A friend of mine was mistaken for a criminal and severely beaten by a large number of police officers. I want to keep this anonymous, so I’ll skip the details. He acquired the services of a lawyer who is a specialist in police brutality cases. Now, one month after the incident, the police are charging him with evading, resisting arrest, and felony assault in order to preempt a civil suit. There were witnesses to the event who are willing to testify. The lawyer estimates the chances of acquittal at 90% in a jury trial, because “some people just assume the police are always right and honest”.
The lawyer is advising my friend not to talk to the press. He may be more influenced by the good possibility of a fat lawsuit than by the small possibility of my friend going to prison though. Couldn’t talking to the press help with the criminal case against my friend? Any other thoughts?
Witnesses will be discredited as their view will have been obscured by something and the police will claim your friend made a hostle motion and it was not seen by the witnesses.
I doubt talking to the press will do anything to help or hurt your friend’s case - either the criminal or the civil. I was just called for jury duty and both sides were VERY careful to ascertain whether anyone had heard anything about the case prior to walking into the courtroom.
It’s easy for me to say this since its not my ass on the line, but I think your friend should pursue his case. I know if it were me it would absolutely eat me up if someone had beaten the sh-t out of me and gotten away with it cuz i dropped the case. It would be bad enough if someone had beaten him and then never been caught, in this case he KNOWS who did it to him. Theres no question in my mind he should proceed.
please post a follow up and let us know what happens. I know the case will probably take a while, but let us know hwat he decides.
I doubt talking to the press will do anything to help or hurt your friend’s case - either the criminal or the civil. I was just called for jury duty and both sides were VERY careful to ascertain whether anyone had heard anything about the case prior to walking into the courtroom.[/quote]
For the civil case it could obviously hurt, since not talking to the press may be part of the settlement offer.
I would agree, but looking at even a few months in prison would be mighty scary. I think he’s starting to calm down a bit now and will probably go through with it.
I would thinkt hat going to the press might help. So much bad media on the police department might force them into dropping the charges since it would make them look even worse. Sometimes the people back lash against a government group will weigh more than legal aspects.
The answer here is very simple. If I had a client, and I specifically instructed that client to not go to the press, but the client went to the press anyway, that client would get thrown out the door of my office. If your friend has second thoughts about the competence of his attorney, then he should get a second opinion, preferably from another experienced civil rights attorney and not a fitness forum.
Here’s the deal with cops - they protect their own. If bad publicity about a fellow cop gets out, the other cops that were present at the beating will work that much harder to lie in their testimony to get a conviction or to win the civil suit. That’s not to say that they won’t do so anyway, but the motivation is greater if they feel that one of their own will get bad press. As far as a public backlash, let’s get real here. It all depends on the attitudes of the locals. If they tend to be conservative, then a police beating is not an affront to their values - it’s a good thing. They’ll say he had it coming. The bottom line is that your friend should listen to his attorney’s advice.
Two years ago the police were called to my house due to a domestic thing between my brother and I. When they reached for my brother to to pat him down, he pulled away- didn’t fight, didn’t run, just turned his shoulder away as one might instinctively do. At that point the two officers slammed him to the floor and fryed him with the tazer for several seconds while he sat there screaming. Then they seemed to let up for a few seconds, and my brother screamed “OK OK OK OK OK OK!!!” And the cops tazed him again! Immediately afterward they dragged him out to the squad car, then returned to the house and informed us that they had found “five bags of methamphetamine” on him. My brother was a known meth addict, but I know for a fact that he did not have anything on him at that time. They planted it on him, and he ended up getting charged with a felony. His lawyer advised him that he didn’t stand a chance in court if he fought the charges, so he ended up pleading guilty to a crime he didn’t commit and the police got away with this.
So, in summary, the cops can do whatever they want and they will always get away with it unless they are caught on tape. They are habitual purjurers, and judges are habitual accessories to purjery because they always let it fly. Your friend probably doesn’t stand a chance. Peace
Hmm, I’m not a trial lawyer, but I’d seriously consider firing a client who went against my advice on something like that.
There’s nothing wrong with getting other people’s opinions, but I’d listen to the specialist who knows the facts of the case and has an understanding of how different issues may affect the outcome in that particular jurisdiction.
Not that there aren’t attorneys in it for the money, but he retained an attorney who specializes in a given area. If he has questions about the attorney’s advice, he needs to talk to the attorney about it. If your friend doesn’t trust his attorney, he needs another attorney.
And this is why I like working for the Federal Government, we bitch smack the cops around if they try and touch us. Execpt for speeding…bastards got me for wreckless twice.
Hey if you can say, what part of FL? I have a family member or two that might help in the Miami area.
[quote]MikeTheBear wrote:
The answer here is very simple. If I had a client, and I specifically instructed that client to not go to the press, but the client went to the press anyway, that client would get thrown out the door of my office. If your friend has second thoughts about the competence of his attorney, then he should get a second opinion, preferably from another experienced civil rights attorney and not a fitness forum.[/quote]
He’s in the process of doing that.
It might help that my friend has no criminal record at all, no crime was committed, and they took him home and apologized afterward. Even the most conservative person would have a hard time seeing him as someone who “had it coming”.
[quote]CrewPierce wrote:
And this is why I like working for the Federal Government, we bitch smack the cops around if they try and touch us. Execpt for speeding…bastards got me for wreckless twice.
Hey if you can say, what part of FL? I have a family member or two that might help in the Miami area.[/quote]
He’s not in Florida.
Since the word got out today we’re hearing from people who know people, if you know what I mean. Hopefully some direct pressure can be applied.
[quote]belligerent wrote:
Two years ago the police were called to my house due to a domestic thing between my brother and I. When they reached for my brother to to pat him down, he pulled away- didn’t fight, didn’t run, just turned his shoulder away as one might instinctively do. At that point the two officers slammed him to the floor and fryed him with the tazer for several seconds while he sat there screaming. Then they seemed to let up for a few seconds, and my brother screamed “OK OK OK OK OK OK!!!” And the cops tazed him again! Immediately afterward they dragged him out to the squad car, then returned to the house and informed us that they had found “five bags of methamphetamine” on him. My brother was a known meth addict, but I know for a fact that he did not have anything on him at that time. They planted it on him, and he ended up getting charged with a felony. His lawyer advised him that he didn’t stand a chance in court if he fought the charges, so he ended up pleading guilty to a crime he didn’t commit and the police got away with this.
So, in summary, the cops can do whatever they want and they will always get away with it unless they are caught on tape. They are habitual purjurers, and judges are habitual accessories to purjery because they always let it fly. Your friend probably doesn’t stand a chance. Peace
I’d listen to the lawyer. not commenting on a case before it goes to trial is basic legal street smarts.
Allowing himself to be cross examined before he steps into court will provide no evidence that can be used in his favor. So he stands to gain nothing from it.
But if he slips up and says something boneheaded, like contradicting previous statements he has made, or admits to something, the police can use that as evidence against him when he goes to court. So he could do serious damage to his case.