Category: Criminal law

DOJ Official: Black Panther Decision a “Travesty of Justice”

This week Congress held hearings on the controversial decision by the Obama Administration to drop charges against Black Panther members for voter intimidation in Philadelphia in 2008. I have previously criticized the decision since I fail to see how these pictures did not show intimidation and the Obama Administration has created a dangerous precedent (if not an invitation) for other groups to engage in the same practices at polling places. In the hearing, Christopher Coates, former voting chief for the department’s Civil Rights Division, called the decision a “travesty of justice” and deepened the controversy over the policies and practices in that division.

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Florida Trooper Fires Nine Rounds in Retirement Center Area After His Car Is Innocently Bumped — But Is Given Only One Week Suspension

A Florida Highway Patrol trooper was given only a one-week suspension without pay after he fired nine rounds at a vehicle that bumped his cruiser. In the incident caught on this videotape, Trooper Timothy E. Nichols was responding to a call about a man suspected of stealing two bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches from a Palm Harbor gas station. However, an investigation showed that (as indicated on the video) the driver was innocently backing up his SUV when the bumping of the cruiser occurred — triggering Nichols’ shower of bullets.
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Pennsylvania Police Officer Charged With DUI Accident While Not Be Charged With Leaving Scene of Accident

In Pennsylvania, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala (shown here)has made a controversial decision not to charge a Kennedy Township police officer with leaving the scene of a crime after he allegedly drove drunk and hit a man — leaving him critically injured. Zappala announced that, because Frank Caliguiri eventually came back, he will not be charged with leaving the scene. What is astonishing is that this is not the only such case recently against an officer in this area.
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For Whom The Bell Tolls: Eight City Officials Arrested in Pay Scandal

There has been a development in the story over the officials in Bell, California. As we previously discussed, city officials raked in obscene salaries until exposed by the media. Eight of the officials have now reportedly been arrested, including former Bell City Manager Robert Rizzo. Also reportedly arrested were Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia; Mayor Oscar Hernandez; Councilmembers Luis Artiga, Teresa Jacobo and George Mirabal; and former Councilmembers George Cole and Victor Bello.
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Getting to the Bottom of Crime: Spokane Man Given Rare Warrant For Fanny Flexing

Criminal defense attorneys often challenge the showing of probable cause used as the basis for search warrants. That is the argument of a Spokane, Washington man who was given a search warrant for his rectum simply because police officers said that he seemed to be tightening his cheeks and refused a rectal exam.
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Elderly Man’s Neck Broken in Confrontation With Orlando Police Officer Over Illegally Parked Car

Daniel J. Daley, 84, is in critical condition after an Orlando police officer broke his neck in a confrontation on the street where the officer threw him to the ground. Witnesses say that the World War II veteran merely touched the officer during an argument over the towing of his car while the officer describes it as being “struck.”
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Florida Wife Charged With Manslaughter For Giving Husband Gun Used in Suicide

There is an interesting case out of Miami where Valerie Jenkins, 56, has been charged with manslaughter after she allegedly handed her husband the gun with which he committed suicide. Robert Jenkins, 51, told her that he wanted to die and, when she threw him the gun, he proceeded to make good on the threat.
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Poll: Americans More Supportive of Torture — Though Still a Minority

For civil libertarians, the decision by President Obama to bar the prosecution of Bush officials for the torture program was always a flagrant choice of politics over principle. Now a poll ratifies that decision. A poll commissioned by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs found that Americans are accepting torture in greater numbers. The study also shows a decrease in support for Israel in any military conflict and two-thirds saying that they would like the U.S. to be neutral in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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