Handcuffed teenager shot HIMSELF in the head in back of police car, insist North Carolina police amid outrage

North Carolina police say they have proof a 17-year-old Latino teen, whose hands were cuffed behind his back, fatally shot himself in the head last year.

Durham police today released the preliminary findings of their internal investigation into the death of Jesus Huerta as he sat in the back of a police car on November 19.

Police said evidence clears officers of any wrongdoing, as an autopsy report revealed Huerta died from a gunshot wound to the face at close range.

Police told a press conference today that investigators found gunpowder residue on a white, batting-style glove that Huerta was wearing and none on the arresting officer's hand.

Authorities say the officer checked the car at the start of his shift and found no weapon.

However Huerta's family says the findings have raised more questions than answers, repeating their call for a federal investigation.

Officer Sam Duncan arrested Huerta, handcuffed him behind his back and placed him in a patrol car after patting him down. A gun was not detected.

Cops said on the way to the police station, Huerta shot himself.

An initial police report said the cruiser's internal video was not turned on at the time. The camera was started at 6.05pm when Duncan initially logged on to the system but he did not turn the camera back on after picking up Huerta.

Officers said Huerta shot himself with a .45 caliber semiautomatic handgun but did not say how the teenager got the gun.

The controversial case has sparked at least two demonstrations against police regarding the department's handling of the Huerta case.

In one protest, officers used tear gas to disperse crowds that had gathered in downtown Durham. Police said some in the crowd threw rocks and bottles at officers.

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Plebgate: Cameron condemns lying by police officer

The Prime Minister has branded the actions by a police officer who admitted lying about the Plebgate affair as "completely unacceptable."

Pc Keith Wallis, could face a prison sentence after he falsely claimed to have witnessed the Plebgate incident, involving Andrew Mitchell, the former chief whip.

David Cameron joined Mr Mitchell in welcoming the guilty plea by Wallis, as he admitted misconduct in public office after he said he had witnessed the incident.

"It is completely unacceptable for a serving police officer to falsify an account of any incident," said Mr Cameron.

"Andrew Mitchell has consistently denied the version of events presented in the email and I welcome the fact that the officer concerned has now pleaded guilty."

Speaking after Wallis entered his guilty plea, Mr Mitchell said he was pleased "justice has been done."

He said: "It is very sad and worrying for all of us that a serving police officer should have behaved in this way. There remain many questions unanswered, in particular why Pc Wallis wrote this email and who else was involved in this process.

"I am looking forward to seeing justice done in the up to 10 other related disciplinary cases involving police officers so that I can focus all my energy on delivering for my constituents and help David Cameron win a Conservative majority at the 2015 Election."

Wallis of West Drayton, west London, admitted misconduct in public office between September 19 and December 16 2012. He also admitted arranging for his nephew to support the claim.

He was charged after he sent an email to Conservative deputy chief whip John Randall, who was his MP, wrongly claiming that he had seen what happened in Downing Street on September 19 last year.

A row erupted when Mr Mitchell became involved in a heated debate with another police officer, Toby Rowland, after he was refused permission to cycle through the main gate. Mr Mitchell admitted swearing but denied Pc Rowland's claim that he used the word "pleb".

He claims the incident forced his resignation.

Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, has said he would like to apologise personally to Mr Mitchell, following the admission by Wallis.

Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said the case showed the "internal mechanisms" of the police had not worked and that lessons needed to be learnt to restore public confidence in the police. He said: "This plea is not only the first public acknowledgement that Mr Mitchell has been the subject of gross unfairness but it also an admission that a criminal offence has been committed against him.

"With 11 other officers being subject to misconduct hearings, and the further investigation by the IPCC, this appears to be a complete vindication of Mr Mitchell's position."

He added: "Now is the time to turn the page on this whole unfortunate incident, which took only 45 seconds but has cost the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of pounds, Mr Mitchell his job and damaged the reputation of the police."

Wallis, who is from the Metropolitan Police Diplomatic Protection Group, pleaded guilty at a hearing at the Old Bailey.

The court heard Wallis had been suffering from psychiatric problems at the time of the incident. At an earlier hearing Patrick Gibbs, QC, defending Wallis, said he had an ongoing psychiatric history that made him struggle at times to remember his own address.

Mr Justice Sweeney adjourned sentencing to February 6 pending pre-sentence psychiatric reports.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has already announced that Wallis and four colleagues will face gross misconduct proceedings.

Mr Gibbs told the court the officer will resign from the Met Police following his guilty plea.

Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, said: "This investigation has been a ruthless search for the truth as at the heart of this are extremely damaging allegations that officers have lied and falsified statements against a Cabinet Minister.

"The evidence against PC Wallis was such that he has entered a guilty plea. To lie about witnessing something and provide a false account falls way below the standards that I and PC Wallis's colleague expect of police officers.

"His actions have also negatively impacted upon public trust and confidence in the integrity of police officers."

Conservative MP Sir Richard Ottaway suggested Sir Bernard could end up having to quit over the row.

He told BBC Radio 4's World At One programme: "It's a very black day for the Met... Don't forget that Mr Hogan-Howe said right at the outset that he had 100 per cent confidence in his officers and I think he would be the first to admit now perhaps that was a bit of a misjudgment."

Asked if he ruled out the possibility of the police chief having to quit, he replied: "Obviously people will call for his resignation. I personally don't want to make a judgment on that at the moment.

"As a London Member of Parliament, I actually think he is a pretty good Metropolitan Commissioner but if there is, at the end of this, you know, we find ourselves facing the situation whereby he has made a serious misjudgment on this then, no doubt, he will be thinking very hard about his future."

Tom Watson, a Labour MP, called for Mr Mitchell to be restored to the Cabinet.

He told World At One: "It's been pretty clear to me for some time that Andrew Mitchell has had a great injustice done to him.

"The decision of the police officer to resign and plead guilty is further vindication that he's paid a terrible price."

Wallis was arrested on December 15 by officers on the Directorate of Professional Standards as part of the Operation Alice investigation.

A spokesman for Scotland Yard said: "As a result of fresh information received on 13 December 2012, officers from the MPS were made aware of an email sent to an MP by a constituent claiming to have witnessed an altercation between Mr Andrew Mitchell, MP and police officers at the gate of Downing Street on 19 September 2012.

"In this email, sent from a private address, the constituent claimed he was sightseeing near Downing Street with a member of his family, when he saw someone he recognised as Mr Mitchell shouting obscenities at the police officers on the gates of Downing Street.

"As part of the investigation detectives established that the author of the email was in fact a serving MPS officer, who they identified as PC Keith Wallis from the DPG. PC Wallis was not present during the incident on 19 September, nor was he at the DPG base or even at work.

"PC Wallis has admitted that he lied about witnessing the incident and provided a false account to his MP. Detectives have found no evidence to suggest that any officer involved in the incident at the gate was involved with PC Wallis or aware of the fact he had contacted his MP in this way.

"At the conclusion of all legal proceedings PC Wallis will face a misconduct hearing in relation to discreditable conduct, honesty and integrity, and/or improper disclosure of information."

The incident sparked a massive police investigation which has cost at least £237,000 with more than 1,100 statements taken. Detectives have seized 439 exhibits, 78 relevant documents and 78 items, including computers, laptops and mobile phones have been forensically examined.

Original report here

　

　

　

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Married British cop was a paedophile -- had sex with girl, 14

A married police officer who had sex with a 14-year-old girl after sending her text messages saying he would be as 'bad as the paedophiles I am trying to catch' was jailed for six years today.

West Midlands Police said Christopher Semak, an officer in south Birmingham, carried out the crimes between April 2010 and November 2011 when the girl, who was known to the man, was aged 14 and 15.

The 33-year-old officer was arrested on January 24, 2012 at his Kings Norton home - on the same day the girl, then aged 16, revealed that she had been systematically assaulted over the course of two years, police said.

Stafford Crown Court heard 18 encounters between the pair took place in Semak’s car while his young child was in the front seat.

Afterwards the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, would write in her diary about their sexual exploits.

Semak was handed the prison sentence following a four-week trial.

The court heard the girl's parents discovered what was going on after they found more than 200 messages from Semak on her phone.

They then asked their daughter about the messages, and she admitted having a relationship with the officer.

Two days later, the victim’s parents are said to have confronted Semak who simply said: 'I have been stupid.'

On January 21, the girl confided in a teacher, who then contacted Children’s Services and police.

In a police interview three days later, she told officers that she and Semak had began flirting in March 2010.

She also said Semak said to her, 'Can you not tell anyone I’ve been texting you because it does look a bit weird, a 30-year-old that’s texting a 14-year-old'.

Another follow-up text message read to the court added: 'Of course I want to, but if we did things and it got out I’d lose my job, my family and go to prison because you’re only 14. I think we should leave it till you’re old enough.'

He later added in another text: 'I can’t do this with you being so young, it would make me as bad as a paedophile.'

Judge Mark Eades told him: 'You knew from your position [as a police officer] you shouldn’t do it, you even made reference in your texts about being viewed as a paedophile, as a child molester - it’s true isn’t it?

'You saw her as ripe for the plucking. She was impressionable, going through puberty and all the anxieties that brings. You found her attractive and your lust overtook what you knew to be right.

'We have that graphic series of text messages that made it clear you were having sex at every opportunity you could. What’s even more disturbing is you were quite happy to have your son with you.'

After a major police investigation was launched, the officer, who joined the force in 2010, was suspended, with his access to police buildings restricted.

A police spokesman said that as part of the lengthy inquiry in which texts and emails were scrutinised, detectives did not find any victims other than the girl who was known to Semak outside of work.

Detective Superintendent Tim Bacon, from the force’s Public Protection Unit, said: 'Christopher Semak has today been found guilty of sexual activity with a child.

'It is clear that he groomed the victim for his own sexual gratification. His actions were disgraceful for any person let alone a man who, when he became a police officer, swore an oath to protect people.

'Throughout his trial, Semak failed to take responsibility for his own actions.

'The verdict of the jury today reflects their belief that this was in fact a tissue of lies designed to undermine the victim and save himself.

'The sexual exploitation of children is child abuse. In this case, the offender is a police officer who whilst not on duty at the time betrayed the trust that the victim and others had in him to take advantage of the victim and in doing so has caused her severe emotional trauma.

'I hope that he will reflect on his actions and the emotional scars he inflicted on his victim and those around him.'

Police said Semak was handed a sexual offences prevention order in addition to the jail sentence. Semak is banned from working with or having unsupervised access to children under the conditions attached to the order. He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for life.

With criminal proceedings now completed, the case will go before a special police disciplinary panel where senior officers will determine his future with the force in line with national guidelines.

Original report here

　

　

　

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London cop 'stripped to his shirtsleeves and punched a woman three times in the head' after she'd been detained in a shop

A Met Police officer stripped to his shirtsleeves before punching a woman three times in the head, a court heard today. PC James Kiddie, 45, attacked the victim in a busy Regent Street branch of Uniqlo and then tried to coach a witness, Westminster Magistrates' Court was told.

In shocking CCTV images seen for the first time today, the officer is seen to remove his overcoat and jacket, before searching the handbag of Sarah Reed, 30.

Kiddie then appears to force the woman back in a chair, looming over her in the shop storeroom where she had been detained by security.

Without obvious warning, the policeman appears to grab the woman by the hair with both hands, ripping off her hat and dragging her to the floor. Another camera captures Kiddie punch the young woman in the head three times as she lies in a corridor, it is alleged.

The PC continues to pin the motionless figure down with his knee, until back-up arrive minutes later.

Jenny Saunders, a loss prevention officer at the store, said: ‘He arrived and I relay the incident to him. I believe he goes to search her bag.

‘I think instantly she felt resistant to that, saying you are not going to search my bag and she stood up.’

Miss Saunders said the suspected thief had threatened to ‘head-butt’ the officer. ‘I saw him approach her and he warned her he was going to put her in handcuffs. ‘He grabbed her hair and pulled her down to the ground.’

‘Was there any fighting back by Miss Reed?’, prosecutor Rupert Kent asked. ‘No’, replied Miss Saunders.

Miss Saunders said she left and returned only after Kiddie had thrown the punches.

Reed was screaming, ‘I can’t believe you did that. You assaulted me. They would have seen that. You are in trouble.’

Miss Saunders continued: ‘Officer Kiddie turned to me and said "You saw her bite me, right?". ‘I said no. He did show me and I couldn’t see any marks. ‘He returned, saying again: "You saw her bite me, make sure you put that in your statement".’

Kiddie has two previous disciplinary findings of ‘incivility’ against him.

He was investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission for deploying CS Gas during a UK Uncut protest on Oxford Street in January 2011.

The IPCC recommended Kiddie face a ‘misconduct meeting’. ‘That is in the future and has not happened yet’, his barrister Ben Brandon said.

Kiddie, from Ruislip, west London, denies assault by beating.

Original report here

　

　

　

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Stormtrooper British cop threatens to make photographer's day 'a living hell'

A police sergeant in Gloucester is filmed telling a photographer "you're lucky I didn't knock you out" as he seizes his camera and demands pictures are deleted off it

The local amateur photographer was taking pictures of the crash scene when Sgt Wallace approached and seized his camera.

The police officer told him he would arrest him and ask for him to be remanded in custody if he did not delete photos from his camera.

The officer is heard to say, "we'll nick you now and I will make your day a living hell, 'cos you'll be in that cell all day. What I'll probably do is I will ask for you to be remanded in custody and I will put you before the magistrate."

He added: "You're lucky that I didn't knock you out. I swore at you, yeah. It got your attention, though, didn't it?"

Unknown to the officer, the man was videoing what happened on another device as the officer took his camera from him.

A one point during the exchange a third party interrupts to defend the police officer, accusing the photographer of wasting the police's time.

Gloucestershire police have already said they are investigating the sergeant's behaviour but now the county police and crime commissioner Martin Surl is calling for "utmost urgency".

The incident, occurred after an 86 year old woman was knocked down by a car outside Tesco in Churchdown on Nov 19. She later died of her injuries.

The officer can be heard saying he would arrest the man for obstructing a police officer in the course of his duty and seized the camera, insisting he delete the images on it.

He later returned the camera, without deleting any images, but after approving them.

Original report here

　

　

　

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Southport, NC cop shoots tased and restrained 90-pound HS student after allegedly stating, "we don’t have time for this."

I’ve read three different accounts of the death of 5’3," 90-pound Keith Vidal at his home, and each one is horrific.

This is how the Star News describes the situation:

He said lawmen initially responded to the home after Vidal, who celebrated his birthday last month, picked up a screwdriver and refused to put it down.

Two responding officers were able to calm Vidal before another officer walked into the family’s home, Wilsey said.

It was when the third officer walked in that the 90-pound teen was stunned with a Tazer and fell to the floor. Vidal was then shot in the chest, Wilsey told reporters.

WECT is more specific:

Wilsey said his family called the police to help with his schizophrenic son Keith Vidal who had a small screwdriver in his hand. Officers used at Taser on Vidal and then shot him, according to Wilsey.

Wilsey said officers came into their home after they called for backup help when Vidal was having a schizophrenic incident.

Wilsey said officers had his son down on the ground after the teen was tased a few times and an officer said, "we don’t have time for this." That’s when Wilsey says the officer shot in between the officers holding the teen down, killing his son.

Then there was this story submitted by a family friend on CNN’s iReport:

Vidal’s Father contacted the Boiling Springs Lakes Police Department around 1 pm Sunday to try to get help putting Vidal in the car, so he could be taken to a mental evaluation. Vidal was abrasive and did not want to go. and picked up a small electronics screwdriver.Two Officers responded to the scene and started negotiating with Vidal. After about 10 mins the situation started defusing itself with Vidal becoming more rational.

At that very moment an Officer From another Town Entered the residence and instructed the officers to stop talking and tase Vidal. As Vidal tried to flee into the bathroom adjacent to where he was standing the two officers simultaneously shot him with their tasers. As Vidal Collapsed backwards on to the floor the two officers jumped on top of the 5ft 3 100 lb Vidal to restrain him..

As Vidal’s Father tried to step in and grab the screwdriver The Southport Police Officer that had instructed the other officers to use their tasers, moved between the father and the pile of people on the floor and said " We don’t have time for this" And shot Vidal Once in the chest as the other two Officers held him on the floor. Vidal’s father then grabbed the officer as he was lining himself up for another shot.

It appears that the two officers that initially responded to the call had Keith Vidal calming down from his episode with a third officer arrived. The situation then immediately turned for the worse, and Vidal was tased repeatedly and was in the grip of two officers when the third officer reached in with his duty sidearm and killed him at point blank range.

Original report here

　

　

　

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The FBI says you’re fair game on the other side of the border

The Federal Bureau of Investigation held an American citizen for four months, harshly interrogated him, and finally released him without charges. That's the claim of Amir Meshal who, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, is suing the U.S. government and specific individuals involved in his alleged mistreatment. For its part, the Department of Justice doesn't bother denying the charges—it just says that national security concerns preclude the case from even being considered.

According to the ACLU, which appears in court tomorrow on Meshal's behalf:

"WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union will appear in court on Wednesday on behalf of a U.S. citizen who was illegally detained and mistreated by American officials in three east African countries in 2007. After fleeing unrest in Somalia, New Jersey resident Amir Meshal was arrested, secretly imprisoned in inhumane conditions, and harshly interrogated by FBI agents over 30 times before ultimately being released without charge four months later. ...

In December 2006, Meshal was studying in Mogadishu when civil unrest broke out. He fled to neighboring Kenya, where he wandered in the forest for three weeks seeking shelter and assistance before being arrested. He was then repeatedly interrogated by FBI agents, who accused him of receiving training from al Qaeda, which Meshal denied. The American interrogators threatened him with torture and kept him from contacting a lawyer or his family.

Meshal was subsequently rendered to Somalia and then Ethiopia, where he was secretly imprisoned in filthy conditions with inadequate access to food, water, and toilets for more than three months, and again harshly interrogated by U.S. officials, who bore responsibility for his rendition and continued detention."

In response, Justice Department lawyers argue (PDF):

"Counts I - III [Fifth Amendment claims] fail as a matter of law because special factors counsel hesitation and preclude the Court from creating the implied constitutional tort damages remedy sought in the new and sensitive context presented by this Complaint - extraterritorial national security operations... even if the Court recognizes a damages remedy without any statutory foundation, all Defendants are entitled to qualified immunity on Counts I - III , and Higginbotham and Hersem (the only defendants named) are entitled to qualified immunity for Count IV [alleging violation of the Torture Victim Protection Act]."

Got that? Never mind what happened, because national security. And besides, the defendants are immune even to concerns about torture.

Whatever Amir Meshal's actual role, whatever the facts of his treatment by U.S. government officials, that's a chilling argument—unless you're the sort of creature who believes individual rights are a function of geography, rather than humanity.

Original report here

　

　

　

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Six Mexican cops arrested after New York fitness instructor 'suffocated to death as they stood on his throat'

Mexican authorities say they have detained six police officers over the death of a U.S. man, who died in their custody after being arrested for disorderly conduct in the resort city of Playa del Carmen.

Quintana Roo state Assistant Attorney General Carlos Alvarez said Friday that Yeudi Estrada Carrero died Wednesday inside a patrol truck while three police officers restrained him.

Alvarez says the 28-year-old fitness instructor died of asphyxiation after at least one of the officers pressed his foot against Estrada's neck.

Alvarez says Estrada was from New York state and lived and worked in Cancun.

He says an autopsy found Estrada had consumed cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine.

Alvarez says Estrada's body was turned over to his father, who also lives in Cancun.

An investigation is underway.

Original report here

　

　

　

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Drug war "justice" in Utah

Utah resident Virginia Ward cried on November 18 as she was sentenced to 90 days in jail – and three years of probation -- for drug trafficking. This meant that she would join the large and ever-growing population of prisoners she helped to create as a former Justice Court Judge.

As if in compensation for having to spend Christmas behind bars, Ward was allowed to open several presents early. When she was arrested earlier this year, Ward confronted the possibility of two 15-year prison sentences for her role in a multistate smuggling operation. Before the case went before a judge, the prosecutor had dropped one of the charges in exchange for a guilty plea.

Ward, without her official costume.

Thus began an unusual auction in which the prosecutor, the parole department, and the trial judge sought to bid down the price their former colleague would pay for breaking laws she had enforced while feeding her own Oxycodone addiction.

During the sentencing hearing Ward was informed that the prosecution had reduced its sentencing recommendation to six months. The judge cut that already lenient sentence in half. For its part, the department of probation and parole had recommended against any jail time.

"Mercy should be tempered with maintaining the public trust," pontificated Assistant Utah Attorney General Scott Reed, seeking to fortify the fiction that his office was seeking accountability. "You cannot separate the fact that this conduct occurred while she was a sitting and active judge, an active member of the Utah State Bar, a mother of two children."

The facts described by Reed would suggest that the appropriate sentence would be one of exemplary severity, rather than one of uncommon leniency. What Reed must have meant, given the arrangements made by his office, was that the punishment Ward’s illegal conduct should be mitigated by her position and the faithful service she had rendered on behalf of the prison-industrial complex.

As the Salt Lake Tribune observed, other defendants in the courtroom who were not clothed in similar privilege found the spectacle to be less than edifying.

"Slap on the wrist," muttered one in disgust. "I would have gotten the same sentence for a speeding ticket," added another.

Not only was Ward given a relatively trivial punishment (in comparison to what others would receive, in any case), she was also the beneficiary of special arrangements intended to shield her from potential retaliation by others whose freedom she had taken away. When she reported for jail the day before Thanksgiving, Ward was taken to a cell outside of Salt Lake County, in order to avoid other inmates she had imprisoned for indulging in weaknesses similar to her own.

Ward says that she became addicted to Oxycodone after obtaining a prescription to deal with a neck injury. The judge was receiving packages containing the prescription drug at a UPS store in Salt Lake City. She was in possession of 338 Oxycodone tablets when DEA agents arrested her in March.

She told investigators that she was taking the pills to another person – named either Jose or Josh – in exchange for a small portion of them. She also described trading other controlled substances in exchange for the painkiller.

While government has no legitimate authority to regulate what people freely consume, it is also true that abuse of prescription medication is a serious public health concern, particularly in Utah.

Utah finds itself "up near the top in the country" regarding prescription drug abuse, Dr. Glen Hanson of the Utah Addiction Center at the University of Utah told the Deseret News. "For almost every other drug of abuse, whether it’s tobacco, or alcohol, or cocaine, or heroin, we’re usually way down near the lowest in the country."

Given the severity of that problem (which cannot be solved by imprisoning addicts or those who supply their drugs, of course), Ward’s involvement in an interstate smuggling ring would likely have been rewarded with a long stint in federal prison – if she hadn’t been involved in feeding other human beings into the maw of the penal system.

While Ward prepared to spend her first Christmas in jail, fellow Utah resident Weldon Angelos is about to spend his ninth Christmas in federal prison.

Assuming that the father of three children survives prison, his freedom will not be restored until 2059, when he will be 78 years old. The supposed crime for which Weldon will spend nearly his entire life in a cage was selling about 24 ounces of marijuana to a police informant.

In 2002, Angelos, a successful musician and record producer, was lured into selling small amounts of marijuana to a childhood friend name Ronnie Lazalde, who was involved in a local gang called Varrio Loco Town. Lazalde was facing serious narcotics and firearms charges, and in an effort to obtain a "downward departure" on his prospective prison sentence he agreed to act as an informant.

At the time, Angelos's criminal record contained a single conviction as a juvenile for possession of a handgun. He admits that he was involved in small-time marijuana dealing at the time Lazalde approached him.

In three separate transactions observed by officers with Salt Lake City’s Metro Gang Unit, Angelos sold eight ounces of pot to Lazalde. Eager to validate his claim that his erstwhile friend was a major drug dealer -- and therefore a bigger prize to police -- Lazalde continually demanded that Angelos sell him cocaine and firearms. That prompted Angelos to cut off any further contact with the informant after the third deal.

In July of that year, Angelos was arrested and cited for carrying a small pistol in an ankle holder. When Lazalde learned of that arrest, he contacted his handler, Detective Jason Mazuran (who is now a SWAT commander in Salt Lake City). Displaying the insouciant disregard for truth that typifies his professional, Mazuran retro-fitted that detail into previous reports of the drug deals: Now Angelos was accused of carrying a firearm in connection with drug trafficking.

Federal prosecutor Robert Lund, who seems to be the type of person whose character could profit from an encounter with the Iron Sheik, offered Angelos a deal: Fifteen years in federal prison in exchange for a guilty plea to one three counts of drug dealing and one firearms-related offense under section 924[c] of the federal criminal code.

Not surprisingly, Angelos declined that offer. Unfortunately, Angelos had been a member of the productive sector, rather than a functionary of the criminal "justice" system, so he couldn’t expect the kind of leniency that had been extended to Ward.

Federal prosecutors prefer to obtain convictions through extortion, rather than a trial. Lund obtained a superseding indictment charging Angelos with five 924[c] offenses that would carrying a minimum mandatory sentence of 105 years in prison.

Snitch: Ronnie Lazalde, seen here dressed up for Halloween.

None of the police observing the controlled marijuana buys reported seeing a gun. Lazalde made no mention of seeing a gun during his original debriefing. No video, audio, or photographic evidence of a gun was ever produced by the police. All of the original police reports of the transactions are barren of any mention of a firearm.

However, by the time the case went to trial in late 2004, the testimony offered by the officers and their informant had been revised to meet the needs of the prosecution. As is generally the case in federal trials, the jury delivered a conviction.

"The court believes that to sentence Mr. Angelos to prison for the rest of his life is unjust, cruel, and even irrational," declared federal Judge Paul Cassell at sentencing. "It is also far in excess of the sentence imposed for such serious crimes as aircraft hijacking, second-degree murder, espionage, kidnapping, aggravated assault, and rape."

Despite the fact that he appeared to be a man burdened with a conscience, Cassell imposed what he admitted was an unconstitutionally cruel sentence, even as he urged presidential commutation "to something that is more in accord with just and rational punishment."

A prison term of any length as punishment for a voluntary transaction involving a benign substance is neither just nor rational. The only legitimate crime committed in those transactions was the fraudulent behavior of the police informant, who spent a few years in prison and is now free.

"I was able to turn my life around and that's all I can tell you about my past life that is over," Lazalde told Pro Libertate. After if he had thought of interceding on behalf of the childhood friend he had helped put into prison for life, Lazalde replied: "That is not my decision. Years ago Weldon was given the chance to help himself and he chose not to." I pointed out that the "helpful" deal extended to Angelos was to choose between 15 years in prison or a life sentence.

"What was the deal you were offered?" I asked Lazalde.

"Like I told you, my past is my past," the informant insisted, suggesting that any further questions should be directed at Lund.

The barbarous and sadistic sentence imposed on Angelos has drawn international attention and prompted a petition drive seeking presidential clemency. Pot enthusiast-turned-drug warrior Barack Obama, who is as parsimonious with pardons as he is profligate with plundered money, has been inhospitable to such pleas. Robert Lund, who should be shunned as a sociopath, continues to defend the sentence.

"Weldon Angelos was a member of a really violent street gang," sniffed Lund when asked if the life sentence was disproportionate.

Assuming this is true, Angelos was never charged with any of those offenses (and while Angelos grew up surrounded by VLT members, he insists that he never joined the gang). Furthermore, in order to imprison Angelos – a first-time defendant who was charged with non-violent offenses -- Lund recruited an informant who was an active member of that gang and had an extensive criminal history.

Weldon Angelos is serving what will most likely be a life sentence because of the impudence he displayed by defending himself against the charges. Virginia Ward, who sent insignificant drug offenders to jail while acting as part of a major narcotics syndicate, will be free next year and most likely will find subsidized employment preaching about the evils of drug use and the virtues of prohibition.

Original report here

　

　

　

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British charity worker released after wrongly jailed on child abuse charges

Ian Charles Tracy, 47, from Godalming, Surrey, was let free from Nong Plalai Prison in the eastern resort of Pattaya, where he spent 14 months of his sentence treated as a child sex abuser.

It is thought he was was mistaken for another British man with a similar surname living in Thailand - who has been arrested for child sex abuse and attempted murder of a juvenile.

Mr Tracy, speaking immediately after his release on Thursday said: ‘My whole life has been ruined. I have been accused of the vilest of crimes when all I have done is to try to help people. I now have to take steps to recover my name in a case which is appalling in the nature of its corruption."

Mr Tracy was found guilty despite the 14 year-old boy he was accused of abusing told the court he had never seen the man before in his life.

According to Thai Police, Mr Tracy was arrested as part of an Operation Naga, an act of international co-operation between Britain’s CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Unit) which then came under the Serious Organised Crime Agency and the Royal Thai Police.

He was a volunteer for local charities The Mercy Centre and Hand In Hand and visited foreign prisoners in Thailand as part of his work.

Talking in Pattaya after his release, Mr Tracy said: "I would never consider abusing a child. In fact the charities I worked for had programme for children but I did not want to get involved because I did not have the training.

"The police knew they had the wrong man. But insisted they go ahead with the prosecution. I told them they would have to make it all up - and they did."

Original report here

　

　

　

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British postman spent 17 years in prison after wrongful conviction for attempted rape

A postman who spent 17 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of attempted rape says he is a 'greater person' for his miscarriage of justice.

Victor Nealon, 53, says he 'wants justice' and is considering suing the police after being given a life sentence in January 1997 for the attempted rape of a 22-year-old woman.

But despite spending almost a third of his life behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit, Mr Nealon says he has no bitterness towards the prison system, and insists the experience was a positive one.

Mr Nealon, from Redditch in Worcestershire, was finally freed from HMP Wakefield on December 13 after DNA evidence from the woman's blouse was examined, which revealed another unknown man was the perpetrator.

He maintained his innocence throughout his spell in prison, even though it meant serving the full life sentence instead of pleading guilty and being released after serving half.

Mr Nealon believes his original defence team were 'incompetent' and says that while on trial he came close to confessing as it appeared the only way to get a lighter sentence.

He said: 'The police never had any evidence against me but my legal team in the trial were incompetent but I wasn't to know that at the time. I had never been at a trial before.'

Mr Nealon added: 'The evidence has always been freely visible. I have had 17 years of this so now it is time for justice… I want my life back.'

On how he found prison to be a positive experience, Mr Nealon said: 'Really I am a greater person for this experience, all experiences are valuable. Like Nelson Mandela said 'there is no easy walk to freedom''.

He added: 'Now I have to be rational, the system is as it is and I have to be patient. I have missed out on a lot. I still think I am in my 30s because prison has its own time.'

Speaking of potentially suing over his wrongful imprisonment, Mr Nealon said: 'I would like to think there is potential for civil action but I don't want to pre-empt what the outcome might be.'

He added: 'I have called for the police to re-open the investigation and I think the victim should as well… Surely the bigger interest is justice for the victim - she has never received any apology.'

Although he believes HMP Wakefield 'did all they could under the circumstances', Mr Nealon says the only way he survived 17 years in prison was by studying the details of his case 'like an academic'.

Describing his case as an 'escape from prison life', Mr Nealon says he had to remove himself from the facts and comb through the details as if they had happened to somebody else.

But as appeal after appeal failed, Mr Nealon says he became increasingly cynical about his prospects of release 'as a self defence mechanism'.

Mr Nealon's hard work eventually paid off when he was given seven days' notice of an appeal hearing.

Although he didn’t have long to prepare, 17 years of research ensured Mr Nealon was able to present a strong case.

He left HMP Wakefield within three hours of the verdict being made and was released with just £46 in his pocket and nowhere to stay.

After sleeping in cheap B&Bs and friend's floors Mr Nealon was given temporary accommodation above the constituency office of Birmingham Yardley MP John Hemming, who is helping him adjust to life outside prison.

Recalling his sudden release, Mr Nealon told how he was forced to adjust to the modern world.

He said: 'I just felt lost when I got out, the prison gave me £46, a random amount I will never know how they got to…They also gave me a train ticket to where I wanted to go, which was Shrewsbury.'

Mr Nealon was taken to Leeds train station by the prison's deputy governor, where he says the reality of his time away from the outside world really hit him.

He says he was shocked by how many people were crowded into the train station and couldn’t believe the price of a payphone call had risen from 10p to 60p.

Despite claiming to find anonymity among the crowds 'calming', Mr Nealon says he chose to celebrate Christmas alone as having his freedom was enough.

He says his biggest regret is not having children, but has big plans for 2014 – including finding a place of his own and possibly even travelling the world.

Mr Nealon says: 'One place I want to go is Egypt but it will be a long time until then'.

For now, however, Mr Nealon is content to enjoy his freedom by focusing on the simple things in life. He says: ‘Even going out to get milk still seems novel to me.’

Original report here

　

　

　

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Cop allegedly pepper sprayed girlfriend's 13yo son when he stayed in bed instead of going to school

A US law enforcement officer faces criminal charges for allegedly pepper-spraying his girlfriend's 13-year-old son because the boy stayed in bed instead of going to school.

WTAE-TV reports that Pennsylvania state Trooper Ernest Boatright faces a January 22 preliminary hearing on child endangerment and harassment charges.

According to court records, Mr Boatright told investigators he had pepper-sprayed two cats on an enclosed porch, but the boy tells police that Mr Boatright sprayed the chemical into his room in April.

The boy told police that Mr Boatright had sprayed him with the substance before.

Mr Boatright didn't immediately return a call for comment. His attorney says Mr Boatright "vehemently denies the charges.''

Original report here

　

　

　

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Ibragim Todashev's father writes open letter to President Obama

THE father of a man shot to death by authorities in Florida while being questioned during the Boston Marathon bombing investigation has written President Barack Obama asking for help finding out what happened.

Abdulbaki Todashev says in his letter that son Ibragim Todashev, 27, knew dead marathon suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev through boxing but had no connection to the bombing or any other crime. He says his son voluntarily went to an FBI office in Orlando to speak with FBI agents four times before they showed up at his apartment May 22.

Attorney Barry Cohen said Monday the elder Todashev fears a cover-up and is writing to Obama one father to another to make sure that doesn't happen. He is asking Obama to ensure authorities do not interfere with the investigation.

A local prosecutor is investigating the death and an FBI spokeswoman won't comment. Findings are expected to be made public in 2014.

Boston Magazine is reporting the open letter along with graphic images of Todashev's body and his bloody apartment also released by his father.

"I am not asking you to share my pain but I am asking you, as the head of the great country - the guarantor of democracy in the modern world, to help the law and justice prevail," Abdulbaki Todashev writes to President Obama.

He said his son was a loving son who came to America in 2008 to practice English and met Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev at the gym when he lived in Massachusetts.

Todashev tells the magazine the FBI "deliberately" killed his son so "he can never speak and never take part in court hearings" and claims the FBI pressured his son's friends also to prevent them speaking the truth.

Ibragim Todashev died in May after FBI agents questioning him about his friendship with Tsarnaev allege he lunged at an agent with a knife.

Images released by Todashev's father can be seen at the Bostonmagazine.com. Warning: Some of the photos are graphic and contain Mr Todashev's dead body.

Original report here

　

　

　

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Trigger happy in New York

Shoot first and find excuses later is the new motto for cowardly police officers in New York City who have no qualms about firing bullets into a crowd of innocent bystanders while attempting to gun down an unarmed man.

We have to wonder whether this is what the cops are taught to do in cadet school or whether they learn it on the job as the most expedient way to protect themselves from the slightest hint of potential danger posed by unruly suspects.

Shooting live rounds into a crowd of people, however, simply cannot be justified under any circumstances.

The latest instance involves 35-year-old Glenn Broadnax, of Brooklyn, an unarmed, emotionally unhinged man creating a disturbance at 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue near Times Square in New York City. Apparently, he was attempting to commit suicide by lurching himself into traffic and lunging toward oncoming cars.

Naturally, a crowd gathered to watch. Some tried to help the poor man. That’s when the police arrived with their guns. And when the suspect reached into his pocket for his wallet two frightened cops opened fire, missing him completely but wounding to female bystanders.

"Mr. Broadnax never imagined his behavior would ever cause the police to shoot at him," explained his attorney. Never-the-less, the cops and the prosecutor are blaming him for the shooting.

He "recklessly engaged in conduct which created a grave risk of death," claims the prosecution in a nine-count grand jury felony indictment containing charges carrying a possible 25-year prison sentence.

So the situation that left two innocent bystanders with gunshot wounds at the hands of trigger happy police thugs was entirely the defendant’s fault say the authorities. That’s their excuse for shooting at an unarmed man on a crowded street and plugging two women in the crowd with lead.

"It’s an incredibly unfortunate use of prosecutorial discretion to be prosecuting a man who didn’t even injure my client," said an attorney for one of the wounded women. "It’s the police who injured my client."

Yes, it’s the police who shot first and found excuses later.

They’re trigger happy in New York.

Original report here

　

　

　

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London Police sued by suspect who claims officers called him a 'black b*****d' as they smashed the windows of his car with baseball bats

"The Metropolitan Police is being sued for £50,000 over claims a group of six officers allegedly called a suspect a 'black b*****d'.

Jonathan Billinghurst is taking action after officers ambushed him, smashing the windows of the Mini Cooper he was driving with baseball bats.

He claims during the 'unconventional' arrest one officer turned up the music while his colleagues physically and verbally assaulted him, in a manner designed to 'punish, demoralise and humiliate' him.

Dramatic footage released by police shows them attacking...

An Independent Police Complaints Commission investigation found the police officers had used excessive force.

But the Met Police claimed in its defence to Mr Billinghurst's claim that 'officers were permitted to use such force'.

The High Court papers, which were filed in October, have emerged after the six officers failed to sue Channel 4 News for libel after the programme broadcast footage of the arrest.

Specifically, the six claimed journalist Simon Israel had insinuated they misled the IPCC panel on evidence they had against Mr Billinghurst. But the case was thrown out of the High Court.

The video showed the men shouting ‘attack, attack’ before running at the suspect's car, smashing the windows and windscreen and telling him to ‘get out of the car’ before pinning him to the ground.

The arrest took place in 2008 - but the IPCC investigation was not completed until three years later. All of the officers, part of the now-disbanded Enfield Crime Squad, kept their jobs.

But they have come under further pressure now after Mr Billinghurst claimed one officer turned up the music in his car as others assaulted him physically and verbally after they had pinned him down on the side of the road.

The suspect, who was later jailed for two months following the arrest, believed the officers were ‘muggers’ because most of them appeared to be wearing plain clothes.

He said the unconventional manner of the arrest was designed to 'punish, demoralise and humiliate' him.

He also claims police failed to say who they were. In its defence, the Metropolitan Police said officers shouted ‘police, police’ and put a blue flashing siren on one of their cars.

They said Mr Billinghurst ‘was informed that he was under arrest and the grounds of arrest as soon as was practicable’ - though it does not specify when this was.

Mr Billinghurst has also claimed the officers took and failed to return his iPod, CDs and mobile phone.

After going to Edmonton Police Station, Mr Billinghurst was taken to North Middlesex Hospital and treated for a cut on his face believed to have been caused by flying glass.

In its defence, the Metropolitan Police said Mr Billinghurst was suspected of driving a stolen car while disqualified from driving. Officers also claimed that intelligence suggested he would be carrying a knife.

They said smashing the windows was being used as a valid ‘distraction technique’.

The defence also questioned the likelihood that Mr Billinghurst could win the action because the incident took place five years ago.

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Of poker and plunder: Commissarina Olson Strikes Again

In spite of the fact that he has not committed a criminal act, Boise resident Skinner Anderson faces three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Wendy J. Olson, the Soviet-grade legal functionary who afflicts Idaho as U.S. Attorney, has wrung a guilty plea out of Anderson on a single charge of "misprision of felony" because a home he rented was used for what have been described as illegal poker games.

The federal statute under which Anderson was charged is obscure and seldom prosecuted. Private gambling is banned in Idaho by state statutes that are rarely enforced: Since 1975, fewer than 300 people have been arrested or cited in Idaho for gambling. No felony charges were filed following a raid carried out by a federally supervised task force last April. Fourteen people were charged with misdemeanors and issued citations by a state court.

Anderson’s only role in this affair was to receive rent payments from Kings Santy – the poker and billiards enthusiast who organized the games. Yet the landlord is the only defendant to face the prospect of time in a government cage.

Under the relevant provision of the Idaho State Code (18-3802), the worst that could be inflicted on him would be a misdemeanor fine for "knowingly" allowing people to play poker on his property.

Commissarina Olson, displaying the dishonesty and depraved ingenuity for which people in her profession have become notorious, contrived a way to charge him with a federal offense that involves guilty knowledge "of the actual commission of a felony cognizable by a court of the United States" – something he obviously didn’t do, because none of the people arrested last April has been charged with a felony.

Tellingly, Santy – who, once again, organized the "illegal" poker games -- was not charged with a crime. In fact, he wasn’t even arrested. Any time the police allow the "ringleader" to get off scot free, they are indisputably protecting an informant.



Apart from Olson and her band of state-licensed plunderers, Santy is the only individual in this matter who has committed a crime – specifically, an act of deception that injured the rights of another person. When he signed a lease on the home in 2008, Santy told Anderson that he intended to use the property to operate an auto repossession company. He has since admitted that this was a lie.

At some point – most likely immediately after he rented the home from Anderson – Santy became an informant. All of the "evidence" collected by Olson regarding Anderson’s supposed offenses is drawn from Santy’s self-serving conversations with FBI Agent Douglas Hart, who supervised the investigation.

According to Hart’s probable cause affidavit, "Anderson told Santy that he didn’t care what Santy was doing on his property as long as it didn’t cause Anderson trouble." Presumably, "trouble" would have resulted – and an eviction most likely would have ensued -- if those games had become a neighborhood nuisance.

The raids in April were carried out by the valiant badasses of the Treasure Valley Metro Violent Crimes Task Force, who claimed to be responding to unspecified "complaints" about the poker tournaments. Once again, the only source of those "complaints" would be Santy. The ringleader/informant reportedly told Agent Hart that one of his dealers said a woman whose "husband or boyfriend lost their rent money from a poker game called Anderson to complain," according to the Idaho Statesman.

This hearsay "evidence" offered by an admitted liar (remember, Santy deceived Anderson about his intent in leasing the house) is the only substantive link connecting the landlord to the "illegal" poker games conducted on his property. If Santy had been compelled to testify, he would have been eviscerated on the stand by a reasonably competent attorney.

Federal juries tend to be terminally credulous, and Olson – once again, following the protocols of her despicable profession – would most likely have multiplied the charges against Anderson and threatened him with decades in prison as punishment for exercising his right to a trial by jury.

As I’ve noted before, federal attorneys prefer extortion to prosecution.

"How much does the State weigh?" Stalin once asked a Soviet procurator frustrated by an unusually recalcitrant defendant who refused to sign a confession. As a federal prosecutor in the Soviet mold, Olson is adept at using the weight of the State to break innocent men and women. And in this case, as in so many others, Olson’s objective was to steal Anderson’s property through forfeiture: Before filing criminal charges against the beleaguered businessman, Olson filed a "forfeiture" motion to seize the "gambling house" where Santy had held the poker games.



I guess a lightning-bolt SS insignia would be too obvious.

Anderson was most likely told by his defense attorney that if he fought the charge the Feds – employing a widely used tactic -- would freeze his financial assets, leaving him destitute and unable to pay his legal expenses. Thus he was left with no choice but to submit to the demands of Olson and her comrades.

For his part, Santy remains at large to entrap other potential victims. He has plenty of company in Olson’s feculent stable of informants and provocateurs.

Now that a guilty plea has been extracted from Anderson, confiscating his property will be much easier. Olson has been a tireless evangelist on behalf of the gospel of collaborative plunder, and she has built a large and eager congregation among Gem State law enforcement agencies.

Forfeiture is a tremendously lucrative racket for Olson’s office, which boasted in an October 28 press release that it has seized $1.7 million in "forfeiture" proceeds, while kicking back $1 million to state and local police agencies "via the equitable sharing program." Olson’s office reported a total take of $34 million for FY 2013 – an impressive figure, but a dramatic decrease from 2012’s record $84 million haul. This might help explain why Olson’s plunderbund went after Anderson so zealously: Grabbing a $200,000 home would get the new fiscal year off to a good start.

On the same day that Anderson was arrested and charged with gambling-related felonies, the state’s largest gambling syndicate began its biggest buy-in to date. The state government of Idaho – which will benefit from the seizure of Anderson’s property – announced its Mega Millions lottery jackpot. Tickets cost a dollar each, and are sold at retail outlets state-wide, thereby directly implicating hundreds of business owners – as well as the entire tax victim population -- in an activity that would be regarded as criminal if conducted privately.

Mr. Anderson, who had no direct involvement in a penny-ante poker tournament, may be sent to prison with the connivance of the same state government that -- in addition to the routine crimes of violence and fraud it perpetrates – maintains a multi-billion-dollar gambling operation.

To paraphrase the despondent Danish prince: In our prison society, there is nothing either good or bad, unless the state says so. Thus private poker is a "crime," state-licensed lotteries are a civic blessing, and officially sanctioned theft of an innocent man's property is "justice."

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British auxiliary cop wins £4,000 damages after falling over 3ft fence and injuring her knee on 999 call



A police community support officer who injured her knee while investigating a burglary has been awarded £4,000 in compensation, it emerged last night.

Pauline Harrison, 53, was responding to a 999 call reporting a break-in at a derelict school when she fell over a 3ft-high wooden fence.

Yesterday it was revealed that the case had been settled out of court days before it was due to go before a judge.

Sources said the settlement added up to around £4,000 – just £1,000 less than the maximum amount she could have claimed had the case gone to court.

The incident happened in 2009 when the PCSO was called to Sunshine House, a former school for the blind, after reports that youths had been spotted on the roof of the four-storey building.

Previously trespassers had set fire to part of the grounds, prompting the building’s owner – property development firm Lightflask Ltd – to secure the perimeter with a 6ft fence.

The only gap in the perimeter fence was a small gateway at the front of the site which was secured with a 3ft wooden fence.

Miss Harrison, who serves with Merseyside police, said she suffered ‘soft tissue damage’ to her right knee as she tried to leave the property in Birkdale, near Southport.

In court papers, she claimed Lightflask Ltd was negligent because it had allowed the fence to become a ‘danger and a trap to persons lawfully entering and exiting the premises’.

The former dog trainer said the company had failed to make the wooden fencing safe and failed to properly warn her about the fencing by erecting warning signs.

Miss Harrison also claimed there was no adequate system of inspection or maintenance of the site.

Last night a spokesman for Lightflask Ltd said he was unable to discuss details of the case, which had been settled by the firm’s insurers and is thought to include Miss Harrison’s £25 travelling expenses, £14 prescription charges and £102 physiotherapy costs.

However, he added that it was ‘crazy’ that members of the public could be sued by police going about their duties.

‘Risks cannot be removed from every situation,’ he said. ‘It’s crazy that claims can be made by police officers in their line of work. 'The nature of their job is risky, but they are there to protect the public.’

Miss Harrison’s decision to sue was also condemned by her own force when it was revealed last month. Chief Superintendent Nikki Holland, of Merseyside Police, said the decision to make a claim was ‘not a course of action that the force would encourage or support’.

And earlier this year Home Secretary Theresa May criticised ‘frivolous’ claims being made by officers which she said were ‘not the sort of attitude’ they should exhibit.

Her comments came after WPC Kelly Jones, 33, threatened to sue a garage owner in Thetford, Norfolk, when she tripped over a kerb while investigating a burglary. She later dropped her claim.

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Guilty Until Proven Innocent

How the government encourages kangaroo courts for sex crimes on campus

One evening in February 2012, Vassar College students Xialou "Peter" Yu and Mary Claire Walker, both members of the school's rowing team, had a few drinks at a team gathering and left together as the party wound down. After a make-out session at a campus nightspot, they went to Yu's dorm room, where, by his account, they had sex that was not only consensual but mainly initiated by Walker, who reassured her inexperienced partner that she knew what to do. At some point, Yu's roommate walked in on them; after he was gone, Yu says, Walker decided she wanted to stop, telling him it was too soon after her breakup with her previous boyfriend. She got dressed and left.

The next day, according to documents in an unusual complaint that Yu filed against Vassar last June, Yu's resident adviser told him some students had seen him and the young woman on their way to the dorm. They had been so concerned by Walker's apparently inebriated state that they called campus security. Alarmed, Yu contacted Walker on Facebook to make sure everything was all right. She replied that she had had a "wonderful time" and that he had done "nothing wrong"-indeed, that she was sorry for having "led [him] on" when she wasn't ready for a relationship. A month later Walker messaged Yu herself, again apologizing for the incident and expressing hope that it would not affect their friendship. There were more exchanges during the next months, with Walker at one point inviting Yu to dinner at her place. (In a response to Yu's complaint in October, attorneys for Vassar acknowledged most of these facts but asserted that Walker had been too intoxicated to consent to sex and had been "in denial," scared, and in shock when she wrote the messages.)

Last February, one year after the encounter, the other shoe dropped: Yu was informed that Walker had filed charges of "nonconsensual sexual contact" against him through the college disciplinary system. Two and a half weeks later, a hearing was held before a panel of three faculty members. Yu was not allowed an attorney; his request to call his roommate and Walker's roommate as witnesses was denied after the campus "gender equity compliance investigator" said that the roommates had emailed him but had "nothing useful" to offer. While the records from the hearing are sealed, Yu claims his attempts to cross-examine his accuser were repeatedly stymied. Many of his questions (including ones about Walker's friendly messages, which she had earlier told the investigator she sent out of "fear") were barred as "irrelevant"; he says that when he was allowed to question Walker, she would start crying and give evasive or nonresponsive answers. Yu was found guilty and summarily expelled from Vassar.

New Rules for Campus Sex

Yu, a U.S.-educated Chinese citizen, is now going after the Poughkeepsie, New York, school in federal court, claiming not only wrongful expulsion and irreparable personal damage but sex discrimination. His complaint argues that he was the victim of a campus judicial system that in practice presumes males accused of sexual misconduct are guilty. His is one of three such lawsuits filed last summer. St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia is being sued by an expelled student, New York state resident Brian Harris, who likewise claims he was railroaded by a gender-biased campus kangaroo court. And in August college basketball player Dez Wells sued Ohio's Xavier University for expelling him in the summer of 2012 based on a rape charge that the county prosecutor publicly denounced as false.

While the lawsuits target private colleges, they also implicate public policy. That was especially true in Wells' case: When he was accused, Xavier was under scrutiny by the federal government for its allegedly poor response to three prior sexual assault complaints, and his attorney says he was the "sacrificial lamb" to appease the U.S. Department of Education. In the other two cases, there was no such direct pressure, but the charges were adjudicated under a complainant-friendly standard that the Obama administration has been aggressively pushing on academic institutions.

In April 2011, the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights sent a letter to college and university presidents laying out guidelines for handling reports of sexual assault and harassment. One key recommendation was that such complaints should be evaluated based on a "preponderance of the evidence"-the lowest standard of proof used in civil claims. (In lay terms, it means that the total weight of the believable evidence tips at least slightly in the claimant's favor.) Traditionally, the standard for finding a student guilty of misconduct of any kind has been "clear and convincing evidence"-less stringent than "beyond a reasonable doubt," but still a very strong probability of guilt.

Last May the government reiterated its commitment to the "preponderance" standard in a joint Department of Justice/Department of Education letter to the University of Montana following a review of that school's response to sexual offenses. The letter was explicitly intended as a "blueprint" for all colleges and universities; noncompliant schools risk losing federal funds, including student aid eligibility. Meanwhile, the Department of Education also has launched civil rights investigations into complaints by several college women who say they were sexually assaulted by fellow students, then revictimized by school authorities when their assailants either went unpunished or received a slap on the wrist. The schools under scrutiny include the University of Southern California, the University of North Carolina, and the University of Colorado at Boulder.

'Rape Culture'

The federal war on campus rape is unfolding amid a revival of what Katie Roiphe, in her landmark 1994 book The Morning After: Sex, Fear and Feminism on Campus, dubbed "rape-crisis feminism"-a loosely defined ideology that views sexual violence as the cornerstone of male oppression of women, expands the definition of rape to include a wide range of sexual acts involving no physical force or threat, and elevates the truth of women's claims of sexual victimization to nearly untouchable status.

This brand of feminism seemed in retreat a few years ago, particularly after a hoax at Duke University drew attention to the danger of presuming guilt. (In 2007, the alleged rape of a stripper by three Duke lacrosse players sparked local and national outrage-until the case was dismissed and the young men declared innocent.) Yet in 2013, the concept made a strong comeback with a sexual assault case that gained national visibility in January and went to trial in March. This one was in Steubenville, Ohio.

The facts in Steubenville were ugly enough. A 16-year-old girl who got very drunk at an end-of-the-summer high school party was repeatedly sexually assaulted while unconscious or barely conscious. One boy, 17-year-old Trent Mays, penetrated her with his fingers, tried to get her to perform oral sex, and essentially used her as a masturbation aid; another, Ma'lik Richmond, briefly participated in the abuse. Three other teenagers witnessed at least some of these acts (which took place in a car and in the basement of a home after the girl left the party with the boys), taking photos and a video. The next day, Mays bragged about his exploits and mocked the girl in text messages to friends, to whom he also sent her nude photo. When Mays and Richmond, both star players on the Steubenville High School football team, were arrested and charged with rape a few days later, many residents in the football-worshiping small town sympathized with the boys and were inclined to assume that the girl-an out-of-town private school student-was lying to cover up her misbehavior.

This sordid saga arguably shone a spotlight on the dark underside of small-town "football culture," which can breed a sense of entitlement and impunity in popular athletes. Yet the national press coverage, fueled by wild rumors of unspeakable brutalities (the girl was said to have been drugged, kidnapped, urinated on, and gang-raped for hours) and of an official cover-up, turned into a far more sweeping indictment of America's "rape culture"-a term that suddenly migrated from the fringes of feminist rhetoric into mainstream discourse.

Like many radical theories, the idea of rape culture contains plausible elements of truth: Some traditional gender arrangements have indeed encouraged cavalier or even tacitly accepting attitudes toward certain kinds of sexual violence. For much of history women have been treated to varying degrees as men's sexual property, with rape condoned if not legitimized in some circumstances: for example, in marriage (including forced marriage), or toward women who transgressed norms of feminine propriety.

Even in the United States, as recently as 40 years ago, juries could be instructed to consider "unchaste character"-such as being single and on birth control-as a strike against an accuser's credibility, and courts often treated submission to overt physical intimidation as consent (at least in acquaintance-rape situations). And there is some basis for the argument that the conventional script of male pursuit and feminine coyness-with "no" routinely taken to mean "try harder"-can sometimes blur the lines between consent and coercion.

But this history is only one part of a complex mix of cultural attitudes-a mix that has long included genuine societal abhorrence of rape as a violation of female personhood. It is a measure of this abhorrence that when feminists in the 1970s challenged the unjust treatment of rape victims, the reforms they advocated-such as dropping resistance requirements that did not apply to other violent crimes, or barring the use of a woman's sexual history to discredit her-were soon enacted with overwhelming support.

Moreover, the social response to sex offenses has been complicated by many factors besides sexism, from a general human tendency to sweep sordid matters under the rug to the difficulty of proving crimes that occur in intimate settings; these factors have affected male victims, too. Feminist theory offers no convincing explanation for why a homophobic patriarchy would also fail to protect boys from adult male sexual predators.

And yet the "rape culture" trope has gained such sway that even a New Yorker writer highly critical of activist zealotry over Steubenville offered a disclaimer to defend the term. In an article in the magazine's August issue, Ariel Levy cited a 2011 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report stating that one in five American women are victims of rape or attempted rape and a recent Pentagon survey finding that one in four active-duty service members have been sexually assaulted. The problem, she concluded, could not be so pervasive unless there was a rape-enabling culture treating sex as "something men get-and take" from women.

But what do these numbers mean? The Pentagon poll defined sexual assault broadly enough to include a slap on the behind-and half of its self-reported victims were men. The CDC study treats all sex under the influence of alcohol or drugs as rape, with no distinction between unconsciousness and impaired judgment. Even the CDC's definition of rape by force could include such transgressions as unwanted penetration with a finger (no matter how brief) during an otherwise consensual make-out session.

The respondents were never asked if they thought they were assaulted; in a comparable survey, the federally sponsored 2007 Campus Sexual Assault study, two-thirds of the women classified as victims of drug- or alcohol-induced rape and 37 percent of those counted as forcibly raped did not consider the event to be a crime. (And these were college women in the age of mandatory campus date-rape awareness programs.)

Notably, when CDC survey respondents were asked about victimization during the previous 12 months, men reported being "forced to penetrate someone"-an act classified as sexual violence other than rape-at the same rate that women reported forced penetration. Either "rape culture" goes both ways, and women also sexually assault their male partners with alarming frequency, or the CDC definition of sexual violence needs rethinking.

Other claims about America's alleged rape-supportive misogyny typically rely on falsified or out-of-context pseudo-facts. Thus, on the website of The Nation, Jessica Valenti states that "we live in a country where politicians call rape a 'gift from God' -not only distorting a comment made by Indiana Republican Richard Mourdock during his 2012 run for the U.S. Senate, but neglecting to mention that the gaffe almost certainly ensured his defeat in a Republican stronghold. (What Mourdock said was that life was a "gift from God" even when it began "in that horrible situation of rape.")

In The Huffington Post, writer Soraya Chemaly's list of "facts about rape" includes the claim that 31 states allow rapists who impregnate their victims to sue for child custody or visitation. Actually, these states simply don't have laws explicitly barring such suits, mainly because it is presumed to be a non-issue. So far, the only known case of this kind involves a Massachusetts man convicted of statutory rape who sued for visitation with his daughter after a family court ordered him to pay child support.

The Steubenville story, with its evidence of boys behaving abominably documented by social media, came to be seen as Exhibit A for the "rape culture." Never mind that it's quite a leap from the repulsive acts of a few drunk adolescents to the notion that our culture normalizes such acts; or that it's hardly unusual for teenagers to flaunt illegal and socially unacceptable behavior; or that the morning-after text messages in the case made it clear that a number of boys were well aware that something very wrong was done to "Jane Doe" and that legal trouble could follow.

After Mays and Richmond were convicted in juvenile court, the media went into moral panic overdrive. In Time magazine, novelist Peter Smith scolded his fellow men for their failure to reject male solidarity and "say something" against rape-as if a male judge hadn't just "said something" by sending the perpetrators to jail.

MSNBC talk show host Melissa Harris-Perry delivered an on-air apology to the victim for failing to make the world safe for her. Twitter threats to "Jane Doe" from two teenaged girls, one of them Richmond's cousin, were seized upon as more evidence of rape culture's pernicious sway. The barrage of threats to Steubenville residents who had been labeled pro-rapist, including the female prosecutor baselessly accused of a cover-up, went unnoticed until Levy's New Yorker article.

Even CNN, a major promoter of the "rape culture" meme, got hit by friendly fire: Correspondent Poppy Harlow and host Candy Crowley were vilified as rape apologists for daring to voice some sympathy for the defendants-and, it was falsely claimed, failing to mention the harm to the victim.

Much of this reaction was well-intentioned. Yet in the end rape-culture feminism promotes not only a toxic view of relationships but a skewed and dangerous view of justice. Its key tenets: 1) Women almost never lie when they report a sex crime, and to doubt them is to perpetuate rape culture; 2) rape is any sexual act in which the woman feels violated-unless she suffers from false consciousness and needs to be educated about her violation; 3) rape includes situations in which the woman agrees to sex because of persistent advances, "emotional coercion," or intoxication-or because she doesn't have the nerve to say no; 4) no matter how willing the woman appears to be, it is the man's responsibility to ensure explicit consent-or he may be guilty of rape.

The inroads these ideas could make in the actual justice system have been limited by constitutional protections for the accused, including the presumption of innocence, a high standard of proof, and the right to confront the accusing witness. But colleges are almost perfect laboratories for feminist rape prosecutions, even if the penalty can be no worse than getting expelled.

Campus Kangaroo Courts

The campus is a place where sex happens a lot-including sex in random, often drunken encounters rife with potential for misunderstanding and regret. The Online College Social Life Survey, collected from nearly 25,000 students on 20 campuses from 2005 to 2011, found that women and men alike drink heavily when hooking up with a casual partner: an average of five alcoholic drinks for women, six for men.

When you try to criminalize much of this confused and confusing sex, subjecting it to second-guessing by secretive quasi-judicial panels operating under arbitrary rules and influenced by the deference to feminist orthodoxy that prevails on many campuses, the results will not be pretty.

Complaints from all sides about the way colleges handle sexual assault reports raise the question: Why should an offense as serious as rape be "prosecuted" by a college, rather than turned over to the police? The answer is that the vast majority of these charges would be unlikely to survive the most basic legal scrutiny.

Original report here

　

　

　

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British cop jailed for 19 years for raping two women and a string of other sex crimes



A former policeman who raped two women and offered a teenage girl, who he had groped, payment for sex has been jailed for 19 years.

Wayne Scott, 37, has been convicted of rape and attempted rape of a woman after a five-day trial, having already admitted to raping a different woman seven times over a number of years.

Branded a ‘disgrace to the uniform’ by former colleagues, he also confessed to two common assaults, one sexual assault and two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual touching.

Sentencing Scott at Newcastle Crown Court, Judge James Goss QC described him as ‘manipulative, controlling and domineering’.

‘Your offending has had an enormous impact on the well-being, confidence and lives of those against whom you offended, destroying their lives,’ he said.

‘You clearly have a very strong sexual drive and are prepared to satisfy that urge regardless.’

The judge said he agreed with the probation service report which concluded Scott’s risk of causing serious harm to females in future is ‘very high’.

His offences came to light after he was dismissed by Cleveland Police when a member of the public complained about him touching her sexually while he was on duty.

Although he was not prosecuted for that offence, the publicity led other women to come forward and make complaints.

Speaking after the sentence, Detective Superintendent Peter McPhillips, of Cleveland Police, said: ‘I’m really pleased with the sentence today. Wayne Scott is a sexual deviant and a predator who manipulated his victims and had a significant detrimental impact on their lives. ‘Yet he has never exhibited any remorse and he does not appear to understand the horrific nature of his crimes.

‘I would like to pay tribute to all of his victims, in particular those who we managed to trace and who were brave enough to provide us with the details of his crimes.’

The former Cleveland constable wept and fell to his knees during the hearing, where he was sentenced to fifteen years custodial term with a four year extended licence period for his crimes.

After one attack he posted on his Facebook page: ‘Think today is going to be a good day,’ followed by a smiley face.

During another he put a pair of stockings around his victim’s neck and warned he could strangle her.

And the court heard Scott had warned one victim: ‘I’m in charge and I’m going to do what I want to you.’

Scott, formerly of Teesside, was found guilty of one rape and an attempted rape in relation to one of his adult victims.

He had already admitted seven rapes and two common assault charges in relation to another woman.

He also pleaded guilty to one charge of sexual assault and two of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity in relation to the 15-year-old.

Original report here

　

　

　

(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today. Now hosted on Wordpress. If you cannot access it, go to the MIRROR SITE, where posts appear as well as on the primary site. I have reposted the archives (past posts) for Wicked Thoughts HERE or HERE or here