... Don Roberts, Simmons' co-defendant in 1975, also was convicted of Rogers’ murder. At the time, both men received the death penalty, but their sentences were modified to life in prison after a 1977 U.S. Supreme Court decision. Roberts was released on parole in 2008....
The city of Edmond, Oklahoma, has agreed to a $7.15 million settlement with a man who served 48 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, his attorney announced....
Simmons served the longest wrongful incarceration of any exoneree in the US, according to the National Registry of Exonerations. The average length of wrongful incarceration is just over nine years, said the registry, which tracks exonerations going back to 1989....
The settlement resolves Simmons’ claims against the City of Edmond and the estate of former Edmond detective Anthony David Garret.
Additional claims against Oklahoma City and retired Oklahoma City detective Claude Shobert remain pending, according to the release....
Simmons was convicted in a 1974 murder that happened while he was “700 miles away in Harvey, Louisiana, celebrating the holidays with family and friends, according to the attorney’s release.
“No physical evidence ever connected him to the crime,” the release said.
“The only ‘evidence’ against him was grossly falsified police line-ups and reports and police manipulation of a victim who briefly witnessed the crime before being horribly injured during it.”
Simmons’ release came after the district attorney’s office found evidence was withheld from his defense attorneys – a so-called Brady violation – the district attorney said in a news release at the time....
I came across this story just now and had never heard about it even though Bristol is in the county I live in. Cops killed a guy that needed help. Looks like the governor is gonna have to open his checkbook.
I came across this story just now and had never heard about it even though Bristol is in the county I live in. Cops killed a guy that needed help. Looks like the governor is gonna have to open his checkbook.
... In addition to dropping any mention of the death penalty, this year’s Democratic platform noticeably backs away from several criminal justice reforms the party embraced in 2020, when the police killing of George Floyd prompted nationwide protests against police brutality. The criminal justice section of the 2020 platform opens by declaring that the system is “failing” to keep people safe and deliver justice. It contrasts the promise of America as the “land of the free” with the reality that the U.S. has the highest rate of incarceration in the world and calls for “dramatically” reducing the number of people held in prisons and jails.
The 2020 platform includes support for several specific policies that are either absent from the 2024 platform or have been considerably toned down, including: ending life-without-parole sentences for people under 21, banning police from using chokeholds, decriminalizing cannabis, eliminating cash bail and repealing mandatory minimum sentences.
This year’s platform makes no mention of mass incarceration. Instead, it describes the need to “fund the police” and touts DOJ funding for more police officers. The platform claims Biden “took action to enhance public trust” by signing a “historic” executive order directing federal law enforcement agencies to ban chokeholds “unless deadly force is authorized” — a move described by civil rights groups as only a first step on police reform....
... U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson wrote that the actions of Kenneth Walker, who shot at officers when they broke down the door to Taylor’s home after they failed to identify themselves — leading him to believe they were intruders — were the legal cause of death for Taylor.
Louisville Police Detective Joshua Jaynes and Seargent Kyle Meany were charged in 2022 by the Department of Justice for submitting a false affidavit before the search, then colluding to concoct a “false cover story in an attempt to escape responsibility,” per court documents obtained by CNN.
"While the indictment alleges that Jaynes and Meany set off a series of events that ended in Taylor's death, it also alleges that (Walker) disrupted those events when he decided to open fire," Judge Simpson wrote in the ruling. Charges in a separate case against Walker were dropped after attorneys argued he believed he was shooting at a home intruder, not law enforcement....
So much for protecting your home from invaders if you're a Black guy.
Police make a big deal out of how they have to make "split-second" decisions in deciding whether to shoot or whether they're in risk. You're at home in your bedroom and suddenly the front door is broken - loud noises, yelling, yada. Is your first thought really supposed to be "oh it's probably the police doing a neighborhood check - I"ll go down and see if I can help them"? Homey don't think so.
So much for protecting your home from invaders if you're a Black guy.
Police make a big deal out of how they have to make "split-second" decisions in deciding whether to shoot or whether they're in risk. You're at home in your bedroom and suddenly the front door is broken - loud noises, yelling, yada. Is your first thought really supposed to be "oh it's probably the police doing a neighborhood check - I"ll go down and see if I can help them"? Homey don't think so.
Fred Hampton and Mark Clark taught us about 'sleeping while Black' in 1969.
... The family’s shock quickly turned into anger as they learned a Minnesota state trooper with a history of driving misconduct, including four previous on-duty crashes, had allegedly been responsible for the crash that killed Olivia, just weeks before she was set to walk the stage of her high school graduation.
Shane Roper, 32, is facing multiple felony charges including second-degree manslaughter and criminal vehicular homicide, according to a criminal complaint filed in July. Roper is also facing three felony counts of criminal vehicular operation resulting in substantial bodily harm and multiple misdemeanors, according to the complaint....
Roper was in Rochester near the Apache Mall traveling 83 mph, more than double the speed limit, when a Ford Focus containing three people including Olivia began crossing the intersection. Unable to brake or swerve in time, Roper struck the Ford Focus and both cars struck a third car, a Toyota RAV4, containing two people, the complaint said. Roper’s squad car struck the Ford Focus while moving at least 55 miles mph, according to the complaint....
Neither the driver of the Ford Focus nor any witnesses said they saw or heard emergency lights or a siren, according to the complaint. Olivia, who was a rear seat passenger, died due to blunt force injuries, according to the complaint. The driver of the Ford Focus suffered a liver laceration and bruised kidney, while the other passenger in the vehicle sustained a broken pelvis and a lacerated kidney. The occupants of the Toyota RAV4 both “suffered physical pain,” the complaint said. Roper also had a passenger in his squad car — a ride along — who sustained rib bruising and multiple fractures due to the crash.
Earlier during the day of the accident, Roper engaged in high-speed driving multiple times, including one instance where he drove 135 mph in a 55 mph zone while responding to a call without turning on his lights or sirens and told his ride along passenger he was used to driving in that manner, according to the complaint....
Certainly a personal failing for serial criminal and highway menace Shane Roper, but also a massive failing for management. Roper should have been relegated to a desk or only riding shotgun years ago. Commissioner of Public Safety, Bob Jacobson, and Minnesota State Patrol Col. Christina Bogojevic should resign in shame. 1312
This is Miami. Tyreek's probably not the only large looking Black guy with heavy chain and wife-beater driving around in a $350K Mclauren. There's at least two dealerships in the area. But not all those guys are pro football players. Some of them are just playahs. So if it's 3a.m. and a guy looking like Tyreek is hauling ass down Collins Ave and is a bit mouthy, maybe you could understand the cops' ummm, "over-caution." But c'mon, broad daylight, heavy traffic, 5 minutes from the stadium? I'm pretty sure the cops could have handled that a bit better, and I'm pretty sure Tyreek is more popular than any cop on the force.
This is Miami. Tyreek's probably not the only large looking Black guy with heavy chain and wife-beater driving around in a $350K Mclauren. There's at least two dealerships in the area. But not all those guys are pro football players. Some of them are just playahs. So if it's 3a.m. and a guy looking like Tyreek is hauling ass down Collins Ave and is a bit mouthy, maybe you could understand the cops' ummm, "over-caution." But c'mon, broad daylight, heavy traffic, 5 minutes from the stadium? I'm pretty sure the cops could have handled that a bit better, and I'm pretty sure Tyreek is more popular than any cop on the force.
Especially after his career-best 80 yard 'Fuck you, cops' comeback scamper for a TD in a 3-point victory vs an in-state rival.
, South Florida Police Benevolent Association (union).
Any union that would throw a member under the bus just because that member is in the wrong isn't worth a hill of beans. It's their job to defend members, right or wrong. On the other hand, everybody else can just ignore what they say, knowing it's standard bullshit.
, South Florida Police Benevolent Association (union).
Any union that would throw a member under the bus just because that member is in the wrong isn't worth a hill of beans. It's their job to defend members, right or wrong. On the other hand, everybody else can just ignore what they say, knowing it's standard bullshit.
I don't expect them to throw a member under the bus, but the knee-jerk excuse making gets old. As you say, police unions have zero credibility. It shouldn't be their job to defend members in the wrong. Instead, they should work for understanding and reasonable corrective action.
... After traveling four hours to see her husband at a correctional facility in Tehachapi, Calif. on Sept. 6, 2019, Christina Cardenas was subject to a strip search by prison officials, drug and pregnancy tests, X-ray and CT scans at a hospital, and another strip search by a male doctor who sexually violated her, a lawsuit said.
“My motivation in pursuing this lawsuit was to ensure that others do not have to endure the same egregious offenses that I experienced,” Cardenas said.
Of the $5.6 million settlement, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation will pay $3.6 million and the rest will be paid by the other defendants, which include two correctional officers, a doctor, and the Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley hospital.
Prison officials conducted their searches on the basis of a warrant, which said a strip search could only be conducted if an X-ray found any foreign objects that could be contraband in Cardenas' body, her attorneys said. However, neither the X-ray or CT scan found any evidence of such.
She was also put in handcuffs in a “humiliating perp walk” while being taken to and from the hospital, and denied water or use of a bathroom during the majority of the search process. She was told she had to pay for the hospital's services and later received invoices for a combined total of more than $5,000. Despite no contraband being found in any of her belongings or her body, Cardenas was denied her visit with her husband.
... California prisons have faced an ongoing problem of sexual abuse and misconduct, with the the U.S. Justice Department announcing it had opened an investigation into allegations that correctional officers systematically sexually abused incarcerated women at two state-run California prisons.
Earlier this year the federal Bureau of Prisons announced it will close a women’s prison in Northern California known as the “rape club” after an Associated Press investigation exposed rampant sexual abuse by correctional officers.
How many times in your lives have you been stopped for a moving vehicle violation like speeding? How many of those times were you stopped by a swarm of motorcycle cops? These guys were cruising for trouble.
How many times in your lives have you been stopped for a moving vehicle violation like speeding? How many of those times were you stopped by a swarm of motorcycle cops? These guys were cruising for trouble.
At least 7, probably more - single cop in a cruiser every time, never a motorcycle and backup was neither called for nor arrived.
The body camera footage of NFL star Tyreek Hill’s traffic stop before his team’s season opener was released on Monday. It showed a group of police officers on a power trip, exhibiting unprofessionalism and abuse of authority through their ultra-aggressive and combative behavior. From what I saw, they went out of their way to escalate the situation far beyond what was necessary.
Yup.
... I told my mother about it when I called home. “Mom, you won’t believe how these white people talk to the police up here and nothing happens to them”. She listened and replied: “As long as you know the rules are different for you. You better not even think about doing anything anywhere close to what you see them doing because the response will be very different from the police”.
That is a lesson that Hill learned this past Sunday. He can’t do what white people do.
Nope.
The examples are almost countless. If Colt Gray, the white teenager who killed four people in a school shooting this month, had been Black, do you think the police would have taken him alive? After all, the police killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice and all he had was a toy gun. Another white teenager, Dylann Roof, murdered nine Black people and was taken alive while Sonya Massey, a Black mother, was shot in the head by a police officer this year after she moved towards a pot of hot water. Another white teenager, Payton Gendron, murdered 10 Black people in a racist mass shooting and was taken alive, while Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old Black man, was killed in the backyard of his grandmother’s house because the police mistook his cell phone for a gun. The officers fired 20 rounds at him. Travis Reinking, a white man in his 20s, murdered four people and was taken alive while Willie McCoy, also in his 20s but Black, was sleeping in his car at a Taco Bell when police approached him and shot him 55 times. Let’s not pretend that if the races were switched in any of these situations, the outcome would have been the same.
... One of the officers involved in Sunday’s incident has been placed on administrative duties. But would that have happened if the Black man they detained wasn’t one of the best players in the NFL? Or would they have immunity from prosecution, something Donald Trump has vowed to grant police officers if he wins this year’s presidential election?
Sunday’s incident shows there should be no position in the United States that has zero accountability. And, yes, that includes the police.
Crap. 
1312
1312 Lock him up!
, South Florida Police Benevolent Association (union).
