Animal Farm

Lawsuit settled accusing former police officer of stalking in uniform

"The city of Roseville has settled a lawsuit accusing a former police officer of stalking and harassing a married Roseville woman while he was on duty and in full uniform. The lawsuit, filed in July, accuses former Roseville police officer Tom Cabral of using his authority to stalk a woman he was sexually obsessed with. Court documents describe the story from the perspective of plaintiffs Victoria Guthrie and her husband Matthew Tullgren. They claim Cabral committed a series of major ethical violations while attempting to establish a sexual relationship with Guthrie. When she filed a complaint with the department, the couple said Roseville police officers ransacked their apartment." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLawsuit settled accusing former police officer of stalking in uniform

$3.4M settlement in deadly 2011 SWAT raid near Tucson

"The family of a man killed in a barrage of gunfire during a SWAT raid at a home southwest of Tucson has settled a lawsuit with four police agencies involved in the operation. Guerena, 26, was shot and killed by SWAT team members on May 5, 2011, when they raided his house. The former Marine had been asleep after working a night shift and was awakened by his wife, who thought intruders were in the yard. He was holding an AR-15 rifle when he was shot. A spokeswoman for the Pima County Sheriff’s Department disagreed with the decision to settle, but hinted a prolonged trial could wind up costing taxpayers even more." Continue reading →

Continue Reading$3.4M settlement in deadly 2011 SWAT raid near Tucson

Police in Peel Region using city buses to nab distracted drivers

"Did you hear Peel Regional Police officers are sitting on Mississauga buses and spying on would-be distracted drivers in cars below? Sound like something out of East Berlin when they were behind the wall. But it’s true. Be warned, if you are talking or texting while driving in Mississauga look up and smile if you notice a MiWay bus driving by you. Or quickly hide that smartphone, iPad, burrito, coffee or burger. But if you are soon pulled over by Peel copper and get a ticket you will know it was too late. Gotchya. Big Brother at work with a little help from public transit." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolice in Peel Region using city buses to nab distracted drivers

Charges reduced for officer who ran over teens while fiddling with phone

"Felony hit-and-run charges against fired Manchester police sergeant Stephen Coco have been reduced to misdemeanors, charges that would allow the 17-year police veteran to avoid a state prison sentence in the high-profile case. Last Thursday, the special prosecutor in the case filed Class A misdemeanor charges of vehicular assault against Coco, claiming he was fiddling with a cell phone last March when he hit two Bedford teenagers outside their Harrod Lane homes. He was driving an unmarked Manchester police vehicle at the time." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCharges reduced for officer who ran over teens while fiddling with phone

Aide To Mentally Handicapped Man Murdered By Police Speaks Out

"It happened after three deputies removed him from a Frederick movie theater for not having a $12 ticket. Ethan's aide who was with him that night shared her story only with WUSA9's, Debra Alfarone. She says when she heard that Ethan had died, 'I just started crying.' She says she's done so many more times since that fateful January night. She asked that we not identify her, nor show her face on camera. She is 18, and was Ethan Saylor's aide for the last 3 months of his life. Now, hers will never be the same. Today, she joined the Saylor family as they delivered 340,000 signatures to Governor Martin O'Malley, asking for an independent investigation into his death," Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAide To Mentally Handicapped Man Murdered By Police Speaks Out

Police change story after video shows breaking student’s leg over ticket

"A group of police officers who allegedly broke the leg of an arts student and told her 'we don't care if it's legal' have been allowed to change their defence at the eleventh hour after CCTV footage of the assault emerged. Rachel Gardner is suing the NSW police force claiming she was kicked, sat on, handcuffed, pushed against a fence, loaded into a paddy wagon and then dumped at a nearby train station without charge after being caught without a train ticket on March 13, 2011. Police initially denied the kick occurred but sought to amend their defence in the Sydney District Court on Monday, minutes before the beginning of a five-day trial." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolice change story after video shows breaking student’s leg over ticket

Making the Victim Pay for the Bullet

"A few months after being assaulted by police in an entirely unjustified raid, Mrs. Injeyan filed a $290,000 damage claim with the City of Laguna Beach – an impressively modest amount, given the expenses incurred to the victim as a result of grotesque police overkill. After that claim was rejected, Marilyn filed a federal lawsuit. The City responded with a motion for summary judgment on the basis of the spurious and all-sufficient doctrine of 'qualified immunity.' Judge O’Connell added another layer of vindictive privilege to this familiar ritual by ordering the elderly, impoverished victim of police abuse to pay the legal costs incurred by the government whose agent had assaulted her." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMaking the Victim Pay for the Bullet

QE3 is a Huge Subsidy to the Top 10%.

"The Federal Reserve System’s policy known widely as QE3 is a massive subsidy of the rich at the expense of the middle class. This is the conclusion of Stephen Roach, who for years was chief economist for Morgan Stanley. He calls this policy destabilizing. He says this: the FED 'is courting an increasingly treacherous endgame at home and abroad.' The FED’s creation of $85 billion of counterfeit money — euphemistically called 'liquidity' — is based on a theory. The theory is that rich people, who buy most of the stocks and bonds, will feel wealthier, and therefore will buy more stocks and bonds. In short, QE3 is an indirect way to goose the equity markets." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingQE3 is a Huge Subsidy to the Top 10%.

Missouri cops now using 80,000-volt ‘stun cuffs’ on prisoners

"The Sheriff’s Department in Buchanan County, Missouri has begun using 80,000-volt enhanced handcuffs for prisoner transfers and some court appearances while dismissing potential safety concerns, KQTV-TV reported on Monday. The 'stun cuffs,' as they have been called, are tied around a prisoner’s arm or leg and can be operated via remote control from as far as 100 yards away. His department is currently using only two pairs, valued at $2,200 apiece, citing 'bugs and kinks' that need to be corrected before more are ordered. In one demonstration, an unidentified officer from another department was seen flailing on the ground after being shocked while wearing the device." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMissouri cops now using 80,000-volt ‘stun cuffs’ on prisoners

New trial for Florida mom serving 20-year term for shooting at wall

"The 1st District Court of Appeal ordered the retrial after ruling a judge had not properly instructed the jury that convicted Marissa Alexander. But the appeals court decided the judge properly blocked Alexander from using the state’s 'Stand Your Ground' law in her defense. The 33-year-old Jacksonville woman said she fired the bullet into a wall in 2010 to scare off her husband because he was threatening her. A jury rejected her self-defense claim and convicted Alexander of discharging a firearm, triggering the 20-year term under the state’s mandatory minimum guidelines for gun crimes." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew trial for Florida mom serving 20-year term for shooting at wall