"THOUSANDS of people plead guilty to crimes every year in the United States because they know that the odds of a jury’s believing their word over a police officer’s are slim to none. As a juror, whom are you likely to believe: the alleged criminal in an orange jumpsuit or two well-groomed police officers in uniforms who just swore to God they’re telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but? As one of my colleagues recently put it, “Everyone knows you have to be crazy to accuse the police of lying....
In this era of mass incarceration, the police shouldn’t be trusted any more than any other witness, perhaps less so.
That may sound harsh, but numerous law enforcement officials have put the matter more bluntly. Peter Keane, a former San Francisco Police commissioner, wrote an article in The San Francisco Chronicle decrying a police culture that treats lying as the norm: “Police officer perjury in court to justify illegal dope searches is commonplace. One of the dirty little not-so-secret secrets of the criminal justice system is undercover narcotics officers intentionally lying under oath. It is a perversion of the American justice system that strikes directly at the rule of law. Yet it is the routine way of doing business in courtrooms everywhere in America...
Police officers “know that in a swearing match between a drug defendant and a police officer, the judge always rules in favor of the officer.” At worst, the case will be dismissed, but the officer is free to continue business as usual. Second, criminal defendants are typically poor and uneducated, often belong to a racial minority, and often have a criminal record. “Police know that no one cares about these people,” Mr. Keane explained.Rumpole wonders: What do our robed readers think of this? Are they "shocked ...shocked ...to find that there is gambling going on in these premises..." or do they just look the other way because it is easier?
E-Filing comes to Miami State Court!
Our feckless and fearless clerk, Harvey Ruvin (Motto: "Better late than never") has announced that e-filing will commence today in Family court.
It's too bad no serious candidates have ever taken Harvey Ruvin on to be clerk of courts. The clerks office is a joke - especially in felony division. Someone with real vision and energy could make a difference in how the courtrooms are run.
ReplyDeleteOffice Washington:
ReplyDeleteI was what is called the eyeball, watching secretly, hidden in my car with binos. I saw what looked like a hand to hand drug purchase and radioed a take down unit.
Offficer Smith: I pulled over the Defendant and he dropped a baggie of drugs
A Tarnished Hero?
ReplyDeleteCh. 7 just reported that Retired BSO Dep. Maury Hernandez, who was` shot in the head durning a traffic stop a few years ago, was arrested about 6:30 pm Last Night for D.V.
He sees Judge Jorge Rodriguez-Chomat at 9 am for a bond hearing.
Supposedly he hit his wife at the beginning of the game.
DS is right, Washington and Smith from MDPD are the most notoriously liars in our courthouse. They prey on the poor and downtrodden. It is all about overtime for them. When they take a deposition in a pretty PDs office, they have no independent recollection. When it is a male PD, they remember everything in striking detail. These too are not just liars and cheats, they are uncle Toms.
ReplyDeleteDS - do a bit of leg work / research on the behaviors of people who suffer traumatic brain / head injury before you call Hernandez tarnished.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, more women are smacked around on the day of the Super Bowl than on almost any other day of the year. Couple that with the fact that LEOs smack their women around at a much higher rate than the general public, and you may have a point.
"more women are smacked around on the day of the Super Bowl than on almost any other day of the year" Not accurate. See http://www.snopes.com/crime/statistics/superbowl.asp
ReplyDeleteActually the article was published on Saturday Feb. 2, just to be precise.
ReplyDeleteThere is an unprecedented number of officers who lie casually and embellish reports on a constant basis. Like the article out SAO, and Judges don't like to face the fact that their counterparts are not straightforward on the up and up.
The New York City Police Department is not exempt from this critique. In 2011, hundreds of drug cases were dismissed after several police officers were accused of mishandling evidence. That year, Justice Gustin L. Reichbach of the State Supreme Court in Brooklyn condemned a widespread culture of lying and corruption in the department’s drug enforcement units. “I thought I was not naïve,” he said when announcing a guilty verdict involving a police detective who had planted crack cocaine on a pair of suspects. “But even this court was shocked, not only by the seeming pervasive scope of misconduct but even more distressingly by the seeming casualness by which such conduct is employed.”
A lot of people especially Judges are to naive, bias, or just don't care if the police are lying, especially if it involves a minority defendant. I remember a trial in 6-1 in front of Tinkler-Mendenz where the officer stated he could see the defendant whom they served a warrant on a month later from the alleged purchase, that he could see the defendant through a grated steel protection bar door. The jury asked to see pictures of the door twice, but was conveniently denied, and the defendant was convicted on those charges with what strongly was believed by the jury to be embellished testimony why wasn't his feet held to the fire and had it been Mr. Schumaker,or Mr. Gilmore's son what would have been the outcome...
When I found out Departments get subsidies for drug arrest it blew me away the motive is numbers and they admit that. I guess it's hard to stand up for the less fortunate when you do not identify, but why be a judge if your going to be indifferent towards on race or another that is a breach of the people's expectations and of integrity of and for the bench.
Lying should be unexceptible and vigilantly reproached.
The Author of this piece is Michelle Alexander the Law Professor, and Civil Rights Attorney, Author of "The New Jim Crow", whom I oft mention, her husband is also a District Attorney.
BTDT, 4 words,
ReplyDeleteI told you so.
P.S. [In my Al Pacino voice]: Ju take u head out u ass.
I know you really feel stupid now I can smell it. Your either real stupid or really racist chances are you will have no comment as it pertains to anything positive or enlightening regarding the subject at hand as we have figured out your just one of the many a racist hack.
P.S. Now I can ignore you in peace, knowing fully you have showed your hand. Read the book to, go to Books and Books, get the book.
Maury Hernandez went from a hero to a zero, who strangles their police officer wife? How dumb can you be? Let it go, she apparently is in the process of trading him in and he can't handle it, but the rules are upgrade get a better mate, being happy is true revenge not clobbering them over the head then they have the upper hand, he knows the game that's the "hey I wear the badge and who's gonna do what attitude".
ReplyDeleteMaybe Hernandez was just trying to high five his lovely wife after winning the coin toss and missed her hand and accidentally smacked her face...ijs
ReplyDeleteDid Maury and Luis Hernandez, possibly his cousin,eat sandwiches and watch the the game together in DCJ? Inquiring minds want to know...
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteHey Horace:
Has the market correction begun?
Market has reached ridiculous heights in the past few weeks and is on a long Bull Run.
Dow hit 14,009 on Friday.
NASDAQ topped out at 3,196
S&P reached a high of 1,514
Today all three market indexes took a small slide of 1% or higher (1.5% in the case of NASDAQ). Is this the beginning of a "market correction"?
Your readers want to know?
Cap Out .....
The answer to why cops lie can be found within the age old riddle; why does a dog lick its balls? Answer: because it can
ReplyDeleteNo post about "Chongalicious Deaf" flicking off the Judge....common now!!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.local10.com/news/Woman-flips-off-judge-gets-30-days-in-jail/-/1717324/18402242/-/vkk4f6z/-/index.html
Maybe officer Hernandez feared for his life cause his wife had gotten hold to the Superbowl snacks...
ReplyDeleteHey where is secret judge and Trial Master on this issue...? All is silent. Come on now are you guys embarrassed, shame, or turning a blind eye and claiming your have integrity on the bench?
ReplyDeleteLOL UAM. Your jabs don't phase me in the least.
ReplyDeleteAs anyone who has read my posts knows, I have a realistic view of the system (I know there's good and bad everywhere, including law enforcement), support justice reform, and treat everyone equally. Unlike you, I don't think those whose skin color or beliefs are different than mine are part of some worldwide conspiracy to make my life miserable.
I continue to find it amusing that you can't make an argument without personally attacking others, name calling, etc. Very persuasive, LOL. Where did you learn to debate like that? Third grade?
BTDT
PS---your posts are so over the top that I remain convinced they're all intended as parody/satire.
7:30 p.m., I think that Judge Rodriguez-Chomat over did it and he himself created the situation by acting petty and glansy when he raised the bond to $10,000. The defendant had acted sweet and funny to him in an easy-going manner (perhaps because she was still under the influence of the Xanax). The contempt case is bad, but substantively and procedurally. There is plenty of case law holding that mere cursing without obstructing the administration of justice is protected by the First Amendment and is not criminal contempt. Procedurally, the judge did not give her an opportunity to purge herself of the contempt or show cause why she should not be adjudged in contempt of court. Chomat is not the judge at La Tremenda Corte radio comedy show and the defendant is not Trespatines, who got held in contempt many times in each episode. The only thing that the judge did right in that tape was to tell her to sell some of her jewelry and hire a private attorney.
ReplyDeleteLazy Metro-Dade cops fired:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.miamiherald.com/2013/02/05/3217704/kendall-officers-fired-for-pretending.html
<ake sure to watch the video in the article.
When 'Secret Judge' has something to say that contributes mightily to an intelligent debate, he will say it, otherwise he will shut the f up. I suggest you do the same.
ReplyDeleteAs to the e-filing in Odyssey. Word is that the Clerk's Office is gonna scrap it once the contract for Odyssey runs out. Have fun learning a new system folks!
ReplyDeleteUnabridged American Minority please order Rosetta Stone for English! You're killing me!
ReplyDelete