Fairfax County Police Museum: The fairfax County Police have gotten away with no...
Fairfax County Police Museum: The fairfax County Police have gotten away with no...: 220 days How long would the let you not answer for a homicide?
School cop accused of inappropriate relationship with girl
By Drew Joseph
SAN ANTONIO — An Edgewood
Independent School District police officer is accused of having an
inappropriate relationship with the same student who was impregnated by another
district employee, officials said Monday.
As district officials
investigated the first allegation, which surfaced last week, they found
evidence that Officer Manuel Hernandez, 56, also had a relationship with the
Memorial High School student, spokesman Roland Martinez confirmed in an email.
Hernandez resigned Monday,
Martinez said, and was taken into custody by the Texas Rangers that evening.
Memorial High School science
teacher Marcus Revilla, 44, was arrested Thursday and charged with sexual assault
of a child. The student, 16 years old and more than four months' pregnant, told
police she and Revilla had sex more than 20 times starting when she was 15.
Revilla told authorities he
knew how old the girl was and that he didn't want to go to jail so he could
provide for their baby. He resigned from his job the day before he was
arrested.
The Texas Rangers are
investigating both cases.
“Edgewood's dedication to
student safety is absolute and the District wishes to assure the public that
the actions of two individuals do not reflect the values of the overwhelming
majority of EISD employees, whose commitment to the health and safety of its
students is total,” Martinez wrote.
djoseph@express-news.net
John Geer
Crooked cop helped suspected robbers
For some time in 2012, local
police looked for two suspects in a South Carolina armed robbery.
When they found them in the
home of a Cincinnati police supervisor, they – and then-Cincinnati Police Sgt.
Jeff Brunswick – were arrested.
Brunswick, 57, paid for that
Tuesday, well after he left the police force for the second time. He retired –
sooner than he planned because of the crimes, his attorney admitted Tuesday –
after the 2013 indictment and before he pleaded guilty in January to promoting
prostitution and two counts of unauthorized use of the police crime computer.
He was sentenced Tuesday by
Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge John "Skip" West to three
years of probation.
Brunswick previously admitted
he used police computers to see if the two men had warrants out for their
arrest. When he saw that they did, he tipped them off and allowed them to stay
at his house for a few nights. The men were Brunswick's girlfriend's brother
and the brother's friend.
Then, while he was out on bond
on that case, Brunswick had sex with a prostitute and paid for a hotel room for
her to service others.
"I've embarrassed my
family. I embarrassed myself. I embarrassed the city of Cincinnati,"
Brunswick said.
Those embarrassments were the
latest of several for Brunswick, whose base pay as a CPD sergeant was $74,000
per year when he was arrested.
Brunswick left the Cincinnati
police force the first time after was fired in 1990, when his supervisors
accused him of operating a vehicle in a reckless manner and lying about it. He
was also accused of firing bottle rockets in a Northern Kentucky parking lot
while intoxicated. After he was fired, he sued and got his job back.
Brunswick also pleaded guilty
to a 2011 charge for punching fellow Officer Jeff Ruberg even as Brunswick
tried to apologize for an earlier dispute.
John Geer
Ex-cop arrested on drug charge and forgery
Ex-cop arrested on drug charge
and forgery From Staff Reports
The Titus County Sheriff’s
Office (TCSO) Narcotics Division, with the assistance of Titus County Deputy
Allan Holloway, stopped a vehicle Friday on FM 2152.
The stop was made in connection
with narcotics trafficking, according to Sheriff Tim Ingram, and Joe Heath
Lane, 43, of Teague, was identified as the driver. Upon speaking with Lane, it
was found that his driver’s license had expired in 2006.
Consent was then received to
search Lane’s vehicle and his person, said Ingram. When searching, Lane was
asked to remove his boots and he agreed to comply. When Lane pulled off his boots, a small bag
containing a substance believed to be methamphetamine was located.
Lane was placed under arrest
and transported to the Titus County Jail, reports Ingram
“Once at the jail it was also discovered
that Lane had another baggie with what is believed to be meth residue hidden in
the lining of his hat,” said Ingram. “Not only was Lane in possession of a
substance believed to be an illegal narcotic, he was also found to be in
possession of counterfeit money.”
Lane had a total of $96, and
all of it was counterfeit, said Ingram
“The Titus County Sheriff’s
Office is dedicated to fighting drugs in this county and makes many arrests on
a day to day basis,” said Ingram. “But, what made this one a little different
is that the arrested person in this case used to be a cop.”
“Joe Heath Lane used to be a
police officer for the City of Naples for the span of about three and a half
years before leaving his job, and losing his commission in 2007,” continued Ingram.
“Lane was in possession of his badge and ID Card that he used to carry while
employed with the City of Naples at the time of his arrest.”
Lane was charged with
Possession of a Controlled Substance Penalty Group 1, under 1 gram, and
Forgery. The drug charge is a State Jail Felony. If convicted, Lane could spend
up to two years in a state jail and pay a fine of up to $10,000..
The Forgery charge is a third
degree felony, which carries jail time of two to ten years if convicted, and a
fine not to exceed $10,000.00.
John Geer
Movers sue city after wrongful burglary arrest
By Selim Algar
Moving day ended in a jail cell
for two Brooklyn men who were busted for “burglarizing” a building — when they
were only trying to haul a new resident’s stuff inside, a lawsuit alleges.
Cops arrested Iouri
Pakhomtzchik, a professional mover, and Sergey Menejyan, who was hanging out
with the moving crew, on March 20, 2012, after a woman falsely claimed they
tried to break into her apartment, according to the federal suit and
Pakomtzchik’s attorney, David Zelman.
The woman told officers she had
seen the moving man and his pal running away after burglarizing her home.
Cops didn’t find any of the
woman’s belongings with the men. But she also claimed she was missing cash, and
Menejyan had $590 on him, Zelman said.
The officers decided to haul
both men away on charges of burglary, trespassing and criminal possession of
stolen property, the suit says.
Both spent 12 hours in jail at
the 60th Precinct station house before being transported for arraignment, the
suit says.
Pakhomtzchik was released on
his own recognizance, while Menejyan was hit with $2,000 bail and forced to
spend eight additional hours at Rikers Island before getting sprung.
All charges against
Pakhomtzchik were dropped after two quick court appearances. Menejyan, however,
had to appear 10 times before his case was dismissed.
Zelman said the woman’s case
crumbled after she failed to adequately identify the men she claimed to have
seen running from her apartment.
Also, Zelman said Menejyan was
able to prove in court that the money he was carrying was from his tax refund.
The two men sued the city,
Officers James Riordan, Viktoriya Sadovskaya, Matthew Brennan and John Esprey
and several other unidentified officers for false arrest and a other
civil-rights violations in January.
Menejyan agreed to settle his
case with the city for $7,500 last week, according to a court filing.
Pakhomtzchik refused to accept
the same sum and is pursuing the case in hope of landing a higher payout, court
papers show.
Neither man would comment on
the case. The city Law Department declined to
John Geer
Off Duty Police Officer Charged with Terroristic Threats
by tashaj4
April 2, 2014: The Philadelphia
District Attorney’s Office has charged 34 year old Edward Sawicki III with
Terroristic Threats, PIC, Simple Assault, Harassment, and Disorderly Conduct
for an incident that occurred in October of 2013. Sawicki, an officer with the
Philadelphia Police Department, was off duty at the time of the assault.
On October 20, 2013, at
approximately 2:45 AM, the victim was walking near in the 1300 block of S. 9th
St. when he came into contact with Edward Sawicki. Sawicki was backing up in
his vehicle when the vehicle struck the victim, hitting him in the knee. The
victim then pounded on the trunk of Sawicki’s vehicle with his hand in order to
alert Sawicki that he backed into him. Sawicki exited the car, pulled up his
shirt showing a gun, and rushed at the victim. Sawicki then yelled racial
epitaphs at the victim and threatened to kill him. At one point Sawicki stated
“N#!!er, I’ll smoke you” while keeping his hand on the holstered gun. The
victim immediately contacted the police, Sawicki was identified as an off-duty
Philadelphia police officer, and Sawicki’s gun, which was his city-issued
firearm, was confiscated.
Edward Sawicki III turned
himself into authorities this morning and he is currently being processed by
police.
Midland officer charged with online impersonation felony
Midland officer charged with
online impersonation felony Odessa American oanews@oaoa.com
A Midland Police Department
officer was charged with online impersonation, a third-degree felony, following
a criminal investigation into allegations that the officer used a woman’s name
and explicit photos on a social networking site, a MPD release stated.
Jaren Speck, 25, a one-year
probationary officer with the department, was terminated by Police Chief Price
Robinson and was being transported and booked into Midland County Jail on Dec.
13, 2013. Speck was released from jail on a $15,000 bond Dec. 14, 2013.
A criminal investigation
followed after a woman alleged Speck used her name and explicit photos on a
website without her consent with “the intent to harm, defraud and intimidate
her,” a Midland Police Department release stated.
Speck was placed on
administrative suspension on Dec. 12 pending the outcome of the investigation.
Detectives charged Speck with online impersonation, a third-degree felony,
Tuesday afternoon, the release stated.
“The Midland Police Department
does not condone this type of behavior. I want it made perfectly clear that
public trust is of the utmost importance to this department and the men and
women that serve our community,” Police Chief Price Robinson said. “This is an
isolated incident that we are taking very seriously. We do not tolerate such a
violation of public trust.”
District Attorney Teresa
Clingman will prosecute the case.
Suburban officer charged in 95-year-old's death
John Kass
An officer was charged this
morning in the police killing of 95-year-old John Wrana, the World War II
veteran who was fatally shot with beanbag rounds in his apartment at a south
suburban senior facility last year.
Cook County State’s Attorney
Anita Alvarez’s office said patrolman Craig Taylor, 43, was charged with one
count of reckless conduct, a Class 4 felony. Taylor has been with the Park
Forest Police Department since January, 2004.
Taylor appeared before a judge
today at the Leighton Criminal Courts Building and was released on his own
recognizance.
John KassWrana, who had served
with the U.S. Army Air Corps in Burma during World War II, was just weeks shy
of his 96th birthday when the confrontation occurred with police at the Victory
Centre assisted-living center in July 2013.
The elderly man had refused
medical treatment for a urinary tract infection, and reportedly became
belligerent. Police who were called to the scene fired a Taser that failed to
hit Wrana, and then shot him with bean-bag rounds fired from a shotgun. He died
hours later of internal bleeding, authorities said.
Though Wrana was infirm and
needed a walker or a cane to get around, police considered him armed and
dangerous. They said he brandished a cane, a knife and a 2-foot-long metal
shoehorn that some officers initially took for a machete.
Police responded with a Taser,
a riot shield, a shotgun with beanbag rounds and one drawn handgun when they
rushed him. An Illinois State Police inquiry of the case determined that Taylor
fired the 12-gauge Mossberg police shotgun five times at Wrana.
Park Forest police used shotgun
beanbag rounds from Combined Tactical Systems Inc. The rounds travel up to 190
mph, and manufacturer’s guidelines recommend that shooter be between 21 and 50
feet from the target. An independent pathologist who studied the original
autopsy report said that it appeared Wrana had at least four impact wounds to
his abdomen.
Despite Wrana being inside his
living unit alone with his front door closed, prosecutors said, "the
officers did not make any attempt to talk with Wrana and instead formulated a
plan within a few minutes of their arrival to re-enter the apartment in force
and secure Wrana with a ballistic shield, a Taser, a less-lethal shotgun, and a
loaded-firearm.”
Prosecutors said in a court
document that when Wrana moved toward officers and refusing to drop his knife,
Taylor "opened fire upon Wrana with the shotgun shooting one beanbag round
at Wrana and paused for a moment before firing four more rounds in succession
with all of the shots coming within just a few seconds.”
Wrana dropped the knife after
Taylor fired the fifth and final time, prosecutors said. Taylor was 6 to 8 feet
away from Wrana when he fired the shots, prosecutors said, even though he was
trained to fire the shotgun at a minimum of 15 feet.
After the fifth shot, Wrana
dropped the knife but remained standing, prosecutors said. At that time, the
police commander on the scene used the riot shield to knock Wrana to the floor,
where other officers handcuffed him, prosecutors said. He died later at a
hospital.
In a court document,
prosecutors asserted that the police overlooked less violent approaches to
handle the standoff.
"Other viable options to
de-escalate and resolve the matter safely were ignored, including allowing
Wrana to remain alone in his room while the officers attempted to calm him down
through the closed door," prosecutors said in a court document.
"Even after the missed
Taser attempt, the officers still could have safely retreated from his room
before resorting to violence, and the Defendant himself chose to open fire on
Wrana failing to consider the full effect that five beanbag rounds fired in
quick succession, from close range, would have upon a 95-year-old man."
If convicted, Taylor faces a
sentence ranging between probation and three years in prison. No other officers
have been charged in the case.
An attorney for Taylor could
not immediately be reached for comment.
Nicholas Grapsas, the attorney
representing Wrana’s stepdaughter Sharon Mangerson, said: "On behalf of
the family, we're pleased that it's finally been addressed and reviewed. We're
pleased that there's at least been an outcome with respect with an
investigation that's taken far, far too long."
jskass@tribune.com
John Geer
The death of John Geer: Now seven months of silence on Fairfax police shooting
• By Tom Jackman
John B. Geer, 46, was shot and
killed by a Fairfax County police officer in August 2013 while standing unarmed
in the doorway of his Springfield townhouse. (Jeff Stewart)
The clock keeps ticking, and
that’s about the only sound emanating from the investigation into the death of
John Geer. Geer, 46, was unarmed when he was shot to death by a Fairfax County
police officer on Aug. 29. It has now been seven months and there is still no
explanation from the Fairfax police, prosecutors or federal investigators about
how and why this happened, and whether or not it was legally justifiable.
Geer was standing in the
doorway of his home in Springfield, speaking to an officer who had his service
weapon drawn. Geer’s girlfriend and two daughters had fled the home. Geer was
distraught, had thrown his girlfriend’s clothes out of the house and had been
drinking, witnesses have told The Post, and there was a gun in his townhouse on
Pebble Brook Court. But he did not have the gun on him, a fact which was
clearly visible as he stood with his hands high on a door frame, dressed in
shorts. As Geer stood speaking to the still unnamed officer, the officer fired
one shot into Geer’s chest, witnesses told The Post. Geer staggered back into
the house and closed the door. Police waited another hour before going in,
where they found Geer dead.
The unanswered questions are
the same as they were on Aug. 29, as is the silence from Official Fairfax. Why
did the police create a “barricade situation” with one man alone in a
townhouse? Why did the officer shoot? And why did the police take so long to
render aid to a man they knew had been shot in the chest at close range? We can
speculate as to the answers, but the taxpayer-funded Fairfax County police and
prosecutor absolutely owe clear, definitive answers to the public and to Geer’s
family, and it is utterly baffling that this has turned into the most drawn-out
police shooting case in Fairfax County history.
Also waiting for an answer is
the still-unnamed officer. He has been on desk duty for seven months. Maybe he
was perfectly justified in his actions. He also deserves an answer, one way or
the other. Once a ruling is issued on criminal charges, the police internal
investigation will begin, drawing out his process even further.
In February, at the five-month
mark of the investigation, Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Morrogh said he was passing the case to the U.S.
attorney’s office in Alexandria, because of
a possible conflict of interest. He would not specify the conflict, and
said he had not intentionally delayed the case for five months. Of the three
previous most notorious police shootings in Fairfax, Morrogh and his
predecessor Robert Horan took no more than two-and-a-half months to rule on the
criminal liability of a shooting. Each time, they found none.
Fairfax County Police Chief
Edwin Roessler said in February that he had been in touch with the family and
promised accountability. Both he and Morrogh declined to comment Tuesday as the
case passed the seven-month mark, as did acting U.S. Attorney Dana Boente in
Alexandria.
Geer’s family has been notably
quiet throughout this seven-month period. Their lawyer, Mike Lieberman of
Alexandria, declined to comment Tuesday. In February, after Morrogh announced
he was handing the case to the feds, Geer’s father, Don Geer, told The Post: “I
don’t know whether that’s good or bad — if I had a better idea of why they are
doing it, I could form an opinion.”
Brian Buchner is president of
the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement, a large
group of local police oversight groups. Of the Fairfax case, Buchner said:
“While not typical, there are cases where a prosecutor’s decision in an
officer-involved shooting case has taken seven months or longer to make.”
Buchner works for the Los Angeles Police Commission’s inspector general, and
L.A. has literally dozens of police shootings every year. So he should know.
It is cases like the death of
John Geer that led to the formation of the Virginia Citizens Coalition for
Police Accountability, in particular the 2009 Fairfax police killing of unarmed
motorist David Masters on Route 1 in the Alexandria area. The coalition has
continued to press for some sort of formal civilian oversight on police
actions, as is done in many other large jurisdictions, including the District.
When the police shoot and kill someone, and then remain completely silent for
seven months, it’s hard to vouch for the reliability of the current system
where the police investigate the police.
John Geer
Former Mesa cop turned art dealer arrested for sexual assault
by Jason Volentine
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- A former
Mesa cop and Scottsdale ancient art dealer is in trouble, accused of sexual
assault in a case with bizarre details emerging from a police report.
Walter Knox, 42, is the owner
of Knox Artifacts in downtown Scottsdale.
Police served a search warrant and arrested Knox at his business last
week.
Two women in their late 20s are
listed as victims in the police report with one of the women claiming sexual
assault. Knox is also charged with
assault with a deadly weapon.
A Scottsdale police report said
officers found cocaine and guns when they searched Knox Artifacts.
In the report, officers said
during the arrest that Knox claimed he was the victim of a theft and assault at
a strip club the night before.
One of the cops present at the
arrest noted in his report that Knox looked high. Another officer said Knox
talked at length about his experience as a Mesa police officer, shootings in
which he had been involved and his current medical issues.
Knox was released after his
arrest and the next day, according to the report, called Scottsdale police back
to his gallery, claiming the victims
listed in the sexual assault case had stolen $2,800 in cash and used his credit
card to book first class airplane tickets to Texas.
The report said Knox also gave
officers two baggies of drugs he claimed cops had left at the gallery during
their search the day before. Police seized the two baggies of meth and another
drug.
Knox is out of jail pending
further investigation on this case.
John Geer
OKC Police Arrest Cop Impersonator For Child Sex Crimes
By Lacie Lowry
OKLAHOMA CITY -
A metro man accused of
impersonating a police officer was arrested today on new charges. He was booked
this afternoon and court documents show he's now accused of child sex crimes.
Oklahoma City police said
31-year-old David Roberts preyed on a 15-year-old boy and took the kid out of
state to have sex with him.
Investigators said Roberts
picked up the boy from his Mustang home on Christmas Eve.
New court documents said
Roberts met the boy "through the internet on a homosexual social site and
they arranged to meet to exchange drugs."
Police said Roberts took the
boy back to his place "where Roberts injected the juvenile with
Methamphetamine."
Police believe Roberts took the
teen to Joplin, Miss. where he "continued to provide/inject the juvenile
with meth" and convinced the boy to have sex.
The search warrants said
"Roberts videotaped the sexual act."
We reported on Roberts last
month after a metro driver called 911 and said he was impersonating a cop.
Officers arrested him then for
impersonation, and now he's back behind bars.
Police said the 15-year-old
victim managed to get away from Roberts after 10 days with him.
David Roberts is in the
Oklahoma County Jail tonight on a $500,000 bond.
Cop arrested after hitting, threatening pedestrian
A Philadelphia police officer
has been arrested for an off-duty incident last fall in which he allegedly
drove into a pedestrian - and then threatened to kill him, shouted racial slurs
and flashed his gun.
Officer Edward Sawicki III, 33,
turned himself in to police today to face charges of terroristic threats,
simple assault, possession of an instrument of crime, harassment, and
disorderly conduct. Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey suspended him for 30
days, with intent to dismiss.
The Oct. 20 incident occurred
at 2:45 a.m. as a pedestrian was walking on Ninth Street near Wharton in South
Philadelphia, according to the District Attorney's Office. Sawicki was backing
up in his car when he hit the 37-year-old man in his knee. The victim pounded
on the trunk of Sawicki’s car with his hand to alert Sawicki that he'd hit him.
Sawicki then leapt out of his
car, pulled up his shirt to show his city-issued gun and rushed at the
pedestrian, yelling: "N--, I’ll
smoke you!” while keeping his hand on his holstered gun, according to the
District Attorney's Office.
The victim called police. His
gun was confiscated, and Internal Affairs officers investigated. Sawicki, a
9-year veteran, was last assigned to the 25th District in North Philadelphia.
It apparently wasn't the first
driving mishap to land Sawicki in trouble. A West Philadelphia man sued Sawicki
and another officer in January in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, claiming
they beat him and ran him over with their police cruiser during a car stop two
years ago.
In that complaint, John Lewis
claims that Sawicki and Officer Kelly Robbins stopped a car in which he was a
passenger on Jan. 31, 2012, in Fairhill. The officers ordered Lewis and the
car's driver to get out and hand over their identification, according to the
lawsuit. When Lewis reached for his identification, Sawicki yelled "he is
reaching for something!" and began beating Lewis with his nightstick, the
complaint charges. Robbins responded: "You hold him and I will give him
the Taser," according to the lawsuit.
Lewis "became afraid for
his life, having been assaulted and Tasered by police in the past, and managed
to get free," the lawsuit stated. Lewis sprinted down the block - but the
officers jumped back in their cruiser and ran him down, according to the
lawsuit. Lewis suffered a fractured pelvis and elbow, lacerated liver and other
injuries in the incident and is suing for medical expenses, emotional distress
and punitive damages, according to the complaint.
John Geer
Suspended Officer Pleads Not Guilty To Sexual Assault Of Teen Cadet
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) _ A
suspended Trumbull police officer has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault
charges that authorities say involve a teenage girl he met through the local
police cadets program.
The Connecticut Post reports that William Ruscoe entered the pleas Tuesday
in Bridgeport Superior Court and his case was
continued to April 28. Ruscoe and his lawyer declined to comment as they
left the courthouse.
The 19-year veteran officer
remains on paid leave pending an internal
investigation of the
allegations.
State police allege the
44-year-old Ruscoe began texting the 17-year-old girl
in March of last year saying he
wanted to have a sexual relationship with her,
and also texted her naked
photographs of himself and his wife. Troopers say
Ruscoe later sexually assaulted
the girl at his home in Trumbull.
John Geer
Atlanta cop fired for Eagle raid lies gets job back
By Matt Hennie | Apr 2, 2014 |
5:46 PM
A Georgia court ordered Atlanta
to rehire Sgt. Willie Adams, one of several police officers fired for lying
about their roles in the botched raid of gay Atlanta bar the Eagle.
Sgt. Willie Adams will be
reinstated to Atlanta police and receive back pay, according to the court
ruling. WSB first reported the court decision on Wednesday.
"He feels nervous because
he still doesn't believe they will actually do it," Mary Huber, Adams'
attorney, tells WSB. "This hurt this officer very deeply."
Turner suspended Adams and six
other officers in June 2011 and then fired him and five others days later. The
discipline came in the wake of two damning reports about the agency's role in
the botched raid in September 2009. Adams was fired for lying about his actions
during the raid in the later investigations, an action the city's civil service
board upheld. The raid cost the city some $2.7 million in legal fees and
lawsuit settlements.
A police union, the
International Brotherhood of Police Officers, paid Adams' legal fees. Last
year, a Fulton Superior court judge overturned the firing and the city
appealed. The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Adams, ordering the
city to rehire him.
"A careful and complete
review of the entire record, the transcripts, and the briefs of the parties
reveals that the superior court correctly concluded that no evidence in the
record supported the Board's findings," the court ruled.
Adams and Cayenne Mayes, also
fired for lying about his role in the Eagle raid, were later hired by the
Clayton County Sheriff's Office.
A statement from Mayor Kasim
Reed's office said the city "respectfully disagrees" with the court's
decision.
Chief George Turner dismissed
Willie Adams based on inconsistent statements Adams made during the City’s
investigations into the Eagle matter.
Chief Turner takes violations of the Atlanta Police Department’s work
rules seriously and, in fact, three APD work rule violations were upheld against
Adams. Adams’s dismissal was the only
discipline resulting from the Eagle investigations which was overturned. While the City of Atlanta respectfully
disagrees with the Court's decision, the City is prepared to reinstate Adams to
his former position.
John Geer
Jury finds veteran Cleveland police officer guilty of 2012 rape
Rachel Dissell, The Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A jury today
found veteran Cleveland police officer Gregory Jones guilty of raping and
kidnapping a woman in 2012.
Jones, 49, faced multiple
charges of rape, kidnapping and gross sexual imposition involving two separate
women.
After trial that lasted more
than a week in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Steven Gall's courtroom, a
jury deliberated for about two days before reaching a verdict.
They found Jones not guilty of
a rape reported by a separate woman in 2008.
Gall ordered Jones taken into
custody and set his sentencing for April 30.
"The jury saw Greg Jones
for what he is – a predator who victimized a helpless, vulnerable woman,"
Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor
Jesse Canonico said after in an email after the verdict was announced. "He
was a rapist masquerading as a police officer, but this jury saw through the
disguise and held him accountable for what he did."
An officer of more than 20
years, Jones maintained his innocence and testified that he had had consensual
sex with the women, one whom he was introduced to by a friend and another he
had casual sexual relationship with.
Jones' attorneys, Steven
Bradely and Mark Marein, pointedly attacked the credibility of both women. They
could not be reached for comment after the verdict.
In a closing statement,
attorney Steven Bradley called one of the women a "chronic 20-plus-year
crack user" who admitted to being high and drunk the night she said Jones
attacked her. He also said she had sometimes worked as a prostitute.
She reported to police that
Jones attacked her after seeing a news report about him being accused of a 2012
rape. Bradley said there was no evidence other than her report.
"Who here would be willing
to rely on her," Bradley asked jurors.
The other woman, who made the
first report against Jones in July 2012 when she was 34, willingly went to
Jones' home and wasn't honest with the jury about having an interest in Jones,
Bradley said.
He said witnesses described the
Chicago woman as a conniving and manipulative liar.
Assistant County Prosecutor
Melissa Riley, however, called attention to what she called Jones'
"Penthouse forum" description of the encounters.
Jones' recollection didn't make
sense with the reaction or injuries of the woman he met through friends at a
card game.
Riley said witnesses described
how upset she was after she said Jones raped her and that medical records
backed up that she had physical injuries consistent with what she told police.
Riley also said the woman's
doctors described several injuries she had and a recently surgery that made
Jones' descriptions of her actions that night unlikely.
Riley also asked the jury to
question why – if the allegations were false – did a man that knew Jones call
the 2012 victim and offer her money to drop the complaint.
Jones has been suspended from
the department without pay since August 2012.
Public Safety Director Michael
McGrath will hold an administrative hearing soon to determine the fate of
Jones' employment with the city, spokeswoman Maureen Harper said Wednesday.
John Geer
Ex-officer seeks dismissal of manslaughter charge
By CHUCK BARTELS, Associated
Press
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A
former Little Rock police officer charged with manslaughter in the shooting
death of a 15-year-old boy is asking a judge to throw out the case to avoid
having a third trial of the case.
The latest trial is scheduled
to begin May 5 as prosecutors make another attempt to convince a jury that Josh
Hastings was reckless when he fatally shot Bobby Moore III in 2012. Two
previous juries couldn't reach a unanimous verdict. Hastings' most recent trial
ended in September.
Attorney Bill James argues in
court documents that Hastings should not have to endure a third trial, citing
constitutional grounds of due process and fundamental fairness. Prosecutors
haven't yet filed a response.
Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen
ruled Wednesday that Hastings can't argue to the jury that he was justified in
shooting into a car that approached him as he was investigating car burglaries
at a Little Rock apartment complex.
As he did in the earlier
trials, Griffen said he'd limit what the jury can hear to whether Hastings
acted recklessly or not. Griffen argued that reckless behavior cannot be
justified.
Griffen wrote in his Wednesday
ruling that the manslaughter charge applies when someone is accused of having
"consciously disregard(ed) a substantial and unjustifiable risk."
"If the prosecution fails
to prove that an accused (person) acted recklessly, then the accused cannot be
found guilty of manslaughter," Griffen wrote.
Hastings claims a car driven by
Moore was moving toward him when he fired, but prosecutors say the physical
evidence from the scene didn't match Hastings' version of events.
James and Griffen have tangled
since the first trial in June 2013, with Griffen citing James for contempt and
ultimately fining him $5,000, a sum he reduced from $25,000.
After the first jury could not
reach a verdict, Griffen informed James of the 10 contempt counts for the way
James characterized two juvenile witnesses who were in the car with the victim
at the time of the shooting.
James has filed a motion asking
Griffen to withdraw from the case, noting that Arkansas law allows a judge to
be recused "if the judge has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a
party or a party's lawyer."
Griffen hasn't ruled on that
motion yet, but turned away a similar request before Hastings' second trial.
The judge also refused to give
ground on rules he established for questioning prospective jurors. Griffen
denied a motion by James that objected to Griffen requiring the sides to submit
questions under seal for his approval before they could be asked of the jury
Officers accused of excessive force face hearing
Maranda Faris,
Three Mt. Juliet police
officers who are accused of using excessive force against four apartment
residents in June face a settlement hearing Friday in U.S. Magistrate Court.
The four are among 30 residents
who also allege racial discrimination by police, the city of Mt. Juliet and
apartment management.
The lawsuit alleges that the
three officers arrived in response to a disturbance at an apartment complex on
June 10.
They arrested three teens and
the mother of one of them, used pepper spray on the crowd and threatened to use
a stun gun.
According to the complaint,
Officer Matt Mang arrived at Willow Creek Apartments in Mt. Juliet and asked
the three teens — Kari Banks, Kenneth Clemmons and De'Ontre Nealous — to turn
down the music on an iPhone.
Banks then began to argue with
the officer, according to the complaint. Mang handcuffed Banks and is accused
of grabbing him by the hair and shoving him into the side of his patrol car.
Clemmons and Nealous were recording video of the incident on their phones.
A group formed around the
officer as Banks' mother, Kitakiamma Banks, arrived and questioned why her son
was handcuffed. She became upset, was thrown to the ground and handcuffed, and
suffered a seizure. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where she was
ultimately arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
Clemmons faced the same
charges, while Kari Banks was charged with resisting arrest and unruly
behavior. Nealous was charged with disorderly conduct and assault.
Other officers arrived to
assist Mang with crowd control. Two of those officers are accused of
threatening to pepper spray the crowd around them and hitting Nealous and
Clemmons with police batons.
The complaint identifies those
two officers by last name only — Toy and Short — and the city of Mt. Juliet and
the police department refuse to identify them further.
The racial discrimination part
of the lawsuit stems from the actions taken by apartment management and police.
Three residents were evicted from their apartments, and the managers, Cheri
Hass and Trina Gonzalez, subsequently requested permission from the ownership —
Woodland Arms Apartments and Concord Management Limited — to have Mt. Juliet
police guard the complex. Hass, Gonzales and the two owners also are defendants
in the case.
The plaintiffs say their
movements were restricted by police security and that they were kept from
entering common areas of the complex after dark while white residents were not.
They also argue that all
arrests, restrictions and evictions occurred only to African-American residents
due to their race, not misbehavior on the residents' part.
The three officers involved are
still employed by the Mt. Juliet police department.
City Manager Kenneth Martin
said that it would "not be proper" to comment on the case because
litigation is pending.
Maranda Faris
John Geer