Deadly Bakersfield Police Beating: Seized Phone’s Video Disappears, Sheriff

Two citizens filmed cops beating a man for being drunk in public. The Kern County Sheriff’s Department seized the films qhich are now missing. The FBI is investigating.

Jury selected in Meriden police brutality trial

NEW HAVEN, Conn.— A jury has been picked in the federal police brutality trial of a Meriden cop Evan Cossette, the son of Meriden Police Chief Jeffry Cossette, is accused of shoving a handcuffed man in the police department lockup in 2010. The man, Pedro Temich of Meriden, fell and fractured his skull on a concrete bench.The incident was recorded on surveillance video, but Cossette says the video was altered by police officials to leave out key moments when Temich disobeyed commands to sit down.

Self-Glorification

  We should build a rose garden to the memory of citizens killed by the Fairfax County Police. Don’t chuckle over it. There are enough people in this county willing to finance and promote the project.

   Just as the Fairfax County cops best bud Gerry (With a G, dearie) Hyland wants to tax our food, the cops decided to a mid-day self-glorification rally on company time. They have that much of our money to spare.  The manufactured event, a memorial service held at the Public Safety Rose Garden located behind police headquarters, was to recognize police officers killed in the line of duty.

  We should recognize police officers who sacrifice their lives for the public good. But in all fairness to the people of Fairfax County, we have done that and done that many times.

   Considering the enormity of police budget, the over gross overhead of assistant/deputy police chiefs, combined with the extremely generous paychecks and golden retirement parachutes we give the Fairfax County police …SHOULD’T THE COPS BE DOING THIS SORT OF THING ON THEIR OWN TIME AND AT THEIR OWN EXPENSE?

    This is to say nothing of issue that the Fairfax County Police spend an inordinate amount of time promoting themselves which is what the parade in the rose garden was about and which leads us to the question that if the cops were forced to put on the display in the rose garden on their own clock instead of ours, would they be conducting these self-serving ceremonies at all?  No, probably not because these sort of high drama gatherings are for the sake of illusion, a means of telling the taxpayer “Don’t look at what we take. Look at what we give”

    But they do take. They take a lot, especially when we factor in that Fairfax County cops, by and large, don’t live in this country which is very generous to them. Their paychecks are spent in Prince William County. The homes they buy are there as well. Their kids take short buses, no doubt, to Louden schools.  

   Yet the enormous overhead cost of redundant and unnecessary staff in the police department comes out of our counties budget. Same with the fat paychecks we give them and lucrative retirement deals they weaseled out of us. Our county pays for it.

    And what is this “Public safety rose garden?”  Why are we paying for this? If the cops want their own garden, they should build one out of their pockets and not ours. And why do they get one at all? Does the County assessor get an apple grove in his honor or garbage collectors a field of lilies?  Enough is enough.

officer charged with assault seeks to block release of video of incident

A Seattle police officer charged with assault has filed court papers asking a judge to block the release of patrol-car video of the incident that led to the allegation.

In a complaint dated May 9, attorneys for the officer, Chris Hairston, argued that the release of the video to The Seattle Times under a public-disclosure request would violate Hairston’s right to privacy and a fair trial. Disclosure also would conflict with state law regarding the release of dashboard-camera video while criminal or civil litigation is pending, the attorneys wrote.

The complaint was filed in King County Superior Court against the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which had planned to release the video to The Times next week.

Hairston pleaded not guilty April 19 to a misdemeanor assault charge stemming from a confrontation with a handcuffed man who had attacked the officer’s wife, also a police officer.

Katie Hairston and another officer responded Sept. 24 to a report that a person had passed out near Seattle Central Community College.

The officers spoke to several people who were drinking alcohol, including one who assaulted Katie Hairston, according to the City Attorney’s Office, which brought the assault charge against Chris Hairston. Katie Hairston was treated at a hospital for a head injury and scrapes to her hands and knees.

After her assailant had been placed in handcuffs, Chris Hairston, a K-9 officer who had been on duty elsewhere, arrived at the scene. He allegedly walked up to the suspect and intentionally assaulted him, the City Attorney’s Office said.

No detailed description was provided of Hairston’s specific actions.

The Seattle Police Officers’ Guild, which has criticized the charging decision, said in an April 4 statement that Hairston was captured on video “grabbing” the suspect, who had “brutally assaulted” his wife.

“The suspect was not slapped, punched, kicked or assaulted in any other way,” the statement said.

The guild said the facts will “clearly demonstrate” that Hairston’s conduct “although not condoned, did not rise to the level of a criminal act.”

The proper venue to examine Hairston’s actions, the statement said, is the department’s Office of Professional Accountability, which handles internal investigations.

The statement questioned whether a citizen would be charged under the same circumstances and accused City Attorney Pete Holmes of having a “double standard” for police officers.

“This unnecessary filing decision is only being done for political reasons and is a waste of city resources and valuable court time,” the guild said.

In the current issue of the guild’s newspaper, The Guardian, Sgt. Rich O’Neill, the president of the union, suggested that the video should be released, writing, “Mr. Holmes has yet to release the video.” O’Neill, who couldn’t be reached for comment today, wrote that Chris Hairston grabbed the suspect “for about two seconds.”

Holmes’ office has declined to release the video, citing the same state law that Hairston lists in his complaint seeking to bar release of the video.

The Times sought the video from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which handled the prosecution of the man who assaulted Hairston’s wife. That office has taken a different legal position than city attorneys on disclosing the video, concluding it can be released.

Katie Hairston’s assailant, John M. Ross, who was originally charged with the felony of third-degree assault, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of fourth-degree assault, a gross misdemeanor.

Court papers say he violently pushed Katie Hairston and punched her in the face.

The incident occurred two months after the police department and U.S. Department of Justice signed a landmark settlement agreement in U.S. District Court intended to address a pattern of an unconstitutional use of force within the department.

Hairston, who joined the police department in 1999, faces up to 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine if convicted. He was placed on administrative reassignment after the incident and faces a police department internal investigation when the criminal matter is concluded.

Video Critical To Police Brutality Case Still At Issue

NEW HAVEN —— 
The Meriden police officer accused of brutality after being captured on video pushing a handcuffed suspect into a jail cell is fighting to keep the tapes from a federal jury by claiming the department's now-deceased internal affairs investigator may have mishandled the recordings.
Defense attorney Raymond Hassett argued in front of U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton Monday that some police station cameras recorded what happened moments before the 2010 incident between Officer Evan Cossette and the suspect, but that no tapes from those cameras currently exist. 
Additionally, he argued, there is a gap in the recording sequence from when prisoner Pedro Temich was brought into the station through a sally port and when Cossette is seen pushing the suspect into the cell. 
Hassett said it is unclear what happened to the original tapes or why there is a gap of roughly eight to 10 seconds because Sgt. Leonard Caponigro, who was in charge of the internal affairs investigation, never wrote a report on his probe of Cossette's actions. Caponigro died in 2012 just a few months after retiring.
"We don't know how, why or when these tapes were copied,'' Hassett said. "There is no chain of command for the evidence and no police report indicating what was done."
Arterton Monday denied Hassett's motion to preclude the video from being played to the jury. But she did rule that prosecutors will have to call witnesses, including security company employees and a police union representative involved in the Cossette investigation, to explain why there is a gap in the tape before deciding whether the jury will see the recordings.
"If the evidence the government presents doesn't convince me it should be shown to the jury, then it won't be and we will all go home,'' Arterton said.
Caponigro was accused by some officers of going easy on Cossette because Cossette's father, Jeffry Cossette, is the police chief. Caponigro investigated two other allegations of police brutality against Evan Cossette filed after the Temich incident and cleared him both times. He was caught on tape in one instance telling Evan Cossette he was "just going through the motions."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul McConnell said federal authorities will have a representative of the security company that maintains the cameras for the police department testify, as well as then-union leader Capt. Patrick Gaynor, who saw the original tapes along with Caponigro. McConnell said Gaynor will testify that the copies are authentic and that there was nothing of significance on the missing tape.
The government also is expected to have the dispatcher who called 911 testify about what she saw on the live video feed, which led her to call an ambulance.
After being pushed by Cossette, Temich fell backward and cracked his head on a concrete bench in the holding cell, knocking him out. The videotape shows Cossette entering the cell several times and moving the injured man around. Emergency personnel eventually arrived and took Temich, who had head injuries, to a local hospital.
Cossette is charged with using unreasonable force and with obstruction of justice, and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.
Cossette wrote in his report that he felt threatened by the Temich, who was handcuffed. Hassett said the missing portion of the tape is potentially important because Cossette claims that Temich was abusive to him as they were walking to the cell, which would have been captured on that tape.
In his interview with internal affairs, Cossette said that as he opened the holding cell door, Temich "spun around and invaded my personal space."
"I became fearful that [Temich] was going to continue to be combative and possibly head-butt me or even kick me as he attempted to do at the scene,'' Cossette told Caponigro during the interview.
An internal affairs investigation by Caponigro found that Cossette had used unnecessary force, but at an administrative hearing, Deputy Chief Timothy Topulos overruled Caponigro's findings. Topulos issued a letter of reprimand to Cossette and ordered him to take four hours of training on the subject of excessive force.
The video came to light after fellow Officers Brian Sullivan and Donald Huston wrote a letter to city officials claiming that Cossette was receiving preferential treatment within the department because of nepotism.
The city hired former federal prosecutor Thomas Daily to do an independent investigation and Daily concluded that there was no pattern of brutality by Cossette and no favoritism shown toward him. Daily's report and conclusions cannot be submitted at trial, the judge ruled.
Cossette is on paid administrative leave from the department pending the outcome of the case.
Jury selection is scheduled for May 7, with the trial expected to start on May 28 and last about six days.

Caugh on film, Hamden settles police brutality suit for $55,000

HAMDEN Ct.— The town Thursday disclosed it settled an excessive force lawsuit against the Police Department last year for $55,000.

Mayor Scott Jackson called it a “business decision” to settle as opposed to taking the case to trial.

The suit had been filed by Stephen and Nicholas Alberino in U.S. District Court in 2008. While the case was settled early last year, town officials refused to release the amount involved until now.

The New Haven Register filed a complaint with the state Freedom of Information Commission last fall, arguing the public has a right to information about a settlement involving litigation against a municipality.

A hearing took place in Hartford in February. The town Thursday finally revealed the amount, in exchange for the Register withdrawing its complaint.

Attorney Scott Karsten, who represented the police, said the settlement is covered by the town’s insurance carrier, CIRMA, or the Connecticut Interlocal Risk Management Agency, though the town is responsible for a deductible.

“The decision to settle was made by the insurance company,” Karsten said.

He said the company had to weigh the cost of settling against the cost of a trial and the potential monetary exposure if a jury sided with the plaintiffs.

“It is the Police Department’s stance that they acted appropriately,” Karsten said. “There was a warrant for one of the individual’s arrest, and they had to serve it, and the person resisted.”

Attorney Hugh Keefe of New Haven, who represented the Alberino family, declined to comment, citing a confidentiality agreement. Continued...

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The litigation named officers William Onofrio, Angelo DeLieto, Michael DePalma, Dedric Jones, Mark Sheppard and Michael Mello as defendants.

The suit claimed police “brutally assaulted” the plaintiffs in their Glenbrook Avenue home in Hamden Oct. 16, 2007.

According to the suit, the officers entered the house to serve a misdemeanor warrant for Stephen Alberino. It alleged after Alberino was on the floor with one hand in handcuffs, police bent back his fingers and punched him in the head before applying handcuffs to his other hand.

It also alleged police kicked and punched Alberino in the head and spit in his face. The lawsuit claimed Nicholas Alberino pleaded with police to stop, and police then handcuffed, punched and kicked Nicholas Alberino.

When police noticed a witness, Kayla Plouffe, recording the incident on her cellphone, police seized and destroyed her phone, the lawsuit alleged.

Police at the time alleged Stephen Alberino bit an officer on the hand during his arrest, and claimed Nicholas Alberino punched an officer.

Stephen Alberino pleaded guilty to assault on a public safety officer and was sentenced to two years in prison, according to state Judicial Branch records.

Nicholas Alberino, who was 17 at the time, entered a no contest plea to interfering with an officer and received a two-month sentence, court records show.

Video Shows Hialeah Cops Intimidating "Harlem Shakers"

Two months ago, six Hialeah Police officers stamped out a gathering of young folks attempting to shoot an impromptu street video of "Harlem Shake," the popular Internet meme that went so viral even the Miami Heat players did their own version. When cops ordered the crowd to disperse on February 24, they ended up arresting three shakers, including FIU student Eric Faden, who was filming Hialeah's finest with his cell phone. Despite being on a public street, he was arrested for trespassing and resisting arrest without violence.

The cops also confiscated Faden's cell phone and kept it as evidence even though the charges against him were dropped the day after his arrest. Faden finally got his phone back, and he posted the footage he recorded, which shows that Hialeah police officers need a refresher course on the First and Fourth amendments.

The 39-second clip shows Hialeah Officer Fritz Janvier aggressively pointing his finger at Faden. "Stop recording me," Janvier orders. "Stop recording me and disperse."

Faden refuses, informing the officer it is not against the law to film him on a public street. Before the clip ends, another cop angrily grabs Faden and tries to snatch the phone. That's when the officers pounced on him and threw him to the ground. Faden alleges the cops hit him in the head when they had him restrained.

The incident was not the first time Hialeah police officers went overboard when a citizen was filming them. Faden's attorney, Jose "Pepe" Herrera, says he represents another client who was Tasered by a Hialeah police officer for pulling out a cell-phone camera. In March, blogger and photojournalist Carlos Miller wrote about Hialeah resident Juan Santana, whose Sony Bloggie camcorder was confiscated by a police officer outside his house.

The cop allegedly feared the camera was a gun, according to an interview Santana gave Miller. Santana was filming the officer and a colleague manhandling a friend whom they believed was a suspect they were looking for.

A Hialeah Police Department spokesman did not return a phone message seeking comment.