After the viral trend of police brutality, state and defense attorney gathered to determine if a Phoenix Police officer is the victim or villain during oral arguments on Friday, Sept. 25, at the Maricopa County Superior Court.
The room seemed oppressive awaiting the entrance of Judge Hugh E. Hegyi, while the attorneys huddled in hushed whispers with their second chair advisors.
The case is one that is all too familiar thanks to the growing trend within social media platforms. Allegations of police using excessive force, raising concerns about law enforcement’s credibility.
Defense attorney, Katie Krejci argued that the state attorney, Maureen Feeney, and the police department didn’t provide the disciplinary file of officer Taylor Siljander, the plaintiff, in a timely manner.
“Because of the state’s failure to comply with the request for this file, and the police denying the existence of this file, we are asking for dismissal.” Krejci said.
According to Feeney, the defense investigator and the police department had a miscommunication as to what files were being requested.
“I agree with Ms. Krejci that the entire file should have been disclosed with the publics record request, but that does not make it discoverable.” Feeney said. “I understand her frustration that she wasn 't given the same information that another defense attorney was. When I discovered what had happened, which was in august, I immediately requested the entire file from the Phoenix Police Department so that I could disclose it to the defense council. I didn’t do that because I believed that the information was discoverable or relevant. I did it as a professional courtesy. So that we were on the same field, and so that she felt that she had everything tha...
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...dant, is facing felony charges for possession of marijuana and illegal paraphernalia, and allegedly attacking a police officer while resisting arrest. The defense wishes to have the case dismissed on grounds that Siljander used excess force during his arrest giving the defendant the right to resist as self defense.
Feeney maintained that Payan’s injuries weren’t due to the officer’s use of excessive force but from resisting arrest.
Payan has history of going after the police force. In 2009 Payan and his brother were arrested and attempted to sue the city, unsuccessfully, claiming the police officers had “mistreated and committed various torts against them,” according to City of Phoenix court documents.
Hegyi asked for further documentation and reiterated that until he received the necessary items from both attorneys, he was unable to make a decision on the matter.
Judge Fahey felt that affidavits provided by Dascoli’s mother and ex- girlfriend in support of Dascoli were weak and insubstantial, as well as not credible given the fact the defendant had the opportunity to advise Kelly of first aggressor evidence failed to do so. Additionally, in reference to an affidavit written by a medical expert, Fahey states that his conclusion was “without sufficient factual basis, and is, at best, conjecture and
On June 19, 2014, Zisko assisted her client, Jeffrey L. Menice in filing a Complaint for Modification. In reference to the Complaint for Modification, Reilly asserts that on or about September 14, 2015, Zisko served a subpoena on the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department which was “frivolous and made in bad faith.” The subpoena, which Reilly provided with his complaint, demands “any and all employment records of your employee, JOSEPH
Application/Analysis: While using a previous case DePasquale v. State 757.1988, that court held in this case that the defendant was not entrapped when he robbed that undercover female decoy. The court held that the officers committed no misconduct, they also put five factors that show that Miller intended to steal from the decoy. The fact that Mill asked Officer Leavitt for money first and after Leavitt told him no; Miller took it upon himself to take the money away. This act was enough to show Miller intentionally committed larceny, the court held that Miller was not
In 2005 NYPD Detective, first grade, James E. Griffith called internal affairs to report he was being pressured by a fellow officer to lie and take the blame during an internal inquiry for the mishandling of a homicide investigation by his unit (Goldstein, 2012). Another detective and union official claimed in his deposition that Griffin was a rat because he went to internal affairs instead of the union (Marzulli, 2013). According to the United States District Court Eastern District of New York’s memorandum of decision the retaliation was immediate, included adverse personnel actions and continued though out his career in different units until Detective Griffith was effectively forced to retire due to the harassment in 2009 (James Griffin v. the City of New York, n.d.). Griffin eventually filed a legal sit against The City of New York, the NYPD and two of the officers involved individually. This case study will analyze the incident, whistleblower laws and the ethical challenges involved.
Officers abusing their power can range from taking bribes, choosing who they decide to let go and who to prosecute, and even abusing their power by molestation. In July of 2009 two Phoenix police officers lost their jobs after they stopped a bikini clad woman who had run from a rear end collision. The officers handcuffed her, drove her back to the accident scene to complete the paper work, and then drove her to elementary school where they knew that they would be alone. When they reached the school one of them fondled her breasts, abdomen, and buttocks while the other one watched and did nothing to help he...
Cheh, M. "Are lawsuits an answer to police brutality." Police violence: Understanding and controlling police abuse of force (1996): 247-72.
Department of Justice has investigated the police forces of several large cities for systemic police misconduct, including, harassment of racial minorities, false arrests, and excessive use force. (“Police Brutality”); however this can often be difficult when the media come into play can often misinterpret facts about a case. This is media’s way of using their power to add on even more pressure on U.S. Department of Justice to the pressure that they are already under to make sure to victims get justice. The first thing the U.S. Department of Justice have to do is investigate and a majority of complaints against of police are thrown out upon further investigation. For examples A 2006 Justice Department report, stated that only 2,000 of the more than 26,000 citizen complaint of police brutality filed nationally in 2002−less than 8 percent−were found credible("Police Brutality"). The U.S. Department of Justice also have find evidence which includes testimony, documentary evidence, and physical evidence. The media can often twist people in to saying thing that are not true, and twist videos into only show what they want people to believe. In recent new, In South Carolina a female student was slammed on the ground and throw a cross the classroom. The media didn’t display the entire video where the teacher tells the girl to leave, then the assistant principal, and the officer tells her to leave. When she doesn’t leave he tries to grab
Over the years, this country has witnessed many cases of police brutality. It has become a controversial topic among communities that have seen police brutality take place in front of their homes. Officers are faced with many threatening situations everyday forcing them to make split second decisions and to expect the worst and hope for the best. Police officers are given the power to take any citizens rights away and even their lives. With that kind of power comes responsibility, that’s one major concern with the amount of discretion officers have is when to use force or when to use lethal force. The use of excessive force may or not be a large predicament but should be viewed by both the police and the community.
Research Paper Rough Draft: Police Brutality Police misconduct is as rampant as ever in America, and it has become a fixture of the news cycle. Police brutality is the use of any force exceeding that reasonably necessary to accomplish a lawful police purpose. The media is inevitably drawn toward tales of conflict, hence why there are so many crime and police stories on the news. Despite the increasing frequency of misbehaving cops, many Americans still maintain a high respect for the man in uniform. Still, police misconduct is a systemic problem, not just an anecdotal one.
Police violence remains a dire human right violation, especially in the United States. Over the last decade, police have applied force and aggression in ways that leave people wondering if they are discharging their duties. Recently, law enforcement seems to have taken a different turn characterized by aggression and violence when dealing with the public. Cases of unjustified shootings, physical assault, fatal chokings and violent treatment have contributed to the ongoing problem of police brutality in the America. Worse still is the fact that a greater proportion of these cases go unreported and undetected. This has partially encouraged violent police officers to continue applying force when dealing with the public. This new law enforcement
Police brutality is rising heavily in the United States. Many cases of police brutality are being reported regularly by the media. There have been victims either physically injured, molested, permanently disabled, killed in the process or even die in the care of officers. Ethnic minority groups are major victims of most cases of reported police brutalities in America. There have been more injustice than justice in these cases and if there’s no serious legal consequences against police’s that engage in racial profiling and brutalities against their victims then it may continue to and eventually they will lose the public’s trust and respect for our officers. And in worst cases may lead to the breakdown of law and order as well as the destruction of lives, properties and communities.
Since the police officers have a lot of say in dealing with calls and crimes, they all vary in their approaches to doing so. For instance, one officer may think a call is not as important as another, while a separate officer may decide the first call was more serious and he/she may respond to that one first. This is the same problem with whether or not to use force. There are many factors that affect not only the officer’s decision to use force, but also the criminal’s choice of actions. If an officer is being rude or discriminating against a suspect, then that suspect may act in a more vicious manner. This could result in the officer deciding to use force. All officers may see a threat differently, resulting in different disciplinary actions. The use of force rules vary in different police departments. This is concerning to some because the citizens may feel that they are not being treated as equal as others. Other issues include illegitimate investigations, spying, which could result in an unfair judgement of individuals that result in the officer’s use of force (Walker 1993, 24). Some officers will report an unfounding crime, which affects the true data of lowering the official crime rate (Walker 1993, 24). These issues are occurring in society today and are common topics in the news. Citizens want to know how we can better our systems to create a safer environment for
Therefore, officer shouldn’t be trail by the states prosecutors. As we have seen over and over they are frequently acquitted of all allegations form against them. Such cases should be handle
Chaney and Robertson, (2013) stated that “The Department of Justice office of Civil Rights has investigated more than a dozen police departments in major cities across the country on allegations of racial discrimination or police brutality”. Police brutality is defined as the use of excessive physical force or verbal assault and psychological intimidation. White police officers who grew up in the south and were raised to see African Americans in a negative way have a lower opinion of them. However, not all white police officers are from the south, some say that police officers are just abusing their power. When we look at what is going on around the country, it appears racism plays a part in police brutality. Even during this new digital age, there are video cameras in police cars facing the front of the vehicle, but that still does not hinder police using excessive
According to the National Police Academy, in the past year, there have been over 7,000 reports of police misconduct; fatalities have been linked to more than 400 of these cases (Gul). Police brutality is often triggered by disrespect towards the police officer. The most noticeable form of brutality is physical, where Chemical gas, batons, tasers, and guns, can be used for physical intimidation or to actually hurt people. Police brutality can also take the form of verbal abuse or psychological intimidation. It seems reasonable to understand that sometimes the police are put into situations where excessive force may be needed. But, because some officers use these extreme actions in situations when it is not, police brutality should be addressed and looked into by both the police and the public. For instance, a police officer who beats a nonviolent protester with a baton would probably be accused of excessive use of force, under the argument that the police officer probably could have dealt with the situation less violently.