A federal magistrate said he will recommend within two weeks whether a lawsuit filed by a woman who alleged she was the victim of excessive force in the Virginia Beach jail should move forward. Janace Johnson, 60, who has schizoaffective disorder, in September sued the city of Virginia Beach, the state, Sheriff Paul Lanteigne, two sheriff’s deputies and a policeman.

A federal judge in March threw out all Johnson’s claims except for the ones alleging excessive force by sheriff’s deputies. The suit had alleged that she was wrongfully arrested and prosecuted. It also said Johnson did not receive necessary medical care and that law enforcement officers used excessive force against her while she was in the Virginia Beach jail. On Monday, a lawyer for Lanteigne and two sheriff’s deputies argued that his clients are protected by “qualified immunity,” which can shield government employees from claims of civil damages. Attorney Jeff Rosen said his clients were just doing their jobs when they wrestled Johnson to the ground after she refused to follow orders and after she hit a sheriff’s deputy in the face.

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The NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau is investigating a cruel prank call to the family of Sean Bell's fiancée that originated from the Manhattan offices of a prominent police union, The Post has learned.
"Ha, ha, ha," someone said in a 1:15 p.m. Friday phone call to the home of Nicole Bell's father Les Paultre, according to a police source. The number for the Sergeants Benevolent Association came up on the caller ID.
"It was just horrible to get that phone call after coming back from the cemetery," said Nicole Bell. Her father said, "The guy was taunting us, laughing. It was horrible because we had just come back from the court and the cemetery." The president of the union, Edward Mullins, said, "If the accusations are true, we will deal with it." [MORE]

A coalition of civil rights advocates on Sunday urged changes in the handling of police misconduct and brutality complaints after the acquittal of three officers involved in the shooting death of an unarmed man on his wedding day. They also called for a permanent state-level special prosecutor to investigate such cases.

"The verdict in the Sean Bell case proves it is almost impossible to successfully prosecute cases of police misconduct, especially in homicide cases," said lawyer Norman Siegel, former head of the New York Civil Liberties Union. "The verdict underscores the need for systemic change in the way New York handles these important and at times high profile cases, and to improve community relations," said Siegel, an outspoken advocate on civil rights and law enforcement issues.

Three city police officers were cleared Friday in the November 2006 shooting death of Bell outside a night club where he had just left his bachelor party. Two friends were wounded in the volley of 50 shots fired by the undercover officers and two colleagues. The officers charged said they thought they were in mortal danger, but no gun was found in Bell's car.

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"We do not accept that this is the end of this case. We have joined with the families and their attorneys in filing a compliant with the U.S. Department of Justice requesting an investigation of violations of the civil rights of Sean Bell, Joseph Guzman, and Trent Benefield. Indeed, this afternoon the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it's Civil Rights Division, the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's New York Field Division will conduct an independent review of the facts and circumstances surrounding the Nov. 25, 2006, shooting of Sean Bell and two of his friends.

"Although we understand and share the frustration that many New Yorkers are feeling at this moment, we caution against giving into that frustration. Instead, we urge all who are disappointed with the decision to channel their energy into monitoring this review and utilizing their right to peaceful assembly to seek a redress of their grievances over today's decision.

Pictured above: People hold signs representing the number of bullets fired into the car of Sean Bell as they protest the outcome of the not guilty verdict in the case against three detectives of the Bell trial in New York City, April 26, 2008. 

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"An ugly pattern is emerging in New York. This was a massacre, this was not a shootout. And the U.S. attorney general must give America the assurance that we all have equal protection under the law. This is a travesty of justice today, but it is a pattern that deserves attention." the Rev. Jesse Jackson, speaking from Chicago.

AP Three detectives were acquitted of all charges Friday in the 50-shot killing of an unarmed groom-to-be on his wedding day, a case that put the NYPD at the center of another dispute involving allegations of excessive firepower.

Justice Arthur Cooperman delivered the verdict in a Queens courtroom packed with spectators, including victim Sean Bell's fiancee and parents, as at least 200 people gathered outside the building.

Shouts of "No! No! No!" and swearing erupted outside the courthouse immediately after the judge read his verdict, followed by cries of "Not guilty!," from within a huge crowd of people gathered outside the Queens courthouse. Some women were heard weeping loudly. Later, shouts of "Murderer! Murderer!" were heard. Bell, a 23-year-old black man, was killed in a hail of gunfire outside a seedy strip club in Queens on Nov. 25, 2006 — his wedding day — as he was leaving his bachelor party with two friends.

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Sean Bell was innocent. Almost everyone seemed to understand that, going into the excruciating seven-week Queens trial of three cops who gunned Bell down the night before his wedding, November 25, 2006. But going in, there also was a lot of talk about how, once the trial started, the police’s defense lawyers might try to rough up Bell a bit, posthumously. It wasn't hard to guess that they would try to bring in his sketchy police record, or at least mention how anyone hanging out at 4 a.m. at the Club Kalua strip joint in Jamaica could be presumed to be up to no good. “They’re not going to say he’s a choir boy,” one veteran prosecutor of police cases told me before the trial started. “I think what they will do is try to disparage Club Kalua, a notorious drug spot. What good upstanding citizen would be there to begin with? It explains that cops are there to try to do the right thing.” Sure enough, the police’s defense lawyers played the Club Kalua card from the start. “Who is attracted to such a place?" defense attorney Anthony Ricco asked imperiously. That (along with the fact that Ricco and two of the three cop defendants were also black) was a convenient way of getting around having to play the race card: The police were in danger, you see — how could they have been profiling?

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In the aftermath, the Justice Department has said it will conduct a probe to see if any civil rights violations occurred and Rev. Al Shaprton has promised hit-and-run demonstrations, such as sit ins and civil disobedience arrests, at unnamed locations across the city starting tomorrow.

In the run up to Cooperman giving his verdict, the courtroom was ringed with 17 court officers, who remained standing in front of the pews, while another 11 jammed the aisle separating supporters of Bell, filling the pews on the right side, and the backers of the cops, seated to the left. Before the judge entered the audience was asked to refrain from making any outbursts and remain sitting after the verdict until Cooperman had exited the court.

Entering shortly after 9 a.m., the 74-year-old judge began laying out his reasoning when the toddler daughter of Trent Benefield, who was shot while in the car with Bell that night, began yelling out what sounded like, “Mama.” Cooperman abruptly stopped and glared at the child’s mother who was holding her.

“I’m not going to continue unless the child is removed,” Cooperman said, causing the child’s mother to slink out of the courtroom with the daughter.

Shortly after, the judge finished up his reasoning and announced he was acquitting the officers on all charges. Ignoring the pre-verdict instructions, Nicole Paultre Bell, Bell's fiancee and widow, stood up immediately and walked out of the courtroom. Rows of Bell supporters followed her. “Unadulterated bullshit,” one man said on his way out. In a second row pew, Bell's father, dressed all in white, buried his face while shaking his head as Bell’s mother broke into tears while being consoled by a family member next to him.

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The family of a man killed by police is suing the city of Jackson for $12 million. Roy Bradley was shot and killed in September 2007 by a Jackson Police Department officer. Police said that shortly after a traffic stop, there was an altercation that ultimately led to the officer shooting Bradley.

The shooting occurred after the officer, named in the suit as L.V. Gater, took Bradley out of handcuffs to sign a form, police officials said at the time. That's when Bradley allegedly struck Gater and grappled with him for his service weapon, police said.

Former Police Chief Shirlene Anderson backed up the officer, saying there was no wrongdoing by him. But the lawsuit states Gater shot Bradley four times in the chest and abdomen and contends the officer violated Bradley's right of equal protection under the law and his due process rights.

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A Sheriff's Shooting Review Board weighed in on the officer involved shooting death of a Delano teenager. Justified is the word from the Shooting Review Board Thursday night. Manuel Ayon, 16, was shot and killed just feet away from his Delano home. Sheriffs officials said Ayon was driving a stolen car and led deputies on an hour long police chase.

It ended when officials said Ayon crashed and then backed into a Sheriffs deputy. The deputy fired at Ayon and missed. Gunshots rang out a second time after Ayon took off and stopped again. Officials said a deputy saw Ayon reach for something on the floor of the car and that's when the second deputy fired, killing the teenager. No weapon was ever found in the car.

The Shooting Review Board said both deputy Doug Jauch and Deputy Ubaldo Weiss were acting within department guidelines. Ayon's family said he was running from deputies because he had served time before and was scared. Throughout the investigation they claimed he did not have a gun. The deputies involved in the shooting were both cleared to go back to work. [MORE]

Relatives of a Boyle Heights man who died after being shot by Los Angeles police with a stun gun can take their wrongful death lawsuit against the city to trial, a judge ruled in court papers obtained Thursday.

The lawsuit stems from the Sept. 4, 2006, death of 32-year-old Jesus Mejia. Mejia's wife, two children and mother sued the city and Police Chief William Bratton Oct. 9 alleging Mejia was shocked at least twice with a stun gun, despite being in handcuffs and restrained against a wall.

According to police, officers assigned to the Hollenbeck Station went to Mejia's home in the 3300 block of Whittier Boulevard about 1 a.m. on Sept. 4, 2006, on reports of a disturbance. Arriving officers found Mejia in a what police described as an agitated, combative state. Judging from the man's excessive perspiration, glazed eyes and seemingly heightened physical strength, officers deduced that Mejia was under the influence of drugs, police said.

When Mejia refused to follow orders from the officers, Officer Victor Arellano fired a stun gun at Mejia as fellow officers subdued him with their body weight, police said.

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