Brought to you by………
John Foust. Because even moral cowards need a
job
“When the cops murdered unarmed
citizens, secretly recorded public officials and held the people of this county
in contempt, I said and did nothing. I was silent in the face of injustice. And
now I expect you idiots to reelect me”
About Supervisor John W. Foust
John was elected to the Board of
Supervisors in 2007 and re-elected in 2011. In all that time he has never, not
once, spoken out against the brutality, corruption, excessive power or bloated
budget of the Fairfax County Police.
However he did find time to run
for reelection several times and run a losing bid for congress.
Since joining the Board of
Supervisors, John has sought to provide effective, results-oriented, common
sense leadership for the residents of the Dranesville District and Fairfax
County…..in as long as providing effective, results-oriented, common sense
leadership doesn’t involve speaking out against the cops.
Bond denied for former police
officer charged with murdering John Geer.
By Tim Peterson
Shortly after 10 a.m. on Aug. 19,
former Fairfax County Police officer Adam Torres entered the circuit courtroom
for his arraignment, dressed in a baggy, blue-green prison jumpsuit. Torres was
indicted the previous Monday by a special grand jury for killing Springfield
resident John Geer in August, 2013.
He was still an officer at the
time and one of several who responded to a call from Geer’s longtime partner
Maura Harrington that Geer was throwing her belongings out on to the lawn of
their Springfield home.
After the indictment, Fairfax
County Police said Torres surrendered himself that evening at the County Adult
Detention Center.
Circuit Court judge Judge Stephen
C. Shannon placed Torres’ arraignment first on his docket. The defendant’s
attorney John F. Carroll began by rebutting his client being held without bond
until the trial. Murder qualifies as an offense for which bond is denied in
Virginia, but it can be argued whether the person accused poses a flight risk
or is a threat to the community.
Carroll stated the case that
Torres, 32, immediately turned himself in, has no prior criminal record and has
a wife and two children. As Hayfield and George Mason University graduate,
Carroll said he doesn’t think “you can find anyone with greater ties to the
community.”
The attorney went on to summarize
the Geer shooting incident, beginning to justify Torres by saying a handgun
owned by Geer had been found on the scene “within reach, in our estimation,”
and that Geer had made “numerous erratic movements,” prior to Torres firing.
And because the shooting in
question was in Torres’ performance of duties as a police officer, Carroll
argued, “there’s no reason for anyone to be fearful.” Carroll then asked that a
bond for Torres be set at $25,000.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Raymond
F. Morrogh spoke after Carroll in opposition to the bond motion. “Not only did
he kill Mr. Geer,” Morrogh said, “but did so with malice.” Morrogh later added
that was the consensus of the special grand jury.
The prosecutor also referenced
evidence that Torres had been in a “deteriorating mental state,” saying the
former police officer had fought with his supervisor and with his wife because
he suspected her of infidelity.
Though Morrogh didn’t disagree
with Torres’ connection to the community and lack of flight risk, “It’s the
first time I’ve seen a police officer shoot someone who had his hands up,” he
said. “I think that makes him dangerous.”
Judge Shannon reminded that,
“We’re not here to decide the merits of the case today, solely the bond.”
Citing “some indications at the
time of the incident of a deteriorating mental state,” Shannon denied Carroll’s
request for a bond to be set.
Torres and the attorneys were
asked to stand while the details of his trial were negotiated. Carroll hoped to
start early in 2016 while Morrogh was intent to begin as soon as possible.
The two parties settled on Dec.
14 to begin the trial, which Morrogh said he expected would last about a week.
As the date was reached, Torres suddenly collapsed backward and fell to the
ground.
Judge Shannon cleared the entire
courtroom as the bailiffs rendered first aid and called a rescue team.
Torres was taken to a nearby
hospital, Morrogh said afterwards, and his vitals were said to have returned to
normal. The attorney said it’s not unusual for individuals to faint or pass out
in the courtroom.
Outside the courthouse, Morrogh
commented to reporters that though he’s prosecuted judges and lawyers in his
career, “It’s rare to see a case like this — there’s certainly no joy in it.”
As for Torres being the first
Fairfax County Police officer in 75 years to be charged with such an offense,
Morrogh said he thinks “it’s a really good thing that we don’t have many of
those.”
“It’s just the length of time
this case has taken, that’s not right,” Morrogh said. “We have to have a
finality to this.”
Fairfax County had withheld much
of the information about the case, including Torres’ name, until Geer’s family
filed a $12 million lawsuit against the Police Department. Torres had been
taken out of field work but remained employed by Fairfax County until he was
fired in July of this year.
The county justified not
releasing the information previously due to ongoing investigations by Police
Internal Affairs, the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office and the U.S. Department
of Justice.
Jeff Stewart, Geer’s best friend
who witnessed the shooting and became a member of the Fairfax County ad hoc
commission to review police practices, sat directly behind Torres during the
arraignment. He had never seen the man face to face prior to that morning, and
expressed sympathy for Torres and members of his family who were present at the
hearing.
Stewart described having “mixed
emotions” since the indictment. “I feel good for the process, and bad for the
man,” he said.
Torres’ wife and family members
declined to comment after the hearing.
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