Posted on 01/21/2005 3:07:54 PM PST by mastercylinder
Michael Savage, one of the nation's top radio talkers, was ecstatic about the jury award this week of $1.6 million to fired California police officer Jeremy Morse.
Morse lost his job after he arrested a black teenager in Inglewood, Calif. A videotape showed Morse throwing the teenager onto the hood of a police car. The officer said he acted against the perpetrator after he grabbed for his testicles.
Savage, who hosts "The Savage Nation" on more than 300 stations, had made the Morse case a cause for his listeners.
Savage and his non-profit Paul Revere Society raised more than $40,000 for Morse's legal defense.
Savage believed the officer had been unfairly prosecuted.
"This is a victory for the police everywhere," Savage told NewsMax.com.
The Associated Press wire story on the case follows:
A former Inglewood, Calif., police officer who was fired for punching a black teenager and slamming him against a patrol car in an incident that was captured on videotape was awarded $1.6 million Tuesday by the jury in a discrimination lawsuit he and his partner brought against the city.
The jury voted 11-1 in favor of the verdict for Jeremy Morse, said defense attorney Gregory Smith. He said the jury was unanimous in awarding $810,000 to Morse's partner, Bijan Darvish, who had been disciplined in connection with the 2002 incident.
"This is not the first time police officers have been trapped in race situations where they suffered unfairly," Smith said in a phone interview after the verdict was read. "This will have an impact in police departments across the country."
Morse, 27, said he was very happy with the verdict.
He had previously faced a charge of assault, but a judge dismissed it in February 2004 after two juries deadlocked. A jury acquitted Darvish of filing a false report.
A bystander videotaped Morse in July 2002 punching handcuffed Donovan Jackson in the head and slamming him onto a patrol car in Inglewood, just south of Los Angeles.
Morse, who is white, said he reacted to Jackson grabbing his testicles. The videotape does not show whether the grabbing occurred.
Morse was fired two months later, and Darvish was suspended for 10 days for filing a police report that failed to mention his partner's conduct. The two filed the discrimination suit against Inglewood in February 2003, alleging reverse discrimination, Smith said.
Inglewood Police Chief Ronald Banks, who is black, said in a phone interview Tuesday that race was not a factor in his decision to fire Morse and suspend Darvish, who still works as an Inglewood officer. The city has not decided whether to appeal the verdict.
"I based my decision on their actions and what I thought their responsibility was. It was based purely on the facts," he said. "I was shocked at not only the verdict but the size of the awards. It was somewhat ridiculous."
Mayor Roosevelt Dorn called the verdict inflated and inappropriate, but said it was up to the City Council to decide whether to appeal.
Justice occured in California?
Wow.
You can thank Michael Savage for this victory
good for Savage who is otherwise insane half the time
This is an example of "good Savage." He still needs to get his meds though.
Just as the civil case against O.J. proved him guilty, this one proves Morse innocent or at least innocent of the charges on which he was convicted. The videotape did not show the beginning of the incident, e.g., the initial arrest.
As soon as the tape showed up on the news, it was purely political.
Hey, even a broken clock tells the correct time twice a day!
You beat me to it.
I'm still cracking up.
Gotta love the guy, but I do hope they come out with thorazine in salt lick form soon.
>> good for Savage who is otherwise insane half the time
LOL. Michael is sane all the time. The world he lives in is insane most of the time.
that would be very appropriate for Mickey the Mad Man.. see what happens to a conservative genius with a Ph.D that lives in SF too long..........
God bless Michael, and shame on the sicko Savage-haters on this forum.
Not surprising to me that the videotape didn't cover the entire episode. These types of sensationalist tapes often are like that.
>>God bless Michael, and shame on the sicko Savage-haters on this forum<<<
I agree with you.
People do not realize who is on their side.
Savage is OK, he just is too angry and sounds like a whiney old woman most of the time.
Indeed he is. And he speaks his mind and the truth, not some nursery-level Cliffnotes-Conservatism like Hannity. Sure he's a total nutcase, but at least he admits as much, unlike Rush Limbaugh, who made himself out to be Mr. Perfect until he drugged himself deaf. Savage is not a Bushbot like those gentlemen, nor should anyone be. But he was the first behind the Swifties and "Stolen Honor". He put $40,000 behind this officer and against the racial mafia, and won. He is with us.
Not so.
He simply collected contributions from listeners, then passed them along, presumably without skimming any off the top for "overhead".
The listeners who sent in money are the ones who should get the credit.
Agreed !
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