Video shows moments before North Miami Police shot unarmed man

NORTH MIAMI, FLA. (WSVN) - A therapist who works with people with disabilities is telling his story after he said police shot him while he was trying to help his patient with autism.

Cellphone video was released Wednesday afternoon showing Charles Kinsey lying on the ground with his hands in the air, telling officers that weapons are not necessary. “When I went to the ground, I’m going to the ground just like this here with my hands up,” Kinsey said, “and I am laying down here just like this, and I’m telling them again, ‘Sir, there is no need for firearms. I’m unarmed, he’s an autistic guy. He got a toy truck in his hand.”

In his hospital bed, Kinsey said, he was attempting to calm an autistic patient who ran away from a group home. Kinsey could be heard in the video saying, “All he has is a toy truck. A toy truck. I am a behavior therapist at a group home.”

He is also heard asking his patient to calm down. “Rinaldo, please be still, Rinaldo. Sit down, Rinaldo. Lay on your stomach.”

The ordeal went on for a few minutes before Kinsey said one of the officers shot him. “I’m like this right here, and when he shot me, it was so surprising,” Kinsey said. “It was like a mosquito bite, and when it hit me, I’m like, ‘I still got my hands in the air, and I said, ‘No I just got shot! And I’m saying, ‘Sir, why did you shoot me?’ and his words to me, he said, ‘I don’t know.'”

North Miami Police said the incident began, Monday, when someone called 911 and said there was a man walking around with a gun threatening suicide. Kinsey said the man was his patient and the alleged gun was a toy truck, which he said was clearly visible to police. “I was really more worried about him than myself. I was thinking as long as I have my hands up … they’re not going to shoot me. This is what I’m thinking, they’re not going to shoot me. Wow, was I wrong.”

Kinsey was then shot in the leg. The shooting was not captured on camera but Kinsey said he had his hands up the entire time.

The therapist said police then rushed him, patted him down and put him in handcuffs. Kinsey said what police did after the shooting is what upsets him the most. “They flipped me over, and I’m faced down in the ground, with cuffs on, waiting on the rescue squad to come. I’d say about 20, about 20 minutes it took the rescue squad to get there. And I was like, bleeding  — I mean bleeding and I was like, ‘Wow.'”

Despite everything that’s happened, Kinsey is happy to be alive. Standing by his bedside, his wife said, “Right now, I am just grateful that he is alive, and he is able to tell his story.”

Kinsey only wants to help people and is perplexed as to why officers fired. “My life flashed in front of me,” he said. “When he hit me, my first thing I’m thinking, I’m thinking about my family.”

Around 6 p.m. Wednesday, a group called the Circle of Brotherhood stood outside the North Miami Police Department, requesting that police answer questions about what happened and if the officer responsible for shooting will face charges.

The organization, which Kinsey is a part, of works to solve problems in the community.

Kinsey’s lawyer, Hilton Napoleon, is outraged. “There’s no justification for shooting an unarmed person who’s talking to you and telling you that they don’t have a gun, and that they’re a mental health counselor,” Napoleon said.

North Miami Police have not released the officer’s name or an update on their investigation. However, they did say that the State Attorney is now involved with the investigation.

Copyright 2016 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://wsvn.com/news/local/video-shows-moments-before-north-miami-police-shot-unarmed-man/

Assault Charges Dropped for Alabama Cop Who Partially Paralyzed Indian Grandfather

by CHRIS FUCHS

Following a motion filed Thursday by Alabama's attorney general, a judge dismissed state misdemeanor assault charges against a Madison police officer who allegedly slammed an Indian man to the ground last February during a suspicious­person stop. RELATED: Indian Grandfather Paralyzed After Encounter With Alabama Police Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange's request came after two federal juries failed to reach verdicts in the civil rights case against Eric Parker, the officer accused of taking down 58­year­old Sureshbhai Patel, who was left seriously injured. U.S. District Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala, who presided over both trials, acquitted Parker in January, saying there was little chance a third trial would yield a different result. "After a review of the federal trial testimony, it does not appear that there would be sufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt," Strange said in a statement. "Thus, we have a duty to move to dismiss the charge."

Chirag Patel helps his father, Sureshbhai Patel, out of the car as they arrive outside the federal courthouse before start of a trial against Madison, Ala., police Officer Eric Sloan Parker, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015, in Huntsville, Ala. Brynn Anderson / AP District Judge Douglas L. Patterson of Limestone County granted Strange's motion on Thursday. Hank Sherrod, Patel's attorney, told NBC News in an email that the state's decision to drop the assault charge is deeply troubling, though not entirely surprising. "This decision illustrates how difficult it is to hold law enforcement officers accountable under the criminal laws for brutal acts that would send an ordinary citizen to jail," he said.

Eric Parker's attorney, Robert Tuten, did not return a request for comment. Parker, 27, still faces a civil lawsuit in connection with the incident. Parker encountered Patel last Feb. 6 while responding to a call of a suspicious black man looking at garages and walking near houses. Patel, in from India to visit his son and grandson, testified that he did not understand English or the officers who confronted him while he was out for a walk. A widely viewed police dashcam video captured Patel's subsequent police takedown, which resulted in injuries to Patel's spine and partial paralysis. In her 92­page ruling Jan. 13 granting a defense motion for acquittal, Haikala wrote that it was reasonable for Parker to have investigated Patel on the basis of the 911 call and that slow­motion clips from the dashcam showed Patel had resisted Parker before the takedown.

RELATED: Police Chief Guilty of Criminal Contempt in Alabama Excessive Force Case Last month, Madison Police Chief Larry Muncey was found guilty of federal criminal contempt charges in connection with Parker's first trial. Muncey, who is on administrative leave pending the outcome of any appeals, violated a sequestration order that prohibits witnesses from hearing testimony of others called to the stand. Muncey was ordered to pay a $2,500 fine and attend training for legal exposure and liability. Follow NBC Asian America on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/assault-charges-dropped-alabama-cop-who-partially-paralyzed-indian-grandfather-n573806

Ault officer charged with vehicular homicide in fatal off-duty, alleged “road rage” crash

Blair Jackson, 48, is accused of one count of vehicular homicide

By JESSE PAUL | jpaul@denverpost.com

PUBLISHED: July 14, 2016 at 5:02 pm | UPDATED: July 14, 2016 at 5:09 pm

Weld County prosecutors have filed formal charges against an Ault police office accused in an off-duty fatal crash that witnesses described as “road rage.”

Blair Jackson, 48, is accused of one count of vehicular homicide — a Class 4 felony — in the wreck that killed 39-year-old Esteban Moreno Jr., court records show.

Authorities say Jackson and Moreno were traveling southbound on U.S. 85 at speeds of more than 80 mph before colliding in Platteville last month. Moreno lost control, according to prosecutors, and crashed.

He was pronounced dead at the scene of the June 1 wreck.

“One witness described the vehicles as ‘playing leap-frog’ and tailgating each other,” according to an arrest affidavit for Jackson.

The affidavit says a witness reported that Jackson “purposefully struck Moreno’s vehicle side to side” and “Jackson pulled in front of Moreno and cut him off, causing his truck to lose control and crash.”

However, when asked to give his account of what happened, Jackson said “Moreno tried to run him off the roadway,” and that Moreno purposefully struck his vehicle, causing Moreno to lose control and crash.

Jackson had just ended a shift at the police department when the crash happened, according to Rich Strang, chief of Ault police. Strang says Jackson remains on unpaid administrative leave.

Jackson was first taken into custody for investigation of second-degree murder and reckless driving. He is next due in court Aug. 22, and is free after posting $25,000 bail.

Jackson began working at the Ault Police Department in December 2015. Before that, he was a contract security guard for the Regional Transportation District.

Jackson previously had been cited twice on suspicion of careless driving, court records show.

Most recently, records show he was issued a summons Jan. 26 in Arapahoe County for careless driving causing injury. The citation was dropped March 28, and Jackson pleaded guilty to a charge of having an unsafe or defective vehicle.

Jackson also was cited for careless driving in September 1998 in Larimer County, according to court records. That charge was dismissed in June 1999.

http://www.denverpost.com/2016/07/14/ault-officer-charged-vehicular-homicide-road-rage/

Alton Sterling shooting: Video of deadly encounter with officers sparks outrage

By Dave Alsup, Joshua Berlinger and Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN
Updated 1344 GMT (2144 HKT) July 6, 2016

(CNN)[Breaking news alert, posted at 9:43 a.m. ET Wednesday]
The president of the NAACP's branch in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, called for the city's police chief and chief executive to resign in the wake of the shooting death of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man. "We're actually here today to speak to the culture of the Baton Rouge Police Department. This incident is only one incident in many," Michael McClanahan told reporters Wednesday. "What we're going to do is root out the 1% of bad police officers that go around being the judge, the jury and executioner of innocent people, period, but more specifically, innocent black lives."

[Previous story, posted at 9:08 a.m. ET Wednesday]
The graphic video shows a deadly encounter outside a convenience store.
Two police officers pin down Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, then shoot him as he lies on the ground. 
The video, shared widely on social media, quickly sparked local protests and drew national attention. Baton Rouge, Louisiana, police say they came to the scene early Tuesday after an anonymous 911 caller reported a man threatening him with a gun.
Accounts of what happened next depend on whom you ask.
Sterling is dead. Authorities are investigating. And many questions remain unanswered. Edmond Jordan, an attorney representing Sterling's family, said the video of the shooting raises troubling questions. "I think that the city is going to have to give us some good answers," Jordan, who is also a Louisiana state legislator, told CNN. "And I don't know if they'll be able to." Sterling's family, he said, has seen the video of the shooting.

"(They) are taking it hard right now ... overwhelmed with grief," he said.

The video
The video starts with the camera facing a car dashboard. A single pop is heard, and then someone yells, "Get on the ground."
Another pop follows.
The camera then pans up to two officers confronting a man in a red shirt, which Jordan says is Sterling. One officer brings Sterling to the ground. Once he's down, the officer begins to assist a second officer in restraining Sterling.
Still frames from the video that appears to show Alton Sterling being shot to death.
"He's got a gun," someone says seconds later.
An officer can be seen drawing something from his waist -- it's not clear what the object is.
More yelling ensues, after which two bangs can be heard. The video appears to have been recorded by a witness in a nearby car.
Those inside the car react. Three more bangs can be heard, and a woman in the car starts crying.
Police: Detectives reviewing video
Baton Rouge police told CNN that detectives will review the video.
They say the video was not sent to the department but was released to the media and posted online.
Police said the officers involved have been placed on administrative leave, a standard practice following an officer-involved shooting.

The owner of the convenience store where Sterling was killed said he's sure the shooting was caught on his store's surveillance cameras, though he hasn't seen it. Police took the video later Tuesday, he told CNN.

A preliminary autopsy found Sterling's cause of death was from "multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and back," East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner William "Beau" Clark told CNN on Wednesday. He declined to provide additional details about how many gunshot wounds Sterling sustained.

A full autopsy will be completed over the next 60 to 90 days, Clark said, pending toxicology results. The report then will be handed over to law enforcement, he said.
The 'CD man' Sterling was known as the "CD man," a laid-back guy who would sell tunes and DVDs outside the convenience store where he was shot, according to local media.

"Alton was a respected man. He was beloved in the community. He did not deserve the treatment and this excessive force that was exerted on him by the police department," Jordan, his attorney, told CNN. Now Sterling's family is "grieving and mourning for an unnecessary loss of life," the attorney said.

"Alton was out there selling CDs, trying to make a living. He was doing it with the permission of the store owner, so he wasn't trespassing or anything like that. He wasn't involved in any criminal conduct," Jordan said.
Abdullah Muflahi, the owner of the Triple S Food Mart, told CNN he's known Sterling for six years.

Muflahi let him sell CDs in front of the store. He said Sterling never got into fights.
Muflahi said he saw the officers slam Sterling on a car. "They told him not to move," he said. "He was asking them what he did wrong." He said the officers then used a stun gun on Sterling at least once before shooting. Both got on top of him, and one  ordered him not to move. The one closest to Sterling's legs yelled "gun," and the shots followed. After the shooting, Muflahi said an officer reached into Sterling's pocket and pulled out a gun.

When it was over, Muflahi said he heard the officers talking on the scene, saying they had been called there due to a complaint that Sterling had pulled a gun on someone.
But Muflahi said he never saw a confrontation between Sterling and anyone. And he wasn't aware of any incident that someone would have called about.

"Just five minutes before," Muflahi said, "he walked into the store getting something to drink, joking around, (and we were) calling each other names."

Alton Sterling shooting: Video of deadly encounter with officers sparks outrage
By Dave Alsup, Joshua Berlinger and Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN
Updated 1344 GMT (2144 HKT) July 6, 2016
Graphic video shows police shooting
Graphic video shows police shooting 01:53
Story highlights
 Preliminary autopsy: "Multiple gunshot wounds" were cause of death
 "The city is going to have to give us some good answers," attorney says

(CNN)[Breaking news alert, posted at 9:43 a.m. ET Wednesday]
The president of the NAACP's branch in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, called for the city's police chief and chief executive to resign in the wake of the shooting death of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man. "We're actually here today to speak to the culture of the Baton Rouge Police Department. This incident is only one incident in many," Michael McClanahan told reporters Wednesday. "What we're going to do is root out the 1% of bad police officers that go around being the judge, the jury and executioner of innocent people, period, but more specifically, innocent black lives."

[Previous story, posted at 9:08 a.m. ET Wednesday]
The graphic video shows a deadly encounter outside a convenience store.
Two police officers pin down Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, then shoot him as he lies on the ground. The video, shared widely on social media, quickly sparked local protests and drew national attention.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, police say they came to the scene early Tuesday after an anonymous 911 caller reported a man threatening him with a gun.
Accounts of what happened next depend on whom you ask.
Sterling is dead. Authorities are investigating. And many questions remain unanswered.

Edmond Jordan, an attorney representing Sterling's family, said the video of the shooting raises troubling questions.
"I think that the city is going to have to give us some good answers," Jordan, who is also a Louisiana state legislator, told CNN. "And I don't know if they'll be able to."
Sterling's family, he said, has seen the video of the shooting.
"(They) are taking it hard right now ... overwhelmed with grief," he said.
CNN Map

The video
The video starts with the camera facing a car dashboard. A single pop is heard, and then someone yells, "Get on the ground."
Another pop follows.

The camera then pans up to two officers confronting a man in a red shirt, which Jordan says is Sterling. One officer brings Sterling to the ground. Once he's down, the officer begins to assist a second officer in restraining Sterling. 
Still frames from the video that appears to show Alton Sterling being shot to death.
"He's got a gun," someone says seconds later. An officer can be seen drawing something from his waist -- it's not clear what the object is.

More yelling ensues, after which two bangs can be heard. The video appears to have been recorded by a witness in a nearby car. Those inside the car react. Three more bangs can be heard, and a woman in the car starts crying.

Jordan told CNN there will be a news conference Wednesday morning at Baton Rouge City Hall to discuss the shooting.
The local chapter of the NAACP, Sterling's aunt, Sandra Sterling, and state Rep. C. Denise Marcelle are expected to be there.
Briefed by the police chief, Marcelle told CNN affiliate WAFB-TV that the officers were wearing body cameras but the cameras fell off during the struggle and did not capture the shooting.

Jordan, the family attorney, also told CNN he's heard the officers' body cameras fell off in the struggle. A local congressman, U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, said in a statement he will call on the U.S. Justice Department to investigate. "The video footage released today of the shooting of Alton Sterling by officers of the Baton Rouge Police Department was deeply troubling and has understandably evoked strong emotion and anger in our community," Richmond said. "I ask the leaders and citizens of Baton Rouge to join me in demonstrating our anger with dignity and demanding proper focus on our cause with perseverance. His family and the citizens of Baton Rouge -- especially the citizens of North Baton Rouge -- deserve answers and that is what we will seek in a fair, thorough, and transparent way."

Poll: 1 in 5 African-Americans report 'unfair' dealings with police in last month
Protesters took to the streets in Baton Rouge near where Sterling was killed after news of his death spread.

Members of Sterling's family were among them, Jordan told CNN. "Pretty much everybody who knows him knows he's a sweet person," his sister, Mignon Chambers, told CNN affiliate WVLA-TV. "It wasn't right, and something needs to be done." The protests were largely peaceful, according to local media. Some streets were shut down, a few individuals spoke and those on the scene mostly played music and chanted. "We ain't running from this," one man could be heard telling the crowd. "We gonna pray first, but we gonna stand tonight. We gonna stand tomorrow. And we gonna stand as a community."

CNN's Polo Sandoval, Chuck Johnston, Sheena Jones and Donie O'Sullivan contributed to this report.
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/06/us/baton-rouge-shooting-alton-sterling/index.html

Ex-Rocky Ford cop found guilty of murdering Jack Jacquez while on duty

James Ashby becomes the first Colorado police officer convicted of murder on-duty in decades

By JESSE PAUL | jpaul@denverpost.com

June 23, 2016 | UPDATED: 1 min ago

Former Rocky Ford police Officer James Ashbywas convicted Thursday of second-degree murder in the 2014 slaying of a man in his mother’s kitchen, becoming the first Colorado officer to be found guilty of murder in an on-duty death in decades.

Ashby had pleaded not guilty and had been on trial for more than a week in the slaying of 27-year-old Jack Jacquez. Jurors began deliberating midday Wednesday and returned Thursday morning before handing down their findings.

In all, the Otero County jury deliberated for about 11 hours before handing down their guilty verdict. Ashby, 33, is scheduled to be sentenced at 9 a.m. on Sept. 23 in La Junta.

When he was arrested a month after Jacquez’s Oct. 12, 2014, slaying, Ashby became the first Colorado policeman in over two decades to face a murder charge in an on-duty death. A Denver officer was acquitted in a 1992 shooting. It was not immediately unclear when the last Colorado police officer was convicted of murder in on an on-duty death, or if it had ever happened.

Investigators say Ashby followed Jacquez into the home of Jacquez’s mother on Oct. 12, 2014, and fatally shot him in the back. Ashby told investigators he thought Jacquez was a burglar, court records show, but officials say the former cop had no reason to believe Jacquez was committing a crime.

Jacquez’s mother, Viola, told The Denver Post that Ashby opened fire on her son inches from her face.

“It was one of those moments where you’re falling off a cliff,” she said in an interview after the shooting.

Investigators found Ashby fired two rounds at Jacquez, one of which severed his spine, heart and lung before lodging in his chest. A coroner’s report said he was “immediately rendered a paraplegic.”

Ashby’s other bullet sailed across Viola Jacquez’s home, including a room in which Jack Jacquez’s pregnant girlfriend was sleeping, before lodging in a wall at the other end during the 2 a.m. confrontation.

Ashby was arrested a month after the shooting and fired from the Rocky Ford police force. He said Jacquez was armed with a wooden baseball bat and that he feared for his safety when he opened fire.

The shooting sparked an outcry in Rocky Ford, a town of about 4,000 roughly 50 miles east of Pueblo. Protesters cited parallels to the police killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner in New York.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation, in its review of the shooting, said Ashby lied about circumstances that led up to and followed the shooting, finding that many of his statements contradicted physical evidence and witness accounts.

Specifically, investigators found Ashby’s version of the shooting differed from that of a man who was riding with him during his 7 p.m.-to-5 a.m. shift the morning of the encounter.

At least four of Rocky Ford’s 10 officers have had problems in previous law-enforcement jobs or had criminal convictions that might have kept them from being hired at bigger departments or in other states, a Post analysis found.

Rocky Ford’s former police chief told The Post that Ashby’s records from his previous law enforcement job in Walsenburg, where he had been the subject of several internal affairs investigations, were not reviewed before he was hired. Officials instead relied on verbal recommendations from his former supervisors.

Eight days before shooting Jacquez, Ashby tackled a suspect over a holding cell bench, court documents show. He was found to have violated department policies in that encounter.

http://www.denverpost.com/2016/06/23/james-ashby-rocky-ford-cop-guilty-murder/

Feds Release Sickening Video Of Cop Tasering Innocent Teen, Leaving Him Brain Damaged

The former officer now faces four years in prison for Violating the teen's constitutional rights.

Matt FernerNational Reporter, The Huffington Post

Police dashcam video unsealed Monday by a federal judge in Missouri shows a deeply disturbing encounter Missouri Between a former cop who, During a routine traffic stop, tasered, Dragged and callously dropped to teenage driver face first onto the pavement. The officer's actions Caused During the arrest the teen to suffer brain damage.

Former Officer Timothy Runnels was last week Sentenced to four years in prison over the September 2014 incident. The video above shows Runnels approaching a pulled-over vehicle being driven by Bryce Masters, then a 17, WHO was on his way to play video games  with a friend.

"I have not done anything, officer," Masters says as Runnels Attempts to forcibly remove the teen from His car. Refusing Masters is Heard His multiple orders to exit vehicle.

Runnels tells Masters he's under arrest, but does not Explain why. Eventually, Runnels says, "F ** k it," and His stun gun discharges on Masters, striking the teen near His heart.

As Masters slowly slumps out of the driver's seat, Runnels grabs the teen's cellphone - Which I was using to record the incident - and flings it away. The teen then a lies facedown on the ground, Where Eventually Runnels places him in handcuffs. , According to court records, Runnels HAD His Taser deployed for 20 seconds acerca During the incident - the equivalent of  four discharges of the nonlethal weapon.   

Runnels drags then a Masters' limp body to the side of the road, Where I first drops Masters face onto the ground. His hands cuffed behind With His back and unable to break His fall, Masters lands on the pavement with a horrifying thud.

Police originally Runnels Said That stopped the car Because I Believed the license plate was linked to an outstanding arrest warrant . Masters' Their parents Argued That neither are, nor Their car, Which was Properly registered to the parents, Had any warrants connected to them. Later Runnels Also Said That I smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle as part of His justification for Masters Placing under arrest. I did find a small amount of pot on Masters When I searched His pockets.  

Shortly after the incident Took place, Independence Police Maj. Paul Thurman Said the officer's use of stun gun was His Within department policy.  But  contradicting witness and police accounts of the incident surfaced and the FBI and US Department of Justice investigations into the case Launched. The DOJ then a case before Took the federal grand jury last year and the panel Runnels indicted on counts of excessive force and obstruction of justice, over Allegations That I'd made ​​a false report and provided false statements to Investigators.     

There Were no charges for Runnels Against His stun gun use - , Although it was the effects of the Taser That Caused Masters to go into cardiac arrest, depriving His brain of oxygen for up to eight minutes and RESULTING in brain damage, the intercept Reported . Instead, feds Argued That it was Runnels' deliberate drop of the teen while I was restrained and not posing a threat to others That violated His Constitutional Rights. 

In September, Runnels pleaded guilty to Violating Masters' rights , and last week, a federal judge him Sentenced to  four years in prison . Runnels, WHO remains free on bond, must surrender to federal prison by August. 

"The defendant abused as His authority to law enforcement officer by depriving a minor of His constitutional rights and Causing bodily harm," Civil Rights Division DOJ Said Assistant Attorney General acting deputy Vanita Gupta  in a statement last week was Sentenced When Runnels. "While the majority of law enforcement Safeguards Our Communities With fidelity, the department will continue to vigorously investigate and prosecute officers violate WHO Their oath by using excessive force." 

The dangers of electronic monitoring weapons, like Tasers and other stun guns, Have Been Widely Studied by law enforcement oversight groups. In 2011, the Police Executive Research Forum, a nonprofit policy and research organization, the Justice Department partnered With to craft new guidelines on Their use. Their report cautions Specifically Against discharging stun guns for extended periods of time.

"Officers must be trained to Understand That Repeated applications and continuous cycling of ECWS May Increase the risk of death or serious injury and Should be avoided," the report reads.

During a hearing last month, Masters Described how the brain damage've Suffered Continues to Affect His sleep and memory.

"People tell me I'm different," Masters Said . "I feel different. I get in the car to go somewhere and Then I'll forget where i was going. I've missed job interviews because i forgot them. " 

Runnels apologized to Masters' family During That same hearing, saying I was "deeply remorseful."

"At no point did I intend to hurt him," Runnels Said. "But I did."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/timothy-runnels-bryce-masters-taser_us_57571f6de4b07823f95188c9

Former officer freed from life sentence after rape accuser admits she lied

Published May 06, 2016 

 Associated Press

DALLAS –  A former Fort Worth police officer who served 21 years of a life sentence for raping a 13-year-old girl was freed Thursday after his accuser admitted that she lied when she didn't acknowledge a previous sex assault.

Brian Franklin was released on $10,000 bail, but Tarrant County prosecutors said they plan to retry the 56-year-old man for assaulting the girl in her father's backyard in 1994.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled last month that Franklin did not receive a fair trial in 1995. His accuser testified two years ago that she lied in part of her testimony, but the woman, now in her 30s, is standing by her accusation that Franklin raped her.

The court said the perjured testimony also led others to give false testimony at the trial.

The teenage accuser testified in 1995 that she had never had sex before accusing Franklin of raping her. But she later told authorities that her stepfather had sexually assaulted her for years, including during Franklin's trial, and that she had been too scared to admit that with her stepfather ever present.

The stepfather pleaded guilty to injury of a child and received 10 years of probation. He has since died, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

Franklin was convicted of aggravated sexual assault and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was eligible for parole in 2025.

Sam Jordan, spokeswoman for the Tarrant County district attorney's office, said Thursday that the case against Franklin will be sent to a grand jury to decide whether he should be indicted.

"We feel that the evidence still substantiates the claim against him," Jordan said, later adding: "It was a police officer. We call on them to protect a child, not cause harm to them."

Franklin graduated from the police academy in the early 1980s and was an officer with Fort Worth police when he was accused in the attack. He was friends with the girl's father and was convicted almost entirely on her testimony.

Franklin's attorney -- Houston lawyer Dick DeGuerin, who has represented high-profile figures including Tom DeLay, Robert Durst and others -- said the accuser "has infected every aspect of the case" with testimony she later admitted was false.

Should a new trial be held, DeGuerin said he'll make the accuser's perjured testimony a centerpiece of his defense.

There is no suggestion that Franklin's accuser will be charged with perjury.

DeGuerin says Franklin's case reflects a recent shift in the willingness of the Court of Criminal Appeals to accept appeals that lack new evidence or clear proof of innocence. The court signaled in 2009 that it would reconsider how perjury by a witness might affect a criminal case, when it set aside the murder conviction of Clay Chabot after DNA proved a witness lied about his own role in what happened. Chabot later pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to the 22 years he had already served.

Three years ago prosecutors offered to allow Franklin to plead guilty in exchange for being released for time served, but Franklin rejected the deal.

"Here's a guy who's so insistent upon his innocence that he was willing to spend three more years in prison to prove it," DeGuerin said. "There's not going to be a compromise or plea."

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/05/06/former-officer-freed-from-life-sentence-after-rape-accuser-admits-lied.html