the two men, said: 'The claim by Mr Corbridge and Mr Naylor followed a serious incident in Weymouth town centre where the use of force on them was so excessive it had to be challenged.

'Dorset police have accepted their officers were wrong as they have settled the claims. I hope Dorset Police can learn from this and that it doesn't happen to anyone else.'

A spokesman for the police force said: 'We can confirm an out-of-court settlement has been reached with no admittance of liability. 'It is not our practice to comment on the settlement amount.'

At the time his conviction was overturned, Mr Corbridge said: 'I felt disgusted at how we were treated, it was like we were animals and I couldn't believe it had happened after asking for help.

'Whilst I was being Tasered I thought I was going to die, it was the most frightening experience I have had in my life and I will never trust the police again.'

Original report here

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British Keystone Kops will face no internal probe over how it took them six days to discover man had been murdered after they classed his six gunshot wounds as complications related to heart surgery

Bungling cops will face no questions from the police watchdog over how it took them six days to discover notorious criminal John 'Goldfinger' Palmer had actually been murdered.

It took Essex Police almost a week to find out the 64-year-old timeshare crook had been shot in the chest six times.

Bunging detectives initially judged Palmer's death to be non-suspicious and blamed 'pre-existing' injuries from recent heart surgery for causing confusion over how he died.

Palmer, who at one stage had amassed a £300million fortune, was gunned down in his back garden on Wednesday, June 24 and was discovered by a family member.

Ambulance crews were first at the scene and requested the police attend the secluded house, deep in Langton's Wood at South Weald in Essex.

In the weeks following the murder, Essex Police referred itself to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) - the police watchdog.

But today the IPCC released a statement, which said: 'Following an assessment of the evidence provided, it has been recommended that the matter should be investigated locally by the police force.

'This decision is based on the fact that there was no evidence of immediate police contact with Mr Palmer before his death, or identifiable conduct issues from the officers who attended the scene that would require the ongoing involvement of the IPCC.

'If any conduct issues are identified in the course of the local investigation, we would expect Essex Police to re-refer these for further assessment, which is in line with the usual process.'

Palmer was cleared of handling proceeds from Britain's most notorious gold robbery at the Brink's-Mat warehouse in Heathrow in 1983, but his alleged involvement earned him the nickname 'Goldfinger'.

The raid saw six armed men break into the warehouse expecting to find £3million in cash but instead stumbled on 7,000 gold ingots worth nearly £28million.

In 2001, he was jailed for timeshare fraud after building a multimillion-pound business which cheated 17,000 Britons out of money they had paid for homes on the Spanish island of Tenerife.

Original report here

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Tennessee cop Pockets $6,000 From People Who Had Their Cars Taken Through Forfeiture

A Tennessee police officer was indicted by a grand jury on charges of theft after he pocketed $6,000 from property owners who had their cars taken through civil asset forfeiture.

An investigation from the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury’s office released last week found that Sgt. Michael Hurt, a 15-year veteran of the Morristown, Tenn., Police Department, kept more than $6,000 in cash he received from property owners whose vehicles were seized by the law enforcement agency.

According to the audit, Hurt was responsible for returning the cars seized by the Morristown Police Department under civil asset forfeiture laws. Often times, the owners were required to pay the law enforcement agency a cash settlement or reimburse the agency for towing and storage fees, which Hurt collected.

However, in 2014 and 2015, Hurt kept more than $6,000 he collected from property owners, instead of depositing the money for the police department.

"I find it particularly troublesome when an officer of the law chooses to engage in dishonest activity," Justin Wilson, the comptroller, wrote in the report. "It is important that police departments and other government entities understand the risks associated with handling cash in day-to-day operations."

The comptroller’s office could not answer any more questions beyond what was provided in the report. The Daily Signal requested from the Morristown Police Department information regarding the number of property owners involved and the agency’s use of civil asset forfeiture. However, the department did not respond by the time of publication.

The Morristown Police Department told Tennessee Watchdog the property owners had their cars seized after they were arrested. However, it’s not known if the cars were connected to the activity. Those found not guilty entered into a court-imposed settlement and had their vehicles returned. They did not have to pay the towing and storage fees.

The comptroller’s investigation, done with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, found that Hurt "renegotiated" at least one settlement ordered by the Department of Safety from $5,000 to $1,500. The officer also tried to hide his actions by not recording having received the majority of the money and altering police department records.

Though officials discovered Hurt kept more than $6,000 in cash, he turned over just $5,500.

Earlier this month, a grand jury indicted Hurt on two counts of theft over $1,000, one count of theft under $500 and one count of misconduct.

In Tennessee, local law enforcement agencies keep 100 percent of the proceeds from cash and property seized under civil asset forfeiture, which gives agencies a financial incentive to seize property. Additionally, according to the Institute for Justice, local law enforcement agencies are not required to report information on how forfeiture funds are used or how much cash and property is seized.

The group gave the Volunteer State a "D" in a report examining forfeiture laws across all 50 states.

"Sgt. Hurt seemed to think he could get away with keeping $6,000, probably because of poor record keeping and lax enforcement. That no doubt factored into his calculus to steal it in the first place," Jason Snead, a research associate at The Heritage Foundation’s Edwin Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, told The Daily Signal.

"The real question is, how many ‘Sgt. Hurts’ are there? Without thorough and publicly available forfeiture reporting, it is impossible to say. Strict enforcement of reporting requirements is an important deterrent to this sort of abuse," he continued.

In addition to a lack of reporting requirements, Snead said law enforcement’s ability to keep all of the proceeds from forfeitures contributes to a system rife with corruption and abuse.

"You wind up with a system where law enforcement is dependent on substantial sums of money coming from outside the normal budgetary process, with little transparency and virtually no accountability," he said.

Civil asset forfeiture is a procedure that gives law enforcement the power to seize property if it’s suspected of being connected to a crime. Law enforcement agencies ramped up their use of forfeiture during the war on drugs as a way to curb money laundering and drug trafficking.

However, in recent years, a number of forfeiture victims have come forward after having money and property seized by law enforcement. The victims were never charged with a crime, and experts have argued officers are policing for profit.

Original report here

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New York City to pay $US5.9 million to Eric Garner's family

New York: New York City has reached a settlement with the family of Eric Garner, who died after being put in a chokehold by police last July, agreeing to pay $US5.9 million ($7.9 million) to resolve the claim over his death, according to city officials.

Eric Garner's death, along with the fatal shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old black man in Ferguson, Missouri, last August by a white police officer, sparked protests around the country by people outraged over police treatment of African Americans.

"No sum of money can make this family whole, but hopefully the Garner family can find some peace and finality from today's settlement," Mayor Bill de Blasio said. "By reaching a resolution, family and other loved ones can move forward even though we know they will never forget this tragic incident."

New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer said on Monday the settlement with Garner's family was "in the best interest of all parties," adding that the city did not admit liability.

"I believe that we have reached an agreement that acknowledges the tragic nature of Mr Garner's death while balancing my office's fiscal responsibility to the City," Mr Stringer said.

Garner's family had filed a claim in October seeking $US75 million in damages. Members of Garner's family, their attorney and the Reverend Al Sharpton plan to hold a news conference to discuss the settlement.

Jonathan Moore, an attorney representing Garner's family, said the settlement ends litigation against the city. A separate settlement was reached with the hospital that employed emergency medical technicians who responded to the scene and did not aid Garner, he said. The terms of the hospital settlement have not been released.

"We will continue to press for a federal prosecution against the officers involved in the death of Mr Garner," Mr Moore said.

A grand jury declined to indict officer Daniel Pantaleo, who placed Garner in the chokehold, a manoeuvre banned by New York City police. Video of the incident taken by a bystander became public, stoking anger over Garner's death.

The settlement comes roughly a week after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he will appoint a special prosecutor to handle investigations when civilians are killed during confrontations with police.

Garner, a 43-year-old father of six, was accused of illegally selling cigarettes on a sidewalk when Pantaleo put him in the chokehold from behind and brought him to the ground with the help of other officers.

The video of Garner's arrest shows him arguing with officers before Pantaleo put him in the banned maneuver. With officers holding him down, Garner pleaded with them, saying repeatedly: "I can't breathe".

The city medical examiner ruled Garner's death a homicide, finding that officers compressed his neck and chest. Health problems, which included asthma and obesity, were contributing factors in his death, the medical examiner found.

Original report here

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British student who handed £1 to a homeless man only to be handcuffed by an arrogant cop wins £5,000 payout

He recorded the cop threatening to lie but the cop still skated

A student handcuffed for giving a homeless man a £1 coin has won £5,000 compensation from police for being unlawfully detained.

George Wilson, 20, was held by police who thought the men were swapping drugs – and later denied being drunk before an officer told him: ‘That’s not how I’ll write it up’.

Mr Wilson, of Wallasey, Merseyside, was handcuffed after a night out in Liverpool city centre but managed to make a voice recording of the incident on his phone.

The student at Liverpool John Moores University had claimed the police officer threatened to falsify a statement saying he was drunk and disorderly and also unlawfully detained him.

Mr Wilson had just left a nightclub at about 2am on January 11 last year, when he spotted a homeless man and gave him £1 - but watching police thought he was exchanging drugs.

He was stopped by a police officer and detained under the Misuse of Drugs Act while another officer approached the homeless man.

Mr Wilson said he was ‘a student of the law’, to which the officer replied: ‘Look, buddy, if I lock you up for being drunk and disorderly, because that's what you are being, you won't be a student of the law any more. I'll take that off you. So shut your mouth and stop being stupid.’

Mr Wilson replied: ‘I haven't committed disorder. I've been polite. I've been respectful.’

Mr Wilson said the police officer then said: ‘That's not how I'll write it up, pal.’

The officer denied threatening to falsify a statement. A Merseyside Police investigation concluded the words could be interpreted differently and the officer was advised not to use them again.

It was upheld that once the homeless man had been searched and no drugs were found, Mr Wilson should have been released and as such he was detained for longer than necessary.

Mr Wilson, who now works for Bentley Motors, said: ‘I felt let down by the police. It was a relief to settle the claim, although it wasn't all upheld so I still feel in a way proper justice wasn't found.’

Lawyer Adam Quick, of James Murray Solicitors, who was representing Mr Wilson, said: ‘It is important that the public are made aware that they do not have to accept such treatment by police officers.’

A Merseyside Police spokesman said: ‘The force sought legal advice before a settlement amount was negotiated before this case went to trial.

‘The officer involved in this incident was spoken to about the matter at a misconduct meeting earlier in the year and was provided with advice and training.

‘Merseyside Police remains absolutely committed to the highest integrity and the professional standards of its officers at all times.’

Original report here

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Top British police doctor is accused of dozens of sex attacks on young officers during medical examinations and drunk suspects being held in cells

A scandal-hit police force is investigating shock allegations that its doctor preyed on young officers but that complaints were hushed up.

Avon & Somerset Constabulary – whose chief constable is returning to work after being found guilty of misconduct – is looking into claims that Dr Reg Bunting indecently assaulted cadets and new recruits during medical examinations. The force has been told that its in-house surgeon inappropriately ordered his victims to strip during routine physicals, fondled them and ogled their near-naked bodies.

So far, at least 11 people have given statements claiming they were indecently assaulted by Dr Bunting in the 1980s and 1990s. They believe similar complaints were made in previous decades but no action was taken.

There are also fears that Dr Bunting may have taken advantage of his position to abuse drunk suspects being held in police cells, and even rape victims during examinations.

He died two years ago so there can now be no criminal trial, but Avon & Somerset is compiling a report to the police watchdog.

The case is a further illustration of the challenge police face in dealing with a flood of historic abuse complaints.

Mark Williams-Thomas, the former detective who exposed Jimmy Savile as a paedophile in a TV documentary, told The Mail on Sunday last night: ‘It is very concerning to hear the nature of the allegations against Dr Bunting, especially given that concerns were raised previously while he was alive.

‘I have spoken to a number of the alleged victims and the accounts given paint a picture of a worrying pattern of behaviour by a person in a significant position of trust.

Dr Bunting studied medicine in Bristol in the 1950s and became a GP as well as a ‘force medical officer and principal police surgeon’. He became president of the Association of Police Surgeons, contributed to academic journals on forensics and spoke at international conferences.

He died aged 80 in 2013. But it is now claimed there had long been rumours about his behaviour towards young people trying to join Avon & Somerset. One man who was examined by Dr Bunting while a teenage cadet in the 1980s has recently given a statement to the force alleging indecent assault.

He said the doctor made him take off all his clothes before groping him, then ordered him to bend over for a spurious check on the ‘curvature of his spine’. Other boys were given only brief reflex tests and eyesight checks.

The alleged victim went on to serve in the force but only recently discovered that other people had endured similar experiences to him.

He said they had discovered that the Police Federation – the ‘union’ for rank-and-file officers – had raised concerns in the early 1980s. This reportedly led to a rule that Dr Bunting should not be left alone with young people, but it was not observed.

It is also claimed that several female officers lodged complaints in about 2000, but received no answer.

The alleged male victim, who wishes to remain anonymous, said last night: ‘The people in power at the time could have stopped him – they knew this was happening but did nothing.’

A young woman who joined the force in the 1990s said Dr Bunting had made her strip to her pants, bend over and then lie on a couch while he touched her stomach. She said she was ‘always terrified of him’ whenever he appeared at her station.

Detective Superintendent Rachel Williams of Avon & Somerset said: ‘Our investigation is in its relatively early stages and it’s still not yet clear how extensive it will be.’

Last week, Avon & Somerset’s high-flying Chief Constable Nick Gargan was found guilty of eight counts of misconduct. He is set to return to work, after being suspended for a year, as a panel cleared him of gross misconduct.

Mr Gargan admitted in a statement that his conduct had ‘fallen below the standards expected of a chief constable’ but insisted he had been cleared of ‘inappropriate advances towards female colleagues’.

Original report here

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Perverse British police

They hate anybody doing work that they have failed to do. It shows them up -- and they hit back at any opportunity

Police have accused a Mail on Sunday reporter of criminal voyeurism after he exposed a top children’s doctor who was abusing Class A drugs just before he went on duty at an NHS hospital.

The award-winning journalist set up hidden cameras that captured Dr Colin Ferrie snorting cocaine and an illegal party drug.

But despite the reporter handing the footage over to detectives and offering to help with their case, West Yorkshire Police last week called him in for questioning as a suspect.

He was interviewed under caution at a police station on suspicion of voyeurism and supplying drugs, and even asked if he had made the secret film for his own sexual gratification. He denies the allegations.

Last night, experts said the highly unusual interrogation – which involved 107 questions – was an affront to press freedom and warned it would have a chilling effect on future undercover investigations.

Senior Labour MP Keith Vaz, whose Home Affairs Committee has criticised police surveillance of journalists, said: ‘It is important that safeguards be given to journalists when they are acting in the public interest.’ And Bob Satchwell, Chairman of the Society of Editors, added: ‘It is perfectly legitimate and reasonable for journalists to investigate wrong-doing. The police should support them in these endeavours.’

The Mail on Sunday’s lawyers have written to the Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders and West Yorkshire chief constable Mark Gilmore to express their ‘grave concerns’ about their handling of the case.

The DPP is already under fire over her failed £20 million prosecution of journalists whose newspapers had paid for stories.

Our lawyers accuse the authorities of a ‘heavy-handed and unco-operative’ approach to the ‘preposterous’ allegations against our journalist.

They have told the DPP: ‘It is intimidating to journalists and can only have a chilling impact on how they conduct their investigations, to the detriment of the public interest.’

The reporter’s caution comes after police used anti-terror laws to access this newspaper’s phone records after we exposed shamed former Cabinet Minister Chris Huhne’s attempt to evade justice for a speeding fine.

Ferrie, a consultant paediatric neurologist, had his drug habit uncovered after an MoS reporter was approached late last year by one of the medic’s acquaintances, who said they had met 20 times in a few months and consumed mind-altering substances each time.

The reporter was told that the senior doctor was going to visit a house in Bradford for a drugs binge one midweek afternoon, just hours before he began an on-call shift at Leeds General Infirmary where he would be giving crucial advice to other medical staff about how to treat seriously ill young people.

After The Mail on Sunday took legal advice, video cameras were placed in the home where the drugs were to be taken, with the full co-operation of the residents who were concerned that his illegal behaviour would impair his judgment when treating young patients.

Dr Ferrie, an expert in epilepsy, was filmed taking nearly three grams of cocaine with an acquaintance and multiple doses of the addictive ‘date rape’ sedative GHB.

He could be heard declaring ‘looking good, that’ after snorting a long line of cocaine and telling his acquaintance that he ‘loves to have a wee spot’ of ‘G’, which he bought in Manchester.

After our story was published in January, Dr Ferrie was suspended by the NHS trust, and West Yorkshire Police launched an investigation. When detectives contacted the MoS, this newspaper offered to co-operate fully in their investigation, while protecting our sources.

We supplied a dossier containing the relevant video footage and text messages, and 52-year-old Dr Ferrie and his acquaintance were later arrested. Then, at the start of July, our reporter was informed that he was also to face questioning as part of the same criminal inquiry.

Police said the move was suggested by the Crown Prosecution Service but the CPS denied this.

Although the reporter was not arrested and was told he could leave the interview at any time, he was questioned under caution after being read his rights – stating that anything he said could later be used as evidence against him.

Incredibly, he was told that he was being accused of supplying drugs and the ‘Peeping Tom’ offence of voyeurism – on the grounds that the hidden cameras may also have recorded Dr Ferrie having sex.

The offence, set out in the Sexual Offences Act 2003, refers to someone covertly watching intimate acts or nudity for their own, or another person’s, sexual gratification.

During a 90-minute interview in Leeds last Wednesday, the journalist was asked: ‘The camera was installed in the bedroom… was that done in any way for the purpose of your own sexual gratification?’

Cameras were placed in the kitchen and the bedroom because they were the two areas of the house where Dr Ferrie was going to spend his time, and focused solely on where drugs would be consumed. No sexual acts could be seen on the subsequent footage.

The journalist was asked by a PC if he had brought cocaine to the house. He had not and on the advice of a lawyer replied ‘no comment’ to all questions. A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police confirmed the interview was carried out under caution, adding: ‘This is an ongoing investigation and we are not in a position to comment further.’

A CPS spokesman said: ‘Police approached the CPS about inviting the journalist to take part in a voluntary interview to establish further facts, which we did not oppose.’

The drug-taking children’s doctor exposed by The Mail on Sunday has been allowed to quietly leave his job.

Dr Colin Ferrie was suspended on full pay by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust after the matter came to light. The General Medical Council also suspended him from practising while it considered a disciplinary case against him.

But it can now be revealed that Dr Ferrie has since resigned his post as a consultant paediatric neurologist at Leeds General Infirmary. A spokesman for the Trust told The Mail on Sunday that the resignation had taken place ‘recently’ and that he had not received severance pay.

Yesterday, Dr Ferrie’s solicitor said: ‘In light of the ongoing investigation, it would be inappropriate for Dr Ferrie to make any further comment.’

Original report here

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Black man who can’t pay bail has spent 6 years behind bars — but hasn’t been convicted of anything

Warren McClinton has now spent nearly his entire 4th decade of life behind bars waiting for trial, even though he has never been convicted of any of the crimes he’s accused of in the case.

The 48-year-old Las Vegas man is facing seven charges related to sexual assault. Last month, a jury threw out an eighth, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. The judge hearing his case, Eric Johnson, said he was "shocked" with how much time McClinton has been in custody.

"I am very interested in considering the issue of bail," the judge said, according to the Review-Journal. "I have real concerns with the amount of time he has been in custody. Frankly, when I got this case, I was shocked."

McClinton’s bail has been set at $130,000. He’s been fighting the charges since 2009, when a 14-year-old girl accused him of sexual assault. His attorney, Ozzie Fumo, told the Review-Journal that McClinton is innocent and that the case has already been dismissed, but prosecutors have nevertheless insisted on pursuing it.

"He’s just not guilty," Fumo told the paper. "He’s innocent."

A judge threw out an indictment against him in 2009 because prosecutors didn’t reveal DNA evidence linking two other men to the accuser. When the grand jury heard the case again with that evidence and testimony from the accuser, her mother and McClinton, they deliberated for 30 minutes before dismissing the case.

At this point, McClinton was free, but a short time later, prosecutors had convinced a judge there was enough evidence to charge him and he was again jailed, the Review-Journal reports.

In the six years he’s been jailed, prosecutors have tried to offer him two plea deals: five years to life, then two years to life. He refused both.

According to the paper, prosecutors insist on McClinton’s high bail because they consider him a flight risk. According to the Review-Journal:

Prosecutors argue that McClinton, who uses multiple aliases, four Social Security numbers and three dates of birth, is a flight risk. He’s been charged in Nevada, Illinois and Virginia with various crimes, such as domestic battery, driving under the influence of alcohol and unlawful possession of a firearm. He’s also failed to appear in court 39 times, prosecutors said.

But according to Fumo, most of McClinton’s missed court dates were due to system errors and were not his fault. For instance, after paying a citation at court, the ticket went to warrant 34 more times until it was corrected in the court computers.

In another instance, he was given only two hours notice that he needed to be in court. In yet another, he was in custody on a robbery charge that was later dropped when ordered to court.

His attorney described McClinton as "very frustrated" and called his high bail and continued incarceration "punishment prior to conviction."

McClinton isn’t the only person who has spent years locked up without a conviction.

Kalief Browder spent three years jailed at Rikers in solitary confinement after being accused of stealing a backpack at 16, the New York Times reports. Browder committed suicide last month.

Original report here

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Ex-con gets $1 million settlement after suffering six-day erection in solitary jail cell

A former inmate who was forced to suffer through a painful six-day erection which left him impotent, has been handed a $US750,000 ($1 million) settlement.

The New York Post reports that the hefty payout amounts to $US125,000 for each day of hard time served by Rodney Cotton, 51, who said he was treated "worse than a dog" at the Manhattan Detention Complex while enduring the uncomfortable side effect of an antidepressant medication.

Cotton said the lack of medical attention rendered him impotent.

"It just started hurting," Cotton told The New York Post on Monday of his ordeal, which began on July 4, 2011, near the start of a 2.5-year sentence for a parole violation. "And I’m like, what the hell is going on? It wasn’t going down."

Cotton had asked to be taken to a jail clinic, but a guard at the facility, known as The Tombs, told him he’d have to wait until after the holiday weekend.

Desperate, Cotton faked chest pains to get a doctor to see him, only to be given ice packs and Tylenol.

Days later, he was finally taken to Bellevue Hospital, and underwent surgery to relieve the swelling. The doctors said the stitches would dissolve on their own. They didn’t, he claims.

The stitches had become embedded in the skin, and no anaesthetic was used when they were being removed, Cotton said in his Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.

Doctors said a lasting erection is a side effect of Risperdal, and a warning about it is listed on the website of the manufacturer, Janssen.

Cotton said he started taking Risperdal in 2003, the year after he finished a 12-year prison stint for manslaughter for killing a man during a 1989 fight over a sheepskin coat.

Now he’s going to take his money and move to Atlanta, Georgia, to be closer to his daughter. "I can’t fix my situation, but I can soothe it," he said.

A spokesman for the city’s Law Department, Nicholas Paolucci, said, "Settling this case was in the best interest of the city."

In the meantime, New York City has ended its contract with Corizon, the for-profit health care company that has drawn fire for the way it treated inmates such as Cotton.

Original report here

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Michael Barrymore is suing police who arrested him for allegedly murdering Stuart Lubbock

Arresting people on speculation is certainly reprehensible and allowing it to become public is more so. This guy was not even charged, let alone taken to trial

Michael Barrymore is suing police who arrested him for allegedly murdering a man who died in his swimming pool at a party in 2001 because it 'damaged his career'.

The former TV star was arrested following the death of Stuart Lubbock after he was found floating in a pool at Barrymore's then home in Roydon, Essex.

According to forensic reports father-of-two Mr Lubbock, 31, was violently sexually assaulted before he died.

He had met Barrymore at a nightclub in Harlow, Essex, earlier that evening before going back to his house for an all-night party.

Barrymore, 63, fled the scene after the death, later claiming he had panicked and wasn't trying to hide.

The former Strike It Lucky host refused to answer any questions about the tragedy at an inquest, after taking legal advice.

The inquest heard traces of cocaine, ecstasy and alcohol were in the victim's body.

Barrymore - whose real name is Michael Parker - was one of four men arrested on suspicion of serious sexual assault and murder in 2008 following a review of the police investigation, but all were later released without charge.

He is now seeking damages for the harm to his reputation and money-spinning career which collapsed.

In 2002 ITV failed to renew the entertainer's £2million a year contract. He moved to New Zealand, filed for bankruptcy after a £1million-plus tax demand and later tried to resurrect his career in Britain by appearing in Celebrity Big Brother in 2006.

Since then he has largely disappeared from TV, turning up only a few times on obscure shows, before featuring in a one-hour long Jeremy Kyle Show special on ITV in June 2014 when he insisted he had been 'clean' of alcohol and drugs for three years.

He was working in a garden centre and doing odd-job building work near his home in Essex.

Essex Police said: 'As civil proceedings are currently ongoing it would be inappropriate for Essex Police to comment.'

Original report here

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Jamaican woman who misidentified rapist won't testify

A woman who was raped in Rochester in 1976 and wrongly identified her attacker will not have to testify in a civil trial, attorneys have decided.

Frederick "Freddie" Peacock, a Rochester man who suffered from severe mental illness and spent nearly three decades fighting his rape conviction, is suing the city of Rochester for his wrongful imprisonment. A rape victim identified him in 1976 as her attacker, but in 2010, DNA evidence proved he did not commit the crime.

Peacock, who suffers from schizophrenia, lived in the same apartment building as the victim. Police say he confessed to the crime, but his attorneys have maintained that Peacock spent more than two hours denying his involvement before his alleged admission.

In that admission, attorneys say, Peacock could provide no specific details about the sexual assault.

Lawyers for Peacock have been deposing witnesses in the civil case, and had the rape victim on a list of possible witnesses. Attorneys for the woman opposed the testimony, saying she could provide no more information than she did in 1976 and at the 1977 trial.

At the time of the crime, the victim was 24 and had recently moved to Rochester from Jamaica. The woman is now a grandmother and "has always believed Mr. Peacock was responsible for the rape," Buffalo-based attorney Carol Heckman, who was appointed to represent the victim, wrote in court papers.

"Requiring (the victim) to attend the deposition would more than inconvenience her," Heckman wrote in a request that a judge block the deposition. "It would impose a severe emotional and psychological burden."

A hearing was scheduled this week on the issue, but attorneys reached a resolution on Wednesday.

Local attorney Donald Thompson, a lawyer for Peacock, said the lawyers agreed to use the victim's testimony from the 1977 trial.

Thompson collaborated with the New York City-based Innocence Project, which uses genetic evidence to examine possible wrongful conviction cases, to exonerate Peacock. Peacock was the 250th person to be exonerated by DNA evidence, Innocence Project officials said in 2010.

Peacock was imprisoned for more than five years, then spent years afterward filing legal motions arguing that he was wrongly convicted. He lost six appeals before the Innocence Project intervened and the Monroe County District Attorney's Office agreed to test genetic evidence in the case.

Original report here

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Judge Orders Government to Return $167,000 Seized From Motorhome Driver Visiting His Girlfriend

A federal judge in Nevada has ordered the government to return $167,000 that was seized from a man driving his motorhome on a highway two years ago. The man, Straughn Gorman, was traveling to visit his girlfriend. He was never charged with a crime.

The seizure originally occurred in January 2013, when Gorman was driving his motorhome from Delaware to visit his girlfriend in Sacramento, Calif.

Police stopped Gorman not once, but twice, within 50 minutes while he drove west on Interstate 80, according to documents filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada.

In the first traffic stop, which occurred near Elko, Nev., a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper stopped the man for driving too slowly in the passing lane. Gorman refused to let the trooper search his vehicle, and the Nevada Highway Patrol officer allowed him to continue on without issuing any citations.

Less than an hour later, Gorman was stopped again by an Elko County Sheriff’s Office deputy, who the highway patrol trooper had arranged to pull Gorman over once more, court documents show. The deputy had a drug-sniffing dog with him, and a search of the motorhome was conducted.

In the two-minute video originally posted by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the officer searched the vehicle, where he found $167,000 in cash stored in different places throughout the motorhome.

The officer told Gorman that the cash, his computer, cellphone and vehicle would all be seized under civil asset forfeiture laws.

Though the Elk County Sheriff’s deputy said the dog detected drugs in the motorhome, none were found, and Gorman was never charged with a crime.

Instead, he became another victim of civil asset forfeiture, a procedure that gives local, state and federal law enforcement the power to seize money and property if it’s suspected of being related to a crime.

Gorman fought back against the government’s seizure of his $167,000, and last week, more than two years after his money was seized, a judge ordered local and state law enforcement to return his money.

According to court documents, Larry Hicks, a U.S. District Judge for the District of Nevada, criticized the government for withholding information related to Gorman’s second traffic stop.

"No matter how this can be viewed, the two stops were for minor violations and they both were extended beyond the legitimate purposes for such traffic stops," Hicks wrote in his opinion.

"In particular, the government has a duty of candor and fair disclosure to the court," he continued. "The court expects and relies upon the United States Attorney’s office to be candid and forthcoming with material information uniquely held only in possession of the government and clearly relevant to central issues before the court. That did not occur here."

Hicks also notified Gorman that under the 2000 Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act, he is entitled to be reimbursed for his lawyer’s fees and litigation costs. His lawyers are now working to ensure those fees are paid by the government.

Over the last few years, local, state and federal law enforcement agencies have come under fire for abusing civil asset forfeiture.

The tool started as a way to curb drug trafficking and money laundering, but a number of high profile cases have emerged featuring innocent people who have had money and property seized. In most of the cases, including Gorman’s, the property owners are never charged with a crime.

Policy experts instead point to the profit incentive forfeiture provides law enforcement with as evidence that the practice has been abused.

Original report here

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UK: ‘Sickened’ eyewitness captures the moment police ‘punched drugs suspect three times as he lay restrained on the ground’

This shocking video shows the moment a police officer appeared to punch a drugs suspect three times as he lay restrained on the ground. The footage taken by a 'sickened' witness shows a plain clothes police officer pinning the man down as a second uniformed policeman seemingly lands three sharp punches on him.

But the police insisted the video showed 'just a tiny part of our response to the arrest', which involved 'approved restraint techniques'.

The concerned member of the public recorded the incident on June 21 after spotting two police officers chasing a suspect.

Two witnesses say the man was running away from the constables when a police car pulled up and an officer jumped out and tackled the man, bringing him to the ground.

The video, taken on a mobile phone, then appears to show an officer punching the man, who is a suspected drug dealer.

The witness said: 'I was truly sickened by what I saw and cannot believe that this is the way that members of our police behave.

'I do not have a grievance with the police and have always respected the work that they do. I do not know the suspect and do not know why he was being arrested. But he should not have been hit whilst he was down.'

Strict rules set out by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary state that officers may only use 'reasonable force' as a last resort.

Force can only be used to apprehend a suspect, to prevent a crime, in self-defence or to protect property. If officers are deemed to have used excessive force, they can face a disciplinary investigation by their force or even criminal charges.

In a statement, the force said: 'At around Midday on Sunday 21 June officers spotted a man they suspected to be dealing drugs in Cecil Road, Erdington.

'The 25-year-old man fled as officers approached and ran into moving traffic. Another passing officer then tackled him to the floor and he was detained in Gravelly Hill North. 'The Sutton Coldfield man resisted arrest and attempted to swallow a package of suspected Class B drugs that he was found to be carrying.

'The suspect also refused to be handcuffed and approved restraint techniques were then used by officers to arrest him - he was taken into custody and released on police bail pending further investigation.

'The short video shows just a tiny part of our response to the arrest which is part of our crackdown on drug use and supply in Birmingham.

'Our officers receive a huge amount of training for these kinds of situations and are shown how to target pressure points in order to bring suspects who are resisting arrest under control. 'To date no complaint has been received by the force regarding the arrest.'

Asked if the video would spark an investigation, the force spokesman added: 'There's no investigation as we haven't received a complaint and our Professional Standards Department has no misconduct concerns.'

Original report here

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Demonstrations over death of Caribbean tourist at the hands of Dutch police

Dutch police arrested around 200 people overnight into Friday morning when riots broke out following the death of a man in police custody. The arrests for ignoring a ban on public assembly came on the fourth night of riots in a predominantly immigrant neighbourhood in The Hague.

Prosecutors investigating Sunday's death of Mitch Henriquez, a 42-year-old from the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba, say he likely died of oxygen starvation caused during his arrest at a music festival Saturday night.

The five officers involved have been suspended from active duty and are being investigated as suspects in his death.

Protesters have gathered each night in the Schilderswijk neighborhood, carrying banners protesting what they perceive as racism and the excessive use of force by police.

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that more than 100 people chanted anti-Semitic slogans during the riot in the area where a handful of Jews live.

Henriquez's family has said in comments reported in Dutch media that they do not believe he was a victim of racist policing.

They have issued a call on social media for a silent march in his memory on Saturday and urged people to walk in peace from a railway station in The Hague to the park where he was arrested.

The Dutch National Ombudsman's office, which investigates disputes between citizens and government agencies, last year published a report following allegations of discriminatory policing in Schilderswijk, home to 60,000 people of 125 different nationalities.

The report, which called policing there 'a mix of peacekeeping and crime fighting', found 'no indication of structural abuses in the behavior of police' in Schilderswijk but said 'police and citizens need to work to prevent escalation'.

Dutch Justice Minister Ard van der Steur told reporters yesterday that residents say troublemakers are pouring into the neighborhood to riot. He said the disorder has to stop.

'Of course, there is concern and anger at what possibly happened last weekend,' Van der Steur said. 'That is understandable. But this reaction is unacceptable.'

The situation that has drawn comparisons with the angry protests that erupted in the US following deaths of black men at the hands of white police officers.

Sinan Cankaya, an anthropologist who has studied racial profiling by the Amsterdam police, said the Netherlands' long-standing image as a tolerant, multicultural society masks racism in areas like the job market and in night life.

A Dutch man of Turkish descent, Cankaya said he was regularly barred from nightclubs that his white friends were allowed into.

'The idea of Dutch tolerance is part of the problem, because it blocks and hinders us Dutch from being self-critical and just facing the issue of racism in the Netherlands,' he said.

Original report here

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'A staggering level of incompetence': Judge blasts detective after re-trial of burglary suspects collapses leaving the taxpayer with a £100,000 bill

The bungling dickless Tracy concerned

A judge has blasted a detective for 'staggering incompetence' after the re-trial of three burglary suspects collapsed leaving the taxpayer with a £100,000 bill.

Detective Constable Sarah Northcott felt the wrath of Judge Simon Carr after he branded the case against the trio as one of the worst he had ever seen.

Stuart Bushell, 54, Thomas Lane, 25, and his brother Samuel, 22, were standing trial at Truro Crown Court accused of burgling the Bay Hotel in Port Isaac, Cornwall, one of the locations used in the popular ITV television series Doc Martin.

Their first trial was aborted a year ago after eight days when the jury failed to reach a verdict.

But today their retrial collapsed after four days with the judge blasting DC Northcott over a lack of photographic evidence, badly filled-out search records and incorrectly labelled exhibits.

He also said he felt the re-trial was only staged to 'cover-up the incompetence of the first hearing.'

The trio were alleged to have stolen £14,800 in cash and valuables from the hotel owners' private accommodation within the establishment.

Judge Carr said: 'I assume someone has reviewed the public interest (in continuing to prosecute the case). 'It has the feel of a (case) being prosecuted in order to cover up the incompetence of the first hearing.

'This was one of the worst-handled investigations I have ever seen. The officer seems to have completely misunderstood her role. 'She decided from the beginning she had solved the case and there was no need for further investigation.'

He said the mishandling of the case and the collapse of the trial had cost 'somewhere in the region of £100,000'.

Piers Norsworthy, defending Mr Bushell, argued the police investigation was 'fundamentally flawed'. He said: 'We are not saying there is any evidence of malice or corruption, but we are getting very close to the level of negligence where questions could be asked about whether this officer was competent to do this investigation.'

Mr Norsworthy gave examples of problems, including the lack of photographs from the search of Mr Bushell's home and DC Northcott's failure to complete search records accurately and include information on the unused schedule of material.

He also highlighted the detective's decision to return evidence to the alleged victim of the burglary Paul Williams.

In October the court heard the prosecution intended to have a retrial. Jonathan Barnes, for the prosecution, said DC Northcott would make a statement accepting errors identified by Detective Inspector William McWhirther's review of the case.

After the close of the prosecution case in the retrial, the counsel for the three defendants argued for a stay of the indictment on the grounds that there had been an abuse of process and was no case to answer.

He said Thomas Lane was only arrested because Mr Bushell told the officer he had spent the day with him. She failed to investigate the two defendant's explanations for cash being found at their premises.

In relation to Mr Bushell and Samuel Lane, of Coventry, Judge Carr stayed the indictment. In relation to Thomas Lane, he entered not guilty verdicts on the ground that there was nothing to link the money found in his house to the burglary.

Judge Carr said that despite his strong criticism there was no evidence DC Northcott had acted with malice.

A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall police said a review of the matter by its professional standards department found no misconduct or dishonesty in DC Northcott.

He said: 'Locally, advice and guidance has been given to the detective around management and labelling of exhibits, which was unacceptable during this case.

'This has always been a matter of processes being reviewed, not a challenge to the integrity of any police officer.'

After the case, one of the cleared suspects, Mr Bushell said: 'I feel like it was a personal witch hunt against myself.'

Since being charged with burglary Mr Bushell said he was forced to leave Port Isaac and sell the lease on the tearoom he ran there because of stigma linked to the case.

A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said: 'The CPS must be satisfied that there is sufficient evidence and that it is in the public interest to prosecute. 'In this case, the reviewing lawyer felt both criteria were met and accordingly authorised the police to charge the defendants.

'Following the first trial, it was still felt these criteria were met and so a retrial was sought.'

Original report here

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Scottish cops caught dozing in patrol car in their uniforms

Police have launched an investigation after two officers were caught sleeping in their patrol car while in full uniform. The picture, taken in the Maryhill area of Glasgow, appears to show one of the policemen with his head resting against the window dozing.

The other officer can be seen with his hands clasped in his lap and leaning back against his seat with his eyes closed.

The images were snapped by a passing labourer yesterday morning at 7am and he says he was able to walk right up to the car without and take the pictures without disturbing the two men.

The man, who did not want to be named, told the Daily Record: 'At first, I was quite shocked as they were parked up in a street, in their police car and their badges were visible through the windows.

'I walked up to the car and took three pictures of them sleeping soundly and they were sleeping so soundly they didn’t even stir.

'Police officers are usually fast enough to act when it suits them so I really don’t think they should be allowed to sleep whilst on duty.'

Police Scotland confirmed they are now investigating the matter after it they were given the pictures. Superintendent Andy Bates, Local Policing Commander for Greater Glasgow said: 'Police Scotland will robustly investigate the circumstances surrounding the information given to us. 'As this is now an internal investigation it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.'

It comes after a study earlier this year said that police should be allowed to nap while on duty – and given special 'sleep pods' where they can nod off. Work time 'sleep breaks' could help reduce fatigue and promote better concentration, according to researchers.

Although there is no 'official' ban on officers snoozing on duty, it is widely discouraged among the workforce.

Original report here

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L.A. County D.A. to unveil details on wrongful-conviction unit

L.A. County will join a small but growing number of prosecution offices to create a wrongful-conviction unit

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey will unveil details Monday about the creation of a unit dedicated to reviewing the integrity of convictions for people behind bars for serious or violent crimes.

In putting together such a team of veteran prosecutors, the county D.A.'s office is joining a small but growing number of prosecutorial agencies around the country devoting resources to identifying innocent prisoners.

The Times reported in April that Lacey had asked the Board of Supervisors for nearly $1 million to fund the new team, which would include three prosecutors, a senior investigator and a paralegal.

In seeking the funds, Lacey’s office said it wanted to keep up with an increasing number of wrongful-conviction claims that have followed the advent of similar units around the country, a growing number of innocence projects and heightened publicity surrounding innocence claims, a county spokesman said.

Innocence project groups and others said the move would send a dramatic statement that the office is serious about reversing injustices and could spur the creation of similar units in smaller counties in California.

Although such units are still rare, Los Angeles would join more than 15 district attorney offices nationwide that have created such teams, including Dallas County, Brooklyn and Manhattan, N.Y., as well as the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C. In California, district attorneys in Santa Clara, Ventura and Yolo counties have established similar units.

The proposal comes after a string of high-profile wrongful convictions.

Earlier this year, the city of Los Angeles agreed to pay more than $8 million to Obie Anthony, who was declared factually innocent after spending 17 years behind bars for a killing outside a brothel in South Los Angeles.

In October, a judge threw out the murder conviction of Susan Mellen, saying that she was wrongfully imprisoned for 17 years based on the word of a habitual liar and adding that "the criminal justice system failed."

In 2013, another judge threw out Kash Delano Register’s conviction in the 1979 slaying of an elderly man in West Los Angeles.

All three cases were brought to court by innocence projects. In Mellen’s case, the district attorney’s office agreed to her release after its habeas corpus litigation team, which often opposes legal requests to throw out convictions, conducted an investigation.

Original report here

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