The work of the Innocence Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to upholding the innocence, through DNA testing, of those wrongly convicted of various crimes, has shown that wrongful conviction cases are fraught with evidence of fraud, negligence, or misconduct on the part of prosecutors and law enforcers.

A basic factor in such official misconduct is, unfortunately, unchangeable. It is, simply, human nature. So long as these officials are more human than professional, subjective than objective, official misdeeds will continue to be committed and wrongful convictions continue to be the result.

This makes DNA testing important, especially in cases that could mean life imprisonment or capital punishment for those accused. Such testing has exonerated many and exposed official misconduct at every stage and level of various criminal investigations.

The common examples of misconduct by law enforcement are, for example, lying to or misleading a jury intentionally regarding observations made by the officers, coercing suspects into making false confessions, and employing suggestion in identification procedures. Added to these, neglecting to turn over to prosecutors any exculpatory evidence, and giving incentives to informants to secure unreliable evidence from them.

Typical examples of misconduct by prosecutors, on the other hand, are allowing witnesses to testify who prosecutors either know or should know are dishonest, the deliberate tampering with or destroying of evidence, or the withholding of exculpatory evidence from the defense. Other examples are pressuring defense witnesses into not testifying, relying on evidence from fraudulent forensic scientists, and engaging in misleading arguments overstating the probative value of testimony.

The Innocence Project recommends the establishment of “Criminal Justice Reform Commissions” to investigate the various circumstances surrounding wrongful convictions. They lament the relative lack of such investigative bodies, sometimes called “Innocence Commissions,” in spite of the number of DNA exonerations in the country. The project encourages states to create such broad-based commissions to study wrongful convictions and lobby for appropriate changes to be made to the justice system. Ideally, these commissions may be composed of all members of the justice system, including victims of crime, and concerned citizens. Perhaps through input from various perspectives, as well as support from government officials and the public, can such commissions truly be effective.

Courtesy of US/US Lawyer Monica Risam Nicklin

By

Shahzadi Queen

Advocate may advise accused to exercise his lawful right of refusing to make a statement. However, to make particular statement of facts to meet allegations against him are professional misconduct. Inducement to make false allegations of behavior such as attracts legal penalties for his client’s opponent is equally such conduct.

A lawyer may well advise his client who is accused of a crime to exercise his right in law of refusing to make a statement, but to advise the client to make a particular statement of facts in order to meet the allegations against him involves a delicate responsibility, since the course of justice may well be diverted by even such aspects as the manner of presentation of facts, or the distribution of emphasis as among different facts or sets of facts. But there can be no question of the limits of professional propriety having been exceeded where there is deviation from the truth in the statement prepared for an accused person, and where an allegation of such deviation is made, there would be a substantial case for enquiry and determination under the law. Equally, for a lawyer to induce his client to make false allegations of behavior such as attracts legal penalties for his client’s opponent, would be going well beyond the limits of integrity which a lawyer, as an agent of law and of justice, may be expected to lay upon himself.

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Since the attack on the World Trade Center in September 11, 2001 there has been an increase in police brutality across the United States. (See related article at USAToday.com.) Police departments are becoming increasingly militarized. Combat fatigued veterans, hardened by the realities of war, are returning from abroad and joining the ranks of the police. As police departments become increasingly corrupt, it becomes more difficult for them to recruit and retain decent people to wear their uniforms.

Homeland Security and Federal law enforcement agencies have been working closely with local police departments, as mentioned in this article from Canadian Free Press and elsewhere. This collusion has led to untold violations of human rights across the nation and the numbers are increasing. The victims are often silenced by threats, both direct and implied, particularly when they have no evidence of the terrible crimes committed against them, as is most often the case.

Those who live through police brutality and live to tell the tale are survivors. The rest become statistics and the subject of an overwhelming number of police brutality stories across the internet. The web has become a forum for people who have no other means to communicate what has happened to them or those they love at the hands of brutal police.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that police brutality cases are not just “isolated incidents” involving “a few bad apples.” As Frank Serpico tried to tell everyone, (Please, see CNN article, of September 3, 1997, “Serpico Resurrects His Decades-old Criticism of NYPD.”) organizations are corrupt from the top down. And, we see it again and again with remarkable cover ups of heinous crimes perpetrated by police across the country in which the perpetrators are promoted and the heads of departments go to great lengths to conceal officers crimes. These uniformed robbers, rapists, murderers and human traffickers flourish in their illegal activities while hiding behind their badges.

They cloak themselves in the public’s incredulousness, as well. Ordinary people do not want to believe that such nefarious crimes are being committed by the people they believe they are paying to protect them. The public’s fear is the curtain behind which so many villainous acts are committed. But, that curtain is being drawn back by numerous sites around the web.

One brave former cop in Austin, Texas has created an online reality show called KopBusters, at www.kopbusters.com, for the purpose of catching corrupt cops in the act. As a former cop the founder and CEO, Barry Cooper, understands the mentality of the police and uses their own dirty tricks against them. It was initially established to help free a young woman who is serving a seven year sentence for a crime she didn’t commit. They set out to prove that she was set up by police who had an informant plant drugs in her home.

The website www.copwatch.com, encourages citizens to report police brutality incidents. It has an extensive database of charges filed against police and articles about police abuses.

The following website, http://www.policecrimes.com, features a growing number of articles and videos on the subject of police brutality. It also offers advice for dealing with police officers.

Although, much of the information about dealing with police pertains to those police who still have some sense that they are bound by laws. Increasingly, there are cases where police are simply attacking and murdering innocent people. Clearly, no negotiation is possible in instances where you are attacked from behind by unidentified, gun-wielding maniacs, regardless of whether they are sporting a badge or not. An example of this kind of police attack is the attempted murder of Robbie Tolan on his porch in Bellaire, Texas in January of 2009. Tolan was shot in the back for no reason, whatsoever. The officer involved did not seem to know the victim and claims that he thought he was driving a stolen vehicle. He wasn’t. This story has been featured on HBO and CNN, please see this website for more details of this shocking police crime: http://binside.typepad.com/binside_tv/robbie_tolan/

Police murders are not rare; it is only rare when they get caught. Few murders of any kind are captured on film, but the New Year’s Eve public, very methodical execution of Oscar Grant by Officer Johannes Mehserle in California in 2009 is an exception. Numerous bystanders had their cell phone cameras ready as Grant begged for his life before being shot in the back (a favorite tactic of the police). Even though numerous videos of the murder were caught on tape and posted on www.youtube.com, the department was slow to arrest the killer and his accomplices, the people who aided Mehserle in this murder on film, have yet to be indicted.

The reckless use of tasers among police is an increasing concern. They can be deadly to healthy people and they are clearly dangerous to the health of anyone or who has heart problems. But, on a whim the police will taser children, the elderly, pregnant women and anyone else. Young, healthy, vibrant men have died after being tasered by police. The instances are so numerous that it would be impossible to document all of them in this article.

Despite the risks, police departments insist on using tasers. It seems that they enjoy the mayhem; they enjoy committing the murder of innocents, unchecked. After the death of a Latino man who was tasered by police, the police responded by ordering even more of these execution devices. No one should need to be reminded that police are not judges, jury and executioner rolled up into one. In Houston 2/3 of the people murdered by police are not under arrest for anything and police attacks of innocent people – just because! – are on the rise. The reason that the police departments repeatedly give for using tasers is that they “save lives.” Yet, they have been the cause of, at least, several hundred unncessary deaths in the U.S. since 2001.

A number of articles about police using tasers to kill innocent people can be found at Ken Adachi’s site, www.educate-yourself.org. Most shocking is numerous videos of police tasering innocent people, clearly enjoying the pain that they are inflicting. An example is this video taken from the dash camera of an officer repeatedly tasering a handcuffed. and particularly attractive, young woman. Warning: This is an extremely disturbing video. It should be remembered that citizens have the right to resist unlawful arrests and any arrest involving police brutality is an unlawful one. This woman is lucky she is alive. As usual, the police department took no initiative against this violent criminal on their own; it was only after the media got wind of the incident that the officer involved was even placed on leave.

This all begs the question: Do police departments create sociopaths or do they just attract them? It is a particular variety of deviance, sexual sadism, that is displayed in numerous videos involving the brutalization of women (and some men). Sexual sadists receive a sexual thrill from terrorizing and brutalizing their victims; they perversely delight in the control that they have over them. This perverse delight is illustrated in numerous video accounts widely distributed on the internet. Why are so many sexual sadists wearing uniforms? Most likely they are attracted to the power and authority that their positions endow them with.

When one begins to examine the history of the United States and our Constitution, the question arises: Are police departments legal? Moreover, are they really necessary or desirable in a free republic. Police brutality, a term which doesn’t really cover the reality of police crimes against innocents – its depth and breadth, which is one of the worst forms of tyranny across this nation – is the norm and not the exception.

People must wake up to this reality. They must overcome their cognitive dissonance and realize that the police have never existed to protect and serve the public. The exist to protect and serve their masters, the elite members of government. It has been that way since the inception of the first police departments in the U.S. The Boston Police Department, an inherently racist organization, existed to quell riots between new immigrants from Ireland and Italy. The New York Police Department was created to protect wealthy Manhattanites from the perceived dangers of immigrants that they perceived as rabble.

Any good that police do is completely overshadowed by their unspeakable crimes; crimes which are not usually committed on camera, but in the shadows.

The police have never served citizens and never will. History should be reviewed and the roles of the police should be put into their proper perspective. They must be brought out of the shadows and a brighter light must be shined on their crimes. Governance must be returned to the good citizens of the United States of America.

For further research:

The historical brutality of the Los Angeles Police Department is featured in the movie “The Changeling,” starring Angelina Jolie.

The true story of Frank Serpico is featured in the movie, “Serpico,” starring Al Pacino.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cases_of_police_brutality

Frank Serpico’s website: http://www.frankserpico.com/

ACLU: http://www.aclu.com/

http://www.louisvillepeace.org/CAPA/police_abuse.html

http://www.policeabuse.com/

No More Tasers: http://nomoretasers.com/

Works Cited

“Police Brutality Cases on the Rise Since 9/11.” USA Today. Kevin Johnson. December 18, 2007. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-12-17-Copmisconduct_N.htm

“Controversy: Mercenaries Training US Local Police Officers,” Canadian Free Press. Jim Kouri. April 8, 2008. http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/2549

“Serpico Resurrects His Decades Old Criticism of NYPD.” CNN. September 23, 1997.

http://www.cnn.com/US/9709/23/serpico.brutality/

Still the archives of beat downs continues to grow.

Why the incline? Since 9/11 there has seemed to be a rise in cases across the U.S. Police are taught to protect and serve but often their conduct is the concern.

United States was attacked by terrorists on 9/11 and as a result police have had the mentality to enforce terror. Race continues to play a significant role regarding how the public is treated. New York & Los Angeles have been involved in several cases during these past years. However, those are cases that reach the public. There are nearly 17,000 police agencies across the United States. 14 US cities have reported major misconduct problems. 

In the words of Rodney King “…cant we all just Get Along?”

In Birmingham there has been police brutality dated back to the mid-60s. The people vs police it seems. Is there justice for police misconduct? Dr. Martin Luther King Jr wrote a letter to the Birmingham Jail nearly 40 years ago protesting the injustice. Still, a 37 year-old man was convinced all his bruises were the result of a car crash. Months later he learned he had been beaten.  Beaten while unconscious.

The tape was filmed on January 23, 2008 around 10:30a.m. The chase was actually 20 minutes long. 

See the full chase here: Birmingham Police Beating Video – Full Chase

It shows a van driving recklessly through traffic attempting to evade police. The suspect, Mr. Warren even runs over a policeman trying to lay down spike strips! Turns out the middle-aged man had several priors, refusing to go down easy.

Mr. Warren later loses control and is ejected when his van goes airborne. He lay on the ground face down, appearing to be unconscious.   The policemen had to be pretty upset one of their own was injured as they proceeded to kick and punch Mr. Warren’s unconscious body. Including beating him with nightsticks.

Mr Warren was left with a severe concussion, skull fractures and other injuries.

The five officers involved were fired.

Mr Warren received a 20-year sentence for 1st-degree assault for hitting the officer with the spike strips!

Injustice? You be the judge

Judge Singeltary had his own problems with the law during 2007.Judge Singeltary was arrested for placing a machete to the neck of a city inspection worker, plus the judge tried to attacked his neighbor because their dog was barking. One would think that this judge would not be allowed to continue, but not in Mississippi because it’s more of a who you know state, especially when it come to the judiciary system.

Judge Singeltary gave temporary custody of a child to a grandmother, due to the biological mother’s drug use and drug activity. After the child’s mothers boyfriend hired her an attorney who bragged to a detective, about being friends with Judge Singeltary the entire case changed for the worse.

The child hadn’t lived with the biological mother since he was three months old, due to her life style of drug use and drug activity. The child was taken from his daycare by the biological mother on July 19 2007. Although the mother drove recklessly throwing the child all over the car, the police did nothing, I guess the police were doctors because they looked at the child and said that the child was find. 

The mother had  taken the child  into a known drug house, but the police had the nerve to tell the child’s grandmother that he was okay! The mother left the state of Mississippi with the child. After the Judge gave temporary custody of the child to the grandmother, the FBI became involved after the mother refused to cooperate with the Ohio Police Department.

The child was found after a month of being in the custody of his biological mother. The Grandmother immediately took the first available flight to Ohio to retrieve the child. The Grandmother was met by a social worker at the air port, who returned the child to her care.

  Although the grandmother was happy to see the child, she was hurt when she saw the condition of her grand child. The child had loss weight, sores  were in his head, and he had a skin rash. The grandmother took photos of the child’s condition because she thought this would be proof for court. The child had taken school photos about two weeks before he left Mississippi. The difference in the two photos showed a clear case of abuse.

After the child’s return to Mississippi he was taken to his pediatrician where he was diagnosed with a serious case of ring worm,scabies,loss of weight, and bronchitis. The grandmother had all of the documents and photos, when she and her son who is the child’s father, attended court on November 20,2007.

The grandmother had witnesses  such as the officer, who arrested the mother for drug activity who is now indicted on the charges in Mississippi. the child’s mother was not suppose to leave the state of Mississippi,  by law the mother should have been arrested in the court room.

The child’s father was not allowed by the judge to take the stand on the behalf of his own son. But the  daughter-in-law was allowed to be a witness, who told the court that the mother called high on drugs screaming that she would smother the child with a pillow due to his likeness of his father.

The Child Pediatrician was also awaiting the chance to be a witness on behalf of the child’s condition but was not allowed to testify. Judge Singeltary allowed very little testimony, he didn’t allow any the photos are documents to be shown.

Due to the judges sudden change of ethics, the grandmothers attorney told her to  tell the court about the   mothers attorney who stated that he had a friendship with the judge, and how he had bragged to a detective about how he would win the case due to friendship.

Judge Singeltary quickly ruled and rescued himself from the case, and returned the child to his biological mother, who had just told Judge Singeltary that she used marijuana, but she didn’t have money to buy any at the time after the grandmothers attorney inquired about her drug use. This cause the case to pend because a new judge had to be assigned to the case, and the child’s mother would have to be re-served the court documents but she is hiding and the Grandmother and the child’s father have exhausted there savings due to attorney fees and private investigators who have not found the mother and child. But I know that the child is in a bad situation because,  the child was only with his mother for a month and look at how his condition changed , now its been over a year its no telling how this child is living or being treated. This is a true story if anyone can help, whether its an attorney or private investigator this family has court transcripts and documents of proof pertaining to this case. you can contact this family: surety777@aol.com 

Next we have the Commissioner of Insurance Mike Chaney, and his relationship with the highest ranking judge in  the state of Mississippi Swan Yeager.

Judge Yeager is a judge who is known for his involvements in cases of appeal due to insurance agents who are said to be guilty of insurance fraud or for breaking insurance rules and regulations. If the agent is innocent of the charges, and the attorneys who represent the insurance commission can know that their is a reasonable doubt  they will not uphold the law.

There was an agent accused of issuing a workers compensation binder to a customer. A hearing was held at the Mississippi Insurance department for this agent. The contractor who testified against the agent durning the hearing stated that the signature that appeared on the binder was his own, and he said that he was disabled and his son owned the company.

So if he was not the owner, and his son is the Owner of the company, why didn’t his son appear at the hearing? Why would a seasoned agent give a person who is not the owner of  a company a binder for insurance coverage?

Why would Builder who hired the contractor filed a complaint against an insurance agent  when he excepted a binder from his contractors father? Why would the Builder except the binder with the fathers name on the binder, when the man’s son is the owner of the company?

The builder,the father and the contractor are clearly guilty as sin, but not in Mississippi. Although this agent explained that they didn’t know the contractor, the Department of Insurance decided to revoke the agents license and the agent has to pay the builder restitution of over $3,000. Although the insurance Commission knew the truth they  did not acknowledge the evidence, which is again proof of misconduct of another public official in Mississippi.  Judge Yeager has never sided with an insurance agent in Mississippi, he has and will always agreed with the insurance commissions findings.

Its sad to say but Mississippi leaders such as, the governor, insurance commissioner, and the majority of judges have continued to  favor their friends, to the point of when consumers file complaints in-reference to their actions the complaints are never enforced by the peers of the officials, unless the situation is publicly known. The media is in the same category as the Justice system, if you have incriminating information about a judge or anyone in the justice system, the media will not tell your story. Let me explain how it all works: The Judges, personally know the Insurance Commissioner, who knows the Governor.  The media employee’s are the children and grand children of friends, who grew up with the mentioned officials. This is why the media will rarely air or reports anything negative about an official ,even if they have knowledge of them being dishonest, it has always depended on who is making the complaint.

To sum it all up, when an official does not uphold  the law in-reference to a consumer in Mississippi is ignored by the justice system