Attorney says officer was justified in treatment of teen

Associated Press ^ | 7-12-02 | PAUL WILBORN

[Oldeconomybuyer]

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) --  A police officer who was videotaped as he slammed a black teenager onto a squad car, then punched him, was justified and actually used restraint, his attorney said Friday.

Several dozen placard-carrying demonstrators showed up at Inglewood City Hall Friday to protest the arrest. They chanted "No peace, no justice." One protester carried a pink sign reading "To Protect & Serve, NOT Lie & Cover-Up."

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Mitchell Eugene Crooks is shown in an undated Placer County (Calif.) Sheriff's Department photo. Crooks, a bystander who videotaped a violent arrest by Inglewood police but had himself avoided a grand jury subpoena was arrested Thursday, July 11, 2002, on an outstanding warrant from northern California. Placer County Sheriff Edward N. Bonner said in a statement that a warrant was issued for Crooks in May 1999 when he failed to surrender to begin a seven-month jail sentence after being convicted in March of that year on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, hit and run, and petty theft with a prior conviction. (AP Photo/Placer County Sheriff's Department) - Jul 11 10:16 PM ET

This image taken from video appears to show Inglewood Police officers holding a handcuffed 16-year-old boy against a police car Saturday, July 6, 2002 in Inglewood, Calif. A grand jury is investigating the violent arrest, a prosecutor said, Wednesday, July 10, 2002. The surprise disclosure about the grand jury came as Donovan Jackson, 16, and his father, Coby Chavis, filed a federal civil rights suit Wednesday against two law enforcement agencies and several officers in the case. (AP Photo/Mitchell Crooks) - Jul 11 3:18 PM ET

[Liberty 5-3000]

Maybe that kid knows now not to hit below the belt.

[AppyPappy]

IN the tape, you can see they are trying to get the kid to cough up something.

[Frohickey]

Required equipment for police officers:
Uniform, pressed and starched
Badge, shined
Sidearm, loaded
Spare magazines, filled
Handcuffs, oiled
Mace/Pepper spray, full can
Maglite/Streamlight/Surefire, fully charged
Gonad protection, worn

;)

[phasma proeliator]

grabbed nads or not - the officers actions were unjustified and -IMHO- criminal.

[Arkinsaw]

That guy Crooks looks just like Lee Harvey Oswald.

[mysterio]

I'm sure the kid had the cop's testicles in a death grip, especially after being handcuffed and knocked almost unconscious on the trunk of a cop car.

Looks like some brawnies got tired of writing seatbelt tickets and decided to go crack some heads.

Cops like him look at everyone as a potential criminal and view them with a sense of moral superiority and disgust. The good police don't do that.

[republicman]

hysteria, protests (soon to be riots), FBI investigations, national coverage, Ashcroft speaking out, million dollar law suits, all over some criminal who more than had it coming getting bopped

the race baiters and the liberal media must be having the time of their lives

[Arkinsaw]

grabbed nads or not - the officers actions were unjustified and -IMHO- criminal.

They are lucky they didn't crack his skull or break his neck.

[matrix]

Attorney says officer was justified in treatment of teen

 

Of course he would say that! He is the DEFENSE lawyer!

 

There is no justification for beating a suspect once he is cuffed.

[I_Love_My_Husband]

That guy Crooks looks just like Lee Harvey Oswald.

Bingo. I thought he looked familiar! Weird!

[Arkinsaw]

the race baiters and the liberal media must be having the time of their lives

Somebody gave them the opportunity by not being a professional.

[BikerNYC]

A police officer who was videotaped as he slammed a black teenager onto a squad car, then punched him, was justified and actually used restraint, his attorney said Friday.

If I were the cop's lawyer, I'd say the same thing. He's being paid to say it.

[phasma proeliator]

ping
<

[Williams]

I still think the officer's actions, especially the punch, appear wrong. However: I did wonder how these folks got to the point of being arrested and handcuffed in the first place AND I discovered that the videotape I saw many times was edited. I thought the cop threw him on the car and quickly punched him. Turns out he was put on the car, time passed, and something else happened before the punch. My guess is the kid cursed the cop.

[Jay W]

That guy Crooks looks just like Lee Harvey Oswald.

Yes. That was my first thought, too. That Crooks guy is the spitting image of Lee Harvey Oswald!

[republicman]

Somebody gave them the opportunity by not being a professional.

If this kid did what he was supposed to, nothing would have happened to him. It's his fault and nobody elses.

[Free the USA]

Index Bump

[Williams]

"That guy Crooks looks just like Lee Harvey Oswald"

Even more eerie, he looked different in the pictures I saw on TV. I thought he was balding. Has anyone analyzed the photos?

[I_Love_My_Husband]

Ok...this is tinfoil hat zone, the twilight zone, etc, but IIRC there were a few books on the fact that there was SEVERAL Lee Harvey Oswalds! I don't know if there's any bearing on this case...but it's WEIRD that this guy looks like LHO!

[Oldeconomybuyer]

File photo showing Mitchell Crooks, the bystander who videotaped an Inglewood police officer slamming a handcuffed teen against a patrol car, during an interview with Reuters on July 9, 2002. Crooks himself was arrested on July 11, 2002 as he prepared to give a television interview. Crooks was arrested on warrants for petty theft and driving under the influence of alcohol issued in northern California by authorities who also served him with a subpoena to testify about his videotape before the grand jury. Photo by Fred Prouser/Reuters slamming a handcuffed teen against a patrol car, during an interview with Reuters on July 9, 2002. Crooks himself was arrested on July 11, 2002 as he prepared to give a television interview. Crooks was arrested on warrants for petty theft and driving under the influence of alcohol issued in northern California by authorities who also served him with a subpoena to testify about his videotape before the grand jury. - Jul 11 6:21 PM ET

Click image to enlarge.

[oldsalt]

That guy Crooks looks just like Lee Harvey Oswald.

That makes a bunch of us that thought that.

I was worried that I was getting a little unwrapped when I thought the same thing.

[per loin]

If the kid did grab the cop by the balls, the cop's punch was justified. The mayor's comments, made after merely seeing a newsfalsh on it, were not. He should be removed from office.

[cibco]

"Barnett said he was still waiting to see a copy of the police report filled out by Morse and video from a security camera at the gas station where the incident occurred."

Think I'll wait until more is known. This is starting to look like the Rodney King tape where only the last part was shown over & over &.... They hardly showed the preceding portion where he was resisting arrest. Thank you media. The riots should boost your ratings.

[republicman]

The latest...

Calif. City Torn Over Arrest Video

By Paul Wilborn
Associated Press Writer
Friday, July 12, 2002; 2:24 PM

INGLEWOOD, Calif. –– Two large TVs hang from the ceiling at Granny's House of Soul Food and this week customers have been paying as much attention to the screens as they have to Granny's BBQ meat loaf, smothered chicken and black-eyed peas.

They have been focused on the video – the violent snippet of reality TV that shows a handcuffed black teenager being body-slammed by a white policeman onto the trunk of a car, then rocked by the officer's roundhouse punch.

Like many of his restaurant customers and neighbors, 39-year-old Christopher Randle, who is black, is struggling with what he has seen. He supports the city and the police department. A lot of officers, he said, are regulars. And after Sept. 11, people here are hesitant to criticize the police.

"I think the Inglewood Police Department is a fine department, I really do," said Randle, whose family owns Granny's. "But it has problems like any other department."

Since the video went into heavy rotation on CNN and other channels on Monday, Inglewood's image has been tainted along with the reputation of its police department.

The reality, residents say, is quite different.

Inglewood is not a racist city, they insist. Blacks make up 47 percent of the population, and both the mayor and police chief are black.

Police here do not have a history of using excessive force, according to federal, state and local officials who track such claims. The violence that has plagued the city has come from gangs, not cops, those officials said.

At Zahra's Books-N-Things, which specializes in black authors like Terry McMillan and Toni Morrison, owners Jim and Renee Rogers refuse to condemn their city or their police force.

"I'm more or less happy with the city," Jim Rogers said as his wife nodded behind the counter. "I'm not happy with the incident. But I think it is more of a bad apple situation."

The incident happened last Saturday during an arrest at a gas station in this city on the edge of Los Angeles. Sixteen-year-old Donovan Jackson and his father were stopped because the car they were in had expired tags.

A bystander's videotape shows Inglewood Officer Jeremy Morse roughing up Jackson. Morse has a streak of blood next to his ear.

The video evoked memories of the 1991 beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police. Morse was put on paid leave, the mayor said he ought to be fired, and federal, state and local agencies opened an investigation.

Morse's lawyer said that the officer showed restraint in his use of force. He said Morse struck the teenager after Jackson grabbed the policeman's crotch.

The beating was the latest blow to a city that has had its share of hard knocks. The defense industry, which brought boom times after World War II, is all but gone. As the jobs left, so did many of the town's white residents.

The beloved Los Angeles Lakers fled Inglewood's aging Forum in 1999 along with hockey's Los Angeles Kings for the new downtown Staples Center. Hollywood Park racetrack remains its only major attraction.

The town that once called itself the "City of Champions" is trying to reinvent itself as a clean, progressive community that provides good business opportunities, progressive politics and affordable housing.

Inglewood's 113,000 residents live in neighborhoods ranging from middle-class to poor. Census figures show the median household income is $34,269, and 20 percent of families live below the poverty level.

Many of those neighborhoods are in the flight path of Los Angeles International Airport. Jets fly so low over the city that residents can see the faces of passengers in the windows.

The 192-officer police force is 43 percent white, 25 percent black, 27 percent Hispanic and 4 percent Asian. Detective Neil Murray, the police union president, said racism was not what led to the incident.

"I don't believe this had anything to do with race," said Murray, who is black. "The department is made up of diverse individuals with many different backgrounds and ethnicities."

Outside La Brea Seafood, where the motto is "You buy, we fry," Jestin Campbell, 55, said she also supports the police: "I didn't like seeing what I saw, but I didn't see the policeman get the gash on his face. The police sometimes get a bad rap."

Marshawn Hall, who plans a career in law enforcement and has volunteered as a cadet with the police department, said the officer who hit the teenager and those who stood by should be prosecuted.

"I feel like it was more or less punishment, rather than detention. That boy was helpless," she said.

At one of the growing number of stores catering to the city's growing Hispanic population, Nueva Vallarta Carniceria, where you can buy a pink Barbie pinata, customers condemned what they saw on the video, not the city or the police department.

"I didn't like it, because they had him in handcuffs," said Luis Garcia, a 26-year-old truck driver. "But the cops have to do their jobs, and we didn't see the whole story."

© 2002 The Associated Press

[matrix]

There is no evidence (except the cop's "word"), that he was grabbed by anything. From the picture, it looks like the suspect couldn't have reached the cop's balls, anyway.

"If" the cop was grabbed, he should have known better than to give the kid an opportunity!

I have considerable experience with cops, having been a prosecutor for many years. This type of incident is not uncommon anywhere!

[matrix]

And, I don't doubt reports that the photographer was beaten in jail!

[republicman]

"If" the cop was grabbed, he should have known better than to give the kid an opportunity!

Nope, the punk kid should have known to comply and none of this would happen, it's his fault and nobody elses.

[FreeTally]

"I don't think there is going to be any dispute that that happened. Nor do I think that there is going to be a dispute that that is the proper level of force to use under those circumstances."

I agree. Every cop on th scene will "swear" the kid grabbed the cops nuts while handcuffed. What, it only took them three days to come up with this story? They must have been working overtime on that one.

[FreeTally]

There is no evidence (except the cop's "word"), that he was grabbed by anything. From the picture, it looks like the suspect couldn't have reached the cop's balls, anyway.

I'd have to agree with you. Unless there is tape from another angle, I'll believe my eyes over the cops "word".

In addition, given that he was bent over on the car, and considering the placement of cuffed hands, the cop would have had to have been about a foot taller than the kid if his nuts were in a position that the kid could had grabbed them.

[N. Theknow]

Several dozen placard-carrying demonstrators showed up at Inglewood City Hall Friday to protest the arrest. They chanted "No peace, no justice." One protester carried a pink sign reading "To Protect & Serve, NOT Lie & Cover-Up."

Ever wonder where these "protestors" are when there is a guy on the corner selling dope, or there is a drive-by shooting? More than likely when the youth was first apprehended they were saying, "Good, the cops finally got the little creep that's been (fill in the crime)."

Now young lad Donovan and his "father" are filing a lawsuit. Nice that the old man is there for his son when he really needs him.

[nightdriver]

"grabbed nads or not - the officers actions were unjustified and -IMHO- criminal."

Believe it or not, you do NOT have a right to grab an arresting officer by the balls and not expect unpleasant consequences. LOL

[SarahW]

A: I'm very skeptical of that claim
B: The officer picked the kid up and slammed him on the car. No testicles involved in that portion of the tape.

[SarahW]

I agree - from watching the tape, it does not appear that what the officer claims is true.

[skeeter]

They have been focused on the video - the violent snippet of reality TV that shows a handcuffed black teenager being body-slammed by a white policeman onto the trunk of a car, then rocked by the officer's roundhouse punch.

Good to see the writer is careful not to lead the reader to any predetermined conclusions. Nicely done.

BTW, someone should show him what a real roundhouse punch looks like.

[skeeter]

They have been focused on the video - the violent snippet of reality TV that shows a handcuffed black teenager being body-slammed by a white policeman onto the trunk of a car, then rocked by the officer's roundhouse punch.

Good to see the writer is careful not to lead the reader to any predetermined conclusions. Nicely done.

BTW, someone should show him what a real roundhouse punch looks like.

[per loin]

Yes. The media is more interested in giving folks something to emote over, rather than presenting the facts in a straight forward manner. Whatever the case, the punch seemed a minor one, particularly since the cop was already bleeding.

[Frohickey]

If the 'nads were hit, you must acquit! :)

[per loin]

If you worked as a prosecutor for many years, you're likely aware that there are venues for the presentation of "evidence", and that CNN is not where that is done.

As for the video clips that have been shown, even they would have to be gone over, frame by frame, to determine whether or not he could have reached the cops balls.

[BlueDragon]

Republicman, you posted another's comment;


"If" the cop was grabbed, he should have known better than to give the kid an opportunity!

Then restated your previous;

Nope, the punk kid should have known to comply and none of this would happen, it's his fault and nobody elses.

Many of us are wondering why it took three days for the cop
to say, he "grabbed my balls", or something to that effect---for if there is NO mention of that in the preliminary write up of the incident by himself or other officers---one could pretty much safely assume that the officer is fabricating, telling lies, (later) filing a false report, etc., which is a FELONY! Now, if the officer were to have falsified evidence---he would DESERVE a prison sentence---would he not? Prison, not for smacking the kid, but for
"falsifying" evidence. Other folks have done long stretches in the pen on less firm, more circumstantial "evidence".
So it really does matter at this juncture---when exactly was the part about his balls being grabbed first mentioned. Typically, one would expect a fellow to tell his
comrades in arms about such a thing at least immediately after an altercation---AND put it in his initial "report".
If it's not there, well, I'll just figure that the officer is a lying fascist pig! (though there is an outside chance that I could be wrong...)

Way, way too many exaggerations and out-right lies are written up in police reports. How do we get a handle on, and put a stop to, that particular crime wave infesting this nation? Perhaps we need more folks in the "system" willing to police their own with the same zeal they police others. As it stands now, even truthful officers are looked upon with suspicion (by a great many of the general public), due to the ongoing tolerance of officers willing to tell lies to cover their backsides.


It's too bad the political climate makes it difficult for an officer to be given "consideration" for admitting that he may have made a mistake. We need not crucify a policeman for getting a little hot---just for writing up lies about it. There is a difference, a big difference between the two actions.

[Deguello]

"If the 'nads were hit, you must acquit! :)"

If by the balls, the suspect takes the fall! :)

[Jagdgewehr]

It is too soon to determine whether Morse should be fired, the chief said. There have been complaints lodged against the three-year department veteran but "I can't discuss this officer's complaint history," Banks said.

If the chief is refering that the officer in question has a history of complaints lodged against him, then that says a lot.

If there is a common trend to these complaints and if they are not frivolous in nature, this incident should be an indicator to the officer and the agency he works for that police work might not be his calling.

Once everything is code 4 (the perp is under restraint and the threat ceases to exist), police officers are required to overcome agreesive, visceral responses against the perp and maintian professionalism. Of course, it does go against basic instinct and human nature to maintain restraint under such circumstances. However, hitting a cuffed perp is a chicken sh!t thing to do.

I wonder how this officer did on his psych eval prior to the academy?

[Paid4This]

Do you also believe the tape from 2000 intifada that obviously showed the Israeli army murdering a child and shooting his father as they cowered from the crossfire? Or do you believe the later ballistics tests that showed they were killed by the Palestinian snipers?

A picture can be worth a thousand words. Or misperceptions. No one here knows what happened that day.

I reserve my judgement until the case makes it through the courts, however, there are a variety of scenarios where everything that cop did was justified.

[republicman]

I could be wrong but my guess is that His lawyer told him to keep quiet, until they talked, that may well be reason for the delay you mention.

As far as the case, I have tried to put myself in the shoes of the participants. the first one, the kid is easy, if you're told to do something by a cop, you do it. I always have and have never had a problem yet.

As to the cop I know if someone hit me hard enough to cut my skin open I would be furious.

In a normal circumstance the cop could admit he went over the line because he lost his temper and he would get a mild punishemnt and be told don;t let it happen again or you're fired.

Unfortunately this is anything but normal. As is often the case the PC lynch mob wants blood, and reparations, and they'll get it, they always do.

My Prediction is the cop will be fired and go to jail for a few years and the kid will get millions and never spend a day in jail for this or any of the other numerous offenses he will undoubtedly commit down the road. Crime will go up in Inglewood and fewer good people will want to join the police force because who wants to be hated?

But I guess that's how it goes in the United States of Political Correctness.

[Once-Ler]

grabbed nads or not - the officers actions were unjustified and -IMHO- criminal.

BLAH.
Your opinion is humble for good reason.
Squeezing the nads is just wrong.
Donovan got less than he deserved, considering that the officer had a night stick and a gun. unjustified... Phooey

[Cap'n Crunch]

Let me tell you a little bit about complaints on police officers.

I was working the paddy wagon once when I was a young officer on afternoon shift. My partner and I went through a shopping plaza parking lot.

It just so happened that my wife was coming out of the grocery store with a shopping cart full of groceries and had just got to the car and was loading them up. My infant daughter was in the cart.

I got out of the paddy wagon, helped my wife load up the groceries and gave her a little kiss.

When I got back in the wagon and we started to drive away my partner said "see that old lady over there?" I said 'yeah'. He says "she was giving you the eye."

The next day my partner (who was the senior man) got called into the Chief's office because someone made a complaint against me.

It was the old woman who saw me helping my wife out.

It's minor, but it's still a complaint. And something the media will use whenever a cop gets in trouble.

[Cap'n Crunch]

Since I've had a little wine I got another story.

When I was a rookie, with less than 6 months on, and still in the training program, I got sued.

I was with my training officer when a detective on duty came across a guy passed out drunk behind the wheel. His foot was still on the accelerator but he had the car in park. Sitting at a stop sign of a major intersection.

The detective and two senior officers woke him up and he struggled. He got arrested and we took him to jail.

I never laid a hand on him when he got arrested.

I was booking him in and he told me his nickname was "Red Dog" because he liked to fight. He pulled up his shirt and showed me some nasty scars where he claimed to have been shotgunned.

He said he was just at a pool hall where they had been fighting with pool sticks.

After I booked him in for DWI and resisting arrest we took him to the jail and I forgot about it.

6 months later I get a big envelope in my mail box saying I'm the primary officer that he's suing.

Turns out he had a broken elbow; probably from the bar fight he was in, but claimed I did it.

The city attorney told me that at a preliminary hearing this guys lawyer said the reason he picked me out and was suing, was because I was the officer who had slept with his wife. He said this was several years ago.

I had only been a cop about 6 months and his accusation was totally false.

The city still gave him 3 grand so they wouldn't have to go to court.

But guess who now has a little asterisk next to his name in his file and the media can say "he has been sued for brutality in the past"???

[matrix]

There is no justification for beating a suspect once he is cuffed.

[matrix]

"If you worked as a prosecutor for many years, you're likely aware that there are venues for the presentation of "evidence", and that CNN is not where that is done."

FR is not a court of law either. We are all speculating and opining here.