Framed Philadelphia man is freed 19 years after he was jailed
Three Philadelphia police officers have been reassigned pending an internal investigation into the arrest of Termaine Joseph Hicks, who was cleared of a 2001 rape last week after spending 19 years in prison.
That decision comes after an investigation by the Innocence Project and the District Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit raised serious questions about whether police had fabricated evidence, planted a gun, and arrested Hicks under false pretenses — all to conceal a police shooting of an innocent bystander who had rushed to aid a rape victim.
“They lied under oath to cover up for shooting an innocent man three times in the back,” Innocence Project lawyer Vanessa Potkin said.
A police spokesperson said the DA provided details on the allegations only after Hicks’ case was resolved. “As a result of receiving this information, we have opened an Internal Affairs investigation into the allegations of police misconduct,” the spokesperson said in an email.
Officer Martin Vinson, who testified that he fired because Hicks was reaching for a gun and lunging toward him, and his then-partner Sgt. Dennis Zungolo, who testified he saw Hicks pulling up his pants when police arrived, were both placed on restricted duty, the spokesperson confirmed.
Vinson, most recently assigned to the Third Police District, has not responded to requests for comment. Zungolo, of South Detectives Division, declined an interview and referred questions to John McGrody, vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5. McGrody did not return phone calls on Tuesday.
Columbus Police Release Body Camera Footage Of Officer Killing Andre Hill
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WOSU) — Body camera footage shows a Columbus Police officer fatally shooting 47-year-old Andre Maurice Hill less than 10 seconds after finding him in his friends garage early Tuesday morning.
The footage, released by the department Wednesday, also reveals that almost six minutes passed after Hill’s shooting before an officer attempts to administer first aid.
Police identified Adam Coy, a 19-year veteran of the department, as the officer who shot Hill. Coy was placed on paid administrative leave Tuesday.
Body camera footage shows a Columbus Police officer fatally shooting 47-year-old Andre Maurice Hill less than 10 seconds after finding him in a garage early Tuesday morning.
The footage, released by the department Wednesday, also reveals that five and a half minutes passed after Hill's shooting before an officer attempts to administer first aid.
Police identified Adam Coy, a white man and 19-year veteran of the department, as the officer who shot Hill, who is Black.
Coy was placed on paid administrative leave Tuesday. At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Mayor Andrew Ginther said he was "outraged" by the shooting and called for Coy's immediate termination.
"I am also very disturbed about what I don't see next in the body-worn camera footage," Ginther said. "From what we can see, none of the officers initially at the scene provide medical assistance to Mr. Hill. No compression on the wounds to stop the bleeding. No attempts at CPR. Not even a hand on the shoulder and an encouraging word that medic were in route."
Police say the officers dispatched to the Cranbrook neighborhood around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, responding to a non-emergency call about a man sitting inside a car repeatedly turning it on and off.
Footage from Coy's body camera shows officers walking up to an open garage and shining their flashlights on Hill, who turns around and holds up his cell phone up. His right hand appears to be inside his jacket pocket.
With the light from his cell phone facing towards the officers, Hill takes several steps toward Coy, who quickly raises his gun and shoots Hill.
Because Coy did not activate his camera until after the shooting, there is no audio for the first minute of the footage – Columbus Police body cameras feature a "look back" function that offers video but no sound of the 60 seconds before activation.
In the video below, Hill remains motionless on the garage floor as Coy retreats back. "Put your f---ing hands out to the side. Hands out to the side now," Coy shouts in the video, breathing heavily. "Roll to your stomach now."
Coy asks another officer if medics are coming, walks up to Hill and rolls him over onto his back. Coy then paces around the driveway for several minutes. It's not until more than six minutes into the video when another officer, who had just arrived on the scene, approaches Hill and begins to administer first aid.
The official Columbus Police report of the shooting, also released Wednesday, is brief and absent of most details: "Officer discharged his firearm upon confronting Mr. Hill. Mr. Hill did not survive his injuries."
Police also said there is no dash cam footage of the incident, either, because officers were responding to a non-emergency call. Ginther said that Hill was known by the residents of the home, and was not an intrudcer but rather an expected guest.
"There was no call for service, there was no eminent threat." Ginther said.
Next Steps
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is leading the investigation into Hill's death. U.S. Attorney Dave DeVillers said his office will also review if any federal civil rights laws were violated.
"The mayor requested that the U.S. Attorney’s Office review the investigation for possible federal civil rights violations, and after consulting with Ohio Attorney General Yost, I agreed that my office will review the case as requested once BCI’s investigation is complete, This office will then consult with the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office on how to proceed at the conclusion of our review.” DeVillers said in a statement Wednesday.
Columbus City Council president Shannon Hardin echoed the mayor in a statement Wednesday, saying that Coy's body camera showed the "unjustified killing of Andre Hill."
"I call for the immediate arrest of Adam Coy," Hardin tweeted.
"Mr. Hill's family deserves justice."
That is easier said than done, though, as the discipline process is dictated by the city's contract with the police union. Public Safety Director Ned Pettus, who said he is the sole authority with the power to hire or fire officers, says all officers are guaranteed due process.
Officers must first be notified of any charges against them, before receiving a hearing with the FOP, their attorneys and the Public Safety Director. After that hearing, the chief of police will issue a recommendation for discipline that Pettus can accept or change.
"Any personal emotions have to be set aside," Pettus says, adding that the process will begin promptly.
Ginther did not respond to a question about consequences for other officers who were on the scene and failed to provide aid to Hill, saying that any officer determined to not have followed departmental policy will be disciplined.
Columbus Police records released Wednesday show that Coy had received dozens of complaints about his work over his two decades of employment.
In a 69-page document of civilian allegations and internal investigations, Coy is accused of mishandling prisoners, using rude language and using inappropriate force, with nine complaints filed in 2003 alone. The department deemed most of these complaints "unfounded."
In October 2018, Coy received a special commendation for the arrest of a suspect on aggravated robbery charges, following a string of crimes against Ohio State University students. He also won a distinguished service medal in January 2018, for an incident where he lunged at a suspect who spilled a pool of lighter fluid at a gas station with the intention of setting it on fire.
A Month Of Shootings
Hill's death came just three weeks after a separate law enforcement shooting of a Black man in Columbus, which sparked a federal civil rights investigation of its own.
DeVillers is currently heading a joint criminal-civil rights probe into the December 4 killing of Casey Goodson Jr. by Franklin County Sheriff's Deputy Jason Meade, who is white.
“You know, every time we think we have an open window where we can begin to have healing and change in the community and begin to build trust, and now we’re back to ground zero again because of two back-to-back shootings of Black men," Stephanie Hightower, president of the Columbus Urban League, told WOSU on Wednesday.
Clay County Schools officer on leave, accused of inappropriately texting 14-year-old
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The Clay County Sheriff’s Office told Action News Jax it first learned of the allegations made against a Clay County School District police officer on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Action News Jax reported a Clay County School police officer had been placed on administrative leave following allegations of the officer inappropriately texting a 14-year-old girl.
The allegations surfaced in a Facebook Live video showing the officer being confronted by a local man.
The man who took the video, Nathan Waits, told Action News Jax he had previously reached out to the Sheriff’s Office about the alleged messages in October.
Today, CCSO spokesperson, Andrew Ford, provided the following statement.
“The Clay County Sheriff’s Office was made aware of these allegations yesterday and we are still in our investigation’s preliminary stages. We can tell you that Mr. Waits did not notify the sheriff’s office in October or speak to any of our investigators before yesterday. Mr. Waits sent a text message to a sheriff’s office landline phone, and therefore our office did not receive his complaint information,” said Ford.
UPDATE 12/8/2020:
A Clay County School District police officer is on administrative leave, accused of exchanging inappropriate messages with who he believed to be a 14-year-old girl.
The allegations surfaced in a Tuesday Facebook Live video recorded by Nathan Waits, president of ‘Waits List.’ Waits tells Action News Jax his organization communicates with adults by posing as children on social media.
In Tuesday’s video, Waits is seen and heard confronting the uniformed officer at a Clay County school.
“I’ve got her phone right here,” Waits tells the officer in the video. “So, what are we going to do about this? You’re a L.E.O. Are you kidding me? Do you not think that’s inappropriate?”
The Clay County School District Police Department, and the Clay County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO), confirm to Action News Jax they’re investigating the allegations.
“The Clay County District Schools Police Department is aware of the allegations made on social media posted by a citizen on December 8, 2020. The Clay County District Schools Police Department Officer referenced in the post has been placed on administrative leave indefinitely pending the results of an internal investigation by the Clay County District Schools Police Department and an outside investigation by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office,” said Nicole Young, Clay County School District spokesperson.
“The Clay County Sheriff’s Office is aware of the allegations made on a social media post by a citizen on December 8, 2020. The CCSO is working with the Clay County District Schools Police Department and is investigating the allegations,” said CCSO.
Waits tells Action News Jax the officer believed he was communicating with a 14-year-old girl, but says the officer was unknowingly messaging the ‘Waits List’ organization.
Waits says the alleged messages with the officer began in September.
“He said very inappropriate things,” said Waits. “… Like I said on the video, asking about sexy bikini pictures. Why would you ask that from a 14-year-old?”
He says their organization does not initiate contact from the profiles they use to pose as children.
“We don’t get alerted to anybody, they come to us. They find our profiles, they friend request us, they follow us. And then they initiate the chats,” said Waits.
Waits claims his organization shared messages from the officer with a Clay County Sheriff’s Office detective in October, but never heard back.
As a result, Waits says he opted for Tuesday’s in-person confrontation.
Action News Jax reached out to CCSO asking if Waits’ organization shared information about the officer with deputies in October, and whether an investigation was underway prior to Tuesday’s Facebook Live confrontation.
CCSO spokesperson, Andrew Ford, replied to our request for comment.
“This investigation is still in Its early stages and ongoing. When available, we will provide an update,” said Ford.
Action News Jax Law and Safety expert, and former FBI agent, Dale Carson, says investigators will need to determine the credibility of the allegations, before taking legal action.
“The investigating officers for the Sheriff’s Office, or other agency, can obtain the information, see whether it’s authentic or not, and then present it to the state attorney’s office, to determine whether or not it merits prosecution,” said Carson.
Sheriff Blasts DA As Deputy Is Charged In Assault Of Fellow Deputy
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AUGUSTA, GA - One of the deputies involved in a dispute during a fatal shooting response has resigned.
According to the Richmond County Sheriff's Office, Deputy Nicholas Nunes has submitted his resignation, effective immediately.
Nunes was the deputy that was injured in the incident after Sheriff Richard Roundtree said Deputy Brandon Keathley hit him in the back of the head with a flashlight during the Feb. 7 incident.
Roundtree, during a news conference, said the incident boiled down to
a "heat of the moment" response as Keathley, Nunes, and a trainee attempted to save the life of 17-year-old DeAngelo Burns.
Burns had been shot in a previous incident and brought to a Circle K on Peach Orchard Road. That's where deputies found Burns and attempted to perform life-saving first aid.
But at some point, things turned heated between Nunes and Keathley, Roundtree said, and Keathley hit Nunes with the flashlight.
Nunes was given a written reprimand over the incident, according to Roundtree, and Keathley was suspended for 30 days.
Nunes released a statement following his resignation.
“I know my worth. I refuse to be mistreated, lied about, betrayed and belittled. I am walking out on my own terms. I put in good work that I know has had a positive impact on this community. Goodbye to my brothers and sisters I’ve made here. Stay safe.- Respectfully, 5213”
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia deputy has been indicted on assault charges after he hit another deputy with a flashlight, drawing complaints from the county sheriff that the prosecution is unjustified.
Richmond County Deputy Brandon Keathley turned himself in on Wednesday after he was indicted Tuesday for aggravated assault and aggravated assault on a police officer. The latter charge carries a mandatory prison sentence of at least five years.
Keathley was released without being required to post an upfront cash bail. Sheriff Richard Roundtree, who criticized the prosecution of the case as “highly irregular,” said Keathley is on paid leave pending trial, with his police powers suspended.
Keathley is accused of hitting former Deputy Nicholas Nunes, who arrived at a shooting scene on Feb. 7 and tried to take over from Keathley administering first aid to the victim. Officials say Keathley then hit Nunes in the head with a flashlight.
Roundtree has said the incident was embarrassing but happened in the “heat of the moment.” Keathley was suspended 30 days without pay but resumed his duties afterward. Roundtree also issued a written reprimand to Nunes, who resigned from the department and later joined the Arizona State Patrol.
The shooting victim, 17-year-old DeAngelo Burns, died. Another teen, 16-year-old Taylor Jaquavious, has pleaded not guilty to adult murder charges in the shooting.
Roundtree said his discipline was sufficient and blasted Richmond County District Attorney Natalie Paine for prosecuting the case.
“At no time was the sheriff contacted by the district’s attorney’s office regarding this highly irregular investigation,” Roundtree said in a statement Wednesday. “One can only speculate as to why the district attorney chose this path but it could lead some to assume that the sheriff’s political philosophy may have attributed to this extremely unorthodox approach into a criminal investigation.”
Paine defended her actions, saying Keathley got required legal notice and that a first grand jury recommended the charge and a second grand jury proceeded with the indictment, as required under Georgia law providing special protections to law enforcement officers.
“While it is unfortunate that the sheriff of Richmond County takes issue with the citizens of Richmond County reviewing the conduct of his officers, it is shameful to suggest that this was politically motivated,” Paine said in a statement.
This Dec. 2nd traffic stop, for speeding, leaves several questions about gun owner's rights and police discretion.
This police body camera footage shows some raw intensity and life or death drama as some nationally released footage that has ended with lethal force. According to the State Highway Patrol, trooper Brian Garloch spotted Merak Burr speeding, going 85 mph on the Interstate.
Merak Burr pulled over and trooper Brian Garloch questioned him before Burr became increasingly agitated. So Garlock called for backup from Genoa Township police officer Mike Sigman and his K9 Ben.
Burr was armed but maintained throughout that his gun was not concealed but visible to anyone looking into the vehicle. He eventually closed the vehicle door and drove away, but not before telling the officer that if he let the K9 attack him, he would shoot the officer in self defense.
Burr likely didn't know Ohio state law when he told officers that his gun was visible and therefore not concealed. Sean Maloney, a criminal defense attorney says "As soon as you carry a gun into the car, it's considered concealed," he said. "A concealed weapon requires a permit."
Burr, of Utah, continued south into Columbus, followed with lights and sirens by Garloch. But the chase was called off as it entered Upper Arlington, the patrol said. A "be on the lookout alert," or BOLA, was issued.
Burr was stopped about two hours later in Colerain Township in Hamilton County. He was charged with improper handling of a firearm, carrying a concealed weapon and driving on a closed highway. The roadway had been closed because cattle had earlier escaped and were being rounded up.
Charges are pending against Burr in Delaware County.
Ohio is an open-carry state, meaning you can carry a weapon anywhere, openly. But without a concealed carry permit, gun owners are not permitted to have a loaded gun in a vehicle or on a motorcycle, according to state law.
Law enforcement officers who run license plates through a computer database quickly know if someone has a concealed-carry permit, but only if they reside in Ohio. Ohio, and most states, require the permit holder to tell officers they have a gun with them during traffic stops. Burr did not.
Sgt. Nathan Dennis, of the State Highway Patrol, said that troopers always factor officer and civilian safety into every decision that they make. "The restraint showed by the officers is evidence of that," Dennis said.
A Black man who witnesses say was trying to flag down a patrol car because of a crash ended up being tased by the sheriff's deputies in the middle of the street.
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The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has launched an investigation into the confrontation on Monday, which was captured on film.
Footage of the incident posted on Twitter shows the unidentified man surrounded by four deputies moments before he is tased and falls to the ground. The person who posted the video did not immediately respond to request for comment, but tweeted that they had been in the car crash and that the man was just trying to flag down the deputies.
Sheriff's officials confirmed deputies were called to a crash at 9:47 a.m. near 104th Street and Van Ness Avenue in Inglewood when a man ran into the road and blocked the patrol car.
"Deputies exited their patrol vehicle and contacted the individual," the department said in a statement. "Despite their de-escalation efforts, the individual became hostile and a use of force occurred."
In the video, just seconds after the Black man falls to the ground, a second man runs out of a nearby home to confront the deputies.
"Hey, he's not in right mind!" the man yells. "He's not in his right fucking mind!"
One deputy tries to pull the man back, but the confrontation turns physical and he is eventually tackled to the ground. Sheriff's officials said in a statement the second man "ignored requests for him to back up" and "struggled with the deputies and was taken into custody."
The two men are related to each other, officials added. Both men were taken to a local hospital for treatment. The man who was tased remained hospitalized as of Tuesday afternoon.
The other man, officials said, was released and cited for battery on a peace officer and obstruction.
Police Chief Louis Kealoha was Honolulu's Rolex-wearing police chief and his wife Katherine was the Maserati-driving prosecutor in charge of a unit targeting career criminals. The couple funded their lavish lifestyle by defrauding banks, relatives and children.
Katherine Kealoha also used her position as a prosecutor to keep a prescription drug ring she and her brother were running, hidden from law enforcement.
The court heard how they bilked clients and relatives out of hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund their lavish and overextended lifestyle and then used their power to target anyone who threatened them.
A jury convicted the duo of conspiracy in a plot to frame her uncle to keep him from revealing the financial fraud that funded their lavish lifestyle. The couple abused their positions in an attempt to silence a relative who could have exposed them. Former police lieutenant Derek Wayne Hahn, 48, (left) was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison, and ex-officer Minh-Hung 'Bobby' Nguyen, 46, (right) got four-and-a-half years.
Former police lieutenant Derek Wayne Hahn, 48, (left) was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison, and ex-officer Minh-Hung 'Bobby' Nguyen, 46, (right) got four-and-a-half years.
A judge has sentenced two former Honolulu cops to prison for helping a police chief and his prosecutor wife frame her uncle as part of a wide-ranging conspiracy aimed at preserving the couple's lavish lifestyle.
Former Police Chief Louis Kealoha's wife, former high-ranking Honolulu prosecutor Katherine Kealoha, was the mastermind behind the scheme to frame her uncle for the theft of the couple's home mailbox to silence him, a judge said.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright sentenced the estranged husband and wife to seven and 13 years in federal prison, respectively.
At a separate hearing on Tuesday, former police lieutenant Derek Wayne Hahn, 48, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison, and ex-police officer Minh-Hung 'Bobby' Nguyen, 46, got four-and-a-half years.
Seabright said that Nguyen was more culpable than Hahn in the bizarre frame-up, even though he had a lower rank. The plot would not have been possible without Louis Kealoha's underlings at the Honolulu Police Department, Seabright said, describing Hahn as a soldier carrying out the chief's requests.
Hahn was a lieutenant in an elite unit of officers hand-picked by Louis Kealoha. He was also Katherine Kealoha's partner in a solar business.
The peculiar case of a mailbox reported stolen in 2013 from the Kealohas' home in an upscale Honolulu neighborhood led to a two-year federal investigation and corruption-related charges.
Prosecutors say Katherine Kealoha's uncle and grandmother had threatened to expose them for fraud, so she devised a scheme to silence them.
She tried to have her grandmother declared incapacitated. She and her husband used members of a special, hand-picked police unit to frame the uncle, Gerard Puana, for stealing the Kealohas' mailbox, prosecutors say.
The underlying fraud involved dizzying schemes to falsify loan applications, swindle relatives, and an alleged drug-dealing plot, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors say Katherine Kealoha also stole money in a reverse mortgage scheme of her now-deceased 100-year-old grandmother's house and that she drained two children's trust accounts of $160,000.
She spent bilked money on her firefighter lover, a Maserati, Elton John concert tickets and a resort banquet when her husband became police chief, prosecutors said.
When her uncle threatened to expose the scheme, she and her husband used hand-picked members of his police department to hang the frame for stealing a mailbox from their $1.3 million home in upscale Mariner's Cove, the court heard.
Ex-officer Nguyen was married to Katherine Kealoha's niece and had lived in the Kealohas' pool house.
'It reached the highest levels of government,' leading to the public's distrust in the police department, the judge said of what's considered Hawaii's biggest corruption case.
While the Kealohas were motivated by greed and maintaining their lifestyle, it's not clear whether Hahn participated out of loyalty or because he thought it would be good for his career, Seabright said.
Nguyen's attorney, Randall Hironaka, tried to argue that his client played a smaller role because he was a footman who followed orders - and couldn't question the chief because of his status in the family.
Michael Wheat, a special federal prosecutor, said Nguyen was the only footman in the elite unit because of his family ties: 'He's not just a rank-and-file footman who's subservient to the chief. He's family.'
Hahn and Nguyen declined to speak at their separate sentencing hearings.
Charlotte Malott spoke on behalf of her brother, Gerard Puana - Katherine Kealoha's uncle - and mother Florence Puana - Kealoha´s grandmother - who died in February at 100 years old.
'You helped the Kealohas carry out their evil scheme of revenge,' Malott told Hahn in court.
Seabright called Nguyen a willing participant in the scheme who arrogantly thought he could get away with it.
A jury previously convicted the Kealohas, Hahn and Nguyen of conspiracy.
Katherine and Louis Kealoha, now estranged, were once a respected power couple. Louis Kealoha agreed to retire amid a wide-ranging federal investigation. She later gave up her law license.
'This case has staggered the community in many ways,' U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright said.
The judge described how Katherine Kealoha orchestrated a reverse mortgage scheme that forced her grandmother to sell her home, framed her uncle for stealing the Kealohas' home mailbox, stole money from children whose trusts she controlled as a lawyer, cheated her uncle out of his life savings, convinced her firefighter lover to lie about their affair and used her position as a prosecutor to turn a drug investigation away from her doctor brother.
'Truth can be stranger than fiction,' the judge said at Katherine Kealoha's sentencing.
Later, he told Louis Kealoha that while his wife was the mastermind, 'you did master the frame job that followed,' and the scheme couldn't have succeeded without the Honolulu Police Department.
The case is especially shocking, Seabright said, because of the role a police chief of a 'major American city,' played.
'Think about that, the chief of police of one of the largest police departments in the country ... swears to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth,' and lies, the judge said of Louis Kealoha's false testimony at the trial of his wife's uncle for stealing the couple's mailbox. The trial ended in a mistrial that prosecutors say the then-chief caused on purpose to thwart the investigation.
The Kealohas later pleaded guilty to bank fraud, saying they provided false information to obtain loans.
They went to great lengths to maintain a lifestyle they couldn't afford on public servant salaries, the judge said.
Katherine Kealoha, 51, also pleaded guilty to an identity theft charge, saying she got an officer to forge a police report she used to explain negative information on a credit report. She also pleaded guilty to a charge that involved protecting her brother from the drug investigation.
In a letter to the judge, she blamed a prescription drug addiction for clouding her judgment.
'My client was on drugs, her mind was not clear and she did a lot of bad things,' her lawyer, Gary Singh, said in court.
Kealoha apologized to her family in court and asked for forgiveness. 'To my uncle, especially,' she said. 'I know that he has been through so much pain and so much hurt.'
Kealoha came to Puana and her son Gerard Puana with an idea about taking out a reverse mortgage on her grandmother´s home to help buy a condo her uncle wanted. Kealoha said she would consolidate her debts and promised her uncle and grandmother that she would pay off the loan.
She used the money to buy her uncle´s condo, but instead of paying off the loan, she spent the leftover money on luxuries, including $26,000 for an induction banquet when her husband became police chief and $10,000 on Mercedes-Benz and Maserati car payments, the judge said.
'She perverted justice. And she did so for her own personal reasons,' said Michael Wheat, a special federal prosecutor. 'To facilitate a lifestyle and a facade and an image in this community.'
Framing her uncle for stealing the Kealohas' mailbox was to make him less credible in the family financial dispute, the judge said.
'We still don't know sitting here today, who stole the mailbox,' Seabright said, adding that it clearly wasn't Gerard Puana.
He told Katherine Kealoha that she used the police 'to do your dirty work.'
Louis Kealoha, 60, filed for divorce after they were convicted.
He said at his sentencing that he's deeply sorry, ashamed and failed to live up to the standards of a police chief. 'This is the last place in my life I thought I'd be and I vow never to be here again,' he said.
Partly because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Seabright agreed to allow Kealoha to remain free on bond until he self-surrenders in April. His wife has been in the Honolulu Federal Detention Center since they were convicted.
Monday's sentencings come after several postponements. Concern about the spread of the coronavirus caused a delay in March, then a November 3 date was changed after officials realized it was Election Day.
'COVID has kept us from this date for quite a while,' the judge said.
What started as a routine DWI investigation, ended with a Farmington man getting tased last year. He sued the San Juan County Sheriff’s Department and now, he has settled his lawsuit.
Back in March 2019, a San Juan County Sheriff’s deputy tased Joshua Gonzales during what was supposed to be a DWI investigation. After the incident, he sued the department. More than a year later, Attorney Joe Kennedy says they have finally settled. “It was a $10,000 settlement for Joshua,” he says.
At the time, Gonzales was only charged with resisting arrest and concealing his identity after refusing to tell the deputy his name. Those charges were later dropped and he was never charged with DWI.
“If the person in front of him is not intoxicated, has no signs of alcohol intoxication, then the investigation’s over,” says Kennedy. As we know, that’s not what happened.
While Gonzales isn’t a model citizen and even managed to pick up a new burglary charge back in March, Kennedy insists he’s on his way to becoming a better citizen and believes this settlement will help. “We’re happy with the settlement because our client is happy,” he says.
Kennedy is also hoping the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office re-trains all their deputies.
A Louisville man filming a police situation he wasn't involved with ended up being hit by an officer and put in handcuffs.
Joseph Bennett was driving by the McDonald's off Blankenbaker Parkway in Jeffersontown on Tuesday when he noticed a large police situation.
"Given the current climate that we live in, I was inclined to pull over, to observe as a citizen," Bennett said. "That's what we should do."
Standing across the parking lot, Bennett decided to start a Facebook Live video.
"I even said, 'This is going to be the most boring live video ever,'" he said. "And to my horror, I found myself quickly involved."
After a few minutes Jeffersontown police officers approached Bennett. An officer asked for Bennett's ID and said it was because he was "filming a crime scene investigation" and Bennett was "involved." After Bennett refused to show his ID, stating he was simply filming in public, things escalated within seconds.
Bennett said he was hit by an officer and taken to the ground.
"When he asked for my ID and I said, 'I refuse,' you should have seen the look on his face," Bennett said. "Just anger as that fist is coming up, and he hits me with a left hook ... It blacked my entire eye top to bottom."
Bennett was handcuffed and cited for menacing and resisting arrest.
Lt. Col. Steve Schmidt, Jeffersontown Police's assistant chief, said there was a check fraud investigation at a bank across the street. Officers were detaining two people from Evansville, Indiana, and a person from Atlanta "in connection with a multi-state fraudulent check cashing scheme involving various Kentucky banks in several cities," Jeffersontown Mayor Bill Dieruf said in a statement Saturday.
According to Dieruf, at least one witness at the scene identified Bennett to officers as someone who was possibly involved, and that's why they approached.
Bennett was not involved, and Schmidt said he is not a suspect.
As of Saturday, Dieruf said Bennett has not filed a formal complaint, but an internal investigation into what happened is underway.
"I fully support this decision, as well as the investigation," Dieruf said in the statement. "Chief Sanders has assured me that all documents related to the internal investigation will be released upon its conclusion. I will be reaching out to Mr. Bennett in the very near future to assure him that we are taking this incident with all seriousness, and to restore faith in the City."
Bennett said some people have implied he should have just cooperated with the officers, but he feels he did nothing wrong.
"Some folks will say, 'Why don't you just show your ID?'" he said. "We have personal rights in this nation. I have personal rights against unfair searches and seizures."
Bennett said he did not pull over and start filming for attention and never imagined he would be in the position he is now. But he said he wants to use his voice to send a message about what happened.
"Civil servants need to remember their oath, to protect and to serve," he said. "What happened here is a minor of taste of when that fails to happen. That's not protecting. That's not serving."
TAOS — Taos County sheriff’s Deputy Lorenzo Sanchez, 26, resigned this week after he was charged with 10 counts accusing him of using his patrol truck to strike a vehicle Saturday night on N.M. 68, attacking two men at a Taos residence and resisting arrest.
Sanchez faces three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; one count of battery on a peace officer; one count of aggravated DWI; two counts of resisting arrest; two counts of battery and one count of negligent use of a deadly weapon while intoxicated.
Sgt. Jason Rael wrote in a statement of probable cause that he arrived at the residence to find Sanchez bloodied and wearing a torn shirt. Sanchez said he had been involved in an argument with his girlfriend.
Sanchez smelled of alcohol and was having difficulty standing, Rael said. He conducted a field sobriety test on the deputy, who failed one of the exams and refused to take a Breathalyzer test.
Rael ordered Deputies Teddy Flores and Taylor Gwinn to take Sanchez into custody, but Sanchez resisted, according to the statement.
When Sanchez resisted a second time, a third deputy who arrived at the residence, Jose Garcia, shot him with a Taser, the statement said.
According to the court document, Sanchez’s girlfriend said she had called her mother and asked to be picked up at the deputy’s residence in Velarde after the couple had begun to argue.
After the woman’s brother and mother picked her up, Sanchez followed them in his county-owned Dodge Ram and used the truck to hit their vehicle, the statement said, adding the mother showed Rael a cellphone video of the deputy’s patrol unit striking their vehicle with its lights and sirens flashing.
The owner to the Taos residence told Rael he tried to “calm the situation down,” but Sanchez hit him in the face. A fight ensued between the two men and the girlfriend’s brother, he said.
Sanchez was taken to Holy Cross Medical Center before being incarcerated at the Taos County jail. He was arraigned Monday, and a preliminary hearing in his case is set for Oct. 20.
This isn’t the first time an argument between Sanchez and a girlfriend has resulted in criminal charges.
In June, a Rio Arriba County jury found him guilty of negligent use of a deadly weapon in connection with a domestic violence case filed in January 2019.
The incident involved a former fiancée, who testified in his defense at his trial and said she had given police some false statements in the case. The jury found him not guilty of more serious charges.
Sanchez, who was hired at the sheriff’s office in 2017, was placed back on active duty after the trial.
Court records also show he was charged in 2012 in Rio Arriba County with aggravated stalking and criminal damage to property. He was convicted of the latter charge and the former was dropped in a plea agreement that granted him a conditional discharge after he completed probation in 2014.
