CONFLICT OF INTEREST:
San Francisco Police Authorities Retaliate Against One of Their Own for holding Colleagues Accountable: Veteran San Francisco police officer fired Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writer Published 4:00 am, Monday, January 18, 2010 Inspector Marvetia "Lynn" Richardson, 42, was fired after a closed-door hearing of the Police Commission last month. Ms. Richardson San Francisco police officials claimed that Richardson had lied about an incident in which Antioch police used taser guns on her in her explanation to the department's internal affairs unit. http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Veteran-San-Francisco-police-officer-fired-3203332.php Did the D.A investigate former A.P.D Officer Santiago Martinez Jr. for perjury? The City Of Antioch just settled a lawsuit for $750.000 for a claim for civil right violations and excessive force filed by Marvetia "Lynn" Richardson. An audio tape was booked into evidence by the Antioch P.D which clearly pinpoints that now terminated Officer Santiago Martinez Jr lied on the police reports which he submitted. So the big question for today is if it is possible that Officer Santiago Martinez lied on this police report how many other arrest(s) and police reports which Sanjtiago Martinez Jr has taken part of are questionable too.......? So did the District Attorneys Office conduct an investigation into the creditably of this Officers behavior? No because inside of practice blind justice they are playing politics and covering up for bad Antioch Police Department Officers. http://www.topix.com/forum/city/antioch-ca/TPRFVHPPSQ0FNC9FS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Attorney blasts sentence for LAPD police perjury as 'way too lenient' An attorney for a man who accused two Los Angeles police officers of lying about his arrest and trying to frame him blasted a judge's decision on Tuesday not to jail the officers. Los Angeles County Deputy Public Defender Victor Acevedo said the former LAPD partners should have been incarcerated after a jury found them guilty of perjury and conspiracy to obstruct justice in a 2008 case against his client. http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jun/25/local/la-me-ln-attorney-blasts-sentence-for-police-perjury-as-way-too-lenient-20130625 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Preventable Error: A Report on Prosecutorial Misconduct in California 1997–2009 by Professor Kathleen (Cookie) Ridolfi, Santa Clara University School of Law and Maurice Possley It is impossible to overestimate the magnitude of the wrong done to an innocent person wrongfully convicted of a crime. The psychological, emotional and economic harm can be equivalent to the destruction of a life. Second, as the Misconduct Study has shown, the Court, (in – Imbler v. Pachtman, United States Supreme Court), was incorrect in its assumption that prosecutorial misconduct would be deterrend and punished by the disciplinary bodies charged with the responsibility of regulating attorney conduct. In California, six cases of State Bar discipline in 13 years shows that public discipline is rare; 707 cases finding prosecutorial misconduct show that deterrence, if it exists, is inadequate. In contrast, allowing the possibility of civil liability under the limited circumstances of qualified immunity would greatly increase deterrence. As Justice White pointed out in Imbler: “It should hardly need stating that, ordinarily, liability in damages for unconstitutional or otherwise illegal conduct has the very desirable effect of deterring such conduct.” Absolute immunity allows prosecutors to commit misconduct with impunity, knowing that they are immune from any consequences, even if they act intentionally, in bad faith or with malice. "Specifically, when a prosecutor violates a person’s due process rights, the violation is a crime. Subornation of perjury is a crime. Tampering with and coercing witnesses is a crime. Using false evidence before a grand jury or court is a crime. Yet the prosecutors who engage in this criminal conduct are not prosecuted, are not disciplined, and are not held liable for their crimes.” http://cklawreview.com/wp-content/uploads/vol85no1/Rosenthal.pdf Two recent studies have shown the alarming frequency in which courts upheld convictions of innocent people, including in cases of prosecutorial misconduct, incorrectly finding harmless error. Prosecutorial misconduct imposes a heavy financial cost on cities and counties, primarily borne by taxpayers, through prolonged criminal litigation and incarceration. These massive costs provide another reason that society should care about prosecutorial misconduct, even in cases where the defendants in fact are guilty. The lack of transparency of the Bar’s disciplinary process makes it difficult to monitor the extent to which the Bar is addressing issues of prosecutorial misconduct. “Our criminal justice system depends on the integrity of the attorneys who present their cases to the jury. When even a single conviction is obtained through perjurious or deceptive means, the entire foundation of our system of justice is weakened.” – Hayes v. Brown, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 207 Our criminal justice system aims at a difficult and critical balance. The requirement that prosecutors only use fair means of conviction means that they sometimes are unable to convict people they believe are guilty. But that is the balance we have struck, recognizing that it is better that some guilty go free than the fairness of trials be compromised and the innocent convicted. The Misconduct Study demonstrates that the system is failing to achieve this balance. The Misconduct Study demonstrates that the system is failing to achieve this balance. Those charged with ensuring it---the courts, prosecutors, and the State Bar—are not fulfilling their obligations to monitor, report and discipline prosecutorial misconduct. It is difficult to imagine a stronger wake-up call than the Misconduct Study’s finding that out of 707 cases of court-identified misconduct, only six prosecutors were disciplined. But the real remedies lie with the public, which must recognize the severity and importance of the problem and keep pressure on those responsible until reform occurs. The terrible consequences of prosecutorial misconduct for innocent defendants, taxpayers, crime victims and the entire criminal justice system mandate action. The time for change and professional accountability is now. http://truthinjustice.org/ProsecutorialMisconduct_BookEntire_online_version.pdf ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Menlo Park Police Officer Jeffrey Vasquez was found naked with a prostitute while on duty and arrested for solicitation goes unpunished and keeps job: The Police officer who investigated the incident wasn’t available to testify in court so rather than reschedule the trial, Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Rob Baker, who supervised the case dismissed it, an action condoned by the Judge. Additionally, Officer Vasquez has kept his job with the Menlo Park police due to the Police Union’s binding arbitration policy, which most police departments and cities have.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/16/jeffrey-vasquez_n_2486823.html Under California law, internal affairs investigations -- even the fact that an investigation has occurred -- are confidential personnel matters. So are complaints of misconduct and police disciplinary records. The City of Menlo Park was essentially denied the ability to terminate the employment of Mr. Vasquez despite his unethical and unlawful acts. http://www.almanacnews.com/news/2013/01/15/menlo-park-cop-caught-with-prostitute-keeps-job ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sheriff's Deputy Kills Cyclists -- Keeps Job: Santa Clara County Sheriff’s deputy, (James "Tommy" Council), kills two cyclists avoids being terminated from his job and receives only a sentence of being required to wear an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet for four months in addition to performing 20 weeks of community service. All this despite the fact that in a previous case he was charged with two drunken-driving counts: driving while intoxicated and having a blood-alcohol content greater than 0.08 percent in which he plead guilty to “street racing” in a plea deal. Friends and relatives are incensed that the deputy won't serve time behind bars under a court-ordered deal. http://www.mercurynews.com/topstories/ci_12523465 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chicago Police Guilty of Covering Up Bartender Beating By COLLEEN CURRY via 20/20 The Chicago Police Department has been found guilty of covering up the beating of a female bartender by a city police officer, and was criticized for honoring a "code of silence" in which officers cover up for one another's misdeeds. The altercation was caught on surveillance tape, but Chicago police officers ignored the tape's existence and failed to mention in their police report that the assailant was a city cop. Obrycka's attorney presented evidence, including hundreds of phone calls between Abbate and other cops in the hours after the incident, that convinced the jury there was a widespread effort to cover up the attack. http://abcnews.go.com/US/chicago-police-found-guilty-covering-bartender-beating/story?id=17716840 Video of Attack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49kgG0s7lVk Officer Given Probation for Attack:
Prosecutors had asked for prison for Abbate -- he could have been sentenced to up to five years behind bars -- but judge John Fleming said he didn't see aggravating factors to justify a prison term so Chicago police officer convicted of pummeling a female bartender half his size was sentenced Tuesday to two years probation and anger management classes http://abcnews.go.com/US/chicago-police-found-guilty-covering-bartender-beating/story?id=17716840 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ San Mateo County Sheriff Greg Munks Caught In An illegal Brothel: While the Pimps, Prostitutes and Johns get arrested Sheriff Greg Munks walks away without being held accountable or even being forced to explain why he was inside the brothel. U.S. representatives say San Mateo County's top cop needs to be held accountable By Michael Manekin , STAFF WRITER Inside BayArea http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_8970443 "This cries out for a comprehensive external investigation because the highest law enforcement officer in the county should not be under any suspicion of illegal activity at any time ever," said Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough. "I don't think the public is naive, and I don't think they're stupid. Added Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, "The whole element of accountability is missing. People simply don't know what happened that night." Munks and Bolanos ended up that night at 3474 Eldon St., a ranch home fitted with barred windows and furnished sparsely with a couch and TV in the front room and nothing but mattresses on the floors of the bedrooms, according to police. There was no business sign on the outside of the building, which sits two miles off the Strip in a gritty residential neighborhood. Inside, there were large boxes of condoms and great quantities of lubricant, said Lauren Hermosillo, a social worker with the Salvation Army who assisted the women inside once police arrested the people accused of selling their bodies. Describing the house, Hermosillo said, "It smelled like urine, it smelled like feces, it smelled like cigarette smoke. It didn't look like a massage parlor. It was very obviously not a massage parlor." Why would Munks have risked his reputation and political future by seeking a massage in a residential neighborhood and walking inside a building that lacked signage or any other accouterments of a legitimate business? http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_8970443 ------------------------------------------ Contra Costa Times: 03/03/2010 Unfortunately, Munks hasn't even tried to muster a plausible explanation for his whereabouts that night, steadfastly refusing to publicly answer questions. Almost three years later, we're still left with his initial and only public statement about the matter: "I believed I was going to a legitimate business. It was not." If the sheriff of a county in the metropolitan Bay Area can't figure out he's in a brothel until the place is raided, maybe law enforcement isn't his natural calling. But as we've pointed out before, the scandal transcends the sheriff alone. What the incident showed was that county supervisors were either too politically entrenched with Munks or flat out spineless to have asked him to give the public an accounting of that April night. Instead, they lamely declared themselves powerless to question another elected official, dithered around and, after being lightly chided by two local congresswomen for dithering around, created an "ethics commission" that doesn't meet and whose "members" weren't all told they had been selected. The county's top prosecutors didn't cover themselves with glory either. Because whatever happened happened outside their jurisdiction, they publicly washed their hands of the whole mess. What they did privately was a different matter, though. "It isn't easy getting beaten up in the media, but hopefully it will all be yesterday's news by tomorrow," District Attorney Jim Fox wrote four days after the incident in an e-mail obtained by Daily News reporter Shaun Bishop. "To those who matter, your decades of outstanding work in law enforcement are all that count and your integrity is not in the slightest marked by the modern media's efforts to make a story out of a non-story. Hard as it is to think now, remember it will be yesterday's news and irrelevant by tomorrow," Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe wrote Munks that same morning. Wagstaffe, by the way, is running for district attorney — also unopposed so far — to replace the retiring Fox. http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_14507810 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Former San Mateo County Probation Chief Sentenced to 10 Months in County Jail For Child Porn Charge September 20, 2013 9:27 PM SAN MATEO (CBS SF) – A former San Mateo County probation chief convicted of possessing child pornography was sentenced Friday to 10 months in county jail and was led away from court in handcuffs. The case was prosecuted through the state Attorney General’s office with Atack presiding as judge. The case was turned over to the state due to the close working relationships Forrest had with San Mateo County judges and the district attorney’s office during his 34-year career with the county. Deputy Attorney General Johnette Jauron said Friday that she hoped Forrest would get the maximum sentence for his crimes, which was three years and eight months in state prison. http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2013/09/20/former-san-mateo-county-probation-chief-sentenced-for-child-porn-charge/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ S.F. ex-police lawyer sues over firing John Wildermuth Thursday, May 16, 2013 s.f.gate A former Police Department attorney who put together a case to fire then-Deputy Chief Greg Suhr in 2009 filed a wrongful termination suit in San Francisco Superior Court Wednesday, charging that Suhr dismissed her in retaliation soon after he became police chief in 2011. Kelly O'Haire, a civilian attorney hired by the department in 2006 to run internal affairs legal cases, "was terminated in retaliation for creating a strategy and putting together a case for terminating" Suhr, according to the suit. O'Haire actually "was fired for complaining about illegal activities" by Suhr, said Gary Gwilliam, the Oakland attorney who filed the suit. "We don't have to prove that (Suhr) was doing anything wrong, only that he fired (O'Haire) in retaliation for her efforts against him." O'Haire, a former San Rafael police officer and deputy district attorney for Marin County, had her life ruined for doing her job, Gwilliam said. http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/S-F-ex-police-lawyer-sues-over-firing-4520128.php ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Beck facing rare criticism Improper use of force is tolerated too often, police panel says By Joel Rubin, April 16, 2012 L.A. Times Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck is under fire from his civilian bosses, who increasingly are troubled by his reluctance to punish officers they found had killed or wounded people unjustifiably. "If this pattern continues, it could undermine the entire discipline system and undermine the authority of the commission," said Robert Saltzman, a member of the Police Commission and associate dean at USC's law school. "It runs the risk of sending the message to officers that there will be no consequences." http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/16/local/la-me-beck-discipline-20120416 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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