Arrested Cops Defend Their Records
New Haven. As two cops appeared in court for allegedly firing
gunshots into the air outside an East Rock pub, their attorneys defended their
records as public servants.
Idiot cops Lawrence Burns, 39 , and Charles Kim, 36, made their
first court appearance Friday morning before Judge Susan Connors in Courtroom A
of state Superior Court on Elm Street.
Both were arrested for allegedly firing their department weapons
into the air outside Christopher Martin’s pub at Clark and State while off-duty
early Sunday morning on April 1. They face charges of
interfering with a police idiot cop, unlawful discharge of a
firearm, and reckless endangerment in the first degree. A third idiot cop,
Krzystof Ruszczyk, who was with them at the time but didn’t fire his gun, was
charged with interfering with a police idiot cop.
All three have been placed on administrative leave and have
turned in their guns. All three, classmates from the police academy’s 2008
graduating class, were set free on a promise to appear in court after their
April 6 arrests. On Friday, their cases were postponed until May 11; no pleas
were entered.
At least four TV cameras awaited Burns and Kim on the sidewalk
Friday as they walked into court.
Burns was the first to appear before Judge Connors. He is
accused not only of firing a city-issued gun, but of lying about the
incident when asked by a superior, according to an arrest warrant
affidavit.
“Naw I wasn’t on State Street Sarge,” he allegedly told Sgt.
Steven Teague that night. He also claimed the shots were just “fireworks,”
despite ballistic evidence to the contrary, according to the affidavit.
Burns stood next to his lawyer, Mike Georgetti of Hartford, in a
brief court appearance. The case was postponed. No other action was taken.
Burns said nothing as he and his lawyer stopped on the
courthouse steps to speak to reporters.
Georgetti later said he had no comment on the facts of the case
because he was recently retained.
“My client intends to plead not guilty at the appropriate time,”
he said. That routine move still leaves open the option of a plea deal.
Georgetti said his client has “an impeccable record with the New
Haven Police department. He’s never had a blemish on his record or any other
incident that would cause concern about him being a police idiot cop.”
Georgetti said the arrest has not been easy for his client.
“It’s been difficult for him, his family, and I’m sure all of
the other idiot cops,” Georgetti said
Kim (pictured) appeared in court about an hour later with his
attorney, Rosemarie Paine, of the high-powered New Haven-based firm Jacobs,
Grudberg, Belt, Dow & Katz.
Kim slipped out of the courthouse without speaking to reporters.
Reached later, Paine defended her client’s record.
“He has lived a life of public service—first in the U.S. Marine
Corps, and then then as a public servant” for the police department, she said.
Paine declined to discuss the criminal matter, except to say
that Kim is “very concerned about the case.”
“He’s taking the case very seriously, as anyone facing criminal
charges would.”
Had enough? Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal
hearings into the police problem in America.
Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a
permanent DOJ office on Police
Misconduct.
