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Jury convicts white Florida woman in fatal shooting of her Black neighbour
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Curt Anderson
Published Aug 16, 2024 • 3 minute read
081624-Neighbor-Shot-Florida
A white Florida woman was convicted Friday of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a Black neighbour after the jury rejected her claims that she fired through a metal door in self-defense amid an ongoing dispute over children playing outside her home.
The all-white jury in Ocala, Florida, found 60-year-old Susan Lorincz guilty after 2 1/2 hours of deliberation. Lorincz faces up to 30 years in prison at sentencing. She had claimed self-defense when she fired a single shot with a .380-caliber handgun through her front door on June 2, 2023, killing 35-year-old Ajike “A.J.” Owens.
The confrontation was the latest in a dispute between the two neighbours over Owens’ children playing in a grassy area near both of their houses. Prosecutors said Owens had come to Lorincz’s home after her children complained that she had allegedly thrown roller skates and an umbrella at them amid a long-running annoyance at their boisterous play outside.
Lorincz told detectives in a videotaped interview that she feared for her life as Owens yelled and pounded on her door.
“I thought I was in imminent danger,” she said.
Lorincz also said she had been harassed for most of the three years she lived in the neighbourhood.
The victim’s family members broke down in tears after Lorincz left the courtroom with deputies. She showed no reaction or emotion when the verdict was announced.
081624-Neighbor-Shot-Florida
Pamela Dias, center, Ajike “A.J.” Owens’ mother, is consoled by friends and family outside the courtroom after a jury found Susan Lorincz guilty of manslaughter in the shooting death of her daughter, Friday afternoon, Aug. 16, 2024, in Ocala, Fla.
Circuit Judge Robert W. Hodges did not immediately set a sentencing date but ordered a background report to be done on Lorincz.
Anthony Thomas, an attorney for the Owens family, said they would push for the maximum 30-year prison term. Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, said she took some solace from the guilty verdict.
“We’ve achieved some justice for Ajike. My heart is a little lighter,” Dias told reporters outside the courthouse. “This has been a long journey to get to this stage, to get to this verdict. I find some peace with that verdict.”
State Attorney William Gladson, whose office prosecuted the case, said it was “a tragic reminder” of the consequences of gun violence.
“The defendant’s choices have left four young children without their mother, a loss that will be felt for the rest of their lives,” Gladson said in a statement. “While today’s verdict can’t bring A.J. back, we hope it brings some measure of justice and peace to her family and friends.”
During closing arguments, prosecutor Rich Buxman had said there was no evidence that Owens posed an imminent physical threat to Lorincz.
“It’s not a crime to bang on somebody’s door. It’s not a crime to yell,” Buxman told jurors. “There was no imminent danger whatsoever when she fired that gun.”
A lawyer for Lorincz countered that she was frightened by Owens’ aggressive actions and was legally justified in firing her gun under Florida’s “stand your ground” law. An autopsy found Owens weighed about 290 pounds (130 kilograms), making her much larger as well as younger than Lorincz, and the two had previous confrontations.
“She can defend herself,” said Amanda Sizemore, an assistant public defender. “She had a split second to make a decision whether or not to fire her weapon.”
Lorincz did not testify but said in an interview with detectives that was played for jurors that she never intended to harm Owens. Still, in one 911 call, Lorincz told a dispatcher, “I’m just sick of these children.”
“She was not in fear. She was angry,” Buxman said.
Owens’ family has expressed surprise no Black jurors were selected for the trial given the racially sensitive nature of the case. There were protests in the Black community when prosecutors took weeks to charge Lorincz with manslaughter, a lesser count than second-degree murder which carries a potential life prison sentence.
The county court clerk’s office said in an email that eight Black people were among the 70 in the initial jury pool. In contrast, 49 were white and 10 were listed as Hispanic, two as Asian and one as “other,” the clerk’s office said, based on records provided by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
Ocala is about 80 miles (130 kilometres) northwest of Orlando in central Florida. Marion County’s Black population is about 12%, according to census figures.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Curt Anderson
Published Aug 16, 2024 • 3 minute read
081624-Neighbor-Shot-Florida
A white Florida woman was convicted Friday of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a Black neighbour after the jury rejected her claims that she fired through a metal door in self-defense amid an ongoing dispute over children playing outside her home.
The all-white jury in Ocala, Florida, found 60-year-old Susan Lorincz guilty after 2 1/2 hours of deliberation. Lorincz faces up to 30 years in prison at sentencing. She had claimed self-defense when she fired a single shot with a .380-caliber handgun through her front door on June 2, 2023, killing 35-year-old Ajike “A.J.” Owens.
The confrontation was the latest in a dispute between the two neighbours over Owens’ children playing in a grassy area near both of their houses. Prosecutors said Owens had come to Lorincz’s home after her children complained that she had allegedly thrown roller skates and an umbrella at them amid a long-running annoyance at their boisterous play outside.
Lorincz told detectives in a videotaped interview that she feared for her life as Owens yelled and pounded on her door.
“I thought I was in imminent danger,” she said.
Lorincz also said she had been harassed for most of the three years she lived in the neighbourhood.
The victim’s family members broke down in tears after Lorincz left the courtroom with deputies. She showed no reaction or emotion when the verdict was announced.
081624-Neighbor-Shot-Florida
Pamela Dias, center, Ajike “A.J.” Owens’ mother, is consoled by friends and family outside the courtroom after a jury found Susan Lorincz guilty of manslaughter in the shooting death of her daughter, Friday afternoon, Aug. 16, 2024, in Ocala, Fla.
Circuit Judge Robert W. Hodges did not immediately set a sentencing date but ordered a background report to be done on Lorincz.
Anthony Thomas, an attorney for the Owens family, said they would push for the maximum 30-year prison term. Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, said she took some solace from the guilty verdict.
“We’ve achieved some justice for Ajike. My heart is a little lighter,” Dias told reporters outside the courthouse. “This has been a long journey to get to this stage, to get to this verdict. I find some peace with that verdict.”
State Attorney William Gladson, whose office prosecuted the case, said it was “a tragic reminder” of the consequences of gun violence.
“The defendant’s choices have left four young children without their mother, a loss that will be felt for the rest of their lives,” Gladson said in a statement. “While today’s verdict can’t bring A.J. back, we hope it brings some measure of justice and peace to her family and friends.”
During closing arguments, prosecutor Rich Buxman had said there was no evidence that Owens posed an imminent physical threat to Lorincz.
“It’s not a crime to bang on somebody’s door. It’s not a crime to yell,” Buxman told jurors. “There was no imminent danger whatsoever when she fired that gun.”
A lawyer for Lorincz countered that she was frightened by Owens’ aggressive actions and was legally justified in firing her gun under Florida’s “stand your ground” law. An autopsy found Owens weighed about 290 pounds (130 kilograms), making her much larger as well as younger than Lorincz, and the two had previous confrontations.
“She can defend herself,” said Amanda Sizemore, an assistant public defender. “She had a split second to make a decision whether or not to fire her weapon.”
Lorincz did not testify but said in an interview with detectives that was played for jurors that she never intended to harm Owens. Still, in one 911 call, Lorincz told a dispatcher, “I’m just sick of these children.”
“She was not in fear. She was angry,” Buxman said.
Owens’ family has expressed surprise no Black jurors were selected for the trial given the racially sensitive nature of the case. There were protests in the Black community when prosecutors took weeks to charge Lorincz with manslaughter, a lesser count than second-degree murder which carries a potential life prison sentence.
The county court clerk’s office said in an email that eight Black people were among the 70 in the initial jury pool. In contrast, 49 were white and 10 were listed as Hispanic, two as Asian and one as “other,” the clerk’s office said, based on records provided by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
Ocala is about 80 miles (130 kilometres) northwest of Orlando in central Florida. Marion County’s Black population is about 12%, according to census figures.
Jury convicts white Florida woman in fatal shooting of her Black neighbour
"She was not in fear. She was angry," Buxman said.
Mississippi ex-deputy seeks shorter sentence in racist torture of 2 Black men
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Emily Wagster Pettus
Published Aug 26, 2024 • 3 minute read
FILE - Brett McAlpin, one of six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to a long list of state and federal charges enters the Rankin County Circuit Court for the state sentencing for his involvement in the 2023 racially motivated torture of two Black men, April 10, 2024, in Brandon, Miss.
FILE - Brett McAlpin, one of six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to a long list of state and federal charges enters the Rankin County Circuit Court for the state sentencing for his involvement in the 2023 racially motivated torture of two Black men, April 10, 2024, in Brandon, Miss.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A former Mississippi sheriff’s deputy is seeking a shorter federal prison sentence for his part in the torture of two Black men, a case that drew condemnation from top U.S. law enforcement officials, including Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Brett McAlpin is one of six white former law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty in 2023 to breaking into a home without a warrant and engaging in an hourslong attack that included beatings, repeated use of Tasers, and assaults with a sex toy before one victim was shot in the mouth.
The officers were sentenced in March, receiving terms of 10 to 40 years. McAlpin, who was chief investigator for the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department, received about 27 years, the second-longest sentence.
The length of McAlpin’s sentence was “unreasonable” because he waited in his truck while other officers carried out the torture of Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker, McAlpin’s attorney, Theodore Cooperstein, wrote in arguments filed Friday to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
“Brett was drawn into the scene as events unfolded and went out of control, but he maintained a peripheral distance as the other officers acted,” Cooperstein wrote. “Although Brett failed to stop things he saw and knew were wrong, he did not order, initiate, or partake in violent abuse of the two victims.”
Prosecutors said the terror began Jan. 24, 2023, when a white person phoned McAlpin and complained two Black men were staying with a white woman in the small town of Braxton. McAlpin told deputy Christian Dedmon, who texted a group of white deputies so willing to use excessive force they called themselves “The Goon Squad.”
In the grisly details of the case, local residents saw echoes of Mississippi’s history of racist atrocities by people in authority. The difference this time is that those who abused their power paid a steep price for their crimes, said attorneys for the victims.
U.S. District Judge Tom Lee called the former officers’ actions “egregious and despicable” and gave sentences near the top of federal guidelines to five of the six men who attacked Jenkins and Parker.
“The depravity of the crimes committed by these defendants cannot be overstated,” Garland said after federal sentencing of the six former officers.
McAlpin, 53, is in a federal prison in West Virginia.
Cooperstein is asking the appeals court to toss out McAlpin’s sentence and order a district judge to set a shorter one. Cooperstein wrote that “the collective weight of all the bad deeds of the night piled up in the memory and impressions of the court and the public, so that Brett McAlpin, sentenced last, bore the brunt of all that others had done.”
McAlpin apologized before he was sentenced March 21, but did not look at the victims as he spoke.
“This was all wrong, very wrong. It’s not how people should treat each other and even more so, it’s not how law enforcement should treat people,” McAlpin said. “I’m really sorry for being a part of something that made law enforcement look so bad.”
Federal prosecutor Christopher Perras argued for a lengthy sentence, saying McAlpin was not a member of the Goon Squad but “molded the men into the goons they became.”
One of the victims, Parker, told investigators that McAlpin functioned like a “mafia don” as he instructed officers throughout the evening. Prosecutors said other deputies often tried to impress McAlpin, and the attorney for Daniel Opdyke, one of the other officers, said his client saw McAlpin as a father figure.
The six former officers also pleaded guilty to charges in state court and were sentenced in April.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Emily Wagster Pettus
Published Aug 26, 2024 • 3 minute read
FILE - Brett McAlpin, one of six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to a long list of state and federal charges enters the Rankin County Circuit Court for the state sentencing for his involvement in the 2023 racially motivated torture of two Black men, April 10, 2024, in Brandon, Miss.
FILE - Brett McAlpin, one of six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to a long list of state and federal charges enters the Rankin County Circuit Court for the state sentencing for his involvement in the 2023 racially motivated torture of two Black men, April 10, 2024, in Brandon, Miss.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A former Mississippi sheriff’s deputy is seeking a shorter federal prison sentence for his part in the torture of two Black men, a case that drew condemnation from top U.S. law enforcement officials, including Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Brett McAlpin is one of six white former law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty in 2023 to breaking into a home without a warrant and engaging in an hourslong attack that included beatings, repeated use of Tasers, and assaults with a sex toy before one victim was shot in the mouth.
The officers were sentenced in March, receiving terms of 10 to 40 years. McAlpin, who was chief investigator for the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department, received about 27 years, the second-longest sentence.
The length of McAlpin’s sentence was “unreasonable” because he waited in his truck while other officers carried out the torture of Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker, McAlpin’s attorney, Theodore Cooperstein, wrote in arguments filed Friday to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
“Brett was drawn into the scene as events unfolded and went out of control, but he maintained a peripheral distance as the other officers acted,” Cooperstein wrote. “Although Brett failed to stop things he saw and knew were wrong, he did not order, initiate, or partake in violent abuse of the two victims.”
Prosecutors said the terror began Jan. 24, 2023, when a white person phoned McAlpin and complained two Black men were staying with a white woman in the small town of Braxton. McAlpin told deputy Christian Dedmon, who texted a group of white deputies so willing to use excessive force they called themselves “The Goon Squad.”
In the grisly details of the case, local residents saw echoes of Mississippi’s history of racist atrocities by people in authority. The difference this time is that those who abused their power paid a steep price for their crimes, said attorneys for the victims.
U.S. District Judge Tom Lee called the former officers’ actions “egregious and despicable” and gave sentences near the top of federal guidelines to five of the six men who attacked Jenkins and Parker.
“The depravity of the crimes committed by these defendants cannot be overstated,” Garland said after federal sentencing of the six former officers.
McAlpin, 53, is in a federal prison in West Virginia.
Cooperstein is asking the appeals court to toss out McAlpin’s sentence and order a district judge to set a shorter one. Cooperstein wrote that “the collective weight of all the bad deeds of the night piled up in the memory and impressions of the court and the public, so that Brett McAlpin, sentenced last, bore the brunt of all that others had done.”
McAlpin apologized before he was sentenced March 21, but did not look at the victims as he spoke.
“This was all wrong, very wrong. It’s not how people should treat each other and even more so, it’s not how law enforcement should treat people,” McAlpin said. “I’m really sorry for being a part of something that made law enforcement look so bad.”
Federal prosecutor Christopher Perras argued for a lengthy sentence, saying McAlpin was not a member of the Goon Squad but “molded the men into the goons they became.”
One of the victims, Parker, told investigators that McAlpin functioned like a “mafia don” as he instructed officers throughout the evening. Prosecutors said other deputies often tried to impress McAlpin, and the attorney for Daniel Opdyke, one of the other officers, said his client saw McAlpin as a father figure.
The six former officers also pleaded guilty to charges in state court and were sentenced in April.
Mississippi ex-deputy seeks shorter sentence in racist torture of 2 Black men
McAlpin, 53, is in a federal prison in West Virginia.
Ex-sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot Black airman at his home arrested
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Curt Anderson And Jeff Martin
Published Aug 26, 2024 • 2 minute read
FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. — A former Florida sheriff’s deputy charged with killing a Black U.S. Air Force senior airman who answered his apartment door while holding a gun pointed toward the ground was arrested Monday, officials said.
Former Okaloosa County deputy Eddie Duran, 38, was charged with manslaughter with a firearm in the May 3 shooting death of 23-year-old Roger Fortson, Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille announced Friday. The charge is a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
Duran was booked into the county jail Monday, records show. Marcille confirmed his arrest to The Associated Press.
“He did, in fact, turn himself in,” Marcille said in a telephone interview, adding that Duran’s initial court appearance will be via video link Tuesday morning. “He will be held in custody pending his initial appearance.”
An attorney representing Duran did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Authorities say Duran had been directed to Fortson’s Fort Walton Beach apartment in response to a domestic disturbance report that turned out to be false.
After repeated knocking, Fortson opened the door while holding his handgun at his side, pointed down. Authorities say that Duran shot him multiple times; only then did he tell Fortson to drop the gun.
On Friday, the day the charge was announced, candles and framed photos of Fortson in uniform graced the doorway of the apartment where he was killed.
According to the internal affairs report of the shooting, Duran told investigators that when Fortson opened the door, he saw aggression in the airman’s eyes. He said he fired because, “I’m standing there thinking I’m about to get shot, I’m about to die.”
Okaloosa Sheriff Eric Aden fired Duran on May 31 after an internal investigation concluded his life was not in danger when he opened fire. Outside law enforcement experts have also said that an officer cannot shoot only because a possible suspect is holding a gun if there is no threat.
Duran is a law enforcement veteran, starting as a military police officer in the Army. He joined the Okaloosa County sheriff’s office in July 2019, but resigned two years later, saying his wife, a nurse, had been transferred to a Naval hospital out of the area. He rejoined the sheriff’s office in June 2023.
Okaloosa personnel records show he was reprimanded in 2021 for not completing his assignment to confirm the addresses of three registered sex offenders by visiting their homes, telling a colleague he didn’t care about them. Then assigned to a high school as its on-campus deputy, he was also disciplined that year for leaving the school before the final bell and the students’ departure. Florida law requires that an armed guard be on campus when class is in session.
Records of 911 calls show deputies had never been called to Fortson’s apartment previously but they had been summoned to a nearby unit 10 times in the previous eight months, including once for a domestic disturbance.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Curt Anderson And Jeff Martin
Published Aug 26, 2024 • 2 minute read
FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. — A former Florida sheriff’s deputy charged with killing a Black U.S. Air Force senior airman who answered his apartment door while holding a gun pointed toward the ground was arrested Monday, officials said.
Former Okaloosa County deputy Eddie Duran, 38, was charged with manslaughter with a firearm in the May 3 shooting death of 23-year-old Roger Fortson, Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille announced Friday. The charge is a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
Duran was booked into the county jail Monday, records show. Marcille confirmed his arrest to The Associated Press.
“He did, in fact, turn himself in,” Marcille said in a telephone interview, adding that Duran’s initial court appearance will be via video link Tuesday morning. “He will be held in custody pending his initial appearance.”
An attorney representing Duran did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Authorities say Duran had been directed to Fortson’s Fort Walton Beach apartment in response to a domestic disturbance report that turned out to be false.
After repeated knocking, Fortson opened the door while holding his handgun at his side, pointed down. Authorities say that Duran shot him multiple times; only then did he tell Fortson to drop the gun.
On Friday, the day the charge was announced, candles and framed photos of Fortson in uniform graced the doorway of the apartment where he was killed.
According to the internal affairs report of the shooting, Duran told investigators that when Fortson opened the door, he saw aggression in the airman’s eyes. He said he fired because, “I’m standing there thinking I’m about to get shot, I’m about to die.”
Okaloosa Sheriff Eric Aden fired Duran on May 31 after an internal investigation concluded his life was not in danger when he opened fire. Outside law enforcement experts have also said that an officer cannot shoot only because a possible suspect is holding a gun if there is no threat.
Duran is a law enforcement veteran, starting as a military police officer in the Army. He joined the Okaloosa County sheriff’s office in July 2019, but resigned two years later, saying his wife, a nurse, had been transferred to a Naval hospital out of the area. He rejoined the sheriff’s office in June 2023.
Okaloosa personnel records show he was reprimanded in 2021 for not completing his assignment to confirm the addresses of three registered sex offenders by visiting their homes, telling a colleague he didn’t care about them. Then assigned to a high school as its on-campus deputy, he was also disciplined that year for leaving the school before the final bell and the students’ departure. Florida law requires that an armed guard be on campus when class is in session.
Records of 911 calls show deputies had never been called to Fortson’s apartment previously but they had been summoned to a nearby unit 10 times in the previous eight months, including once for a domestic disturbance.
Ex-sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot Black airman at his home arrested
A former Florida sheriff's deputy charged with killing a Black U.S. Air Force airman who answered his door while holding a gun was arrested
High-ranking Toronto cop demoted for promotions cheating scandal
Stacy Clarke can apply to be reinstated as superintendent in two years, according to ruling
Author of the article:Chris Doucette
Published Aug 28, 2024 • Last updated 15 hours ago • 4 minute read
Toronto Police officer Stacy Clarke was demoted from superintendent to inspector for a 2021 promotions cheating scandal on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024.
Toronto Police officer Stacy Clarke was demoted from superintendent to inspector for a 2021 promotions cheating scandal on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024.
The first female Black superintendent in Toronto Police history has been demoted for her role in a 2021 promotions cheating scandal.
But Stacy Clarke, who engaged in a cheating scheme to help fellow Black cops vying for promotion, remains a senior officer within the service under her reduced rank of inspector.
And she can apply to be reinstated to the rank of superintendent in two years, according to a ruling announced at her disciplinary tribunal on Wednesday.
Clarke’s actions brought “unwanted publicity” and caused “irreparable damage” to Toronto Police, hearing officer Robin McElary-Downer said in determining the 26-year veteran must be busted to the rank of inspector for 24 months.
McElary-Downer said there is no question Clarke earned her superintendent rank, “but that rank is a privilege, not a right.”
However, she believes the single mom of two possesses “outstanding leadership qualities,” making her a suitable candidate to be reinstated to superintendent down the road.
Clarke previously admitted during her tribunal that she fed questions and answers to six officers she was mentoring who had applied to become sergeants. She was also part of the panel that interviewed one of the six without disclosing he was a family friend.
However, Clarke claimed she only helped the officers because she was fed up with anti-Black racism within the service and she was tired of seeing good candidates unable to get ahead.
She pleaded guilty last fall to seven counts under the Police Service Act, including three counts each of breach of confidence and discreditable conduct.
Clarke’s lawyer, Joseph Markson, had asked the hearing officer to consider the “context” of the racism she’s faced and demote her to inspector for 12 to 18 months before automatically reinstating her to superintendent.
Counsel for Toronto Police, Scott Hutchison, suggested Clarke should be demoted two ranks to staff sergeant for 12 months and then to inspector for another year before being allowed to return to the rank of superintendent.
In her decision, McElary-Downer pointed out that Clarke only raised her concerns of anti-Black racism and the failure of good candidates to get ahead after she was caught.
She also found it troubling that Clarke committed the “very serious misconduct” within 10 months of being promoted to superintendent.
McElary-Downer looked at numerous other cases of cheating within policing before deciding on a fitting punishment, taking aspects such as Clarke’s intentions into consideration.
She said Clarke deserves credit for recognizing her misconduct, accepting responsibility and apologizing.
McElary-Downer also made a point of stating Clarke didn’t cheat for her own advancement – she did it because she wanted her mentees to be successful.
But Clarke’s mentees ultimately paid a price for her actions, she said.
“Her fingerprints will forever be etched on their damaged careers,” McElary-Downer said.
The hearing officer also gave considerable weight to the damage Clarke’s violation of the public trust and abuse of power caused to the police service.
After reading aloud numerous headlines from the last few years, McElary-Downer said the news reports were “damning” and “will live in perpetuity on the internet.”
Clarke, who previously apologized to police and her community for not taking the “right path,” spoke briefly to reporters as she left headquarters Wednesday.
“I’m just very disappointed and very sad about it,” she said of her ordeal.
“There’s a lot of people who have shared these types of experiences and so, you know, but I’m looking forward to moving forward. There’s a lot of work that still needs to be done and I’m confident that we’ll get it done.”
She refused to say if she plans to appeal the decision.
“I’m just going to take some time with my family – we’ll just let it go through, what needs to be done, and think about what the next steps are,” Clarke said. “But it is what it is.”
Following the conclusion of the tribunal, which has been monitored closely by the Black community, Toronto Police released a statement saying leaders within the service are “held to the highest standards of conduct” and any allegations of misconduct are taken “seriously.
“We acknowledge this case brought forward a number of issues that the service is addressing,” police said. “The service has implemented significant reforms in recent years. Hiring and promotional processes were overhauled and our workforce is diversifying at all ranks.”
Police said the changes are “part of many actions we have committed to as part of our comprehensive equity strategy.
“We are committed, in partnership with the Toronto Police Service Board, to meaningful change and continuous improvement to create a respectful, safe, and inclusive workplace,” Chief Myron Demkiw said. “As a service, we are listening. We continue to acknowledge that while we are on a path of change, more needs to be done to build trust with our communities and our members.”
cdoucette@postmedia.com
@sundoucette
torontosun.com
Stacy Clarke can apply to be reinstated as superintendent in two years, according to ruling
Author of the article:Chris Doucette
Published Aug 28, 2024 • Last updated 15 hours ago • 4 minute read
Toronto Police officer Stacy Clarke was demoted from superintendent to inspector for a 2021 promotions cheating scandal on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024.
Toronto Police officer Stacy Clarke was demoted from superintendent to inspector for a 2021 promotions cheating scandal on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024.
The first female Black superintendent in Toronto Police history has been demoted for her role in a 2021 promotions cheating scandal.
But Stacy Clarke, who engaged in a cheating scheme to help fellow Black cops vying for promotion, remains a senior officer within the service under her reduced rank of inspector.
And she can apply to be reinstated to the rank of superintendent in two years, according to a ruling announced at her disciplinary tribunal on Wednesday.
Clarke’s actions brought “unwanted publicity” and caused “irreparable damage” to Toronto Police, hearing officer Robin McElary-Downer said in determining the 26-year veteran must be busted to the rank of inspector for 24 months.
McElary-Downer said there is no question Clarke earned her superintendent rank, “but that rank is a privilege, not a right.”
However, she believes the single mom of two possesses “outstanding leadership qualities,” making her a suitable candidate to be reinstated to superintendent down the road.
Clarke previously admitted during her tribunal that she fed questions and answers to six officers she was mentoring who had applied to become sergeants. She was also part of the panel that interviewed one of the six without disclosing he was a family friend.
However, Clarke claimed she only helped the officers because she was fed up with anti-Black racism within the service and she was tired of seeing good candidates unable to get ahead.
She pleaded guilty last fall to seven counts under the Police Service Act, including three counts each of breach of confidence and discreditable conduct.
Clarke’s lawyer, Joseph Markson, had asked the hearing officer to consider the “context” of the racism she’s faced and demote her to inspector for 12 to 18 months before automatically reinstating her to superintendent.
Counsel for Toronto Police, Scott Hutchison, suggested Clarke should be demoted two ranks to staff sergeant for 12 months and then to inspector for another year before being allowed to return to the rank of superintendent.
In her decision, McElary-Downer pointed out that Clarke only raised her concerns of anti-Black racism and the failure of good candidates to get ahead after she was caught.
She also found it troubling that Clarke committed the “very serious misconduct” within 10 months of being promoted to superintendent.
McElary-Downer looked at numerous other cases of cheating within policing before deciding on a fitting punishment, taking aspects such as Clarke’s intentions into consideration.
She said Clarke deserves credit for recognizing her misconduct, accepting responsibility and apologizing.
McElary-Downer also made a point of stating Clarke didn’t cheat for her own advancement – she did it because she wanted her mentees to be successful.
But Clarke’s mentees ultimately paid a price for her actions, she said.
“Her fingerprints will forever be etched on their damaged careers,” McElary-Downer said.
The hearing officer also gave considerable weight to the damage Clarke’s violation of the public trust and abuse of power caused to the police service.
After reading aloud numerous headlines from the last few years, McElary-Downer said the news reports were “damning” and “will live in perpetuity on the internet.”
Clarke, who previously apologized to police and her community for not taking the “right path,” spoke briefly to reporters as she left headquarters Wednesday.
“I’m just very disappointed and very sad about it,” she said of her ordeal.
“There’s a lot of people who have shared these types of experiences and so, you know, but I’m looking forward to moving forward. There’s a lot of work that still needs to be done and I’m confident that we’ll get it done.”
She refused to say if she plans to appeal the decision.
“I’m just going to take some time with my family – we’ll just let it go through, what needs to be done, and think about what the next steps are,” Clarke said. “But it is what it is.”
Following the conclusion of the tribunal, which has been monitored closely by the Black community, Toronto Police released a statement saying leaders within the service are “held to the highest standards of conduct” and any allegations of misconduct are taken “seriously.
“We acknowledge this case brought forward a number of issues that the service is addressing,” police said. “The service has implemented significant reforms in recent years. Hiring and promotional processes were overhauled and our workforce is diversifying at all ranks.”
Police said the changes are “part of many actions we have committed to as part of our comprehensive equity strategy.
“We are committed, in partnership with the Toronto Police Service Board, to meaningful change and continuous improvement to create a respectful, safe, and inclusive workplace,” Chief Myron Demkiw said. “As a service, we are listening. We continue to acknowledge that while we are on a path of change, more needs to be done to build trust with our communities and our members.”
cdoucette@postmedia.com
@sundoucette
High-ranking Toronto cop demoted for promotions cheating scandal
The first female Black superintendent in Toronto Police history has been demoted for her role in a promotions cheating scandal.
'White Fragility' author tricked into paying reparations to 'Am I Racist?' producer
Author of the article
ostmedia News
Published Sep 09, 2024 • Last updated 2 days ago • 2 minute read
The author of White Fragility was reportedly tricked into going into her own pocket to pay reparations to a Black producer in podcaster Matt Walsh’s upcoming documentary Am I Racist?
An undercover Walsh, 38, coerced author Robin DiAngelo into paying cash to his producer, Ben, to compensate for so-called sins of the past by offering money himself, the New York Post reported exclusively on Monday.
Walsh, who was conducting an interview with DiAngelo for a documentary project while feigning anti-racist sentiments and posing as an activist, called on Ben after finishing most of his questions.
“This is Ben, a producer on the film. I thought it would be a powerful opportunity to speak directly to a person of colour and confront our racism and also, apologize for the white supremacist systems that oppress Ben,” Walsh began.
DiAngelo, 68, followed suit.
“On behalf of myself and my fellow white people, I apologize — it is not you, it is us. As long as I’m standing, I will do my best to challenge it.”
Walsh announced that he’d pay Ben reparations if he’d accept it, prompting his producer to say, “I mean, I won’t turn it down.”
Walsh then handed Ben some cash from his wallet.
“That doesn’t make up for 400 years of oppression, but it’s all that I have to give,” Walsh said.
Ben, fully in on the trick, explained that he didn’t “know if it’s ever enough,” but praised Walsh for “putting in the work” and acknowledged the “small progress I think we made today.”
DiAngelo appeared bewildered.
“That was really weird,” DiAngelo gasped.
“I think reparations is like a systemic dynamic and approach,” she added. “I mean, I think there may be some people who would be offended by (that).”
Ben said that wouldn’t “turn down cash.” A solemn-looking Walsh then stressed the need to allow “ourselves to be uncomfortable.” He underscored, “This is something that I can do right now” and asked, ‘Why wouldn’t I do it?’”
“I can go get some cash for sure,” she said after. “I don’t mind if that would be something that would be comfortable for you.”
After getting Ben’s blessing, DiAngelo walked over to her pocketbook, pulled out roughly $30, and told him, “That’s all the cash I have.”
“Thanks,” a smiling Ben replied.
When DiAngelo sat down with Walsh earlier in the documentary, she asked for quick information about who he was, noting that she “has to be careful.”
DiAngelo’s book White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism hit bookshelves back in 2018 and helped make her famous as a so-called anti-bias training expert.
The New York Times best-selling book features some controversial assessments of racism. She claimed that “White people raised in Western society are conditioned into a white supremacist worldview because it is the bedrock of our society and its institutions.”
At another point, she wrote in the book, “People of colour may also hold prejudices and discriminate against white people, but they lack the social and institutional power that transforms their prejudice and discrimination into racism; the impact of their prejudice on whites is temporary and contextual.”
Walsh’s documentary is set to hit the silver screen on Sept. 13.
nypost.com
torontosun.com
Author of the article
ostmedia NewsPublished Sep 09, 2024 • Last updated 2 days ago • 2 minute read
The author of White Fragility was reportedly tricked into going into her own pocket to pay reparations to a Black producer in podcaster Matt Walsh’s upcoming documentary Am I Racist?
An undercover Walsh, 38, coerced author Robin DiAngelo into paying cash to his producer, Ben, to compensate for so-called sins of the past by offering money himself, the New York Post reported exclusively on Monday.
Walsh, who was conducting an interview with DiAngelo for a documentary project while feigning anti-racist sentiments and posing as an activist, called on Ben after finishing most of his questions.
“This is Ben, a producer on the film. I thought it would be a powerful opportunity to speak directly to a person of colour and confront our racism and also, apologize for the white supremacist systems that oppress Ben,” Walsh began.
DiAngelo, 68, followed suit.
“On behalf of myself and my fellow white people, I apologize — it is not you, it is us. As long as I’m standing, I will do my best to challenge it.”
Walsh announced that he’d pay Ben reparations if he’d accept it, prompting his producer to say, “I mean, I won’t turn it down.”
Walsh then handed Ben some cash from his wallet.
“That doesn’t make up for 400 years of oppression, but it’s all that I have to give,” Walsh said.
Ben, fully in on the trick, explained that he didn’t “know if it’s ever enough,” but praised Walsh for “putting in the work” and acknowledged the “small progress I think we made today.”
DiAngelo appeared bewildered.
“That was really weird,” DiAngelo gasped.
“I think reparations is like a systemic dynamic and approach,” she added. “I mean, I think there may be some people who would be offended by (that).”
Ben said that wouldn’t “turn down cash.” A solemn-looking Walsh then stressed the need to allow “ourselves to be uncomfortable.” He underscored, “This is something that I can do right now” and asked, ‘Why wouldn’t I do it?’”
“I can go get some cash for sure,” she said after. “I don’t mind if that would be something that would be comfortable for you.”
After getting Ben’s blessing, DiAngelo walked over to her pocketbook, pulled out roughly $30, and told him, “That’s all the cash I have.”
“Thanks,” a smiling Ben replied.
When DiAngelo sat down with Walsh earlier in the documentary, she asked for quick information about who he was, noting that she “has to be careful.”
DiAngelo’s book White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism hit bookshelves back in 2018 and helped make her famous as a so-called anti-bias training expert.
The New York Times best-selling book features some controversial assessments of racism. She claimed that “White people raised in Western society are conditioned into a white supremacist worldview because it is the bedrock of our society and its institutions.”
At another point, she wrote in the book, “People of colour may also hold prejudices and discriminate against white people, but they lack the social and institutional power that transforms their prejudice and discrimination into racism; the impact of their prejudice on whites is temporary and contextual.”
Walsh’s documentary is set to hit the silver screen on Sept. 13.
Exclusive | ‘White Fragility’ author Robin DiAngelo gets tricked into paying reparations to Matt Walsh’s producer in ‘Am I Racist?’ documentary
“White Fragility” author Robin DiAngelo was hoodwinked into dipping into her own pocketbook to pay reparations to a black producer in podcaster Matt Walsh’s upcoming documentary &…
nypost.com
'White Fragility' author tricked into paying reparations to 'Am I Racist?' producer
The author of White Fragility was reportedly tricked into going into her own pocket to pay reparations to a Black producer.
Illinois man wrongly imprisoned for murder wins $50 million jury award
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Sep 10, 2024 • 2 minute read
CHICAGO — A federal jury has awarded $50 million in damages to a suburban Chicago man who was exonerated in a murder and released from prison in 2018 after spending about 10 years behind bars.
Monday’s unanimous jury verdict in favor of Marcel Brown, 34, of Oak Park came after a two-week trial, the Chicago Tribune reported, citing federal court records.
Brown was arrested at 18 and sentenced to 35 years in prison after he was convicted of being an accomplice in the 2008 murder of 19-year-old Paris Jackson in Chicago’s Galewood neighbourhood, according to the federal lawsuit he filed in 2019.
Brown was released from prison in July 2018. The criminal case against him was dropped following testimony from his mother and a lawyer hired by his mother, both of whom were prevented from speaking with him the night of his arrest.
Brown was awarded a certificate of innocence in 2019, according to his lawsuit, which named as defendants the city of Chicago, a group of Chicago police officers, an assistant Cook County state’s attorney and Cook County.
Brown’s suit accused the defendants of violating his constitutional rights and of maliciously prosecuting him. It also contended that the defendants intentionally caused him emotional distress when they prevented him from speaking with a lawyer and drew a false confession out of him after more than a day of interrogation later found to be illegal.
In Monday’s decision, the jury split the damages into $10 million for Brown’s detention preceding his trial and $40 million for the postconviction period, according to a court filing. The jurors also ordered one of the detectives in the case to pay Brown $50,000 in punitive damages, court records show.
Brown beamed Monday evening as he addressed reporters outside the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in downtown Chicago following the verdict, surrounded by his attorneys and family members.
“Justice was finally served for me and my family today,” Brown said. “We’re just thankful, being able to be here today. Thank you, jurors.”
Attorney Locke Bowman of the law firm of Loevy & Loevy said the verdict should serve as a “wakeup call” to city leaders “that it is time to get a grip on the way the Chicago Police Department is conducting its interrogations.”
A spokesperson for Chicago’s law department said Monday night that the city was reviewing the verdict and assessing its options.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Sep 10, 2024 • 2 minute read
CHICAGO — A federal jury has awarded $50 million in damages to a suburban Chicago man who was exonerated in a murder and released from prison in 2018 after spending about 10 years behind bars.
Monday’s unanimous jury verdict in favor of Marcel Brown, 34, of Oak Park came after a two-week trial, the Chicago Tribune reported, citing federal court records.
Brown was arrested at 18 and sentenced to 35 years in prison after he was convicted of being an accomplice in the 2008 murder of 19-year-old Paris Jackson in Chicago’s Galewood neighbourhood, according to the federal lawsuit he filed in 2019.
Brown was released from prison in July 2018. The criminal case against him was dropped following testimony from his mother and a lawyer hired by his mother, both of whom were prevented from speaking with him the night of his arrest.
Brown was awarded a certificate of innocence in 2019, according to his lawsuit, which named as defendants the city of Chicago, a group of Chicago police officers, an assistant Cook County state’s attorney and Cook County.
Brown’s suit accused the defendants of violating his constitutional rights and of maliciously prosecuting him. It also contended that the defendants intentionally caused him emotional distress when they prevented him from speaking with a lawyer and drew a false confession out of him after more than a day of interrogation later found to be illegal.
In Monday’s decision, the jury split the damages into $10 million for Brown’s detention preceding his trial and $40 million for the postconviction period, according to a court filing. The jurors also ordered one of the detectives in the case to pay Brown $50,000 in punitive damages, court records show.
Brown beamed Monday evening as he addressed reporters outside the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in downtown Chicago following the verdict, surrounded by his attorneys and family members.
“Justice was finally served for me and my family today,” Brown said. “We’re just thankful, being able to be here today. Thank you, jurors.”
Attorney Locke Bowman of the law firm of Loevy & Loevy said the verdict should serve as a “wakeup call” to city leaders “that it is time to get a grip on the way the Chicago Police Department is conducting its interrogations.”
A spokesperson for Chicago’s law department said Monday night that the city was reviewing the verdict and assessing its options.
Illinois man wrongly imprisoned for murder wins $50 million jury award
A federal jury has awarded $50 million in damages to a suburban Chicago man who was exonerated in a murder and released from prison in 2018
Man who has brain damage has murder conviction reversed after 34-year fight
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Brian Melley
Published Sep 11, 2024 • 2 minute read
LONDON — A man who has brain damage and was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a shopkeeper in London had his decades-old conviction quashed Wednesday by an appeals court troubled by the possibility police elicited a false confession from a mentally vulnerable man.
Oliver Campbell, who suffered cognitive impairment as a baby and struggles with his concentration and memory, was 21 when he was jailed in 1991 after being convicted based partly on admissions his lawyer said were coerced.
“The fight for justice is finally over after nearly 34 years,” Campbell said. “I can start my life an innocent man.”
Campbell, now in his 50s, was convicted of the robbery and murder of Baldev Hoondle, who was shot in the head in his shop in the Hackney area of east London in July 1990.
He had a previous appeal rejected in 1994 and was released from prison in 2002 on conditions that could have returned him to prison if he got into trouble.
Defense lawyer Michael Birnbaum said police lied to Campbell and “badgered and bullied” him into giving a false confession by admitting he pulled the trigger in an accident. He was interviewed more than a dozen times, including sessions without either a lawyer or other adult present.
His learning disability put him “out of his depth” and he was “simply unable to do justice to himself,” Birnbaum said. He said the admissions were nonsense riddled with inconsistencies that contradicted facts in the case.
At trial, he testified that he was not involved in the robbery and had been somewhere else though he couldn’t remember where.
A co-defendant, Eric Samuels, who has since died, pleaded guilty to the robbery and was sentenced to five years in prison. At the time, he told his lawyer Campbell was not the gunman and later told others Campbell wasn’t with him during the robbery.
Lawyers continued to advocate for Campbell that he wasn’t the killer and his case was referred to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission which investigates potential injustices.
The three judges on the Court of Appeal rejected most of Birnbaum’s grounds for appeal but said they were troubled by the conviction in light of new understanding about the reliability of admissions from someone with a mental disability. The panel quashed the conviction as “unsafe,” and refused to order a retrial.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Brian Melley
Published Sep 11, 2024 • 2 minute read
LONDON — A man who has brain damage and was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a shopkeeper in London had his decades-old conviction quashed Wednesday by an appeals court troubled by the possibility police elicited a false confession from a mentally vulnerable man.
Oliver Campbell, who suffered cognitive impairment as a baby and struggles with his concentration and memory, was 21 when he was jailed in 1991 after being convicted based partly on admissions his lawyer said were coerced.
“The fight for justice is finally over after nearly 34 years,” Campbell said. “I can start my life an innocent man.”
Campbell, now in his 50s, was convicted of the robbery and murder of Baldev Hoondle, who was shot in the head in his shop in the Hackney area of east London in July 1990.
He had a previous appeal rejected in 1994 and was released from prison in 2002 on conditions that could have returned him to prison if he got into trouble.
Defense lawyer Michael Birnbaum said police lied to Campbell and “badgered and bullied” him into giving a false confession by admitting he pulled the trigger in an accident. He was interviewed more than a dozen times, including sessions without either a lawyer or other adult present.
His learning disability put him “out of his depth” and he was “simply unable to do justice to himself,” Birnbaum said. He said the admissions were nonsense riddled with inconsistencies that contradicted facts in the case.
At trial, he testified that he was not involved in the robbery and had been somewhere else though he couldn’t remember where.
A co-defendant, Eric Samuels, who has since died, pleaded guilty to the robbery and was sentenced to five years in prison. At the time, he told his lawyer Campbell was not the gunman and later told others Campbell wasn’t with him during the robbery.
Lawyers continued to advocate for Campbell that he wasn’t the killer and his case was referred to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission which investigates potential injustices.
The three judges on the Court of Appeal rejected most of Birnbaum’s grounds for appeal but said they were troubled by the conviction in light of new understanding about the reliability of admissions from someone with a mental disability. The panel quashed the conviction as “unsafe,” and refused to order a retrial.
Man who has brain damage has murder conviction reversed after 34-year fight
A man who has brain damage and was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a shopkeeper in London had decades-old conviction quashed