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Jury reaches verdict in former officer's beating trial

ric27 said:
How you would have handled this situation. Also, while you are at it, let me know your experience, heck training too, as it relates to encounters of these types.
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Ummm...probably would of put on the cuffs and took him to jail. Once the guy is lying on the ground face down with his arms out he's not posing much of a threat is he? It's common sense. You don't gather around and kick the **** out of him.
 
Jerry said:
Why do you think the officer and 3 others were fired over this? You folks think that when someone does something wrong you can just toss any charge at them regardless? This cop was charged with a rather unusual crime: TEX PE. CODE ANN. § 39.03 : Texas Statutes - Section 39.03: OFFICIAL OPPRESSION

Oppression? Seriously? Oppression? What a bunch of bull****. Charge him with assault, or battery, or similar. But oppression? Who would even think of that?
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SOP for prosecutors. What's your point?


tessaesque said:
The statute clearly lists "mistreatment". Repeated kicks, punches, and attacks by several officers once the guy placed himself in the prone position would, to me, classify as "mistreatment."

I am unsure how the jury came to the verdict it provided given the details I have available. Unless I'm missing something I simply can't agree with the verdict.

Anecdote: I once requested PO assistance with a customer who was theater hopping. When I confronted him he refused to leave and started running around the building, slamming into other patrons and causing a disturbance. When the PO got involved, the kid panicked and took a swing at the officer. The officer grabbed the punching arm, swung it behind the kid's back while simultaneously using his other hand to grab the kid by the "scruff" of his neck. In this position the officer swept the kid's feet and he went down relatively hard onto the pavement.

The kid's father managed to stir up an investigation of the officer's actions on claims of excessive force. When I was asked to provide my statement I relayed the above observation almost verbatim. The officer was cleared of the accusations and the kid ended up with a conviction for his attempted assault on the cop.

What the cop did in my scenario was instinctive and forceful, but it was done in response to a direct thread from the kid, who was about 16. The cops in the video in the OP far exceeded any necessary response to a threat that didn't, at the time of their assault, exist.
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What you describe in your anecdote is perfectly reasonable, IMO.


iliveonramen said:
Even though I just made an observation...that these types of stories are more prevelant than normal....police abuse is pretty related to the topic on hand...
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I think they're seeming to become more prevalent, not because they're increasing, but because of the expansion of video and the information age. We're simply learning of them more than we used to. Video is proving to be a double-edged sword for LE. It helps protect them against bogus claims of abuse, and that's good, but it also is serving to catch them when they themselves cross the line... which is good as well.
 
iliveonramen said:
Ummm...probably would of put on the cuffs and took him to jail. Once the guy is lying on the ground face down with his arms out he's not posing much of a threat is he? It's common sense. You don't gather around and kick the **** out of him.
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There are many ways to continue to beat the crap out of that perp, but once, the cuffs go on, you back off

Reason why they were fired. They were careless knowing damn well, there are cameras all over the place to watch for.
 
I think they're seeming to become more prevalent, not because they're increasing, but because of the expansion of video and the information age. We're simply learning of them more than we used to. Video is proving to be a double-edged sword for LE. It helps protect them against bogus claims of abuse, and that's good, but it also is serving to catch them when they themselves cross the line... which is good as well.
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No I agree...it's good in both ways. It protects the cops and and in a relatively small amount of cases the civilian.
Despite Jerry's putting words in my mouth it wasn't a "bash cops" post I made. It didn't dawn on me as you point out it's related to having video coverage 24/7 where cases that once were "cop says vs what criminal said" is now in black in white.
 
Jerry said:
Burglary, felony evasion. Yeah, he deserved to get his ass kicked.
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That's for a court of law to determine. This is America, not ****ing Iran.
 
danarhea said:
That's for a court of law to determine. This is America, not ****ing Iran.
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How come you didn't answer my question? I'll ask again: why did you lie about the torres case?
 
I say the DA screwed up in charging him with oppression instead of assault or something in that area.

I hear "official oppression" and it makes me think of using your job or position as a threat against someone, not just permission to beat someone. It sounds like a cop saying "either you pay me, or I'll plant evidence to make you look guilty of a crime or harass you through "official" channels" or a person of authority basically keeping a minority from doing something with a threat they can make seem, to a reasonable person, for them to carry through on due to their position.

Assault and battery or even aggravated assault and battery (not sure what injuries the kid suffered) could certainly be warranted and might have stood a much better chance of a guilty verdict.
 
danarhea said:
This was an all white jury in Houston, TX that found the officer not guilty. Mayor Anise Parker has told Houston citizens to remain calm, but racial tensions are now running very high. I wouldn't be surprised to see acts of revenge against white people or police officers here, or even a riot. The last major riot in Houston happened in the late 1970's, when police officers were acquitted by an all white jury in a case where the officers threw a handcuffed Hispanic man named Jose Torres into Buffalo Bayou and remarked "Let's see if this wetback can swim". Torres drowned.

For those who believe that the officers acted properly, and cheer this decision, here is the raw video, courtesy of Channel 13 in Houston. Look at it and then tell me that the officers who were charged are innocent.



Yea, I know, the suspect that these cops were beating was wanted for burglary. He deserved to be punished, but that is for a court to decide, and not the decision of rogue cops who want to take the law into their own hands. I just heard that the FBI is now investigating, and I wouldn't be surprised if Federal civil rights charges are leveled against these officers.

Article is here.
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Did you make up this quote?.....
remarked "Let's see if this wetback can swim".
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If so.....why did you do that?
 
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ric27 said:
Did you make up this quote?.....

If so.....why did you do that?
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no you can read about Joe Torres, but here is a start

Page 14, Brownsville Herald, September 16, 1977: NewspaperARCHIVE.com

Houston PD threw him into Buffalo Bayou and reportedly said that and the guy drown. The cops were found guilty and got off with probation. Dana said aquitted, and that is not correct. They were found guilty of negligent homicide because of it and received a year of probation and a $1 fine.
 
Jerry said:
I have no tears for teen criminals. It's to bad the cops have to face additional legal action in the future, and that this teen couldn't find a way to get himself shot or ran over by that white police car.

Yes, I watched your video link in it's entirety. This was not a 'brutal assault'. Frankly I'm ashamed those cops couldn't land even 1 decent kick.
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What happened to innocent until proven guilty? In America, people have the right to a trial for any crimes they are charged with. We don't have vigilante justice where you can just go around beating the **** out of people for whatever reason you want. I'm not sure what sort of backwater dictatorship you'd like to see this country turn into, but by every principal that America is founded on, what those cops did is nothing short of heinous. What they did is straight up thuggery.
 
ric27 said:
Did you make up this quote?.....

If so.....why did you do that?
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Because I still remember the original media reports about that.

Perched on a location about twenty feet from the oft-polluted waters of Buffalo Bayou, the six officers stood with Torres while the rookie removed the handcuffs and immediately left to answer a dispatcher's call. "Let's see if the wetback can swim," Denson said. Torres supposedly assured the officer that he could swim. Then Denson shoved him over the edge. (Contrary to many media reports, Torres was not handcuffed when he went into the water).
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The part that I bolded is new information to me (media had originally reported that Torres was handcuffed when they threw him into the water), so I stand corrected on that point, but not on the point that Houston Police officers murdered Torres by throwing him into the water. When they had attempted to book him earlier, the jail refused to take him, telling the officers to take him to a hospital. Instead they threw him into the bayou, where he drowned.

Did I make up that quote? My answer to you is this - Quit being a jerk.
 
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danarhea said:
Because I still remember the original media reports about that.



The part that I bolded is new information to me, so I stand corrected on that point, but not on the point that Houston Police officers murdered Torres by throwing him into the water. When they had attempted to book him earlier, the jail refused to take him, telling the officers to take him to a hospital. Instead they threw him into the bayou, where he drowned.

Did I make up that quote? My answer to you is this - Quit being a jerk.
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So you remeber what the cops said before tossing the guy in the drink -- even though only the cops would have been there at the time would have known what was actually said, if anything . Yet, for some odd reason you not only don't remember them being convicted in both state and federal cases, you actually think they were acquitted.
 
vendur said:
So you remeber what the cops said before tossing the guy in the drink -- even though only the cops would have been there at the time would have known what was actually said, if anything . Yet, for some odd reason you not only don't remember them being convicted in both state and federal cases, you actually think they were acquitted.
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Same thing. In the state case, they were given probation for the murder and fined ONE DOLLAR. For something as serious as murdering someone, I call that the same as acquittal (They pretty much got off), and so did the Hispanic community here in Houston. It wasn't the murder that started the riot. It was the outcome of the court case. Thankfully, the Feds remedied that. The Feds will remedy this case too.
 
danarhea said:
Because I still remember the original media reports about that.



The part that I bolded is new information to me (media had originally reported that Torres was handcuffed when they threw him into the water), so I stand corrected on that point, but not on the point that Houston Police officers murdered Torres by throwing him into the water. When they had attempted to book him earlier, the jail refused to take him, telling the officers to take him to a hospital. Instead they threw him into the bayou, where he drowned.

Did I make up that quote? My answer to you is this - Quit being a jerk.
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Oh, I see...if I'm just asking a question to clarify, the veracity of, the quote, I'm considered a jerk?

Why? Who is the OP, here?
 
ric27 said:
Oh, I see...if I'm just asking a question to clarify, the veracity of, the quote, I'm considered a jerk?

Why? Who is the OP, here?
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The OP here is the one who is now putting you on ignore. Buh bye.
 
danarhea said:
The OP here is the one who is now putting you on ignore. Buh bye.
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Typical Prima Donna attitude.....lol

You should be ashamed of yourself
 
danarhea said:
Same thing. In the state case, they were given probation for the murder and fined ONE DOLLAR. For something as serious as murdering someone, I call that the same as acquittal (They pretty much got off), and so did the Hispanic community here in Houston. It wasn't the murder that started the riot. It was the outcome of the court case. Thankfully, the Feds remedied that. The Feds will remedy this case too.
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You lie about the verdicts, about supposed things the cop said, you make spurious claims about "all white juries", yet your dumb ass doesn't seem to understand or is purposefully trying to manipulate opinion in that the original jury in the torres case aquited the police, when in fact the police were found guilty by jury --the "all white jury" . and the "all white jury"doesn't impose the sentencing. What disgusting cowardice. Instead of actually owning up to your nonsense you attack other posters for calling you out on your fantasies instead of actually correcting your original agitprop turd of an original post.

For someone worried about "riots", you sure don't have any problem stirring the pot with your bull****.
 
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vendur said:
You lie about the verdicts, about supposed things the cop said, you make spurious claims about "all white juries", yet your dumb ass doesn't seem to understand or is purposefully trying to manipulate opinion in that the original jury in the torres case aquited the police, when in fact the police were found guilty by jury --the "all white jury" . and the "all white jury"doesn't impose the sentencing. What disgusting cowardice. Instead of actually owning up to your nonsense you attack other posters for calling you out on your fantasies instead of actually correcting your original agitprop turd of an original post.
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Another one to my ignore list. Guess you will just have to flame bait someone else now. Buh bye. :mrgreen:
 
Don't you wish that once, just ONCE, you could chase down a scumbag and beat the **** out of them?

Some guys seem to have all the luck.
 
Huh...I cant help but agree with the last line on the video. How in the HELL did they only get charged with Official Opression....and most importantly...how were they not found guilty?
 
Jerry said:
I have no tears for teen criminals. It's to bad the cops have to face additional legal action in the future, and that this teen couldn't find a way to get himself shot or ran over by that white police car.

Yes, I watched your video link in it's entirety. This was not a 'brutal assault'. Frankly I'm ashamed those cops couldn't land even 1 decent kick.
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What? That makes no sense..

Policemen can't assault a suspect.
 
notquiteright said:
They found an all white jury in Houston?
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I'm sure you are well aware that when hispanics are somehow in confilct with the leftist othodoxy they are actually "white"... "hispanics",
 
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