Latta council fights for chief’s job

Mayor refuses to discuss police leader’s dismissal before a packed meeting

TRACI BRIDGES, Morning News

LATTA, S.C. — About 100 residents of this small Dillon County town showed up for a special meeting of the town council Thursday night, all with one subject on their mind: Crystal Moore’s firing from the police chief post by Mayor Earl Bullard.

Bullard made it clear before the meeting that Moore’s firing wasn’t on the agenda, and he wasn’t going to talk about it.

But that didn’t stop Councilwoman Lutherine Williams and other council members. When the official meeting adjourned, they simply moved it outside.

“All of these citizens came out tonight to be heard,” Williams said after Bullard refused to hear from anyone on the Moore matter.

“You did not have to be standing in corners and out in the hallway,” she said to the standing room-only audience, many of which were forced to listen to the meeting via loud speakers outside the town hall. Those who did make it inside had to show proof of residency.

“We came to him (Bullard) early and asked to have the meeting changed to another location so each of you could attend and be comfortable. He said no, we couldn’t do that. When I called Columbia to talk to them, they’d never in their life heard of people having to sign some form to come and say something in the town they live and work in and pay taxes. This is so wrong. This is so not right.”

Bullard fired Moore on Tuesday but has refused to comment on why he fired her. Councilman Jarret Taylor said Moore was fired because she refused to sign seven written reprimands. Taylor said Moore simply asked to talk with her attorney before signing, but Bullard demanded that she sign the reprimands immediately. When she didn’t, he fired her.

The reprimands were tied to Moore’s investigation of the town’s new Parks and Recreation Department Director Vontray Sellers, who was hired by Bullard in February. The Latta Police Department began looking into Sellers’ background after it was reported that Sellers was driving a town vehicle despite having a suspended driver’s license.

Williams, Taylor and several other council members and local residents said Bullard has been intent on getting rid of Moore because of the former police chief’s sexual orientation.

In a recorded telephone conservation with Taylor that made its way to media outlets and online earlier this week, Bullard said:

“I would much rather have — and I will say this to anybody’s face — somebody who drank and drank too much taking care of my child than I had somebody whose lifestyle is questionable around children. … I’m not going to let two women stand up there and hold hands and let my child be aware of it. And I’m not going to see them do it with two men neither.”

Bullard tried to go into executive session to discuss the Moore firing Thursday night, but council members refused to make a motion to do so. Several said they felt the matter should be discussed in the open.

During the meeting, council members approved second reading of an ordinance that would allow town residents to vote on a referendum that would change the town’s form of government from strong mayor-weak council to strong council. Williams and other councilmen said the change would be the first step in stripping the mayor of some of his powers.

“He doesn’t think he has to follow any rules,” Williams said. “We have a town hall that’s become a Town Hall Burger King. Everything is have it his way. But we’re gonna change that. Everything with him is ‘I, I, I’ but we don’t live in an ‘I’ town. We live in a ‘we’ town. I love each and every one of you, and my intention is to do what’s right. If I’m never elected to sit in this chair again, I’m going to do what’s right.”

Williams requested that a special meeting be held to discuss Moore’s firing. She said she and others will continue to fight for Moore until she is reinstated.

Moore, who has worked for the town since she was a teenager, said she’s overwhelmed and touched by all the support and encouragement she’s received.

“I’m going to fight for my job,” Moore said. “I haven’t ever done anything but uphold the law and the policies of the town of Latta. I’ve tried to live a quiet life and do what’s right.”

http://www.scnow.com/news/article_2e1af550-c693-11e3-8dd4-0017a43b2370.html

Former SC sheriff found guilty in corruption trial

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

CHESTERFIELD, S.C. — The former sheriff of Chesterfield County has been found guilty after prosecutors accused him of giving away guns from his department without filing proper paperwork and allowing untrained people to act as deputies
.

The jury in the trial of Sam Parker returned its verdict Thursday. He was found guilty of five counts of misconduct in office, two counts of giving contraband to inmates and one count of embezzlement.
An investigation into Parker began when an inmate he had helped to see his sick mother became mad after the sheriff punished him for a violation and went to authorities. The prisoner, who was serving 15 years for arson and was sent to Chesterfield County to help with tasks like fixing cars and maintaining county property, told investigators he was allowed to drink alcohol, sleep outside the jail, use an iPad and have unsupervised visits with women, according to the indictment against Parker.

According to prosecutors, Parker gave away confiscated weapons, including an M-14 semi-automatic rifle, to friends who were not deputies.
Parker's lawyer argued their client's actions weren't criminal and that he was being singled out by overzealous prosecutors.


Parker was Chesterfield County sheriff from 2003 until he was indicted in March 2013. He is one of seven sheriffs of South Carolina's 46 counties to face charges or criminal investigations in the past four years. Although most of the other sheriffs pleaded guilty and disappeared from the public glare, Parker fought the charges filed against him.

http://www.scnow.com/news/article_60504e66-c68f-11e3-bd82-0017a43b2370.html

Rare ‘Perry Mason’ moment in court wins dismissal for defendant, desk duty for 5 police officers

Posted Apr 15, 2014 1:20 PM CDT
By Martha Neil

Updated: A seemingly routine suppression hearing in a suburban Chicago courthouse last month took an unexpected dramatic turn when video from a police car was introduced that disproved the testimony of five police officers.

They had said Joseph Sperling was arrested after officers who pulled him over in a traffic stop smelled marijuana, searched the vehicle and found nearly a pound in a backpack lying on the back seat of his car. But the Glenview police video showed the search occurred only after Sperling was taken from his car, frisked and handcuffed, reports the Chicago Tribune (sub. req.). The newspaper dubbed it "a 'Perry Mason' moment rarely seen inside an actual courtroom."

Castigating the officers for their "outrageous conduct," Cook County Circuit Judge Catherine Haberkorn granted a defense motion to suppress the search, which eliminated a basis for his arrest and resulted in a swift dismissal by prosecutors of the felony drug case against the 23-year-old.

"All the officers lied on the stand today," said Haberkorn, who herself is a former prosecutor, at the March 31 hearing. "So there is strong evidence it was conspiracy to lie in this case, for everyone to come up with the same lie."

The officers were later put on desk duty as investigations of their conduct proceed.

The Tribune says the Glenview arrest of Sperling last June came at the request of Chicago narcotics officers who had Sperling under surveillance. They asked local police to pull him over in a marked car, which occurred when Sperling allegedly failed to use his turn signal (he says he did). Then, one of the Chicago officers testified, he smelled marijuana as he waited for Sperling to produce his license and registration. Sperling testified he was never asked to do so.

The officer, supported by testimony from four other Chicago and Glenview officers, said he ordered Sperling to exit the vehicle and stand by the trunk as he searched it. However, the video shows the search didn't occur until after Sperling was sitting, handcuffed, in a police car.

Another discrepancy in testimony concerned the location of the backpack in which the marijuana was located: Police said it was in plain view on the back seat of the car. Sperling said it was under the seat.

If not for the video, which Sperling's lawyer Steven Goldman got by issuing a subpoena to the Glenview police department, and produced in rebuttal at the suppression hearing, Sperling likely would have been convicted and jailed, the attorney told the newspaper.

Now Sperling has filed a federal civil rights suit over his arrest.

Related coverage:

ABAJournal.com: "Another Perry Mason Moment in LA, as Police Testimony is Contradicted"

ABA Journal: "The 25 Greatest Fictional Lawyers (Who Are Not Atticus Finch)"

Updated on April 17 to include link to subsequent ABAJournal.com post about Sperling's civil suit.

http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/rare_perry_mason_moment_at_trial_wins_acquittal_for_defendant_desk_duty_for/

Calif. TV station films dog calmly playing with kids after cop shoots himself trying to kill it

By David Edwards
Thursday, April 17, 2014 15:41 EDT

A California deputy accidentally shot himself while trying to kill a dog that he said was threatening his life on Wednesday, but video captured by a local television station later showed the animal much smaller than reported and peacefully playing with children.

According to a Riverside County sheriff’s spokesperson, the deputy was serving an eviction notice at around 2 p.m. on Wednesday when a “large” dog tried to attack him, KCAL reported.

“A dog came at the deputy in an aggressive manner,” Deputy Armando Munoz said, according toThe Press-Enterprise. “The deputy, (attempting to defend himself) pulled his service weapon, shot one round, and injured himself in the leg.”

“He’s OK. He has non life-threatening injuries.”

Munoz said that the dog’s aggressive behavior ended when it was startled by the gunfire.

When KNBC film crews arrived on the scene later on Wednesday, they found a medium-sized pit bull — named “Precious” — confined to a pen, and calmly playing with several children. The dog’s owner admitted that it had been barking when the officer arrived.

Animal Services did not take the dog into custody because there was no evidence it or the owner had done anything wrong.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/04/17/calif-tv-station-films-dog-calmly-playing-with-kids-after-cop-shoots-himself-trying-to-kill-it/

Aspiring TV producer, who had worked for 'Tosh.O,' accidentally killed by police

An aspiring TV producer, who had worked for Comedy Central’s viral video-based series “Tosh.0,” was accidentally killed on Monday night when Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies mistook him for a mad slasher, FOX411 has learned.

A panicky 911 caller told dispatchers a man with a 10-inch butcher knife was threatening people. So when Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies saw a wounded, bloody man rush out of a West Hollywood apartment with someone on his heels, they opened fire.

But the man they gunned down Monday night wasn't the slasher; he was a fleeing hostage.

John Winkler, 30, had served as a temporary production assistant for the Daniel Tosh-hosted series. He died at a hospital in California. 

Tosh has yet to address Winkler’s death on his Twitter account.

“Comedy Central and ‘Tosh.0’ extend their deepest condolences to the family of John Winkler," a statement released Friday by Comedy Central read. 

"We only had the privilege of working with him for a short while and extend heartfelt sympathy to his family and friends during this tragic time,” the statement said. 

"Taking the life of an innocent person is a police officer's greatest nightmare," Interim Los Angeles County Sheriff John Scott said Thursday at a news conference.

The entire department mourned Winkler's death, he added.

Winkler was "hanging out" with some friends who lived in the apartment below him on Palm Avenue when a man who also lived in that apartment, Alexander McDonald, climbed over the balcony with the knife, sheriff's homicide Lt. David Coleman said.

McDonald was "in an incoherent state of mind, seemed very paranoid, which was uncharacteristic," Coleman said.

McDonald took his roommate, Winkler and another man hostage, then flew into a rage and began stabbing and fighting with them, authorities said.

"We don't know what caused his rage or what caused his outburst," and it was unclear whether drugs were involved, Coleman said.

Someone called 911 and arriving deputies were told the hostage-taker was a thin man in a black shirt.

Deputies announced themselves and pounded on the door and at that moment one of the stabbing victims took the opportunity to escape, Coleman said.

"The door suddenly opened and a man with blood spurting form his neck entered the doorway" with Winkler — a thin man wearing a black shirt — running after him only inches away, Scott said.

The fleeing man appeared to be under "continuous attack," the sheriff said.

Three deputies fired four shots, and a bullet mortally wounded Winkler. The other man was hit in the leg and was hospitalized in stable condition, according to a Sheriff's Department statement.

Winkler had moved to West Hollywood from Washington state six months ago to work in the entertainment industry, his friend, Devin Richardson, told the Los Angeles Times.

Winkler's Facebook page said he studied directing at the Seattle Film Institute and was in the class of 2010.

The deputies, all department veterans, were removed from patrol after the shooting but were expected to return to full duty next week, sheriff's officials said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2014/04/11/tosho-production-assistant-accidentally-killed-by-police/

L.A. County deputies fatally shoot man by mistake

The TV production assistant was one of two hostages shot as they fled apartment in West Hollywood.

By Joseph Serna, Cindy Chang and Ruben Vives

6:55 PM PDT, April 10, 2014

Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies mistakenly shot two hostages, killing one, earlier this week as the men fled a knife-wielding captor in West Hollywood, officials said Thursday.

John Winkler, a 30-year-old TV production assistant who had recently arrived from Washington state to pursue a career in entertainment, was hit once in the chest when three deputies opened fire on him Monday night at an apartment complex, officials said in a statement.

He died at a local hospital. A second hostage was shot in the leg, officials said.

"The apartment door suddenly opened and a male victim came rushing out," the statement said. "He was covered in blood and bleeding profusely from the neck. Simultaneously, Winkler ran out of the door, lunging at the back of the fleeing victim. Both ran directly at the deputies."

Winkler fit the general description of the suspect — a white man in a black shirt — and when he bolted out of the apartment, deputies believed Winkler was the assailant, officials said.

Interim Sheriff John Scott on Thursday called the shooting "very tragic."

Winkler's friend Devin Richardson said Winkler, who lived in the complex, was a friend of the two other men held hostage and rushed to the apartment when he heard them screaming.

But sheriff's officials said they believe Winkler was already in the apartment visiting friends when the disturbance began.

Winkler had recently been hired for several days as a production assistant for the comedy show "Tosh.0." Richardson said Winkler wanted to become a producer.

Winkler's aunt said he was thrilled about being in Hollywood.

"He was quite excited the last time we talked to him," said Anne-Marie Van Wart, 62, of Tacoma, Wash. "He was just getting his foot in the door of life. Just, the light was right around the corner … and [now] he's gone."

The incident unfolded about 9:30 p.m. Monday in a large apartment complex on Palm Avenue off of Santa Monica Boulevard.

Sheriff's deputies said they got a call about an assailant with a knife inside one of the building's units. When they got to the complex, a witness told them there were two men in the apartment and that the assailant was a thin white man wearing a black shirt, according to the statement.

Deputies "announced themselves" at the apartment but got no response. The door suddenly burst open and a bloodied man came out, with Winkler close behind, officials said.

The deputies believed "Winkler was the assailant and the assault was ongoing and he would attack the entry team."

After the deputies fired on Winkler and the other man they heard "sounds of a fight coming from inside the apartment," according to the statement.

They entered the room and saw another male victim as well as the suspect, identified as Alexander McDonald.

McDonald was choking the victim and "tearing at his face," officials said.

The deputies subdued McDonald and arrested him.

Later, officials said, they learned that McDonald had held Winkler and the two other men hostage. When deputies arrived, McDonald "in a rage … began stabbing the men and fighting with them."

The second man shot by deputies was transported to a hospital where he was treated for stab wounds to the neck and a gunshot wound to the leg. He is in stable condition.

The third victim, who was treated at a hospital for stab wounds to the leg, arms and chest, has been released. Officials said McDonald and one of the victims were roommates.

McDonald, 27, has been charged with one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of torture.

He pleaded not guilty and is being held on $4-million bail.

The Sheriff's Department's initial news release the day after the shooting made no mention of the mistaken identity and said the two people shot had "aggressed the deputies."

Assistant Sheriff Todd Rogers said that it was "pretty apparent" the night of the incident that it was a case of mistaken identity. He said he was officially briefed of that determination Tuesday.

Scott, the acting sheriff, said the case was complicated and it took some time to sort out.

The violence left residents in the apartment building and beyond stunned.

The apartment where the violence took place faces the elevator and a stairway. The marble floor outside the door was stained with blood Thursday.

A woman who lives on the floor below, who did not want to be named, said she heard a commotion Monday night.

She heard shouting, "Get down! Get down!" and several popping noises.

Then she heard a scream.

"It was a primal scream," the woman said. "It was fear, it was absolutely horrible."

Residents said the apartment complex was already on edge because of a fatal stabbing two weeks ago.

A Yale-educated physician, Kurtland Ma, 34, was stabbed to death March 29 inside his apartment. His partner has been charged with homicide.

West Hollywood officials said they had been inquiring about the circumstances of Monday's shooting and were stunned to get the sheriff's statement.

"This was already a tragic situation but this makes it all the more tragic," said Councilman Jeff Prang.

joseph.serna@latimes.com

cindy.chang@latimes.com

ruben.vives@latimes.com

Times staff writers Richard Winton, Robert Faturechi and Kate Mather contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2014, Los Angeles Times

latimes.com/local/la-me-producer-killed-20140411,0,272408.story
latimes.com

Justice Department: Albuquerque police use 'excessive force,' institutional reforms needed

By RUSSELL CONTRERAS, Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday released a scathing report in response to a series of deadly police shootings that pointed to patterns of excessive force by the Albuquerque Police Department, serious constitutional violations and a lack of training and oversight of its officers.

After more than a year of reviewing hundreds of cases handled by the Albuquerque police, the federal agency found that officers too frequently used deadly force on people "who posed a minimal threat" and used a higher level of force too often on those with mental illness.

Albuquerque police have received much criticism over 37 shootings by officers since 2010, 23 of which were fatal. The Justice Department found the majority of those shootings were unreasonable and violated constitutional rights. The DOJ also found a significant number of instances in which officers used less lethal measures such as Tasers in an unconstitutional manner.

Jocelyn Samuels, the acting assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's civil rights division, said the investigation was thorough and that it became clear the problems within the police department were systemic.

"The reforms we are proposing ... are going to result in the kinds of structures that will over time create a change in the culture," she said. "It starts with commitment from the top."

She acknowledged that changes will not happen overnight.

The findings served as validation for critics who have long complained that a culture of aggression has permeated the police department. However, some community members voiced concerns after Thursday's announcement that recommendations have been made in the past with city leaders failing to take action.

DOJ officials planned to brief Mayor Richard Berry, police Chief Gorden Eden and other officials on the findings Thursday afternoon.

Last week, Berry asked the federal agency to expedite its review and help overhaul the city's police force. His request followed a violent protest last month in response to the shooting death of a homeless man who had threatened to kill officers. The man was gathering his belongings and turning away when officers opened fire, helmet camera video showed.

The Justice Department is recommending that Albuquerque make numerous changes to its use of force policy to, among other things, place more emphasis on techniques for de-escalating potentially violent situations. The recommendations also call for a more objective and rigorous internal accountability system that includes reviews and investigations when force is used.

Under the recommendations, officers would be required to participate in crisis intervention training and higher eligibility standards would be set for supervisors and staff assigned to the police department's tactical units.

Samuels also noted that the department's "broken" civilian oversight process would need to be fixed.

The Justice Department said it will work with the city to develop a consent agreement to begin implementing changes. Negotiations with the city will determine whether a federal monitor will be needed.

Samuels did not offer a timetable for the negotiations, but said the agency would remain engaged for "as long as is necessary."

If a federal monitor is appointed and the city agrees on terms, Albuquerque would join cities such as Detroit, Los Angeles, New Orleans and Seattle that are subject to federal oversight.

Scrutiny of the Albuquerque force is one of 15 investigations of police departments launched during President Barack Obama's first term.

Until Thursday's announcement, federal officials released few details of the Albuquerque investigation but conducted hundreds of interviews with officials and residents.

Jewel Hall, a retired teacher and president of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center Board, participated in many of the meetings. She said she was hopeful the police department would adopt some of the recommendations.

Still, she said the community "needs to be involved and their input needs to be respected."

New Mexico's acting U.S. Attorney, Damon Martinez, called Thursday a milestone for the city and the police department.

"The coming days and months will determine the next generation of what policing will look like in our city," he said. "We are at a unique time and place where the city can decisively determine the culture of the Albuquerque Police Department and its relationship with the community."

___

Follow Russell Contreras on Twitter at http://twitter.com/russcontreras

http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2014/04/10/albuquerque-police-await-us-findings-on-reform