Lubbock Police Officer Trial Put Off Again

Lubbock police officer accused of sexual assault was set to go on trial Monday.  However, the trial was delayed for a fifth time.  It will be rescheduled for November or January.

A victim came forward two years ago saying 32-year old Jason Hignight raped her twice when she was 18-years old.

Court documents accuse Hignight assaulted her in 2007 at a duplex near 35th and Quaker. At the time Hignight lived in the same building as the woman. The victim did make a report with the Lubbock Rape Crisis Center in may of 2007 but charges were not filed until much later.

He resigned from the Lubbock Police Department in January, 2011, just before he was arrested.

Penns Grove officer sentenced to probation for 2012 battery of fellow officer

 A borough police officer charged with battery of another officer in Florida last year was sentenced to one year probation earlier this month.
Ptl. Allen Kenneth Moore Jr., 43, pleaded no contest to simple battery, a first-degree misdemeanor in Florida, according to a Polk County, Fla., court official.
Moore was charged in November 2012 after an alleged altercation with another Penns Grove police officer in a Winter Haven, Fla., hotel room. Moore allegedly beat the other officer in the face with a lamp, according to police.
The victim of the attack was identified by police as Penns Grove Police Sgt. Patrick Riley.
According to authorities, Riley was in Polk County to testify at a court hearing on a juvenile matter — a trip reportedly paid by the state of Florida — and, on Nov.13, he met up with Moore who was in Florida for a vacation.
Police said the two went to a local bar where Moore allegedly became “extremely intoxicated,” and the two returned to the hotel where Riley was staying.
At the hotel, Riley reportedly told Moore that he was in no shape to drive, and that Moore could stay until morning. An altercation occurred and Moore allegedly attacked Riley, hitting him numerous times with a “lamp that weighed just shy of seven pounds,” police said.
When police arrived at the scene, they said they found Riley on a bench outside, bleeding from numerous injuries to his head. He was taken to Winter Haven Hospital for treatment and was later released, authorities said.

Polk County Court officials said that Moore pleaded no contest to the lesser charge of simple battery, a first-degree misdemeanor, earlier this month. He was sentenced to 12 months' probation to be served in New Jersey, officials said.
Moore was suspended without pay from the police department earlier this year and the suspension is still in effect, borough solicitor Adam Telsey said. Moore was paid $81,808 per year prior to his suspension, according to state employment records.
Salem County Prosecutor John T. Lenahan said that his office conducted an internal affairs review following the sentencing, and the completed review has been sent to Penns Grove. Telsey said Moore’s status with the department is currently under review but could not provide further comment.

Conn. police officers found guilty in bias trial

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Two East Haven police officers were found guilty Monday of violating the civil rights of Hispanics, bringing to four the number of officers convicted in a case that has roiled the shoreline town for years.

David Cari and Dennis Spaulding were among four East Haven officers arrested by the FBI last year for allegedly harassing and abusing Hispanic immigrants. The other officers, Jason Zullo and John Miller, pleaded guilty to reduced charges and await sentencing.

Lawyers for Cari and Spaulding said federal prosecutors didn’t prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, while prosecutors said the evidence showed the defendants engaged in racial profiling and harassment.

Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 21. Cari and Spaulding could face up to 20 years in prison.

‘‘Today’s verdict is a painful, although important step in the healing process for the town of East Haven and for the East Haven Police Department,’’ said Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr. ‘‘For some in our community, today’s verdict provides a sense of vindication and closure. For others, especially our police family, it is a difficult and sad occasion. What is clear is that for all of our residents, it is an opportunity to close a difficult chapter in our town’s past and move forward as one, unified community.’’

East Haven has held community meetings, offered cultural sensitivity training to town employees and provided language access tools to residents with limited English proficiency, Maturo said.

Prosecutors told jurors that Cari and Spaulding had extreme bias against Hispanics, engaged in racial profiling and acted as though they were above the law. They said Cari and Spaulding made up bogus allegations against Hispanics and wrote false police reports.

Federal prosecutor Richard Schechter said Cari falsely arrested a Roman Catholic priest who recorded Cari and Spaulding on video in a Hispanic-owned store in 2009 in an effort to document East Haven police abuses. Schechter said Cari was upset that he was being recorded and made up a bogus story in a report saying he thought the priest, James Manship, might have a weapon and Manship interfered with an investigation.

Prosecutors presented 14 witnesses over 15 days of trial, while defense lawyers rested their cases last week without calling a single witness.

Cari, who has since retired from the force, and Spaulding, who remains on unpaid suspension, were charged with conspiring to violate the constitutional rights of Hispanics and their supporters, deprivation of rights by making false arrests and obstruction of justice by filing false reports. Spaulding was also accused of using unreasonable force.

The officers were found guilty of all counts.

A federal indictment said the four officers assaulted people while they were handcuffed, unlawfully searched Latino businesses and harassed and intimidated people, including advocates, witnesses and other officers who tried to investigate or report misconduct or abuse the officers committed.

Police treatment of Hispanics in East Haven has been under federal scrutiny since 2009, when the U.S. Department of Justice launched a civil rights probe that found a pattern of discrimination and biased policing.

Spaulding’s lawyer, Frank Riccio II, and Cari’s attorney, Alex Hernandez, questioned the credibility of government witnesses, saying their testimony at trial conflicted with their testimony before the grand jury.

They also said the arrests that prosecutors called false were actually supported by probable cause, the officers’ reports were true and they did not engage in racial profiling.

Spaulding is very disappointed with the verdict and plans to appeal it, Riccio said.

Hernandez said Cari’s arrest of Manship was done ‘‘by the book’’ and Manship interfered with a police investigation. Manship was arrested, but prosecutors later dropped the charges.

Cop arrested for damaging co-worker's vehicle

MYFOXNY.COM -
Troopers from the Wappingers Barracks arrested a 49 year old, Village of Cold Spring Police Officer early Sunday morning, following an internal investigation.
Troopers arrested Anthony P. Pupczyk and charged him with Criminal Mischief 3rd Degree after he was caught damaging a co-worker's vehicle.
The victim, a fellow Cold Spring police officer had four of his vehicles damaged during the course of the year and suspected Officer Pupczyk was committing the damage, but was unable to prove it until he was caught last night by Village of Cold Spring Officer in Charge, George Kane.
Officer Kane contacted the State Police to handle the arrest. Officer Pupczyk was taken into custody and processed at SP Wappinger and was released on his own recognizance and issued an Appearance Ticket returnable to the Town of Cold Spring Court.

Police lieutenant fired

GUTHRIE — A police lieutenant accused of arresting his wife's ex-husband for no apparent reason after the Mumford and Sons concert has been fired, City Manager Sereniah Breland said.
Breland said the city of Guthrie would have no further comment about the firing of Lt. Mark Bruning, who was accused by a local man of arresting him after the concert in early September.

Two officers strike plea deal, plead no contest to illegal strip searches

That's been the theme as the state wraps up its prosecution of four Milwaukee officers charged with abusing their power and conducting illegal behavior as policeman.
Today, Jeffrey Dollhopf and Brian Kozolek - the last of the four charged - agreed to plead no contest to one of those charges (a misdemeanor) and resign from the Milwaukee Police Department.
In exchange, the state dropped all the other charges, which included some felonies.
A judge will hand down sentences in December; Dollhopf and Kozolek still face penalties of up to a $1,000 fine, community service, and/or 90 days in prison.
Earlier this month, Jacob Knight struck a similar deal with prosecutors and is serving a 20 day prison sentence.
Michael Vagnini pleaded no contest last spring and is in the midst of a two year sentence behind bars.

DC officers to go on trial in nightclub beating case Read more: http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/23749303/dc-officers-to-go-on-trial-in-nightclub-beating-case#ixzz2iSnRWk69 Follow us: @myfoxdc on Twitter | myfoxdc on Facebook

WASHINGTON -
Two D.C. police officers, now suspended without pay, are about to go on trial with a former D.C. officer for allegedly taking part in a vicious assault outside a Northwest D.C. nightclub more than two years ago.
Prosecutors say two of the three officers, who were off duty at the time, beat one man so severely he lost an eye in the attack.
It took more than a year to investigate the case before nine people, including four D.C. police officers, were indicted.
Since then, four of the nine have pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and at least one has agreed to testify for the government.
The case goes back to June 10, 2011 when Walter Blair and Brandon Coates were assaulted outside the Lotus nightclub on K Street, NW. Blair lost his right eye in the attack.
Later this week in D.C. Superior Court, officers Kenneth McRavin, Keith Goins and former officer Thaddeus Modlin Jr., will go on trial with Ivon Atkinson, a security guard at the club.
Prosecutors say McRavin and Modlin took part in the attack along with Atkinson while Goins failed to take police action.
Four other men, Tho Nguyen, Vlade Jankovic, Quinton Raines and Timothy Brown, have all pleaded guilty to lesser charges.
In court Monday, Prosecutor James Smith told Judge Stuart Nash that Brown will testify for the government.
Ronald Karp, who represents Walter Blair, has seen the surveillance video recorded outside the club that night and described it to reporters in the days after the assault.
"It's a very mean video,” said attorney Ronald Karp. “And we have talked to witnesses as well. And if you put the whole picture together, you have someone on the ground in the fetal position just trying to cover up, unable to defend himself and then you see these folks dressed in black, who were obviously bouncers from this nightclub, not trying to apprehend him in any way, but are kicking him.”
According to a letter sent to the defense by the U.S. Attorneys Office and recently filed with the court, a witness identified as W-21, has changed its story and now says it did see off-duty officer Kenneth McRavin dragging and kicking one of the men and the previous story they told was incorrect.
Officers McRavin and Goins are still on the force, but suspended without pay.
Modlin has left the force, and a fourth officer, Yolanda Lampkin, has also left the force. She faces trial next year for making a false statement.
Jury selection begins Tuesday for a trial expected to last a month.

Crowley police officer suspended for policy violation

Crowley Police Chief Luis Soler announced Thursday the one-day suspension of a Crowley police officer for failure to comply with department procedure.

Town Creek Police Officer Sentenced for Assaulting Arresteed

U.S. Department of Justice October 17, 2013

WASHINGTON—Brandon Shane Mundy, a former police officer of numerous law enforcement agencies, the most recent being the Town Creek, Alabama Police Department was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge R. David Proctor to serve five years in prison and three years of supervised release and to pay $3,745 in restitution for violating the civil rights of a man during the course of an arrest. Mundy previously pleaded guilty on April 25, 2013, to one count of willfully depriving the man of his constitutional right to be free from excessive force by a law enforcement officer acting under color of law. According to information presented to the court, on November 22, 2009, Mundy was involved in a vehicle pursuit and fired shots at a man’s vehicle before later ramming the vehicle and causing it to wreck in a ditch. While another police officer reached the man and placed him under arrest without resistance, Mundy arrived and unjustifiably and repeatedly beat the man in the head with an object that was either a baton or a flashlight, causing the man to suffer physical injury. After Mundy lost control of the object, he continued to strike the man in the head with his fist.
“When law enforcement officers abuse their power and violate the civil rights of those in custody, they will be held accountable,” said Jocelyn Samuels, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will continue to vigorously prosecute those who cross the line to engage in acts of criminal misconduct.”
“Every police officer is sworn to serve and protect, and virtually all of them take that oath seriously. This officer did not and assaulted a citizen in violation of his oath,” said Joyce White Vance, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. “My office continues to aggressively prosecute police misconduct and takes a zero-tolerance policy in this regard.”
This case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Holt of the Northern District of Alabama and Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Daniel H. Weiss.