Fairfax County Police Watch: and the guilty cop pay nothing, not a single cent

City To Pay $5 Million To Family Of Man Killed In Mob Hit Facilitated By Crooked Cops

Phoenix Woman Files $625,000 Claim Notice Against City After Arrest Left Her With A Fractured Skull

$50 million lawsuit planned in NY police shooting of unarmed black man

Baltimore City now lets you look up lawsuits against the cops

Settlement reached in Shrewsbury police brutality lawsuit

Chesapeake settles suit that alleged police misconduct

City To Pay $5 Million To Family Of Man Killed In Mob Hit Facilitated By Crooked Cops

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — The City of New York on Friday agreed to pay $5 million to the family of a man killed after being mistaken for a mobster with the same name — thanks to information the killers gleaned from two former police detectives later convicted of moonlighting as hit men for the mob.

The city Law Department called Nicholas Guido’s 1986 death tragic in a statement Friday and says settling is in the city’s best interest.

The family’s lawyer did not immediately return a call from the Associated Press.

The 26-year-old Guido was shot outside his mother’s home on 17th Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn on Christmas Day 1986, according to a New York Daily News report.

Federal prosecutors said the gunmen had Guido had no ties to organized crime, but happened to share a name with an associate of the Gambino crime family who was part of a team of hit men that tried to kill Lucchese family underboss Anthony “Gaspipe” Casso three years earlier.

Casso who paid two detectives – Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa — to help in eight murders, according to the Daily News report. They were accused of carrying out two of those killings themselves.

Eppolito and Caracappa were both sentenced to life in prison.

WE NEED TO CHANGE THE COPS, NOT ENCOURAGE THEIR AWFUL BEHAVIOR

Boycott the following companies for hosting the Fairfax 2015 World Police & Fire Games

Apple Federal Credit Union,

LMI,

Noblis,

B.F. Saul Company,

Galls LLC,

Sage Communications,

Macerich,

Glory Days Grill,

Reston Limousine,

City of Fairfax, Karin’s Florist,

NOVA Media Services,

Clyde’s Restaurant Group,

Level3 Communications,

Verizon

Globe, Dewberry,

IMC, ESPN 980,

Serco,

Loudoun County,

Grant Thornton,

Prince William Convention and Visitors Bureau and

Booz Allen Hamilton.

Want to change the murderous arrogance and indifference of the Fairfax County Police? Then fire the people who hire the cops and watch how quickly things change. Start with tossing Gerry Hyland out of office. He basically works for the cop’s best interest and not yours.

Bottom line, if politicians don’t fear that you can harm their careers, then you don’t exist. They don’t see you, they don’t hear you. You don’t matter.

Phoenix Woman Files $625,000 Claim Notice Against City After Arrest Left Her With A Fractured Skull

By Jared Keever

A Phoenix, Arizona woman has filed $625,000 notice of claim against the city’s police department and various city officials, saying she was the victim of excessive force during an arrest in which she suffered a skull fracture.

The Associated Press reports Martha “Marti” Winkler filed the notice — which is considered a precursor to a lawsuit — as the result of a July 16 arrest outside a convenience store where she was trying to buy lottery tickets.

That it happened outside of a convenience store is about the only thing the 56-year-old grandmother and the arresting officer can agree on.

The Arizona Republic reports that police officer Jason Gillespie’s arrest report from the incident asserts Winkler was defiant as he tried to arrest her and that she twisted her body so much they both lost their balance and she fell in the parking lot, striking her head.

Gillespie had been called to the store by Winkler, who thought the convenience store clerk had improperly charged her for a lottery ticket purchase.

Winkler’s notice claims Gillespie arrived at the scene and only spent a brief period of time in the store before coming out and telling Winkler she was under arrest for trespassing.

Gillespie “twisted her body around and jerked her arms behind her back. She thought her forearms were going to snap. Marti felt herself being pushed forward,” Winkler’s notice reads.

She maintains the clerks never told her she was trespassing and never asked her to leave. She said in a recent interview with The Arizona Republic she never physically or verbally threatened the officer.

Winkler says she remembers very little from the incident other than waking up in the hospital with a black eye, a one-inch cut on her forehead, nasal and eye socket fractures and an occipital skull fracture. Her attorney, Tim Casey, says the injuries are particularly disturbing because they indicate two distinct blows to the head.

“I've got a woman who is a 5 foot 6, 125- to 140-pound grandmother,” Casey said. “Even if you assume trespassing, and even if you assume resisting, how in the heck could that level of force be reasonable and appropriate?”

Gillespie’s report claims he swung Winkler’s body to pull her out of the path of oncoming traffic and that was what caused her to lose balance.

State prosecutors declined to file charges against Winkler for resisting arrest. They left trespassing charges up to Phoenix city prosecutors.

Winkler’s notice claims excessive use of force and false arrest and imprisonment. It names Gillespie, the City of Phoenix, acting Phoenix Police Chief Joe Yahner and Mayor Greg Stanton as defendants.

The notice will progress to a lawsuit if a settlement is not reached.

Citing pending litigation, those named in the notice declined to comment.

WE NEED TO CHANGE THE COPS, NOT ENCOURAGE THEIR AWFUL BEHAVIOR

Boycott the following companies for hosting the Fairfax 2015 World Police & Fire Games

Apple Federal Credit Union,

LMI,

Noblis,

B.F. Saul Company,

Galls LLC,

Sage Communications,

Macerich,

Glory Days Grill,

Reston Limousine,

City of Fairfax, Karin’s Florist,

NOVA Media Services,

Clyde’s Restaurant Group,

Level3 Communications,

Verizon

Globe, Dewberry,

IMC, ESPN 980,

Serco,

Loudoun County,

Grant Thornton,

Prince William Convention and Visitors Bureau and

Booz Allen Hamilton.

Bottom line, if politicians don’t fear that you can harm their careers, then you don’t exist. They don’t see you, they don’t hear you. You don’t matter.

$50 million lawsuit planned in NY police shooting of unarmed black man

BY JOSEPH AX

(Reuters) - The girlfriend of an unarmed black man shot dead by a police officer in a housing project's dark stairwell notified New York City on Thursday that she plans to file a $50 million lawsuit over his death.

The fatal shooting of Akai Gurley, 28, in Brooklyn in November was among a string of incidents that fueled widespread protests over what critics say is a pattern of lethal police misconduct toward minority groups.

Scott Rynecki, the lawyer representing Gurley’s girlfriend, Kimberly Ballinger, and their 2-year-old daughter, said Officer Peter Liang acted "recklessly" both in drawing his gun while patrolling the project known as the Pink Houses and in firing the fatal shot.

"An officer has to be able to justify having his weapon out and in his hands," Rynecki said. "We think there was no justification."

Police have said Liang may have accidentally discharged his gun. The Brooklyn district attorney is investigating the shooting for possible criminal charges.

Gurley's funeral was held in December amid angry demonstrations in New York City days after a grand jury declined to indict a white police officer, Daniel Pantaleo, in the chokehold death of another unarmed black man, Eric Garner, on Staten Island.

The New York grand jury acted less than two weeks after a Missouri grand jury also decided not to file charges against a white policeman for the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, in a St. Louis suburb, sparking prolonged unrest there.

Ballinger filed a notice of claim seeking $50 million in damages against Liang, his partner, the city and the police department, according to Rynecki. She also filed a separate negligence claim against the city's housing authority, arguing that the stairwell in which Gurley was shot had inadequate lighting that contributed to the incident.

The city comptroller's office, which handles notices of claim, did not immediately confirm receipt of the document.

Nick Paolucci, a spokesman for the city's law department, said: "This was a tragic incident, and the city will review the claim."

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Mohammad Zargham)

WE NEED TO CHANGE THE COPS, NOT ENCOURAGE THEIR AWFUL BEHAVIOR

Boycott the following companies for hosting the Fairfax 2015 World Police & Fire Games

Apple Federal Credit Union,

LMI,

Noblis,

B.F. Saul Company,

Galls LLC,

Sage Communications,

Macerich,

Glory Days Grill,

Reston Limousine,

City of Fairfax, Karin’s Florist,

NOVA Media Services,

Clyde’s Restaurant Group,

Level3 Communications,

Verizon

Globe, Dewberry,

IMC, ESPN 980,

Serco,

Loudoun County,

Grant Thornton,

Prince William Convention and Visitors Bureau and

Booz Allen Hamilton.

Bottom line, if politicians don’t fear that you can harm their careers, then you don’t exist. They don’t see you, they don’t hear you. You don’t matter.

Baltimore City now lets you look up lawsuits against the cops

Baltimore City added a digest of lawsuits against police officers to its online searchable database at Open Baltimore. The law-case database lets you search by plaintiff or defendant plus venue and disposition. Right now, if you leave all fields blank, you get 11 cases on two pages.

The "read more" link there gets a paragraph summary—so-and-so sued the cops and the case was dismissed, basically. Or so-and-so sued, claiming false arrest and false imprisonment, and the city settled for $15,000.

Not much. But still progress.

WE NEED TO CHANGE THE COPS, NOT ENCOURAGE THEIR AWFUL BEHAVIOR

Boycott the following companies for hosting the Fairfax 2015 World Police & Fire Games

Apple Federal Credit Union,

LMI,

Noblis,

B.F. Saul Company,

Galls LLC,

Sage Communications,

Macerich,

Glory Days Grill,

Reston Limousine,

City of Fairfax, Karin’s Florist,

NOVA Media Services,

Clyde’s Restaurant Group,

Level3 Communications,

Verizon

Globe, Dewberry,

IMC, ESPN 980,

Serco,

Loudoun County,

Grant Thornton,

Prince William Convention and Visitors Bureau and

Booz Allen Hamilton.

Bottom line, if politicians don’t fear that you can harm their careers, then you don’t exist. They don’t see you, they don’t hear you. You don’t matter.

Settlement reached in Shrewsbury police brutality lawsuit

By Elaine Thompson

SHREWSBURY — The town has agreed to pay the former boyfriend of the sister of Police Chief James J. Hester Jr. $27,500 to settle a lawsuit in which he alleged police brutality.

Peter J. Zeno, 50, said he was unjustly beaten by local police officers in a holding cell Sept. 6, 2010. He had been arrested in the early afternoon that day after a domestic disturbance with his then-live-in girlfriend, Susan M. Hester, at the couple's Harrington Farms condominium.

Mr. Zeno, who now lives in Connecticut, filed the litigation in U.S. District Court in Worcester in September 2013. The Board of Selectmen, during an executive session Jan. 13, authorized Town Manager Daniel J. Morgado to settle the case for $27,500.

Mr. Morgado declined comment earlier this week when asked about the case. After receiving a Public Records Request, he released minutes of the executive session that state that the town's cost in the settlement is a $7,500 deductible, which has already been paid. The town's insurer, Trident Insurance Co., will fund $20,000.

Mr. Morgado, who was in Boston at the Massachusetts Municipal Association's annual meeting Friday, in an email said a settlement had not been finalized when a reporter inquired. He said the settlement was finalized Jan. 21.

"It was a good business decision," Mr. Morgado said when asked about the settlement.

According to the executive session minutes, which have not yet been approved, Mr. Morgado informed the board that Boston lawyer Stephen C. Pfaff, retained by the town's insurer to handle the case, worked out the settlement. Selectman Maurice DePalo, whose son-in-law is a local police officer, recused himself from the meeting.

"He is of the opinion that while the case has no merit, nothing could be gained from taking the matter to trial and the $27,500 represents what it would cost to defend," Mr. Morgado told the board, according to the minutes.

The defendants named in the suit are the town; the Police Department; Chief Hester; police officers Michael McGinnis, Daniel S. Wnek, Chad Chysna, Ryan Chartrand and Sgt. Michael O'Connor; and the Massachusetts State Police.

When asked about the settlement, Mr. Zeno's lawyer, David E. Ashworth of Worcester, said: "Often in settlements, both sides walk away a little unhappy."

He said Mr. Zeno works as a computer professional and author of scholarly articles on computer design and function.

Mr. Zeno, during a February 2011 interview, provided the Telegram & Gazette with a video of the incident recorded by a police security camera in the cell. The grainy, black-and-white footage showed officers kicking and punching Mr. Zeno after he kicked out from the cell floor. Mr. Zeno's foot appeared to make contact with the upper thigh or groin area of one officer.

During the 2011 interview, Ms. Hester said the couple had been arguing about money after Mr. Zeno's contract job as an electrical engineer ended. But she denied that she was assaulted by Mr. Zeno.

Mr. Zeno was charged with assaulting Ms. Hester as well as assault and battery on a police officer for kicking at Officer Wnek as he began to step over Mr. Zeno's leg as he lay on the cell floor.

The video showed Officer Wnek kick Mr. Zeno in the shin and then, with three other officers on top of him, give him a harder kick. Later, during the struggle, Officer Wnek punches Mr. Zeno. Two other officers who were holding the prisoner down are also seen punching Mr. Zeno in the head or upper torso.

Chief Hester had the incident reviewed by the office of District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. because, he said, he wanted to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest since it involved his estranged sister's boyfriend. The detectives in the DA's office concluded that the officers' use of force was appropriate to subdue a noncompliant prisoner who had wrapped a strip ripped from a towel around his neck in a suicide attempt.

Mr. Zeno admitted that he was despondent about a falling out with his children from a previous marriage and that he was woozy from a recent adjustment in his prescribed depression medication.

In a Feb. 26, 2011, T&G article, Mr. Early, who reviewed the video, said the kicks and blows by the officers were not arbitrary blows, but purposeful strikes intended to de-escalate a chaotic encounter by momentarily disorienting the prisoner. He said law enforcement officers are taught these techniques at the academy.

"It's not aesthetically pleasing when you see police officers using force, but when viewed in the totality, what our detectives found was that it was appropriate force given everything that occurred," Mr. Early said in the 2011 news article.

After the struggle, police called an ambulance to take Mr. Zeno to the hospital.

Mr. Zeno provided the T&G with a photo of himself with a black eye he says was caused by the alleged beating. He also provided medical records in which his primary care physician wrote in late September that Mr. Zeno had suffered a "nasal deformity following trauma to the nose. This would require a rhinoplasty approach to correct it." The doctor attributed Mr. Zeno's continued sensitivity to light to a likely concussion.

WE NEED TO CHANGE THE COPS, NOT ENCOURAGE THEIR AWFUL BEHAVIOR

Boycott the following companies for hosting the Fairfax 2015 World Police & Fire Games

Apple Federal Credit Union,

LMI,

Noblis,

B.F. Saul Company,

Galls LLC,

Sage Communications,

Macerich,

Glory Days Grill,

Reston Limousine,

City of Fairfax, Karin’s Florist,

NOVA Media Services,

Clyde’s Restaurant Group,

Level3 Communications,

Verizon

Globe, Dewberry,

IMC, ESPN 980,

Serco,

Loudoun County,

Grant Thornton,

Prince William Convention and Visitors Bureau and

Booz Allen Hamilton.

Bottom line, if politicians don’t fear that you can harm their careers, then you don’t exist. They don’t see you, they don’t hear you. You don’t matter.

Chesapeake settles suit that alleged police misconduct

By Scott Daugherty

The Virginian-Pilot

The city of Chesapeake will pay $50,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a 70-year-old woman who said two police officers violated her constitutional rights inside her home last March.

Attorneys for Ruth Davenport and the city initially declined Monday to comment on the terms of the settlement. Her lawsuit accused an officer of slamming the 5-foot-4-inch, 140-pound woman to the floor of her home.

City Attorney Jan Proctor said the settlement is confidential. But after The Pilot contacted several Chesapeake council members, Proctor released the amount. She also indicated in a statement that the settlement is "not an admission or a concession that Ms. Davenport's rights were violated."

S.W. Dawson, Davenport's attorney, said his client was "very satisfied." Video from the body camera one of the officers was wearing corroborated his client's version of events, Dawson said.

"Our negotiating leverage would have been hampered had we not had the body camera footage," Dawson said.

Davenport sought $500,000 in the lawsuit, which was filed in November in U.S. District Court in Norfolk and named Officer Anthony Echevarria and former Officer Joel Ayala-Acevedo as defendants. It was settled before it was served on the officers, Dawson said.

According to the lawsuit, the officers confronted Davenport about 5:40 a.m. March 26 at her former Chesapeake home. The officers were looking for Davenport's son, who was wanted on misdemeanor warrants.

The suit claimed Davenport told the officers her son was not there and asked them to leave.

It said Ayala-Acevedo responded by grabbing her arm, pushing her inside her house and slamming her to the floor. Echevarria later placed his hands on Davenport and helped take her into custody, the lawsuit said.

Ayala-Acevedo - who left the department in October for unknown reasons - gave a different version of events in other court documents. He said Davenport cursed at him after he threatened her with a noise violation. A struggle ensued, he said, when he tried to place her under arrest. She "ended up on the floor," he said.

Davenport then kicked his thigh while she was on the ground, Ayala-Acevedo said. He charged her with felony assault of a police officer and misdemeanor obstruction of justice. Prosecutors dropped the charges in May after reviewing the video from Ayala-Acevedo's body camera.

Police declined to release a copy of the video to The Virginian-Pilot. Dawson said the city showed him the video after he filed the lawsuit.

"There's no doubt the cameras are keeping the big boys honest," he said

WE NEED TO CHANGE THE COPS, NOT ENCOURAGE THEIR AWFUL BEHAVIOR

Boycott the following companies for hosting the Fairfax 2015 World Police & Fire Games

Apple Federal Credit Union,

LMI,

Noblis,

B.F. Saul Company,

Galls LLC,

Sage Communications,

Macerich,

Glory Days Grill,

Reston Limousine,

City of Fairfax, Karin’s Florist,

NOVA Media Services,

Clyde’s Restaurant Group,

Level3 Communications,

Verizon

Globe, Dewberry,

IMC, ESPN 980,

Serco,

Loudoun County,

Grant Thornton,

Prince William Convention and Visitors Bureau and

Booz Allen Hamilton.

Bottom line, if politicians don’t fear that you can harm their careers, then you don’t exist. They don’t see you, they don’t hear you. You don’t matter.