And the hate continues.
Fake rage, but real hate.

 

A 12 year old thread that wasn't even active for a month.
Meanwhile this thread runs close to 1500 posts, the majority filled with spin, lies and propaganda aimed at denegrating police. A lot of them your posts.
But, you're right. Your 12 year old thread proves you respect and support the cops and will defend them.
Sarcasm off

 

Officers justified in shooting New Mexico homeowner after responding to wrong address: attorney

25
Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News
Sat, April 22, 2023 at 12:35 PM MDT




Three police officers who gunned down a New Mexico homeowner while responding to a complaint at the wrong address were justified in their actions, their attorney has argued.

Robert Dotson was armed when he opened the front door to his Farmington home late on the night of April 5, prompting the officers on the other side to open fire. It was only after Dotson was pronounced dead that authorities fully recognized what occurred.

Instead of responding to 5308 Valley View Ave, where the complaint came from, they landed across the street at Dotson’s house, which is 5305.

After Dotson was shot, his wife traded gunfire with officers. She later complied with their demands upon realizing they were police, according to authorities.

- ADVERTISEMENT -

While an investigations is underway to determine how the mix-up occurred, the officers’ attorney, Luis Robles, is defending their actions.

“Mr. Dotson’s death was a tragedy, and our hearts go out to his family and loved ones,” he told CNN. “However, it is important to remember that no one forced Mr. and Mrs. Dotson to point guns at the officers.”

Robles also pointed out how officers calmly identified themselves multiple times while knocking on the door, before Dotson appeared with a gun. He added there was “nothing to suggest that they were trying to force their way into the Dotsons’ home.”

“There could be no doubt that they were police,” he said. “And yet Mr. and Mrs. Dotson made an incomprehensible decision that put themselves and these officers in grave danger. The officers’ actions were justified, and I stand by their decision to use deadly force.”

During a press conference on Thursday, Dotson’s family revealed they plan on taking legal action against the city. Their attorney, Shon Northam, argued that Dotson was “immediately blinded” by flashlights and that officers opted to shoot instead of again identifying themselves.

Northam also cited Ring and bodycam footage that seemingly shows the officers “laughing, smirking, and joking” about being at the wrong house seconds before Dotson appeared at the the door.

All three officers involved have been placed on leave pending an investigation. Their names have not been released.



https://www.yahoo.com/news/close-death-must-woman-abortion-070005417.html

 

The cop who killed George Floyd is in jail, so the answer is no.

 

Man died in Clay County jail, unable to afford bond. His crime? Not paying child support

2.6k
Katie Moore, Bill Lukitsch
Sun, April 23, 2023 at 4:00 AM MDT




Ryan Everson had problems. His family agrees on that. But they also say he loved his three kids.

That’s why they think it was senseless for Clay County to put him in jail for failing to pay $50 child support installments he couldn’t afford. His children, after all, are mostly grown now. The youngest is 17.

Even his kids and his ex-wife to whom he owed the money don’t understand why he ended up dead in the jail at the age of 42.

Everson had been behind bars 10 days when he was found unresponsive in his cell on Jan. 23. The sheriff’s office said he died by suicide. Everson’s loved ones question why he was left alone in a cell after having seizures and why they got differing accounts from county officials about his death before the autopsy had been conducted.



The family also says putting Everson in jail was not going to help him become a better father. Instead of collecting any child support, the county’s actions added another death to a local jail that, by at least one measure, has seen too many in recent years.

Everson’s family said he struggled for years with a drug addiction. Noel Everson said he had talked to his older brother the night before he died. The two were close, quick to come to each other’s defense since they were young.

“It’s a sickness,” Noel Everson said of his brother’s substance use problems. “He needed some serious help.”

Missouri prosecutors used to charge thousands of people each year for failing to make child support payments. In recent years many counties across the state, including Jackson County, have moved away from that, instead pursuing child support through civil processes rather than criminal charges and jails.

But Clay County prosecutors have continued to zealously use the criminal courts to go after parents.

Last year, they filed 99 criminal child support cases, of which 88 were felonies and 11 were misdemeanors. And they sent 109 people to jail on such charges after the defendants missed court dates.

It’s just one way Missouri’s criminal justice system disproportionately harms the poor. Like many others, Everson suffered under Missouri’s historically overloaded public defense system and a reluctance by judges to follow state guidelines meant to release more nonviolent defendants from jail with lower bonds.

Held for a crime of poverty — not violence — Everson’s bond was set at a price he could not pay. And partly because he could not afford an attorney and did not get a public defender to argue for the county to follow state guidelines and release him on a lower — or zero cash — bond, he stayed in jail until he died.

“The justice system is set up for the privileged,” Everson’s older sister Erin Swart said. The family believes the county’s decisions failed Everson — and his children — at every step, from issuing a warrant on the underlying child support case to setting a $10,000 bond and keeping him in jail without the treatment he needed.


Alexander Higginbotham, an assistant prosecuting attorney for the Clay County Prosecutor’s Office, said the office pursues child support cases so aggressively because they are trying to make parents behave better. He also said incarceration is generally the “last resort” in such cases.

Clark Peters, a professor at the University of Missouri’s School of Social Work and Truman School of Government and Public Affairs, said he doubted whether there was evidence that Clay County’s methods achieve the results they say they want.

“Certainly I have not seen one study that suggests that this actually creates better parents,” Peters said.

Instead, he suggested, the better path would have been access to drug treatment.

“If this were a cousin, a nephew, a brother, what would we want? I can’t see how jail would factor in,” Peters said. “We would want treatment that is effective, prompt, that is available, that is flexible. If we want to make this gentleman a better parent, it doesn’t strike me that incarceration is the fastest, best path to achieve that.”

“But we tend to get angry at these people and there’s good reason for that frustration, but frustration and anger aren’t good guide stars for good policy. The better path would be treatment. Let’s get him to a place where he can earn money in the legal labor market and then get to a place where he can provide for his children.”

From the wilds of Alaska to Missouri
Everson met Shawna Almendarez in kindergarten in Alaska.

He was the middle child of three. His mother was a single mom. The family of four was tight-knit and protective of each other. When someone teased or made fun of one of the siblings, the others would jump in to defend them.

They grew up in the Fairbanks area, with the outdoors in their backyard. When there was a massive snowfall, the kids would sled off the roof of their garage. During the summer’s long days when the sun didn’t set, they stayed out biking across dirt hills and camping near a small seaside town where they would jump into the freezing water and devour s’mores.

“I remember so many adventures of us running through the wilds of Alaska,” Swart said.

Everson was good looking and funny. Swart recalled with a laugh how he and his brother would reenact the Hanz and Franz bodybuilding skits from Saturday Night Live, famous for the catchphrase “We want to pump you up!”

During his middle school and early high school years, Everson excelled at soccer, competing on a travel team.


His friendship with Almendarez continued and when they were teenagers, he asked her out.

Everson fiercely defended those he cared about and would get into fights with anyone who messed with his friends, recalled Troy McMillan, a close friend from his high school years. The two would go to parties together, first stopping at a reuse site to collect pallets and discarded furniture to use in bonfires.

But the two drifted apart when Everson started hanging out with a rougher crowd.

His relationship with Almendarez grew more serious around the time they were 18. The couple had a son, Rielly, when she was 21 and then two daughters. They married and Everson was working as a carpenter, a craft he had became skilled at.

But he gradually got deeper into drugs. That led to their divorce and his downward spiral worsened, Almendarez said.

When he was around his children, he was awesome, she said. Harkening back to his childhood in Fairbanks, Alaska, they would go on adventures, from nature hikes to making forts outside and ax throwing.

But those times became rarer as the years went on.

She moved to Missouri in 2015 and he followed.

“He loved his kids and he wanted to try to be near them,” she said.

Child support charge
Everson lived for a time in an Independence home where a fire left behind smoke damage.

Before that he had bounced around, staying with a friend and even in an abandoned house. He didn’t have a permanent address or a car, his brother said.

He scraped by without a job. He saw his kids, now 17, 19 and 20, when he could and would buy them things they needed or presents when he had money.

In one video shared by his family, he is seen with his arms wrapped tightly around his youngest daughter, Nautia Everson, jokingly not letting her leave his grasp as she laughs hysterically.

Macy Everson said her father was “a big teddy bear.” Though he hadn’t been around the past couple of years, they messaged all the time.

“If anything, he didn’t love himself,” Almendarez said. “But he loved his kids.”


In 2008 in Alaska, Everson was ordered to pay $458 in child support every month, according to court records. Five years later, the amount was modified to $50.

That agreement carried over when they moved to Missouri and the state’s Family Support Division took over the case. When enforcement there fails, cases are referred to the prosecuting attorney for review.

Last May, Clay County prosecutors charged Everson with one count of criminal non-support.

They alleged he owed $30,272 in Alaska and had missed $600 in payments in Missouri over a year, making the offense a class E felony, punishable by up to four years in prison.

Even though Everson had never paid child support, Almendarez said she did not want to see him charged. She had accepted she wasn’t going to get the money and that jailing him would not help him get a job or communicate with his kids.

Noel Everson said charging his brother was not going to help him be a father.

“Doing that is not a positive,” he said. “There needs to be some serious, serious reshaping and remolding of the system there. It’s ruining people’s lives.”

Ryan Everson was issued a summons, but he did not show up to the July 7 court date. It was on that summons that a warrant was later issued and he was booked into the Clay County jail.

Other jurisdictions across Missouri have turned away from prosecuting parents for failing to pay child support. In 2012, Missouri prosecutors filed 3,108 felony charges for nonpayment of child support, according to records from the Missouri Department of Social Services.

By 2022, that number had dropped more than two-thirds to 897.

Had Everson’s troubles been just south in Jackson County, for example, he might still be alive. There, child support cases generally go through civil court instead of criminal prosecution, so parents don’t typically go to jail.

The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office has not filed a criminal non-support case since 2020, though the prosecutor’s office recently changed its policy and expects to file a few misdemeanor cases this year.

Spokesman Mike Mansur said they first attempt to get a payment agreement in place or refer the parent to an agency that can help with employment.

If that fails, a civil contempt action is filed. In most cases, the case gets resolved with an informal agreement. It can go to trial before a family court commissioner. If someone fails to comply or appear, a warrant could be issued.

“We have good success collecting regular child support payments,” Mansur said. A total of $821,767 was collected by prosecutors in Jackson County last year.

In Clay County, assistant prosecuting attorney Higginbotham declined to say how much child support prosecutors there have collected.

He said the prosecutor’s office takes “a very holistic approach to establishing and collecting child support.”

Defendants are initially issued a summons — not a warrant — and arrest warrants are only issued if a person fails to appear for their court date. Whenever summonses are returned undeliverable, he said, the office’s standard practice is to agree that defendants be released on a signature bond with the added condition that the defendant will pay child support.

Parents in Clay County can have their cases dropped if they successfully complete a court-supervised diversion program that offers financial management classes, Higginbotham said, and can work with a specialist to help them find employment, housing and substance abuse treatment.

“Our goal is the collection of child support for the children of Clay County, so incarceration is always the last resort as resolution of a child support case,” Higginbotham said.

“A wide range of actions, including administrative enforcement, civil contempt filings, and lastly criminal probation, are attempted before noncustodial parents are sentenced to jail or prison on a child support case in Clay County.”

Bond conditions
Everson was picked up by police in Raytown on municipal charges and transported to Clay County’s jail Jan. 12. Clay County Judge Louis Angles set bond at $10,000.

Noel Everson said the bond amount did not make sense given that his brother could not pay $50 in child support a month. As a result, he would remain in jail.

“Ryan was judged and guilty and sentenced,” he said.

On the evening of Jan. 22, Noel Everson talked to his brother, who had been in jail for 10 days. Ryan Everson promised he would be at his brother’s wedding this June in Hawaii. He wasn’t happy he was in jail, but he didn’t seem depressed or distressed, Noel Everson said.


His brother’s case could have been handled differently.

In 2019, the Missouri Supreme Court issued guidelines saying courts should impose the least restrictive conditions for release. That must be weighed against community safety and the need for defendants to show up in court.

Higginbotham said the court considered Everson’s criminal history, the number of times he failed to appear in court on the child support case as well as other cases and his time living out of state with outstanding warrants. Everson had failed to appear at court dates at least three times dating back to 2017.

“With such considerations in mind, the bond set in this case was not an unusual amount,” Higginbotham said.

The bond was reduced on Jan. 20 to $5,000, court records, which have since been deleted, said. But Everson could not afford that either.

As part of his bond conditions, Angles, who declined to comment and later did not respond to emailed questions, also ordered Everson to pay the monthly $50 child support.

Matthew Mueller, a Missouri attorney who has challenged prosecuting criminal non-support cases, said that condition was “not really appropriate in the context of law.”

“The purpose of bond is to make sure that the person comes to court and does not otherwise break the law, and so it’s always odd for me for a condition like this to be put into a bond because that’s really not the purpose of bond,” Mueller said.

As the bail system disproportionately affects the poorest, groups have formed so-called community bail funds. The organizations, often nonprofits operating on funding from donations, assist people who are unable to pay their way out from behind bars.

One local group is the Kansas City Community Bail Fund, which opposes the use of bail entirely and favors a system where those facing charges are not jailed based on their ability to pay. In a statement to The Star, Chloe Cooper, the organization’s executive director, said the system is one that “preys on the poor and criminalizes poverty.”

“While behind bars they could lose their homes, jobs, and everything they’ve worked for,” Cooper said, adding that the situation also creates challenges for those seeking to prepare a legal defense. “For those in our country experiencing poverty, ‘innocent until proven guilty’ does not necessarily apply.“

In a review of the case, Mueller also expressed concern about the fact that Everson was not represented by an attorney.

No attorney
When Everson appeared by video in front of Angles on Jan. 17, there was a prosecutor present to argue he be held in jail on a bond, according to court records.

But Everson did not have a defense attorney.

Mueller said defendants are put at a disadvantage without a lawyer, which is constitutionally guaranteed at critical steps in a case, and many end up giving incriminating statements in court.

“The big issue is, had the defendant been provided counsel, he would have had a much better chance of securing his release from custody,” Mueller said. “It harmed him because he remained confined after that bail hearing. Would it have been different if he had a lawyer? We’ll never know. But it couldn’t have hurt.”

Noel Everson said it was another part of the process that he felt was unfair. His brother did not know anything about the law and having an attorney could have helped him present a case to get released, he said.

“You should have somebody be able to be there to be your voice and to talk for you and to know your rights,” Noel Everson said.

Ryan Everson pleaded not guilty and was advised to apply for a public defender. A public defender was assigned to the case the day he died.

“It was just a total collapse of the justice system,” Noel Everson said.

Thousands of people across Missouri don’t have the money to hire a private attorney. The public defender system has been chronically underfunded and overloaded. That often leaves defendants standing in front of judges alone.

Like most places in Missouri, Clay County does not provide counsel at every stage of a criminal case.

But one jurisdiction in the St. Louis area does, and if Everson had been arrested there, his life again might have turned out differently.

At the beginning of this year, St. Louis Circuit Court expanded its bail hearings, spokesman Joel Currier said. Those who are detained are brought to court — instead of appearing by video — where they can meet with a court-appointed lawyer.

The private attorneys are under contract with the court, which budgeted about $70,000 per year for that service, according to Currier.

The new process gives defendants up to an hour to discuss their case before it is called by the judge, apply for a public defender to take over the case and get connected to community providers.

Mueller said this set up, or something similar, should be happening at arraignments and bond hearings across Missouri.

“An argument I often make is, a prosecuting attorney is always there, right? They’re making recommendations for bond,” he said. ”They will make legal arguments as to why the person should remain confined. And if you’re going to let the prosecutor do it, you have to provide the same right to the defendant i.e. giving them a lawyer to make compelling legal arguments on the other end.”


Deaths in county jail
Everson’s death was one of three in the Clay County jail in 21 months.

In January 2022, Donje E. Lambie died of an apparent suicide in the detention center. Eight months before that, authorities said Candi Hyatte died from a drug overdose.

The prisoner death rate is more than twice the national jail death rate, according to data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.

The federal agency calculates the rate based on a jail’s average daily population. But Sarah Boyd, a spokeswoman for the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, said when calculated by the total number of people booked in annually, the county’s number is much lower than the national rate.

“Obviously it is incredibly concerning for us on the rare occasion someone passes away in our custody,” Boyd said. “We go to great lengths to ensure their safety, and often that means putting measures in place to protect inmates from themselves. But even those can be insufficient for some who are intent on taking their own lives.”

All three families spoke with The Star and said they still have questions.

Lambie, 41, was serving a 30-day sentence on municipal charges. Her father, Denny White, of Topeka, said his family is still grieving and he continues to question how she was able to kill herself in jail.

Boyd said the jail has a separate housing unit with additional supervision for those on suicide watch. Everson and Lambie did not exhibit any signs they were contemplating suicide, Boyd said.

“Had they done so, they would have received the intensive supervision and care we provide to keep them safe,” she said.

When prisoners are booked in, they undergo a medical and mental health assessment and detention staff are trained to look for suicidal tendencies.

“Despite all that, we cannot read their minds or ever know what prompts someone to consider such a drastic measure,” Boyd said.

Hyatte was taken into custody in May 2021 for allegedly using a fake ID at a casino. Police also said they found drugs in her bag.

The 41-year-old woman complained of shortness of breath when she was being booked in. Like Everson’s family, her daughter Kaylee Creach, 18, wonders if her loved one received proper medical attention.

“It’s hard for me to believe anything and realizing that nobody ever gets clear answers, it disturbs me,” Creach said. “These families are left to question what happened to these loved ones. We can’t find closure.”


Everson’s family said the sheriff’s office stopped answering their questions, citing the ongoing investigation.

Boyd said detectives share as much information as they can without jeopardizing the investigation with families of those who have died in jail as they would in any other death investigation.

The family said they had concerns about his seizures and wanted to know if that played a part in his death. He had been taken to the hospital a few days after he was booked in for seizures and then returned to the jail where he was placed on medical watch until Jan. 20, Boyd said. His family plans on having a forensic pathologist review the autopsy results.

“The uncertainty makes it worse,” Noel Everson said. “I don’t know what to believe.”

Ryan Everson would have turned 43 one month ago, on March 23. A fundraiser was started to help with his funeral costs. A service is planned for June in Kona, Hawaii, where his ashes will be spread.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/man-died-clay-county-jail-100000809.html

 

Shooter just has to wonder if this story hasn't surfaced to be copy N pasted by the resident copy N paste guy, because of this news;

Hunter Biden Heading To Jail? Lawyers Request To Have First Son Locked Up For Not Complying In Child Support Case (msn.com)

Radar Online
Hunter Biden Heading To Jail? Lawyers Request To Have First Son Locked Up For Not Complying In Child Support Case
Story by Joshua Wilburn • Yesterday 11:00 AM


Hunter Biden Heading To Jail? Lawyers Request To Have First Son Locked Up For Not Complying In Child Support Case© Radar Online
Lunden Roberts, the mother of Hunter Biden's four-year-old daughter, has requested a judge in Arkansas to imprison the president's son until he provides his financial records as required by the court, RadarOnline.com has learned.

Mega© Radar Online
According to Roberts' attorneys, the 53-year-old has not produced "a single item or word of discovery" revolving around their child support lawsuit. The case waged by Roberts against Biden started after their 2017 fling that resulted in the birth of their daughter, Navy Joan Roberts.

In the latest filing, Roberts' legal team insisted the recovering drug addict should be locked up at the Cleburne County Detention Center until he complies with a court order to hand over every piece of material related to the case.


Mega© Radar Online
・Hunter Biden’s Ex-Fling Lunden Roberts Shows Off Their 4-Year-Old Daughter As Fight Over Child Support Heats Up

・IRS Whistleblower Says Hunter Biden Probe Is Being Mishandled: Claims To Have Proof Of 'Preferential Treatment'

・Ex-CIA Chief Admits To 'Helping' Joe Biden In 2020 By Having 50 Spies Discredit Hunter Biden Laptop Emails
Roberts' attorney Clinton Lancaster said, "In those two months, the defendant has provided no additional discovery - not so much as one single item or word - and has failed to supplement his answers at the court's directive."

"There is no valid excuse or justification for the defendant's failure to provide the required disclosures as the court has granted every single protective order the defendant has asked for since the inception of this case," they continued.

"The defendant is playing games with this court."

The heated case is expected to head toward a two-day bench trial in July.

Biden will also have to submit to a deposition in June in which Roberts’ lawyers will likely prod him about his various business practices and overseas ventures.

They’re also likely to question how it’s possible that Biden's finances could have plummeted when he’s selling his paintings for up to $500,000 a piece under his latest stint as an abstract artist.

Roberts was already rewarded $2.5 million in a settlement from Biden after taking him to court in 2019 and forcing him to take a DNA test proving he was the father of their daughter during a 2017 case.

The First Son's legal team is trying to block Roberts from retaining Garrett Ziegler, a former Donald Trump staffer, as an expert witness. Biden and his friend Kevin Morris are suing Zeigler for alleged harassment and invasion of privacy in a separate case related to his infamous discovered laptop.

One can argue all one wants about politics and political issues.
Fair game.

But anyone who will defend a dead beat dad while he refuses to acknowledge his responsibilities or step up and take care of them is indeed a low life.

 

Is the story somehow fake or too slanted for your taste toniter?
This is the kind of story, if its about Trump or someone connected to Trump, that you like to support.
Your hypocrisy, from your high moral ground, is wearing a bit thin.

 

Does this Hunter thing have anything to do with police officers killing Blacks? Sorry, if my hypocrisy is wearing thin.

 

This is actually fairly common for police officers that shoot and even kill unarmed Black people. Its almost like a plus on their resume.

And remember.

Current and Former Louisville, Kentucky Police Officers Charged with Federal Crimes Related to Death of Breonna Taylor

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/curr...officers-charged-federal-crimes-related-death

Officer Who Shot Breonna Taylor Hired by Another Police Department

One of the officers who shot and killed Breonna Taylor during a late-night, no-knock raid in Louisville, Kentucky was hired by another department in the state last week. The Carroll County Sheriff's Office hired Myles Cosgrove on April 20, according to local news station WLKY. When approached about the decision to make the controversial hire, Chief Deputy Rob Miller demurred, saying that he was executing the warrant as ordered and that “there will be opinions on both sides of the equation.” Cosgrove was fired by the Louisville Police Department shortly after the raid for violating department policies.

Read it at WLKY


https://www.thedailybeast.com/myles...r-hired-by-another-police-department?ref=home

 

Cops refused to take him to the hospital. Then jail guards beat him. His heart stopped.

270
Jim Walsh, USA TODAY NETWORK
Wed, April 26, 2023 at 3:06 PM MDT



Mario Terruso Jr.

TRENTON, N.J. – Two corrections officers face manslaughter charges and five police officers have been charged with official misconduct in connection with the death of 41-year-old detainee Mario Terruso Jr. in Atlantic County, New Jersey.

Terruso died in September 2019 during a medical episode hours after being arrested by Hamilton Township police, who improperly took him directly to jail, rather than a hospital, Attorney General Matthew Platkin alleged. He was then mistreated by corrections officers, who repeatedly hit him in the face and smashed him into the floor while he was handcuffed and wearing leg irons.

“Mario Terruso was in desperate need of medical help. He pleaded for that assistance, but he never got the help he so desperately needed,” Platkin said in a statement announcing Monday’s charges.


Mario Terruso jailed after homeowner report
Hamilton police took Terruso into custody near midday after a homeowner reported a man had entered his unlocked home, picked up a knife, and falsely claimed people were shooting at him, the statement said.

The homeowner declined to press charges for trespassing, but police arrested Terruso due to an outstanding child support warrant.

The officers concluded Terruso, while handcuffed in a police vehicle, needed a medical and mental health evaluation for signs of drug use, paranoia and hallucinations, according to the statement.

But the officers and their supervisors contradicted department policy and did not take Terruso for medical treatment "because it was a Sunday afternoon and the Hamilton police officers would have to sit and wait at a hospital while medical staff completed an evaluation,” the statement said.

The officers also allegedly hid from jail personnel any information about Terruso’s condition, including his earlier request to go to the hospital because he had been vomiting, it continued.

A jailhouse struggle in Atlantic County
Terruso’s condition worsened at the jail, and a drug test showed he was positive for methamphetamine and ecstasy.

Medical personnel at the jail wanted Terruso to be taken to a hospital around 6:30 p.m., but the detainee struggled with corrections officers, the statement said.

Correctional Sgt. Eric Tornblum allegedly struck the handcuffed man in the face four times, it said.

Terruso, also restrained by leg irons, was allegedly forced to the ground “and restrained face down while officers attempted to place him in a soft restraint wrap,” it went on.

Terruso’s heart stopped and he was taken to a hospital shortly before 8 p.m. He was pronounced dead early the next morning.

Criminal charges against jail, police officers
Tornblom and Correctional Officer Mark Jenigen were charged with manslaughter.

An attorney for Jenigen, Katherine D. Hartman of Moorestown, called the charge against her client "a travesty."

Lawyers for the other officers were not immediately available.

Tornblom also was charged with aggravated assault.

Tornblom, Jenigen, and Correctional Lt. Jesse Swartzentruver were charged with official misconduct.

Atlantic County's law department is reviewing the indictments "and is not able to discuss status of employment at this time," county spokeswoman Linda Gilmore said Tuesday.

Also charged with official misconduct were Hamilton police sergeants Michael Schurr and Nicole Nelson, and officers Servando Pahang and Cory Silvio. Hamilton Police Officer William Howze was charged with conspiracy to commit official misconduct.

The charges are only allegations. No one has been convicted in the case.

A township representative did not respond to a question about the officers' employment status.

Lawyer says officers acted appropriately
The Hamilton officers “all maintain their actions were completely appropriate and look forward to speedy and complete exoneration,” said Charles J. Sciarra, an attorney for their union.

He questioned the three-year gap since the officers gave voluntary statements in December 2019.

Sciarra asserted the timing of the indictments might reflect the “unapologetic anti-cop Attorney General and his minions scouring their files for something to hammer cops on to appease their base.

“It’s either that or they incompetently left these five officers out on the street with full police powers for over three years,” Sciarra said.

An attorney for Terruso's estate last year said the grand jury presentation was delayed for at least three months by a motion "pending under seal before an unknown judge."

The lawyer, Michael Budner of Philadelphia, cited information provided by the attorney general's office in a letter to a federal judge hearing a lawsuit brought by the estate.

State law requires an investigation into any death that occurs while a person is in custody or in connection with a law enforcement officer acting in an official capacity.

The investigation included witness interviews, forensic and video evidence, and autopsy results, the attorney general statement said.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/cops-refused-him-hospital-then-210622912.html

 

North Branford First Responders Save Infant’s Life – NBC Connecticut

A North Branford police officer and firefighter helped to save the life of a 9-month-old infant who was unresponsive.

Authorities were notified of the incident Monday and immediately responded. Fire Chief Anthony Esposito and Officer Timothy Cunningham are credited with performing life-saving measures on the infant.

The baby had a blueish color, according to officers at the scene. Once responders performed CPR, emergency responders were able to resuscitate the infant. They were taken to the hospital and are expected to be okay.

"We are grateful for the heroic efforts of all first responders involved in this incident," the police department said on Facebook.

Police didn't say why the infant was in distress. No additional information was immediately available.

 

We enjoy watching Frank doing his thing

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The cops don't care. They have immunity and the taxpayers pay the lawsuits.


Woman neglected in jail went blind, begged for water before dying in Texas, lawsuit says

Erik Heipt
1.6k
Julia Marnin
Thu, April 27, 2023 at 8:46 AM MDT




A woman was in dire need of help and hospitalization while in a “medical observation” cell, but the pretrial detainee was neglected by guards and staff in a Texas jail, according to a federal lawsuit.

Help came “too late” for Holly Barlow-Austin, who died on June 17, 2019, after spending two months at Bi-State Justice Center in Texarkana, Texas, the lawsuit says. Jail staff is accused of causing her death.

Barlow-Austin, who entered jail at 46 with HIV, was denied her prescription medications, rapidly deteriorated and went blind, and begged staff for water while detained in “deplorable and inhumane conditions,” an amended complaint filed in federal court says.

Now, Barlow-Austin’s family has been awarded $7 million in a “historic” lawsuit settlement, before the case was set to go to trial, according to an April 27 news release from civil rights law firm Budge & Heipt PLLC based in Seattle. The firm’s attorneys Erik Heipt and Edwin Budge and Texarkana attorney David Carter represented Barlow-Austin’s mother and husband in the case.


This is the largest known settlement over a jail-related death in state history, according to the attorneys.

The settlement comes more than three years after Barlow-Austin’s severe suffering during her final week in jail when she was “isolated and alone, in constant pain, blindly crawling around her cell, dehydrated and malnourished, living in filthy and inhumane conditions,” the release said.

McClatchy News contacted attorneys representing defendant LaSalle Southwest Corrections, which ran Bi-State Justice Center during Barlow-Austin’s detainment, for comment on April 27 and didn’t immediately receive a response.

The parties will file legal papers to dismiss claims against LaSalle, according to the release.

“Holly was a kind, compassionate person with a generous spirit — someone who always wanted to help people in need, even strangers. …What happened to her was inexcusable” Barlow-Austin’s mother and husband said in a joint statement.

“While no amount of money could bring our beloved Holly back, this victory will help give us some closure as we move forward,” they said. “And we hope and pray that it will lead to changes in how our jails treat people in their custody and will save some lives in the future.”

LaSalle Corrections runs 18 correctional facilities in Louisiana, Texas and Georgia. It no longer runs Bi-State Justice Center, according to KTAL News.

Lead attorney Heipt said that the law firm hopes the settlement “sends a powerful message to every single jail and prison in America that this type of blatant disregard for human life will not be tolerated.”

More on the case
The case stems from when Barlow-Austin was jailed after her arrest on accusations of violating probation on April 5, 2019, according to the complaint.

For nearly two months in jail, Barlow-Austin complained of concerning symptoms, such as severe headaches, nausea, neck pain and a large knot in her neck, according to the complaint.

She also complained of blurred vision,which eventually worsened to total blindness, as well as numbness in her legs before she could no longer walk and was seen crawling in her cell, the complaint says.

“Despite her alarming and progressively worsening symptoms, LaSalle never arranged to have her evaluated by a medical doctor,” according to the complaint.

Her husband repeatedly tried advocating on her behalf, the complaint says. When he repeatedly raised concerns about his wife’s condition between May 22 and May 28, his worries were dismissed by the jail’s nursing staff, the complaint says.

During her final 48 hours in jail, Barlow-Austin was emaciated, starving and dehydrated and in obvious pain, the complaint says.

Despite this, a nurse checked her vitals only once during this time, on the evening of June 10, when she was experiencing a heart rate over 100 beats per minute, having a hypertensive emergency and “blind, mentally confused, disoriented, shaky, unsteady,” according to the complaint.

She wouldn’t be taken to a hospital until 10 hours later, the complaint says. Meanwhile, jail surveillance footage recorded her final hours suffering in jail, the release said.

Barlow-Austin died of ”fungemia/sepsis due to fungus, cryptococcal meningitis, HIV/AIDS and accelerated hypertension” at a hospital on June 17, according to the complaint. She was 47.

When LaSalle Corrections ran Bi-State Justice Center, other inmates died from neglect before Barlow-Austin, according to Budge & Heipt.

The case’s “outcome should serve as a wake-up call to all private jail and prison operators—not just in Texas, but everywhere: If you’re going to cut corners and put profits over people’s lives, there will be a steep price to pay,” Heipt said.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/woman-neglected-jail-went-blind-144611795.html

 

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Now, when a cop makes contact with someone and everyone behaves, not a big deal.
It's just a simple thing.
But, when a cop makes contact with a wanna be street lawyer or a "sovereign citizen" it can get dicey.
We do like how Frank handles these geniuses.
<iframe width="665" height="374" src="" title="Fridays With Frank 33: Supervisor Request" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

Chief on leave after allegations officer investigating murder hid that his brother was the suspect

34
Tom Jones
Mon, May 1, 2023 at 3:37 PM MDT


A local police chief is on leave after allegations that one of his officers failed to reveal that his own brother was a suspect in a murder he was investigating.



Channel 2′s Tom Jones spent the day in Griffin talking to residents about the controversy.

Police Chief Michael Yates was put on non-disciplinary administrative leave after the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called in to investigate allegations that Sgt. D’Marquivius King concealed information that his brother was a suspect in a murder.

King was placed on administrative leave back in February because of the allegations. Months later, Yates is now on leave as well.

The city manager said that Yates going on leave does not reflect any specific concerns about him. Instead, the action is meant to minimize any possibility of misunderstandings surrounding the investigation.

Damon Beck is King’s brother. King is accused of failing to notify his chain of command or document that Beck was a suspect in the murder of Javareis Reid in May of 2021.

The then 22-year-old Beck was finally arrested eight months later and charged with murder and aggravated assault. He is one of three co-defendants in the case.

The GBI is still investigating Reid’s murder.


Jones talked to some neighbors, who said it was disturbing to learn someone who worked for the police department hid information about a murder.

“It’s really disappointing. You expect better,” a woman said.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/chief-leave-allegations-officer-investigating-213716794.html

 

Black 11-year-old shot by Mississippi town's 'best officer' responding to domestic dispute

A Mississippi police officer shot and wounded an unarmed 11-year-old boy while responding to a domestic disturbance at his family's home.

Aderrien Murry was shot in the chest by an Indianola police officer early Saturday morning and placed in intensive care on a ventilator with a collapsed lung and other injuries, including fractured ribs and a lacerated liver, reported Mississippi Today.

“This cannot keep happening, this is not okay,” said the boy's mother Nakala Murry during the press conference. “If a non-police officer was to shoot someone, you know it’s not okay. When the police do it, they have protocol. He was trained, he knows what to do.”

In fact, the officer who shot Aderrien was named the department's "best officer," according to the family's attorney, who identified him as Greg Capers, although police haven't released his name.

IN OTHER NEWS: Nikki Haley gets 'no applause' at New Hampshire event for attack on Dylan Mulvaney: report

“If he’s your best, Indianola, you need a clean house from top to bottom,” said family attorney Carlos Moore.

Nakala Moore said she snuck her phone to Aderrien and asked her to call her mother and the police after the father of her other child came to the family's home and became irate, but police haven't released any information about what led to the shooting -- and Nakala Moore said her son didn't understand why the officer shot him.

“His words were: ‘Why did he shoot me? What did I do?’ and he started crying,” she said, adding that she saw blood come from her son's mouth.

Capers was placed on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated, but the family's attorney said city officials must explain why the officer hadn't been disciplined for past alleged misconduct, including using a Taser on one of Moore's previous clients while he was handcuffed during a December 2022 incident.

“What are you waiting on? Someone to actually die?” Moore said. “An 11-year-old almost died. By the grace of God, he is alive. The people of Indianola are not going to wait until somebody dies.”


https://www.rawstory.com/greg-castor-indianola/

 

Body-cam footage shows indicted ex-police officers laughing at man who died in their custody

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  3/3
  Mississippi-Police-Indictment
  This image provided by the Jackson (Miss.) Police Department shows Keith Murriel. A Mississippi grand jury has indicted two former police officers on murder charges and another ex-officer on a manslaughter charge in the death of Murriel, a Black man seen on video being pinned down and repeatedly shocked with stun guns during a New Year's eve arrest. Officials in the state capital of Jackson released body camera footage Wednesday, May 25, 2023 that showed then-officers Avery Willis, Kenya McCarty and James Land struggling to handcuff Keith Murriel as he was apparently stunned numerous times over 10 minutes. (Jackson (Miss.) Police Department via AP)
  ASSOCIATED PRESS
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  2/3
  Mississippi Police Indictment
  This is an undated booking photograph provided Thursday, May 25, 2023, by the Hinds County Sheriff's Department shows former police officer Kenya McCarty. Two people including McCarty were indicted by a Mississippi grand jury on a second degree murder charge in the death of a Black man who was pinned down and repeatedly shocked with stun guns during a New Year's Eve arrest. The third former Jackson police officer was indicted on manslaughter for the same incident. (Hinds County Sheriff's Department via AP)
  ASSOCIATED PRESS
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  3/3
  Mississippi Police Indictment
  This undated booking photograph provided Thursday, May 25, 2023, by the Hinds County Sheriff's Department shows former Jackson, Miss., police officer James Land. Land was indicted by a Mississippi grand jury on a manslaughter charge in the death of a Black man who was pinned down and repeatedly shocked with stun guns during a New Year's Eve arrest. Two other former Jackson police officers were indicted on murder charges from the same incident. (Hinds County Sheriff's Department via AP)
  ASSOCIATED PRESS

286
MICHAEL GOLDBERG
Thu, May 25, 2023 at 5:13 PM MDT




JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Three former police officers who were indicted by a Mississippi grand jury joked around about a Black man who died in their custody, with one of them questioning whether to call an ambulance for the man immediately, body-camera footage shows.

Officials in the state capital of Jackson announced Wednesday that a Mississippi grand jury had indicted two former police officers on murder charges and another ex-officer on a manslaughter charge in the death of Keith Murriel, who is seen on video being pinned down and repeatedly shocked with stun guns during a New Year’s Eve arrest. The city released hours of body-camera footage detailing the encounter, which The Associated Press reviewed.

The officers had tackled Murriel while arresting him for allegedly trespassing at a hotel after they asked him to leave the building's parking lot. The footage showed then-officers Avery Willis, Kenya McCarty and James Land struggling to handcuff Murriel as he was stunned numerous times for over 10 minutes.

McCarty and Willis are Black, and Land is white, according to Melissa Faith Payne, a city spokesperson.


After officers handcuffed Murriel, they placed him horizontally in the back of a patrol car. Seventeen minutes of the hourlong body-camera footage shows officers trying to place Murriel inside the vehicle. The remaining 43 minutes of the footage don’t show paramedics arriving or the officers checking on Murriel to see if he needed immediate medical aid. The footage is broken up into multiple clips, and it is unclear whether officers attended to Murriel off-camera.

What is clear is that during that 43-minute period, the officers joked around about the encounter.

“I hope (he) is asleep. Because if he’s asleep, it’ll be a good ride,” Willis is heard saying on camera, using a racial slur to refer to Murriel. “It was funny seeing (his) feet in the air … In the beginning, it was funny. After a while it got annoying.”

After officers left Murriel in the patrol vehicle, Willis said he was going to call a sergeant to ask when officers should call an American Medical Response, or AMR, ambulance.

“I don’t know if he wants to wait until we get down (to the station) to do this, until I give him AMR,” Willis said. “That way he's at least already down there, because if we open the door, he's going to try to get out.”

The clip from Willis’ body camera ends after one hour. Paramedics arrived 12 minutes into the next clip from Willis' body camera. When a paramedic opened the back door of the patrol vehicle, he noticed Murriel wasn’t breathing.

McCarty then told one of the paramedics Murriel was “on something.” The Jackson Police Department has not indicated whether any narcotics were detected in Murriel’s toxicology report.

Paramedics performed CPR before transporting Murriel to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. On Willis' body-camera footage, he can be heard telling someone Murriel choked on his own vomit.

In an email, Francis Springer, an attorney for McCarty, wrote that her client “sincerely laments Mr. Muriel’s death and has the most sincere condolences for his family and friends.”

“Ms. McCarty doesn’t believe she is guilty of the crime for which she is indicted or of any other crime. She will enter a not-guilty plea,” Springer wrote.

An attorney for Land declined to comment. The Hinds County District Attorney’s Office and Hinds County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to inquiries about whether Willis had retained an attorney.

Daryl Washington, an attorney for Murriel's family, said the language and tactics used by the officers justified their indictment.

“It makes you wonder how these officers act when they are not captured on their own body cam,” Washington said. "But these officers knew that their body cams were on, and they felt very comfortable because they believed nothing would happen to them. Fortunately, Keith’s family is not going to allow this to be swept under the rug like a lot of these cases usually are.”

Murriel's family has filed a civil lawsuit against the officers. Washington said city officials did not give them enough time to view the footage before it was released to the public. Some family members saw the footage for the first time in news reports.

"We expected to at least have a couple of days or so to prepare ourselves,” he said.

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said at Wednesday’s news conference that the city was now releasing body-camera footage because a Mississippi Bureau of Investigation probe of the death had been completed. The officers — all ex-members of the Jackson Police Department — were indicted on May 12.

All three officers were placed on administrative leave after the incident. McCarty was fired in February, and Willis and Land in April.

Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones told WJTV-TV that Land is out of jail on a $75,000 bond, and McCarty is out on a $150,000 bond. The sheriff on Wednesday said Willis had not yet been arrested and a spokesperson for the department did not respond to a phone message Thursday inquiring whether he was in custody.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/body-cam-footage-shows-indicted-231304696.html

 

Courier Post
South Jersey cop gave man no commands before shooting him dead, state says in charging him

1.3k
Jim Walsh, Cherry Hill Courier-Post
Wed, May 24, 2023 at 5:57 PM MDT




TRENTON — A Mantua police officer is charged with manslaughter in connection with the fatal shooting of a civilian who had called 911 for help.

A state grand jury indicted the officer, Salvatore Oldrati, on a charge of manslaughter, Attorney General Matthew Platkin said.

But Mantua Police Chief Darren White criticized the announcement, saying Platkin's words were "designed to play on emotion and bias readers against the officer from the start.”

In his statement, Platikin said, “When residents call 911 for service, they are concerned, they need assistance, they seek protection — and they trust the officers responding to their calls will respond accordingly and help them. Tragically, that did not happen here."


Oldrati shot Charles Sharp III, a 49-year-old Mantua resident, "by one of the very officers he had called upon for help," Platkin said.

More: Police cite multiple confessions Accused mass murderer in Cleveland also charged with decade-old slaying in Camden

“Mr. Sharp was shot multiple times outside his own home by one of the very officers he had called upon for help,” Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in announcing the charge on Wednesday.

Mantua man talking with 911 dispatcher when officer opened fire
He noted Sharp was still on his phone with a police dispatcher when he was shot.

Oldrati allegedly gave no verbal commands or warnings before shooting Sharp, said Thomas Eicher, executive director of the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability.

Eicher said an investigation by his office found fewer than five seconds elapsed between when Oldrati stepped from his police vehicle and when he began shooting at Sharp.

Two uniformed Mantua officers responded to Sharp’s 911 call shortly before 1:40 a.m. on Sept. 14, 2021, according to an account from the Attorney General's Office.

During his 911 call, Sharp reported two burglars in his rear yard, one armed with a gun.

Charles Sharp III shot by police outside Mantua home
Sharp was standing in the front yard of his Elm Avenue home when officers arrived, the account said.

Oldrati shot Sharp multiple times after an officer already on the scene, Mantua Police Department Cpl. Robert Layton, yelled, "he's got a gun on him, right there," said the account.

A replica .45-caliber gun was found near Sharp, it said.

Layton did not shoot.

Officers and emergency medical personnel provided aid to Sharp, who was pronounced dead at an area hospital.

A statement from Mantua Township on Thursday said Oldrati fired his gun "operating on the belief that Mr. Sharp was about to fire either at Officer Oldrati or a fellow officer."

It said the township "has fully cooperated" with the state's investigation into the shooting and that its police department "has been and remains fully compliant" with use-of-force training requirements.

Chief White, who noted he was speaking for himself, said, "It is hard for me and others to read his statement as being fair and impartial.

"I was just hoping for the officer to be treated no differently than how any other member of the public would expect for themselves - innocent until proven guilty in a court of law,” he continued.

"Unfortunately, I do not feel like Attorney General Platkin's quote allows for this."

Oldrati is on administrative suspension pending resolution of the charges against him, the statement said.

Oldrati joined the Mantua force in June 2018 and was promoted to corporal in October 2022, according to the police department's Facebook page.

Oldrati's attorney could not be reached for comment.

Sharp was a carpenter and 21-year veteran of the Air Force, according to an obituary.

It described the father of three as a 1991 graduate of Clearview Regional High School who loved reading, camping, fishing "and all animals."

Eicher said a state grand jury on Tuesday, May 23, determined Oldrati’s conduct “warranted the return of an indictment for manslaughter.”

The charge against Oldrati is only an allegation. He has not been convicted in the case.

Under New Jersey law, manslaughter occurs when a person commits a criminal homicide recklessly. It is a second-degree crime and a lesser offense than murder or aggravated manslaughter.

If convicted, Oldrati could face up to 10 years in state prison, with no parole eligibility for eight-and-a-half years.

A state law requires the Attorney General’s Office to investigate any person’s death during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in an official capacity.

The investigation by Eicher’s office included interviews with witnesses, the review of video footage, and the collection of forensic evidence.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/south-jersey-cop-gave-man-235758025.html

 

Louisiana cops sat on autistic teen's back for 9 minutes before he died

Richard A. Webster, Verite
May 30, 2023, 6:27 AM ET



Blue light flasher atop of a police car. City lights on the background (Shutterstock).


ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.




Series: Unwatched

A Louisiana Law Department That Polices Itself

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana may have violated the civil rights of a 16-year-old autistic boy when deputies pinned him to the pavement, handcuffed and shackled, as officers sat on his back for more than nine minutes, according to a “statement of interest” filed this month by the Department of Justice as part of a civil rights lawsuit against JPSO.

The teen, Eric Parsa, died on the scene in January 2020. The sheriff’s office has also recently faced a number of other lawsuits alleging wrongful death, excessive force and racial discrimination by deputies. The sheriff’s office was the subject of a yearlong investigation by ProPublica and WRKF and WWNO starting in 2021, which disclosed evidence of racial discrimination and violence by deputies; after the first story ran, the American Civil Liberties Union called on federal prosecutors to investigate the department.

Regarding the DOJ filing, the sheriff’s office maintains that its deputies did not discriminate against Parsa based on his disability — and thus did not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act — because Parsa posed a threat to himself, the public and law enforcement officers.

But the DOJ said that evidence submitted in the case appears to show that Parsa posed no danger, and that deputies were aware of the teenager’s disability and did nothing to modify their procedures or actions to ensure his safety, as required by law.

“A reasonable jury could thus find that Defendants discriminated against E.P. based on disability,” DOJ attorneys said in their May 12 statement about the Parsa case, noting the only word Parsa uttered throughout the deadly ordeal was “firetruck.”

The coroner ruled the teen’s death an accident as a result of “excited delirium,” a controversial diagnosis that is listed as a cause of death for a number of people who died in police custody. The coroner also cited “prone positioning” as a contributing factor. But Parsa’s family disputes the finding that his death was accidental, saying it should be classified as a homicide. In January 2021, they sued Sheriff Joe Lopinto and seven deputies, claiming the sheriff’s office violated Parsa’s constitutional and civil rights, as well as his rights under the ADA.

The Justice Department files statements of interest in civil lawsuits to “explain to the court the interests of the United States in litigation between private parties,” according to a 2017 article in the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. Since January 2020, the DOJ has filed at least 18 other statements of interest in disability rights cases. In this case, the department’s interest is its responsibility to enforce Title II of the ADA, which prohibits law enforcement agencies from denying individuals with disabilities the “opportunity to participate in or benefit from their services.”

The department’s May 12 statement followed a motion from the sheriff’s office for federal Judge Wendy Vitter to issue a partial summary judgment, which would toss out the ADA claims without taking them to trial. The motion is pending.

On Jan. 19, 2020, Parsa’s parents took him to play laser tag at the Westgate Shopping Center in Metairie. As they were leaving, he experienced a disability-related meltdown, according to the family’s lawsuit. Surveillance footage shows the boy repeatedly slapping his own head in the parking lot, then slapping and wrestling his father for several minutes.

A nearby business manager contacted JPSO Deputy Chad Pitfield and informed him that a child with special needs was having a violent episode, Pitfield testified in a September 2022 deposition. When Pitfield arrived in his patrol car with the lights flashing, Parsa became even more agitated. He once again began slapping his own head, then slapped Pitfield, who took him to the ground, the video shows.

At least six more deputies arrived in four patrol cars and two unmarked vehicles. They handcuffed and shackled the teen as three deputies took turns sitting on his back, with one putting him in a chokehold. About 10 minutes later, deputies noticed Parsa had gone “limp” and had urinated, according to the lawsuit. His mother screamed that they were choking him. Only then did they roll him into a “recovery position,” as filings describe it. But it was too late. He died on the scene.

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act requires law enforcement agencies make “reasonable modifications” to their policies, practices and procedures to ensure that people with disabilities are not discriminated against or denied services.

In Parsa’s case, the DOJ said deputies could have dispatched crisis intervention officers, used de-escalation strategies, or given the teenager time and space to calm down as he didn’t pose a significant safety threat. Instead of sitting on him as he lay facedown on the pavement, deputies could have rolled Parsa onto his side, stood him up or sat him in a vehicle.

The sheriff’s office maintained in court documents that such policy modifications are only required once two factors are in place: the scene is secured and there is no longer a threat to public safety or life. JPSO maintains that neither condition had been met in Parsa’s case, and therefore the deputies’ actions did not violate the ADA.

“The video speaks for itself and clearly shows that the scene was never secure prior to E.P.’s demise,” the sheriff’s office’s attorneys wrote in a May 1 motion for partial summary judgment, referring to surveillance footage taken from the scene.

The video shows that at about 1:29 p.m, Pitfield pinned Parsa to the ground by sitting on his back. From that point forward, Parsa did not move from that spot. At one point, he was surrounded by seven deputies and seven JPSO vehicles. An ambulance arrived at 1:39 p.m. and a few minutes later paramedics took Parsa’s lifeless body away on a stretcher.

In reviewing the video, the DOJ reached different conclusions from those put forward by the sheriff’s office.

“Critically, nothing … suggests that E.P. had a weapon, that officers ever reasonably suspected he had a weapon, or that there was a threat to human life,” the DOJ said in its statement. “The record contains no evidence that any bystanders were at risk.”

There is evidence, however, that deputies “could have provided any number of reasonable accommodations once the scene was secure, and thereby afforded the child a safe and effective law enforcement response,” DOJ attorneys concluded.

Statements provided by deputies who were present — and who acknowledged that they knew or assumed Parsa was autistic or had special needs — also seem to contradict the sheriff’s statement that the scene was not secure. They said that while he was on the ground, he was “calm” or “under control” and was not resisting.

“Everything was fine,” two deputies said.



https://www.rawstory.com/louisiana-cops-sat-on-autistic-teens-back-for-9-minutes-before-he-died/