Chalfont, Pennsylvania: A police officer was sentenced to
nine to twenty-three months in prison for lying about being shot in an
elaborate hoax. ow.ly/ivXja
Blackwell, Oklahoma: A police officer has been charged. He
brought a Russian-made AK-47 machine gun into the country illegally from
Afghanistan. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a
$250,000 fine. http://ow.ly/iocrS
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: A judge says that a veteran cop
is not guilty of punching a woman in the face after a parade. The incident was
caught on video, and many people are upset about the ruling. ow.ly/i9dr2
Garland, Texas: A police officer who fired 41 shots at a
chase suspect has been fired after an internal investigation into the shooting.
ow.ly/ibu9Q
Key West, Florida: Two off-duty road patrol deputies were
charged after a road-rage incident in which one allegedly brandished a gun. http://ow.ly/ijWhp
Memphis, Tennessee: An officer has been fired on
intimidation charges after he allegedly flashed his gun at a motorist during an
on-duty confrontation. ow.ly/iaCOm
Prosecutor
says NY police officer accused in cannibal plot was ready to act
NEW YORK – The FBI had to grab a New York City police officer
last year before he could go forward with a macabre scheme to abduct and
cannibalize women, a prosecutor said Thursday in closing arguments at the
officer's kidnapping conspiracy trial.
Officer Gilberto Valle was in the midst of a plot to
"kidnap, torture, rape and commit other horrific acts" on at least
six women he knew, including his wife, Assistant U.S. Attorney Hadassa Waxman
told a Manhattan jury.
"The law does not require that we wait until he carries
out his crime," she said.
Lawyers for Valle say he's being prosecuted for indulging in
offensive-but-legal fantasies fed by his visits to fetish websites meant solely
for role-play.
Prosecutors counter that the 28-year-old officer took
concrete steps to abduct his potential targets, including looking them up on a
restricted law enforcement database.
"He left the world of fantasy and entered the world of
reality," Waxman said. "The evidence proves that he was
serious."
The defense was to give its closing argument later Thursday.
Deliberations were expected to begin on Friday.
During the two-week trial, the government has tried to prove
Valle was serious about the plans by showing communications where he haggled
with a Trenton, N.J., man, Michael Vanhise, over whether it would cost $4,000
or $5,000 to abduct a Manhattan teacher who would be delivered to Vanhise's
home in a suitcase for him to rape and murder. Vanhise, who has pleaded not
guilty to a conspiracy charge, is behind bars awaiting trial.
Lawyers for the baby-faced Valle, who cried when his wife
testified against him, say he made up elaborate plans but did nothing to make
any of them happen. The lawyers presented evidence from witnesses that Valle
did not have any of the tools of the torture he described in instant chats and
emails, and did not own an upstate home where he had suggested he could cook a
victim.
On two occasions, jurors seemed extra fidgety when they were
shown sadistic pornography including what appeared to be a staged video of a
chained, naked woman screaming as the flame of a torch was put beneath her
crotch.
The trial also left Valle emotional at times, including
after the jury left the courtroom following the conclusion of the presentation
of evidence on Tuesday.
"I think it's just the knowledge that we're finally
coming to a conclusion and his fate is in the jury's hands," defense
attorney Robert Baum said.
