Makes a body wonder why the killers were identified as Black in the Washington Post, which Canadian conservatives place well below Pravda for truth and accuracy.
Black Lives Matter-Ugliness of Racism.
- Thread starter Ocean Breeze
- Start date
Georgia deputy who shot absolved man had prior firing for excessive force
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Russ Bynum
Published Nov 20, 2023 • 6 minute read
Leonard Allen Cure poses on the day of his release from prison
In this photo provided by the Innocence Project of Florida, Leonard Allen Cure poses on the day of his release from prison on April 14, 2020, in Fla. PHOTO BY INNOCENCE PROJECT OF FLORIDA /Associated Press
When Staff Sgt. Buck Aldridge fatally shot Leonard Cure during a roadside struggle after pulling him over for speeding, it wasn’t the first time a traffic stop involving the Camden County sheriff’s deputy had spiraled into violence.
Last year, Aldridge dragged a driver from a car that crashed after fleeing the deputy on Interstate 95. Body and dash camera video obtained by The Associated Press show the driver on his back as Aldridge punches him. Records indicate the deputy faced no disciplinary action.
Personnel records show Aldridge was fired in August 2017 by a police department in the same Georgia county after he threw a woman to the ground and handcuffed her during a traffic stop. The Camden County Sheriff’s Office hired him nine months later.
Aldridge stopped Cure for speeding Oct. 16 and ended up shocking the 53-year-old Black man with a Taser after he refused to put his hands behind him to be cuffed. Body and dash camera videos show Cure fought back and had a hand at the deputy’s throat when Aldridge shot him point-blank.
Relatives have said Cure likely resisted because of psychological trauma from spending 16 years imprisoned in Florida for an armed robbery he didn’t commit. Officials exonerated and freed him in 2020.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating Cure’s death and will submit its findings to prosecutors. Aldridge’s attorney said the video shows he fired in self-defense. Regardless, critics question whether he should have been wearing a badge given his history of aggression.
“This guy should have never been on the force,” said Timothy Bessent Sr., president of Camden County’s NAACP chapter.
The AP obtained Aldridge’s personnel records as well as reports and videos from the June 2022 chase and arrest using Georgia’s open records law.
A former U.S. Marine, Aldridge, 41, worked nearly five years for the Kingsland Police Department in Georgia’s southeast corner. His file shows Aldridge was disciplined for using unnecessary force in February 2014 and May 2017. The second time he was suspended for three days without pay.
The department fired Aldridge for his third infraction just three months later. Police records say Aldridge was assisting with a traffic stop when he tried to handcuff a woman — not to arrest her, but to keep her outside her car. One deputy told investigators Aldridge cuffed the woman after “picking her up and throwing her on the ground.” She was cited for letting an unlicensed person drive her car.
Aldridge was hired by the sheriff’s office in May 2018. He disclosed his firing on his job application.
Aldridge’s termination wouldn’t automatically disqualify him from working for another agency, though some would consider it a huge liability, said retired police Maj. Neill Franklin.
“If someone’s terminated from another police department for use of excessive force, they’re not getting hired by the Maryland State Police or the Baltimore Police Department,” said Franklin, who led training programs for both agencies. “It’s just not worth the risk.”
Bessent and other advocates say it’s an example of Camden County Sheriff Jim Proctor tolerating unnecessary violence.
Proctor, who has been sheriff for a decade, declined to comment. Spokesman Capt. Larry Bruce cited the investigation into Cure’s death and pending civil litigation involving other deputies.
Since last year, six Camden County deputies have been indicted on felony charges and fired for violence against jail detainees and a motorist.
In September 2022, jail security cameras recorded guards rushing into the cell of Jarrett Hobbs, who was punched in the head and neck and hurled against a wall. Hobbs was charged with assaulting jailers until his attorney obtained the video. His charges were dropped, and three deputies were indicted.
Two more jailers were charged and fired for incidents in March and July. Security video showed one push a detainee to the floor and punch him before another guard intervened. The other deputy shoved a handcuffed detainee headfirst into a door, knocking him unconscious.
“You’ve got these deputies running wild and doing what they want to do,” said Harry Daniels, a civil rights attorney who won a legal settlement for Hobbs. “The consequences have come from the GBI and the district attorney’s office. It should not come from an outside agency.”
He points to Christine Newman, named “Deputy of the Month” two months after a dash camera recorded her slapping a handcuffed driver across the face and slamming the woman’s head into a patrol SUV. The driver had refused to exit her vehicle after being pulled over for a rolling stop Jan. 16, 2022.
Newman was fired a year later after being indicted on charges including aggravated assault and violating her oath of office. She has pleaded not guilty. Newman’s attorney, Robert Persse, called her a “loyal deputy” whom he looks forward to defending in court.
The number of deputies facing charges “indicates a culture that may not encourage use of force, but certainly tolerates inappropriate use of force,” said retired LaGrange, Georgia, Police Chief Louis Dekmar.
“If folks are held accountable and there are clear lines, you generally don’t see that in law enforcement agencies,” said Dekmar, a former president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
A spike in claims involving the sheriff’s office caused Camden County’s government to get dropped by its insurance company in July, said Mike Spiers, the county’s risk management director. The county got new policies, he said, but its deductible for liability jumped from $25,000 per claim to $250,000.
Aldridge was placed on administrative leave while the GBI investigates Cure’s death.
“Buck Aldridge is a fine officer and the video speaks for itself,” said Adrienne Browning, Aldridge’s attorney. “It’s clear his life was in danger and he defended himself.”
Video released of the fatal confrontation along I-95 shows Aldridge telling Cure he’s being charged with reckless driving for speeding in excess of 100 mph (161 kph). Cure argues, but obeys commands to get out and put his hands on his truck. However, he ignores commands to put his hands behind him.
That’s when Aldridge fires his Taser into Cure’s back. Cure fights back, and video shows them grappling beside the highway. Cure maintains a grip on Aldridge’s face and neck after being struck with a baton.
“Yeah, bitch!” Cure says. Then he slumps to the ground after Aldridge fires a single shot.
Dekmar, Franklin and a third expert told AP they believe the shooting was legal, as Aldridge appeared to be in danger when he fired. But they also criticized how Aldridge began the encounter by shouting at Cure and said made no effort to deescalate.
“He escalated the situation with Mr. Cure,” said former Memphis police officer Thaddeus Johnson, a criminal justice professor at Georgia State University and a senior fellow for the Council on Criminal Justice. “He has no control over his emotions.”
Johnson said Aldridge showed a similar lack of control during a June 2022 arrest after chasing two speeding cars.
After one car crashes, body and dash camera video shows Aldridge shouting expletives as he approaches with his gun drawn. The driver is on his back when Aldridge starts dragging him headfirst from the car, then punches him.
The driver resists being cuffed but complies after another deputy’s dog bites him and Aldridge shocks him with a Taser. The driver was charged with drug trafficking, reckless driving and fleeing an officer.
Aldridge was promoted to staff sergeant two months later. His sheriff’s personnel file shows no disciplinary actions.
Johnson said he sees no justification for Aldridge punching the arrested driver. Even if prosecutors don’t charge him in Cure’s death, he said, “from what I saw in the video, he deserves to be fired.”
“We have to hold officers to a higher standard,” Johnson said, “even though they are human.”
![leonard-cure-2023-10-17[1].jpg](https://forums.canadiancontent.net/data/attachments/18/18355-e19fcfb10d33baabae737fd3ceb9f446.jpg "leonard-cure-2023-10-17[1].jpg")
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Russ Bynum
Published Nov 20, 2023 • 6 minute read
Leonard Allen Cure poses on the day of his release from prison
In this photo provided by the Innocence Project of Florida, Leonard Allen Cure poses on the day of his release from prison on April 14, 2020, in Fla. PHOTO BY INNOCENCE PROJECT OF FLORIDA /Associated Press
When Staff Sgt. Buck Aldridge fatally shot Leonard Cure during a roadside struggle after pulling him over for speeding, it wasn’t the first time a traffic stop involving the Camden County sheriff’s deputy had spiraled into violence.
Last year, Aldridge dragged a driver from a car that crashed after fleeing the deputy on Interstate 95. Body and dash camera video obtained by The Associated Press show the driver on his back as Aldridge punches him. Records indicate the deputy faced no disciplinary action.
Personnel records show Aldridge was fired in August 2017 by a police department in the same Georgia county after he threw a woman to the ground and handcuffed her during a traffic stop. The Camden County Sheriff’s Office hired him nine months later.
Aldridge stopped Cure for speeding Oct. 16 and ended up shocking the 53-year-old Black man with a Taser after he refused to put his hands behind him to be cuffed. Body and dash camera videos show Cure fought back and had a hand at the deputy’s throat when Aldridge shot him point-blank.
Relatives have said Cure likely resisted because of psychological trauma from spending 16 years imprisoned in Florida for an armed robbery he didn’t commit. Officials exonerated and freed him in 2020.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating Cure’s death and will submit its findings to prosecutors. Aldridge’s attorney said the video shows he fired in self-defense. Regardless, critics question whether he should have been wearing a badge given his history of aggression.
“This guy should have never been on the force,” said Timothy Bessent Sr., president of Camden County’s NAACP chapter.
The AP obtained Aldridge’s personnel records as well as reports and videos from the June 2022 chase and arrest using Georgia’s open records law.
A former U.S. Marine, Aldridge, 41, worked nearly five years for the Kingsland Police Department in Georgia’s southeast corner. His file shows Aldridge was disciplined for using unnecessary force in February 2014 and May 2017. The second time he was suspended for three days without pay.
The department fired Aldridge for his third infraction just three months later. Police records say Aldridge was assisting with a traffic stop when he tried to handcuff a woman — not to arrest her, but to keep her outside her car. One deputy told investigators Aldridge cuffed the woman after “picking her up and throwing her on the ground.” She was cited for letting an unlicensed person drive her car.
Aldridge was hired by the sheriff’s office in May 2018. He disclosed his firing on his job application.
Aldridge’s termination wouldn’t automatically disqualify him from working for another agency, though some would consider it a huge liability, said retired police Maj. Neill Franklin.
“If someone’s terminated from another police department for use of excessive force, they’re not getting hired by the Maryland State Police or the Baltimore Police Department,” said Franklin, who led training programs for both agencies. “It’s just not worth the risk.”
Bessent and other advocates say it’s an example of Camden County Sheriff Jim Proctor tolerating unnecessary violence.
Proctor, who has been sheriff for a decade, declined to comment. Spokesman Capt. Larry Bruce cited the investigation into Cure’s death and pending civil litigation involving other deputies.
Since last year, six Camden County deputies have been indicted on felony charges and fired for violence against jail detainees and a motorist.
In September 2022, jail security cameras recorded guards rushing into the cell of Jarrett Hobbs, who was punched in the head and neck and hurled against a wall. Hobbs was charged with assaulting jailers until his attorney obtained the video. His charges were dropped, and three deputies were indicted.
Two more jailers were charged and fired for incidents in March and July. Security video showed one push a detainee to the floor and punch him before another guard intervened. The other deputy shoved a handcuffed detainee headfirst into a door, knocking him unconscious.
“You’ve got these deputies running wild and doing what they want to do,” said Harry Daniels, a civil rights attorney who won a legal settlement for Hobbs. “The consequences have come from the GBI and the district attorney’s office. It should not come from an outside agency.”
He points to Christine Newman, named “Deputy of the Month” two months after a dash camera recorded her slapping a handcuffed driver across the face and slamming the woman’s head into a patrol SUV. The driver had refused to exit her vehicle after being pulled over for a rolling stop Jan. 16, 2022.
Newman was fired a year later after being indicted on charges including aggravated assault and violating her oath of office. She has pleaded not guilty. Newman’s attorney, Robert Persse, called her a “loyal deputy” whom he looks forward to defending in court.
The number of deputies facing charges “indicates a culture that may not encourage use of force, but certainly tolerates inappropriate use of force,” said retired LaGrange, Georgia, Police Chief Louis Dekmar.
“If folks are held accountable and there are clear lines, you generally don’t see that in law enforcement agencies,” said Dekmar, a former president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
A spike in claims involving the sheriff’s office caused Camden County’s government to get dropped by its insurance company in July, said Mike Spiers, the county’s risk management director. The county got new policies, he said, but its deductible for liability jumped from $25,000 per claim to $250,000.
Aldridge was placed on administrative leave while the GBI investigates Cure’s death.
“Buck Aldridge is a fine officer and the video speaks for itself,” said Adrienne Browning, Aldridge’s attorney. “It’s clear his life was in danger and he defended himself.”
Video released of the fatal confrontation along I-95 shows Aldridge telling Cure he’s being charged with reckless driving for speeding in excess of 100 mph (161 kph). Cure argues, but obeys commands to get out and put his hands on his truck. However, he ignores commands to put his hands behind him.
That’s when Aldridge fires his Taser into Cure’s back. Cure fights back, and video shows them grappling beside the highway. Cure maintains a grip on Aldridge’s face and neck after being struck with a baton.
“Yeah, bitch!” Cure says. Then he slumps to the ground after Aldridge fires a single shot.
Dekmar, Franklin and a third expert told AP they believe the shooting was legal, as Aldridge appeared to be in danger when he fired. But they also criticized how Aldridge began the encounter by shouting at Cure and said made no effort to deescalate.
“He escalated the situation with Mr. Cure,” said former Memphis police officer Thaddeus Johnson, a criminal justice professor at Georgia State University and a senior fellow for the Council on Criminal Justice. “He has no control over his emotions.”
Johnson said Aldridge showed a similar lack of control during a June 2022 arrest after chasing two speeding cars.
After one car crashes, body and dash camera video shows Aldridge shouting expletives as he approaches with his gun drawn. The driver is on his back when Aldridge starts dragging him headfirst from the car, then punches him.
The driver resists being cuffed but complies after another deputy’s dog bites him and Aldridge shocks him with a Taser. The driver was charged with drug trafficking, reckless driving and fleeing an officer.
Aldridge was promoted to staff sergeant two months later. His sheriff’s personnel file shows no disciplinary actions.
Johnson said he sees no justification for Aldridge punching the arrested driver. Even if prosecutors don’t charge him in Cure’s death, he said, “from what I saw in the video, he deserves to be fired.”
“We have to hold officers to a higher standard,” Johnson said, “even though they are human.”
Georgia deputy who shot absolved man had prior firing for excessive force
Staff Sgt. Buck Aldridge dragged a driver from a car that crashed after fleeing the deputy on Interstate 95
Mississippi man killed by police SUV receives funeral months after first burial in paupers’ cemetery
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Emily Wagster Pettus
Published Nov 20, 2023 • 3 minute read
Family members of Dexter Wade
Family members of Dexter Wade leave roses on his casket in Jackson, Miss. Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. PHOTO BY ROGELIO V. SOLIS /THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Dexter Wade received a dignified funeral and burial Monday in Mississippi’s capital city, months after he was hit and killed by a police SUV and officials first buried his body in a pauper’s grave without notifying his family that he was dead.
Under a gray sky, his mother, Bettersten Wade, tossed a handful of dirt onto the vault that held his shiny red casket after it was slowly lowered into the ground in a south Jackson cemetery where, so far, only a few other bodies are buried.
Surrounded by family and friends, she said to her son: “I’ll see your face again.”
Dexter Wade, a 37-year-old Black man, died March 5 after an off-duty Jackson Police Department officer struck him with a department SUV while Wade was walking across Interstate 55. Police have not released identifying information, including the officer’s race. The Associated Press called three phone numbers for police department administrators and a public information officer Monday evening; nobody answered the calls, and there was no way to leave a message.
Wade’s mother said she last saw her son that day, and she filed a missing person’s report a few days later. It was late August before she learned he had been killed and buried in a paupers’ cemetery near the Hinds County Penal Farm in the Jackson suburb of Raymond.
Wade’s body was exhumed Nov. 13, and independent autopsy was conducted. A wallet found in the pocket of the jeans in which Wade originally was buried contained his state identification card with his home address, credit card and a health insurance card, said civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Wade’s family.
Wade’s new gravesite is about 8.5 miles (13.7 kilometers) from the first one.
Crump said Monday that he has been speaking to Justice Department officials as he urges them to investigate why Jackson police and other local officials failed to notify Wade’s family of his death.
A New Horizon Church International usher
A New Horizon Church International usher walks along the aisles with a box of tissues for those attendees who are crying at the funeral service for Dexter Wade in Jackson, Miss. Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. Wade, a 37-year-old man who died after being hit by a Jackson police SUV driven by an off-duty officer, was initially buried in a paupers cemetery without any notification to his family. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
“Justice and respect go hand-in-hand,” Crump said.
Crump said Campaign Zero, a group that works to end police violence, helped Bettersten Wade with Monday’s service because she wanted her only son to have “a respectable funeral as the first step to get justice.”
More than 200 people, including U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, attended the funeral at New Horizon International Church in Jackson. The service took place the day before what would have been Wade’s 38th birthday.
Crump and the Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network, each placed an arm around Bettersten Wade as she stood before her son’s flower-covered casket under a large cross in the sanctuary.
Sharpton, who is based in New York, said he traveled to Jackson to deliver the eulogy because he wanted to give words of comfort to Wade’s family and “words of discomfort to the state of Mississippi,” including to the city of Jackson and its police department.
“What happened to Dexter was a disgrace, a national outrage, and should be treated as such,” Sharpton said.
Jackson is majority-Black, has a Black mayor and majority-Black city council and has had Black police chiefs for years, including the chief when Wade was killed. In the 1960s, when the city was majority-white and had all-white officials and a white police chief, civil rights leaders pushed for hiring of Black police officers.
Sharpton said Monday that he had been told that the officer who struck and killed Wade was Black.
“I don’t care if he’s Black or white — what he did was wrong,” Sharpton said.
An investigator from the Hinds County coroner’s office responded to the accident scene but did not find any identification while examining Wade’s body, NBC News reported. The coroner did find a bottle of prescription medication in his pocket with his name on it.
The Hinds County coroner’s office said it called a number listed for Bettersten Wade but did not hear back. She said she never received the call. The coroner’s office also told Jackson police multiple times to contact her, Crump said. City officials have said the communication breakdown was an accident.
![police-suv-death-mississippi-e1700527976306[1].jpg](https://forums.canadiancontent.net/data/attachments/18/18357-dcc0f018d3ffcefc43c37d3c2ff327fb.jpg "police-suv-death-mississippi-e1700527976306[1].jpg")
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Emily Wagster Pettus
Published Nov 20, 2023 • 3 minute read
Family members of Dexter Wade
Family members of Dexter Wade leave roses on his casket in Jackson, Miss. Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. PHOTO BY ROGELIO V. SOLIS /THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Dexter Wade received a dignified funeral and burial Monday in Mississippi’s capital city, months after he was hit and killed by a police SUV and officials first buried his body in a pauper’s grave without notifying his family that he was dead.
Under a gray sky, his mother, Bettersten Wade, tossed a handful of dirt onto the vault that held his shiny red casket after it was slowly lowered into the ground in a south Jackson cemetery where, so far, only a few other bodies are buried.
Surrounded by family and friends, she said to her son: “I’ll see your face again.”
Dexter Wade, a 37-year-old Black man, died March 5 after an off-duty Jackson Police Department officer struck him with a department SUV while Wade was walking across Interstate 55. Police have not released identifying information, including the officer’s race. The Associated Press called three phone numbers for police department administrators and a public information officer Monday evening; nobody answered the calls, and there was no way to leave a message.
Wade’s mother said she last saw her son that day, and she filed a missing person’s report a few days later. It was late August before she learned he had been killed and buried in a paupers’ cemetery near the Hinds County Penal Farm in the Jackson suburb of Raymond.
Wade’s body was exhumed Nov. 13, and independent autopsy was conducted. A wallet found in the pocket of the jeans in which Wade originally was buried contained his state identification card with his home address, credit card and a health insurance card, said civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Wade’s family.
Wade’s new gravesite is about 8.5 miles (13.7 kilometers) from the first one.
Crump said Monday that he has been speaking to Justice Department officials as he urges them to investigate why Jackson police and other local officials failed to notify Wade’s family of his death.
A New Horizon Church International usher
A New Horizon Church International usher walks along the aisles with a box of tissues for those attendees who are crying at the funeral service for Dexter Wade in Jackson, Miss. Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. Wade, a 37-year-old man who died after being hit by a Jackson police SUV driven by an off-duty officer, was initially buried in a paupers cemetery without any notification to his family. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
“Justice and respect go hand-in-hand,” Crump said.
Crump said Campaign Zero, a group that works to end police violence, helped Bettersten Wade with Monday’s service because she wanted her only son to have “a respectable funeral as the first step to get justice.”
More than 200 people, including U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, attended the funeral at New Horizon International Church in Jackson. The service took place the day before what would have been Wade’s 38th birthday.
Crump and the Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network, each placed an arm around Bettersten Wade as she stood before her son’s flower-covered casket under a large cross in the sanctuary.
Sharpton, who is based in New York, said he traveled to Jackson to deliver the eulogy because he wanted to give words of comfort to Wade’s family and “words of discomfort to the state of Mississippi,” including to the city of Jackson and its police department.
“What happened to Dexter was a disgrace, a national outrage, and should be treated as such,” Sharpton said.
Jackson is majority-Black, has a Black mayor and majority-Black city council and has had Black police chiefs for years, including the chief when Wade was killed. In the 1960s, when the city was majority-white and had all-white officials and a white police chief, civil rights leaders pushed for hiring of Black police officers.
Sharpton said Monday that he had been told that the officer who struck and killed Wade was Black.
“I don’t care if he’s Black or white — what he did was wrong,” Sharpton said.
An investigator from the Hinds County coroner’s office responded to the accident scene but did not find any identification while examining Wade’s body, NBC News reported. The coroner did find a bottle of prescription medication in his pocket with his name on it.
The Hinds County coroner’s office said it called a number listed for Bettersten Wade but did not hear back. She said she never received the call. The coroner’s office also told Jackson police multiple times to contact her, Crump said. City officials have said the communication breakdown was an accident.
Mississippi man killed by police SUV receives funeral months after first burial in paupers’ cemetery
Surrounded by family and friends, she said to her son: "I'll see your face again."
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![Police-SUV-Death-Mississippi-1-scaled-e1700527920704[1].jpg](/data/attachments/18/18356-ecf996383a4270ef7c197201def753de.jpg)
Police-SUV-Death-Mississippi-1-scaled-e1700527920704[1].jpg
UBC School of Law Zoom lecture ends suddenly after racist slur appears on screen
Zoom meeting ID and password shared publicly on X without law school consent
Author of the article
avid Carrigg
Published Nov 21, 2023 • Last updated 12 hours ago • 2 minute read
The University of British Columbia has apologized to a visiting law professor whose hybrid Zoom/in-person lecture was interrupted when offensive images and an anti-Black racial slur appeared on the online portion of the presentation.
According to Dean Ngai Pindell of the Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of Ghana professor Raymond Atuguba was delivering a lecture on Nov. 9 to 40 people at the law school and 177 on Zoom, the online meeting platform.
“During Dean Atuguba’s presentation, one or more Zoom attendees began drawing offensive images and text using Zoom’s annotation function,” Pindell said.
“Allard Law personnel attempted to remove the offensive material, but were not successful. An anti-Black racial slur was then added to the screen, at which point Allard Law personnel ended the Zoom meeting.”
Atuguba continued to deliver the lecture in-person only.
“We are appalled, horrified and deeply sorry that this incident took place, and take responsibility that it happened in our space,” Pindell said.
“We apologize unreservedly to Dean Atuguba for the indignity that he endured during this lecture. We also apologize to those in the room at Allard Hall and those online, including those students, colleagues, and friends of Dean Atuguba who were viewing the lecture from Ghana or from other locations, for the harm that was caused to them as a result of the incident.”
Pindell said that just before the lecture, the Zoom meeting ID and password were made public on X (formerly Twitter) without the law school’s consent.
Pindell did not say whether the law school had identified the participants who posted the racial slurs and made inappropriate annotations.
The law school will change settings on Zoom so that the host will have the option to allow participants to annotate. The law school will also use Zoom Webinars, where participants cannot interact, rather than Zoom Meetings.
“Over the course of the past week, I have met with representatives from the UBC Black Law Students Association as well as graduate students who were particularly impacted by this incident,” Pindell said. “Details will soon be circulated about an upcoming listening session for any students who would like to discuss this incident of anti-Black racism and its impact on them.”
dcarrigg@postmedia.com
torontosun.com
Zoom meeting ID and password shared publicly on X without law school consent
Author of the article
avid CarriggPublished Nov 21, 2023 • Last updated 12 hours ago • 2 minute read
The University of British Columbia has apologized to a visiting law professor whose hybrid Zoom/in-person lecture was interrupted when offensive images and an anti-Black racial slur appeared on the online portion of the presentation.
According to Dean Ngai Pindell of the Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of Ghana professor Raymond Atuguba was delivering a lecture on Nov. 9 to 40 people at the law school and 177 on Zoom, the online meeting platform.
“During Dean Atuguba’s presentation, one or more Zoom attendees began drawing offensive images and text using Zoom’s annotation function,” Pindell said.
“Allard Law personnel attempted to remove the offensive material, but were not successful. An anti-Black racial slur was then added to the screen, at which point Allard Law personnel ended the Zoom meeting.”
Atuguba continued to deliver the lecture in-person only.
“We are appalled, horrified and deeply sorry that this incident took place, and take responsibility that it happened in our space,” Pindell said.
“We apologize unreservedly to Dean Atuguba for the indignity that he endured during this lecture. We also apologize to those in the room at Allard Hall and those online, including those students, colleagues, and friends of Dean Atuguba who were viewing the lecture from Ghana or from other locations, for the harm that was caused to them as a result of the incident.”
Pindell said that just before the lecture, the Zoom meeting ID and password were made public on X (formerly Twitter) without the law school’s consent.
Pindell did not say whether the law school had identified the participants who posted the racial slurs and made inappropriate annotations.
The law school will change settings on Zoom so that the host will have the option to allow participants to annotate. The law school will also use Zoom Webinars, where participants cannot interact, rather than Zoom Meetings.
“Over the course of the past week, I have met with representatives from the UBC Black Law Students Association as well as graduate students who were particularly impacted by this incident,” Pindell said. “Details will soon be circulated about an upcoming listening session for any students who would like to discuss this incident of anti-Black racism and its impact on them.”
dcarrigg@postmedia.com
UBC law school Zoom lecture ends suddenly after racist slur appears on screen
Zoom meeting ID and password shared publicly on X (formerly Twitter) without law school consent
What is wrong with these people?Georgia deputy who shot absolved man had prior firing for excessive force
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Russ Bynum
Published Nov 20, 2023 • 6 minute read
Leonard Allen Cure poses on the day of his release from prison
In this photo provided by the Innocence Project of Florida, Leonard Allen Cure poses on the day of his release from prison on April 14, 2020, in Fla. PHOTO BY INNOCENCE PROJECT OF FLORIDA /Associated Press
When Staff Sgt. Buck Aldridge fatally shot Leonard Cure during a roadside struggle after pulling him over for speeding, it wasn’t the first time a traffic stop involving the Camden County sheriff’s deputy had spiraled into violence.
Last year, Aldridge dragged a driver from a car that crashed after fleeing the deputy on Interstate 95. Body and dash camera video obtained by The Associated Press show the driver on his back as Aldridge punches him. Records indicate the deputy faced no disciplinary action.
Personnel records show Aldridge was fired in August 2017 by a police department in the same Georgia county after he threw a woman to the ground and handcuffed her during a traffic stop. The Camden County Sheriff’s Office hired him nine months later.
Aldridge stopped Cure for speeding Oct. 16 and ended up shocking the 53-year-old Black man with a Taser after he refused to put his hands behind him to be cuffed. Body and dash camera videos show Cure fought back and had a hand at the deputy’s throat when Aldridge shot him point-blank.
Relatives have said Cure likely resisted because of psychological trauma from spending 16 years imprisoned in Florida for an armed robbery he didn’t commit. Officials exonerated and freed him in 2020.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating Cure’s death and will submit its findings to prosecutors. Aldridge’s attorney said the video shows he fired in self-defense. Regardless, critics question whether he should have been wearing a badge given his history of aggression.
“This guy should have never been on the force,” said Timothy Bessent Sr., president of Camden County’s NAACP chapter.
The AP obtained Aldridge’s personnel records as well as reports and videos from the June 2022 chase and arrest using Georgia’s open records law.
A former U.S. Marine, Aldridge, 41, worked nearly five years for the Kingsland Police Department in Georgia’s southeast corner. His file shows Aldridge was disciplined for using unnecessary force in February 2014 and May 2017. The second time he was suspended for three days without pay.
The department fired Aldridge for his third infraction just three months later. Police records say Aldridge was assisting with a traffic stop when he tried to handcuff a woman — not to arrest her, but to keep her outside her car. One deputy told investigators Aldridge cuffed the woman after “picking her up and throwing her on the ground.” She was cited for letting an unlicensed person drive her car.
Aldridge was hired by the sheriff’s office in May 2018. He disclosed his firing on his job application.
Aldridge’s termination wouldn’t automatically disqualify him from working for another agency, though some would consider it a huge liability, said retired police Maj. Neill Franklin.
“If someone’s terminated from another police department for use of excessive force, they’re not getting hired by the Maryland State Police or the Baltimore Police Department,” said Franklin, who led training programs for both agencies. “It’s just not worth the risk.”
Bessent and other advocates say it’s an example of Camden County Sheriff Jim Proctor tolerating unnecessary violence.
Proctor, who has been sheriff for a decade, declined to comment. Spokesman Capt. Larry Bruce cited the investigation into Cure’s death and pending civil litigation involving other deputies.
Since last year, six Camden County deputies have been indicted on felony charges and fired for violence against jail detainees and a motorist.
In September 2022, jail security cameras recorded guards rushing into the cell of Jarrett Hobbs, who was punched in the head and neck and hurled against a wall. Hobbs was charged with assaulting jailers until his attorney obtained the video. His charges were dropped, and three deputies were indicted.
Two more jailers were charged and fired for incidents in March and July. Security video showed one push a detainee to the floor and punch him before another guard intervened. The other deputy shoved a handcuffed detainee headfirst into a door, knocking him unconscious.
“You’ve got these deputies running wild and doing what they want to do,” said Harry Daniels, a civil rights attorney who won a legal settlement for Hobbs. “The consequences have come from the GBI and the district attorney’s office. It should not come from an outside agency.”
He points to Christine Newman, named “Deputy of the Month” two months after a dash camera recorded her slapping a handcuffed driver across the face and slamming the woman’s head into a patrol SUV. The driver had refused to exit her vehicle after being pulled over for a rolling stop Jan. 16, 2022.
Newman was fired a year later after being indicted on charges including aggravated assault and violating her oath of office. She has pleaded not guilty. Newman’s attorney, Robert Persse, called her a “loyal deputy” whom he looks forward to defending in court.
The number of deputies facing charges “indicates a culture that may not encourage use of force, but certainly tolerates inappropriate use of force,” said retired LaGrange, Georgia, Police Chief Louis Dekmar.
“If folks are held accountable and there are clear lines, you generally don’t see that in law enforcement agencies,” said Dekmar, a former president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
A spike in claims involving the sheriff’s office caused Camden County’s government to get dropped by its insurance company in July, said Mike Spiers, the county’s risk management director. The county got new policies, he said, but its deductible for liability jumped from $25,000 per claim to $250,000.
Aldridge was placed on administrative leave while the GBI investigates Cure’s death.
“Buck Aldridge is a fine officer and the video speaks for itself,” said Adrienne Browning, Aldridge’s attorney. “It’s clear his life was in danger and he defended himself.”
Video released of the fatal confrontation along I-95 shows Aldridge telling Cure he’s being charged with reckless driving for speeding in excess of 100 mph (161 kph). Cure argues, but obeys commands to get out and put his hands on his truck. However, he ignores commands to put his hands behind him.
That’s when Aldridge fires his Taser into Cure’s back. Cure fights back, and video shows them grappling beside the highway. Cure maintains a grip on Aldridge’s face and neck after being struck with a baton.
“Yeah, bitch!” Cure says. Then he slumps to the ground after Aldridge fires a single shot.
Dekmar, Franklin and a third expert told AP they believe the shooting was legal, as Aldridge appeared to be in danger when he fired. But they also criticized how Aldridge began the encounter by shouting at Cure and said made no effort to deescalate.
“He escalated the situation with Mr. Cure,” said former Memphis police officer Thaddeus Johnson, a criminal justice professor at Georgia State University and a senior fellow for the Council on Criminal Justice. “He has no control over his emotions.”
Johnson said Aldridge showed a similar lack of control during a June 2022 arrest after chasing two speeding cars.
After one car crashes, body and dash camera video shows Aldridge shouting expletives as he approaches with his gun drawn. The driver is on his back when Aldridge starts dragging him headfirst from the car, then punches him.
The driver resists being cuffed but complies after another deputy’s dog bites him and Aldridge shocks him with a Taser. The driver was charged with drug trafficking, reckless driving and fleeing an officer.
Aldridge was promoted to staff sergeant two months later. His sheriff’s personnel file shows no disciplinary actions.
Johnson said he sees no justification for Aldridge punching the arrested driver. Even if prosecutors don’t charge him in Cure’s death, he said, “from what I saw in the video, he deserves to be fired.”
“We have to hold officers to a higher standard,” Johnson said, “even though they are human.”
View attachment 20093
Georgia deputy who shot absolved man had prior firing for excessive force
Staff Sgt. Buck Aldridge dragged a driver from a car that crashed after fleeing the deputy on Interstate 95
State Black Lives Matter co-founder endorses Trump: 'Democratic Party is not for us' | Just The News
It's great to read that Fisher is a realist, calls out the Demcrat machine and admits the need for someone like Trump to support the authentic BLM mission.
Female Cop Attacked! #crime #news
Check out https://donutoperator.com for more crime news!
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New book pulled from shelves in Netherlands after alleged 'royal racists' named
Endgame author says no version he wrote contained names of accused racists
Author of the article:Jane Stevenson
Published Nov 29, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 1 minute read
U.K. royal insider Omid Scobie found himself in the thick of it when the Dutch translation of his new book Endgame appeared to name two royal family members as “royal racists,” reported the Daily Mail.
Dutch royal journalist Rick Evers told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that the first name was “very specific,” while the second one was a “little bit vague.”
Scobie’s book has been pulled from sale in the Netherlands because of the transgression with the author’s Dutch publishers saying they were ordered by U.S. bosses to put sales “on hold” at the 11th hour.
In the English-language edition, Scobie doesn’t name the royal accused by Prince Harry’s wife Meghan Markle, during her interview with Oprah Winfrey, of expressing “concern” about the skin colour of her future son Archie.
The book alleges that in her letters to discuss the situation, the duchess claimed similar remarks were made by a second royal.
In the English and Italian versions, Scobie says he knows the names of both individuals, but “laws in the United Kingdom prevent me from reporting who they were.”
It’s not known why one foreign language version of the book would name a specific individual when no other editions appear to do so.
And there is no evidence the claim itself is even true.
Scobie told Dutch chat show RTL Boulevard that he did not mention a name in his manuscript, adding: “The book is available in a number of languages and unfortunately I can’t speak Dutch, so I haven’t seen the copy for myself, but if there have been any translation errors, I am sure the publisher has got it under control. For me, I edited and wrote the English version; there has never been a version that I’ve produced that has names in it.”
torontosun.com
Endgame author says no version he wrote contained names of accused racists
Author of the article:Jane Stevenson
Published Nov 29, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 1 minute read
U.K. royal insider Omid Scobie found himself in the thick of it when the Dutch translation of his new book Endgame appeared to name two royal family members as “royal racists,” reported the Daily Mail.
Dutch royal journalist Rick Evers told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that the first name was “very specific,” while the second one was a “little bit vague.”
Scobie’s book has been pulled from sale in the Netherlands because of the transgression with the author’s Dutch publishers saying they were ordered by U.S. bosses to put sales “on hold” at the 11th hour.
In the English-language edition, Scobie doesn’t name the royal accused by Prince Harry’s wife Meghan Markle, during her interview with Oprah Winfrey, of expressing “concern” about the skin colour of her future son Archie.
The book alleges that in her letters to discuss the situation, the duchess claimed similar remarks were made by a second royal.
In the English and Italian versions, Scobie says he knows the names of both individuals, but “laws in the United Kingdom prevent me from reporting who they were.”
It’s not known why one foreign language version of the book would name a specific individual when no other editions appear to do so.
And there is no evidence the claim itself is even true.
Scobie told Dutch chat show RTL Boulevard that he did not mention a name in his manuscript, adding: “The book is available in a number of languages and unfortunately I can’t speak Dutch, so I haven’t seen the copy for myself, but if there have been any translation errors, I am sure the publisher has got it under control. For me, I edited and wrote the English version; there has never been a version that I’ve produced that has names in it.”
New book pulled from shelves in Netherlands after alleged 'royal racists' named
Author Omid Scobie couldn't say why the Dutch translation of his new book, Endgame, appeared to name two family members as “royal racists."
Ex-Black Panther who maintained innocence in bombing that killed cop died in prison
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Josh Funk
Published Dec 08, 2023 • 2 minute read
OMAHA, Neb. — The second of two former Black Panthers who always maintained their innocence in the 1970 bombing death of a white Omaha police officer has died in prison.
A spokesman for the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services said Friday that Ed Poindexter had died a day earlier at the age of 79. David Rice, the other man convicted in the death of Omaha Police Officer Larry Minard, died in prison in 2016.
The pair argued that they were targeted because of their membership in the Black Panthers by an FBI program that undermined radical political groups, and they questioned the legitimacy of crucial testimony that helped convict them.
Poindexter and Rice both doubted the key witness in the case who implicated them in the bombing plot, but they were unsuccessful in numerous appeals. A recording of the phone call that lured Minard to a vacant house before a homemade explosive detonated appeared to have been made by an adult man even though a teen testified he made the call.
And a voice expert who analyzed it years later as part of one of Poindexter’s appeals said it was “highly probable” that the recording didn’t match the voice of the witness, who was granted immunity in exchange for his testimony. That teen testified that Poindexter and Rice directed him to plant the suitcase loaded with dynamite.
The recording of that police call was never played at trial, and in one of his appeals Poindexter said his lawyers at the time never even requested a copy of it.
But various judges decided the doubts about the recording raised later weren’t enough to warrant a new trial, and Poindexter and Rice’s life sentences were upheld. The Nebraska Pardons Board also refused to commute their sentences despite pleas from advocates.
Poindexter’s death will be investigated by a grand jury, as required by state law, though officials said he was being treated for an unnamed medical condition before he died. In an appeal to Nebraska’s newly elected governor a year ago, Poindexter’s advocates said he had advanced kidney disease and had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Josh Funk
Published Dec 08, 2023 • 2 minute read
OMAHA, Neb. — The second of two former Black Panthers who always maintained their innocence in the 1970 bombing death of a white Omaha police officer has died in prison.
A spokesman for the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services said Friday that Ed Poindexter had died a day earlier at the age of 79. David Rice, the other man convicted in the death of Omaha Police Officer Larry Minard, died in prison in 2016.
The pair argued that they were targeted because of their membership in the Black Panthers by an FBI program that undermined radical political groups, and they questioned the legitimacy of crucial testimony that helped convict them.
Poindexter and Rice both doubted the key witness in the case who implicated them in the bombing plot, but they were unsuccessful in numerous appeals. A recording of the phone call that lured Minard to a vacant house before a homemade explosive detonated appeared to have been made by an adult man even though a teen testified he made the call.
And a voice expert who analyzed it years later as part of one of Poindexter’s appeals said it was “highly probable” that the recording didn’t match the voice of the witness, who was granted immunity in exchange for his testimony. That teen testified that Poindexter and Rice directed him to plant the suitcase loaded with dynamite.
The recording of that police call was never played at trial, and in one of his appeals Poindexter said his lawyers at the time never even requested a copy of it.
But various judges decided the doubts about the recording raised later weren’t enough to warrant a new trial, and Poindexter and Rice’s life sentences were upheld. The Nebraska Pardons Board also refused to commute their sentences despite pleas from advocates.
Poindexter’s death will be investigated by a grand jury, as required by state law, though officials said he was being treated for an unnamed medical condition before he died. In an appeal to Nebraska’s newly elected governor a year ago, Poindexter’s advocates said he had advanced kidney disease and had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Ex-Black Panther who maintained innocence in bombing that killed cop died in prison
The second former Black Panther who always maintained his innocence in the 1970 bombing death of a white Omaha police officer has died
Boaters plead guilty in riverfront brawl; charge dismissed against riverboat co-captain
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Dec 08, 2023 • 1 minute read
A brawl involving several men at Riverfront Park in Montgomery, Ala., was captured in a video shared on social media
A brawl involving several people at Riverfront Park in Montgomery, Ala., was captured in a video shared on social media. PHOTO BY TWITTER SCREENGRAB /BoreCure
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Two white boaters on Friday pleaded guilty to harassment charges in connection with an Alabama riverfront braw l that drew national attention.
The two men pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge as part of a plea deal, according to court records. The August riverfront melee in Montgomery drew national attention after bystanders filmed white boaters hitting a Black riverboat co-captain and then crew members and bystanders rushing to his defense. Video of the fight was shared widely online, sparking countless memes and parodies.
A judge on Thursday also dismissed an assault charge filed by one of the white boaters against the riverboat co-captain. The Montgomery Police Department said the co-captain was a victim in the assaults.
Montgomery police said the brawl began when the white boaters refused to move their pontoon boat so the city-owned Harriott II riverboat could dock in its designated space. The boat’s co-captain said he was attacked after moving the pontoon boat a few feet to make way for the riverboat.
The guilty pleas concluded the last of the criminal cases brought against four white boaters in connection with the melee. The two men were ordered to complete an anger management class and perform community service. They will not serve any jail time unless they violate probation terms.
One white boater previously pleaded guilty to a charge of misdemeanor assault and was sentenced to serve 32 days in jail. Another white boater pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment. A Black man, who was filmed swinging a folding chair during the brawl, is charged with disorderly conduct and will go to court next week.
![alabama-brawl[1].jpg](https://forums.canadiancontent.net/data/attachments/18/18586-1dd6204dc38b916cfd87f42fc9dbd518.jpg "alabama-brawl[1].jpg")
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Dec 08, 2023 • 1 minute read
A brawl involving several men at Riverfront Park in Montgomery, Ala., was captured in a video shared on social media
A brawl involving several people at Riverfront Park in Montgomery, Ala., was captured in a video shared on social media. PHOTO BY TWITTER SCREENGRAB /BoreCure
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Two white boaters on Friday pleaded guilty to harassment charges in connection with an Alabama riverfront braw l that drew national attention.
The two men pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge as part of a plea deal, according to court records. The August riverfront melee in Montgomery drew national attention after bystanders filmed white boaters hitting a Black riverboat co-captain and then crew members and bystanders rushing to his defense. Video of the fight was shared widely online, sparking countless memes and parodies.
A judge on Thursday also dismissed an assault charge filed by one of the white boaters against the riverboat co-captain. The Montgomery Police Department said the co-captain was a victim in the assaults.
Montgomery police said the brawl began when the white boaters refused to move their pontoon boat so the city-owned Harriott II riverboat could dock in its designated space. The boat’s co-captain said he was attacked after moving the pontoon boat a few feet to make way for the riverboat.
The guilty pleas concluded the last of the criminal cases brought against four white boaters in connection with the melee. The two men were ordered to complete an anger management class and perform community service. They will not serve any jail time unless they violate probation terms.
One white boater previously pleaded guilty to a charge of misdemeanor assault and was sentenced to serve 32 days in jail. Another white boater pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment. A Black man, who was filmed swinging a folding chair during the brawl, is charged with disorderly conduct and will go to court next week.
Boaters plead guilty in riverfront brawl; charge dismissed against riverboat co-captain
Charge dismissed against riverboat co-captain.
Man imprisoned as teen for flower shop killing released after judge throws out conviction
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Steve Karnowski
Published Dec 11, 2023 • 3 minute read
MINNEAPOLIS — A 35-year-old man who was sent to prison for the 2004 killing of a man in a Minneapolis flower shop was released Monday after a judge ruled the eyewitness evidence on which his conviction rested was unreliable.
Marvin Haynes, who was 16 at the time of the killing, was released from prison shortly afterward the judge’s ruling.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said it agreed with defense attorneys that Haynes had proven in court that admitting the shaky evidence violated his constitutional rights during his 2005 trial for the killing of Randy Sherer, 55, who was shot during a robbery.
“I just want to thank everybody that supported me through this whole journey,” Haynes told reporters outside the prison. “And now y’all can recognize that I’m actually innocent.”
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement that Haynes’ prosecution was a “terrible injustice.” She said his conviction depended almost entirely on eyewitness identification and that there was no forensic evidence, such as fingerprints or DNA, nor video connecting him to the crime.
“We inflicted harm on Mr. Haynes and his family, and also on Harry Sherer, the victim, his family, and the community,” Moriarty said. “We cannot undo the trauma experienced by those impacted by this prosecution, but today we have taken a step toward righting this wrong.”
Moriarty said nearly 28% of cases nationally in which convictions are thrown out involve problems with eyewitness identification.
Judge William Koch held that absent the eyewitness evidence, which he said was unconstitutionally admitted, “it is doubtful there would have been sufficient evidence to sustain a conviction.” He noted that there was no physical evidence linking Haynes to the killing and dismissed all charges with prejudice, meaning they can’t be filed again.
Koch, who held a two-day evidentiary hearing on the case late last month, said in his order that Haynes’ attorneys, from the Innocence Project, showed he did not match the physical description provided by the primary eyewitness. Haynes was “significantly younger” than description of the killer, about 50 pounds (22 kilograms) lighter and “significantly shorter,” the judge said. Haynes also had “much longer hair” than how the witness described the attacker, and his “manner of speech was not similar.”
The judge also found problems with how investigators conducted a photo lineup that did not include Haynes. The person the witness initially identified, saying she was 75-80% sure, was in another state at the time of the killing. Investigators used an old photo in another lineup from when Haynes had close-cropped hair, but he had grown it long since them. The eyewitness did not identify Haynes as the killer until a third lineup and in her trial testimony.
During the hearing, Haynes maintained his innocence, and four of his sisters testified he was asleep at home shortly before the killing.
“We are delighted to see Marvin finally regain his freedom and for the truth of his innocence to win out,” Attorney Andrew Markquart of the Great North Innocence Project, said in a statement. “We are thankful to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for recognizing the strength of Marvin’s claim and for demonstrating the most noble ideals of the prosecutor in recognizing past errors and prioritizing justice as the highest value.”
It’s “well established that subjecting witnesses to multiple viewings of a suspect risks tainting the identification, the group noted.
At the time of Haynes’ conviction, the county attorney was Amy Klobuchar, who is now Minnesota’s senior U.S. senator. Moriarty, who was formerly the county’s chief public defender, said she was “deeply sorry” for all the opportunities Haynes missed while he spent more than half his life in prison.
“Doing the right thing sometimes means we must seek to undo the harms of the past, not defend them. And that is what we have tried to do today,” Moriarty said. “It is not easy to admit and correct our wrongs. But it is necessary.”
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Steve Karnowski
Published Dec 11, 2023 • 3 minute read
MINNEAPOLIS — A 35-year-old man who was sent to prison for the 2004 killing of a man in a Minneapolis flower shop was released Monday after a judge ruled the eyewitness evidence on which his conviction rested was unreliable.
Marvin Haynes, who was 16 at the time of the killing, was released from prison shortly afterward the judge’s ruling.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said it agreed with defense attorneys that Haynes had proven in court that admitting the shaky evidence violated his constitutional rights during his 2005 trial for the killing of Randy Sherer, 55, who was shot during a robbery.
“I just want to thank everybody that supported me through this whole journey,” Haynes told reporters outside the prison. “And now y’all can recognize that I’m actually innocent.”
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement that Haynes’ prosecution was a “terrible injustice.” She said his conviction depended almost entirely on eyewitness identification and that there was no forensic evidence, such as fingerprints or DNA, nor video connecting him to the crime.
“We inflicted harm on Mr. Haynes and his family, and also on Harry Sherer, the victim, his family, and the community,” Moriarty said. “We cannot undo the trauma experienced by those impacted by this prosecution, but today we have taken a step toward righting this wrong.”
Moriarty said nearly 28% of cases nationally in which convictions are thrown out involve problems with eyewitness identification.
Judge William Koch held that absent the eyewitness evidence, which he said was unconstitutionally admitted, “it is doubtful there would have been sufficient evidence to sustain a conviction.” He noted that there was no physical evidence linking Haynes to the killing and dismissed all charges with prejudice, meaning they can’t be filed again.
Koch, who held a two-day evidentiary hearing on the case late last month, said in his order that Haynes’ attorneys, from the Innocence Project, showed he did not match the physical description provided by the primary eyewitness. Haynes was “significantly younger” than description of the killer, about 50 pounds (22 kilograms) lighter and “significantly shorter,” the judge said. Haynes also had “much longer hair” than how the witness described the attacker, and his “manner of speech was not similar.”
The judge also found problems with how investigators conducted a photo lineup that did not include Haynes. The person the witness initially identified, saying she was 75-80% sure, was in another state at the time of the killing. Investigators used an old photo in another lineup from when Haynes had close-cropped hair, but he had grown it long since them. The eyewitness did not identify Haynes as the killer until a third lineup and in her trial testimony.
During the hearing, Haynes maintained his innocence, and four of his sisters testified he was asleep at home shortly before the killing.
“We are delighted to see Marvin finally regain his freedom and for the truth of his innocence to win out,” Attorney Andrew Markquart of the Great North Innocence Project, said in a statement. “We are thankful to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for recognizing the strength of Marvin’s claim and for demonstrating the most noble ideals of the prosecutor in recognizing past errors and prioritizing justice as the highest value.”
It’s “well established that subjecting witnesses to multiple viewings of a suspect risks tainting the identification, the group noted.
At the time of Haynes’ conviction, the county attorney was Amy Klobuchar, who is now Minnesota’s senior U.S. senator. Moriarty, who was formerly the county’s chief public defender, said she was “deeply sorry” for all the opportunities Haynes missed while he spent more than half his life in prison.
“Doing the right thing sometimes means we must seek to undo the harms of the past, not defend them. And that is what we have tried to do today,” Moriarty said. “It is not easy to admit and correct our wrongs. But it is necessary.”
Man imprisoned as teen for flower shop killing released after judge throws out conviction
A 35-year-old man who was sent to prison for the 2004 killing of a man in a Minneapolis flower shop was released Monday
I'm amazed that they can find a person guilty based only on eye witnesses since it's been shown over & over again that eye witness ID are completely unreliable unless backed up by other evidence. I don't get it!Man imprisoned as teen for flower shop killing released after judge throws out conviction
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Steve Karnowski
Published Dec 11, 2023 • 3 minute read
MINNEAPOLIS — A 35-year-old man who was sent to prison for the 2004 killing of a man in a Minneapolis flower shop was released Monday after a judge ruled the eyewitness evidence on which his conviction rested was unreliable.
Marvin Haynes, who was 16 at the time of the killing, was released from prison shortly afterward the judge’s ruling.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said it agreed with defense attorneys that Haynes had proven in court that admitting the shaky evidence violated his constitutional rights during his 2005 trial for the killing of Randy Sherer, 55, who was shot during a robbery.
“I just want to thank everybody that supported me through this whole journey,” Haynes told reporters outside the prison. “And now y’all can recognize that I’m actually innocent.”
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement that Haynes’ prosecution was a “terrible injustice.” She said his conviction depended almost entirely on eyewitness identification and that there was no forensic evidence, such as fingerprints or DNA, nor video connecting him to the crime.
“We inflicted harm on Mr. Haynes and his family, and also on Harry Sherer, the victim, his family, and the community,” Moriarty said. “We cannot undo the trauma experienced by those impacted by this prosecution, but today we have taken a step toward righting this wrong.”
Moriarty said nearly 28% of cases nationally in which convictions are thrown out involve problems with eyewitness identification.
Judge William Koch held that absent the eyewitness evidence, which he said was unconstitutionally admitted, “it is doubtful there would have been sufficient evidence to sustain a conviction.” He noted that there was no physical evidence linking Haynes to the killing and dismissed all charges with prejudice, meaning they can’t be filed again.
Koch, who held a two-day evidentiary hearing on the case late last month, said in his order that Haynes’ attorneys, from the Innocence Project, showed he did not match the physical description provided by the primary eyewitness. Haynes was “significantly younger” than description of the killer, about 50 pounds (22 kilograms) lighter and “significantly shorter,” the judge said. Haynes also had “much longer hair” than how the witness described the attacker, and his “manner of speech was not similar.”
The judge also found problems with how investigators conducted a photo lineup that did not include Haynes. The person the witness initially identified, saying she was 75-80% sure, was in another state at the time of the killing. Investigators used an old photo in another lineup from when Haynes had close-cropped hair, but he had grown it long since them. The eyewitness did not identify Haynes as the killer until a third lineup and in her trial testimony.
During the hearing, Haynes maintained his innocence, and four of his sisters testified he was asleep at home shortly before the killing.
“We are delighted to see Marvin finally regain his freedom and for the truth of his innocence to win out,” Attorney Andrew Markquart of the Great North Innocence Project, said in a statement. “We are thankful to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for recognizing the strength of Marvin’s claim and for demonstrating the most noble ideals of the prosecutor in recognizing past errors and prioritizing justice as the highest value.”
It’s “well established that subjecting witnesses to multiple viewings of a suspect risks tainting the identification, the group noted.
At the time of Haynes’ conviction, the county attorney was Amy Klobuchar, who is now Minnesota’s senior U.S. senator. Moriarty, who was formerly the county’s chief public defender, said she was “deeply sorry” for all the opportunities Haynes missed while he spent more than half his life in prison.
“Doing the right thing sometimes means we must seek to undo the harms of the past, not defend them. And that is what we have tried to do today,” Moriarty said. “It is not easy to admit and correct our wrongs. But it is necessary.”
Man imprisoned as teen for flower shop killing released after judge throws out conviction
A 35-year-old man who was sent to prison for the 2004 killing of a man in a Minneapolis flower shop was released Monday
New videos show broader view of violent encounter between woman and N.C. cops
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Sarah Brumfield, John Raby And James Pollard
Published Dec 12, 2023 • 3 minute read
officers hold a woman down on the ground
This image made from video provided by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., Police Department shows officers hold a woman down on the ground while arresting her. PHOTO BY CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG POLICE DEPARTMENT /Associated Press
Police released video on Tuesday from an arrest in North Carolina last month showing that before an officer repeatedly punched a Black woman while others held her down, the woman struck an officer in the face and he responded by hitting her back and knocking her off her feet.
The newly released videos provide a broader view of the Nov. 13 encounter at a Charlotte bus stop than the initial bystander videos that were posted on social media.
One of those bystander videos showed four officers kneeling and holding the woman down as a fifth repeatedly struck her with a closed fist. As it was happening, bystanders shouted at the officers to stop. After a few seconds, the officers stood and led the woman to a squad SUV with her arms behind her back.
After the arrest, the department said that the officer who repeatedly struck the woman on the ground had been “intentional” about how he hit her in order to get her to comply. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg officer, who had responded to that day as backup, delivered seven knee strikes and 10 punches to the peroneal nerve in the woman’s thigh — actions that were consistent with his training, Lt. Kevin Pietrus told reporters.
Police body camera footage released Tuesday show that officers approached the woman and a man as they were sitting at a bus stop in front of a Bojangles restaurant. The pair explained that they had just gotten off work, and the woman asked what they had done wrong.
One officer said it smelled like the two were smoking marijuana, to which the pair said they were smoking a legal cannabis compound they had bought from a smoke shop. Marijuana is not legal in North Carolina, but sales of certain types of related products are.
An officer then leaned down, took the man’s arm and said, “Do me a favour, put your hands behind your back.”
The woman moved toward that officer demanding to know what he was doing, and a second officer took her arm and pulled her away from the bus stop bench, telling her to put her hands behind her back. His body camera the fell to the ground and was facing skyward as he pulled the woman by her arm.
The woman could be heard screaming “Why are you touching me? Stop!” And as they struggled and moved into and out of the camera’s view, she could be seen striking the officer.
A video taken by a bystander from across a parking lot shows the exchange of punches between the woman and the officer. In it, the bystander could be heard saying, “I’m pretty sure you’re not allowed to do that to police.”
In another video, a crowd of onlookers and coworkers of the two being arrested shouted at officers who had gathered around the woman on the sidewalk. “You punched the hell out of a woman like that. How you going to punch the hell out of a woman like that, bruh?” one onlooker asked.
In other videos, an officer could be seen using a knee and fist to strike the woman’s thigh repeatedly as she was being asked to put her hands behind her back while laying on the ground. A chaotic blend of voices grew in the background as more officers arrived. “Quit kneeing her, man! Quit it! Quit it!” an onlooker yelled as police walked the male coworker away.
The man and woman, who was identified in court documents as a 24-year-old Black woman from Charlotte, were both arrested after the confrontation that day. He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and she was charged with assaulting a government official. Both were also charged with resisting officers and marijuana possession. All of the charges were later dropped.
The department said that its internal affairs bureau was investigating the encounter, and Jennings speculated last month that other agencies might eventually conduct their own probes. The officer who repeatedly struck the woman on the ground was reassigned temporarily from the patrol division to investigations. A department spokesperson said the department does not release information about officers’ races.
Police Chief Johnny Jennings said at a news conference last month that he understood “the outrage.” He questioned whether officers should have initiated arrests for marijuana use “even though we can,” and whether the woman should have interfered with the man’s arrest and struck officers.
![Officer-Strikes-Woman-2023-12-12[1].jpg](https://forums.canadiancontent.net/data/attachments/18/18629-8b4902a46ddeb029b7dc4e1784d50df3.jpg "Officer-Strikes-Woman-2023-12-12[1].jpg")
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Sarah Brumfield, John Raby And James Pollard
Published Dec 12, 2023 • 3 minute read
officers hold a woman down on the ground
This image made from video provided by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., Police Department shows officers hold a woman down on the ground while arresting her. PHOTO BY CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG POLICE DEPARTMENT /Associated Press
Police released video on Tuesday from an arrest in North Carolina last month showing that before an officer repeatedly punched a Black woman while others held her down, the woman struck an officer in the face and he responded by hitting her back and knocking her off her feet.
The newly released videos provide a broader view of the Nov. 13 encounter at a Charlotte bus stop than the initial bystander videos that were posted on social media.
One of those bystander videos showed four officers kneeling and holding the woman down as a fifth repeatedly struck her with a closed fist. As it was happening, bystanders shouted at the officers to stop. After a few seconds, the officers stood and led the woman to a squad SUV with her arms behind her back.
After the arrest, the department said that the officer who repeatedly struck the woman on the ground had been “intentional” about how he hit her in order to get her to comply. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg officer, who had responded to that day as backup, delivered seven knee strikes and 10 punches to the peroneal nerve in the woman’s thigh — actions that were consistent with his training, Lt. Kevin Pietrus told reporters.
Police body camera footage released Tuesday show that officers approached the woman and a man as they were sitting at a bus stop in front of a Bojangles restaurant. The pair explained that they had just gotten off work, and the woman asked what they had done wrong.
One officer said it smelled like the two were smoking marijuana, to which the pair said they were smoking a legal cannabis compound they had bought from a smoke shop. Marijuana is not legal in North Carolina, but sales of certain types of related products are.
An officer then leaned down, took the man’s arm and said, “Do me a favour, put your hands behind your back.”
The woman moved toward that officer demanding to know what he was doing, and a second officer took her arm and pulled her away from the bus stop bench, telling her to put her hands behind her back. His body camera the fell to the ground and was facing skyward as he pulled the woman by her arm.
The woman could be heard screaming “Why are you touching me? Stop!” And as they struggled and moved into and out of the camera’s view, she could be seen striking the officer.
A video taken by a bystander from across a parking lot shows the exchange of punches between the woman and the officer. In it, the bystander could be heard saying, “I’m pretty sure you’re not allowed to do that to police.”
In another video, a crowd of onlookers and coworkers of the two being arrested shouted at officers who had gathered around the woman on the sidewalk. “You punched the hell out of a woman like that. How you going to punch the hell out of a woman like that, bruh?” one onlooker asked.
In other videos, an officer could be seen using a knee and fist to strike the woman’s thigh repeatedly as she was being asked to put her hands behind her back while laying on the ground. A chaotic blend of voices grew in the background as more officers arrived. “Quit kneeing her, man! Quit it! Quit it!” an onlooker yelled as police walked the male coworker away.
The man and woman, who was identified in court documents as a 24-year-old Black woman from Charlotte, were both arrested after the confrontation that day. He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and she was charged with assaulting a government official. Both were also charged with resisting officers and marijuana possession. All of the charges were later dropped.
The department said that its internal affairs bureau was investigating the encounter, and Jennings speculated last month that other agencies might eventually conduct their own probes. The officer who repeatedly struck the woman on the ground was reassigned temporarily from the patrol division to investigations. A department spokesperson said the department does not release information about officers’ races.
Police Chief Johnny Jennings said at a news conference last month that he understood “the outrage.” He questioned whether officers should have initiated arrests for marijuana use “even though we can,” and whether the woman should have interfered with the man’s arrest and struck officers.
New videos show broader view of violent encounter between woman and N.C. cops
Police released video from an arrest in North Carolina showing that an officer repeatedly punched a Black woman while others held her down