officer nearly choked him to death during a traffic stop. Posted on 07/02/2008 12:10:57 PM PDT by LibWhacker
MOUNT JULIET, Tenn. - A Midstate man said a police officer nearly choked him to death during a traffic stop.
The incident was caught on tape.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating how Mount Juliet Cpl. Bill Cosby interacted with James Anders, Jr.
Cosby stopped the 26-year-old Wilson County man in April.
Cosby suspected Anders hid marijuana in his mouth. The officer used a vascular restraint technique to keep Anders from swallowing.
On the video recorded inside Cosby's patrol car, Cosby said he smelled marijuana and handcuffed Anders and his passenger.
The video also showed the officer putting his hands around Anders' neck. He applied pressure and told Anders to stick out his tongue. This happened for nearly two minutes before Anders lost consciousness.
Photographs released by Anders' attorney showed injuries he sustained when he fell to the pavement.
Cosby didn't find any marijuana in Ander's mouth. Anders passed a drug test the next day.
A small bag of pot was found in his car and Anders was arrested for simple possession and resisting arrest.
After the district attorney saw the video, the charges were dropped.
Anders is expected to file a lawsuit in federal court later this month.
Cosby is still on the job.
After viewing the tape, General Sessions Judge Barry Tatum dismissed all Cosby's cases. He called what Cosby did inexcusable and said Cosby is no longer welcome in his court. In essence, any tickets he writes now are meaningless. The judge will dismiss them.
Anders' attorney said there's no excuse for strangling a man helpless and handcuffed.
"Clearly his constitutional rights were violated. He was choked," said Garry Vandever, Anders' attorney.
Vandever said Anders is fine but he still upset over what happened.
Anders is expected to file a lawsuit in federal court later this month.
Andy Garrett was sworn in as the new police chief Monday night.
"I have viewed the tape. I wasn't on board when this happened," he said. "It is an incident that's been addressed internally through training and discipline with the police officer. Any further investigation that's going to be done by an outside agency will be referred to the city attorney," said Garrett, a 25-year Metro Police Department veteran who recently commanded the force's Central Precinct.
He succeeds former Mount Juliet Police Chief Ted Floyd who retired several months ago.
In a letter sent to the new police chief and obtained by NewsChannel 5, Tatum said he's "dismissing all cases Corporal Cosby has pending" in his court.
Tatum also indicated that he's "dismissing any (future) cases he attempts to bring."
Tatum said Cosby has "cast a permanent cloud over law enforcement and the judicial system."
"We trust that an officer has to have the type of demeanor that when someone is treating them badly, spitting on them, trying to hit them, that that officer will have restraint in his actions toward that person," said Wilson County General Sessions Court Judge Bob Hamilton.
“So the Judge has prejudged all of Cosby’s cases, not much of a judge. “
He is sending a signal to the PD to get rid of this cop. Maybe he can get a job in your neighborhood?
nope. i’m just saying you are being persuaded by how the media presents this kind of stuff. out of context and biased. when it’s a white kid who looks like next-door johnny people are outraged. the fact is that similar things occur daily in the projects (rightfully so usually) and no one says word one and there are definitely no news stories about it.
What difference would the "color" of the person make? Oh, and BTW, swallowing the drugs is not "evidence tampering" nor is it a felony in any jurisdiction I know of.
The cop was wrong on many levels not the least is that he did not have probable cause to do a cavity search of this individual. The old excuse of "I just KNEW he had drugs on him" doesn't cut it.
Looks to me like the town needs a different judge also.
Is it proper for a judge to prejudge all past and future cases involving this officer? Something is fishy here. I am now wondering if the judge is on the take, the judge knows the family of the drug runner or the judge buys his drugs from the drug runner. I’d investigate this judge.
Here is the rest of the story. This same cop has been sued for excessive force before. A few years ago he beat and kicked handcuffed man who was lying on the ground apparently for no other reason than he was angry with him. The city of Lebanon, Tennessee paid out $250,000 in punitive damages in the lawsuit. The cop is a jack booted thug.
http://www.wkrn.com/Global/story.asp?S=8580865
I don’t care what the judge says. I don’t need a judge to tell me if a cop is on a power trip and acting improperly. Even if he did smell drugs, so the hell what? He was not being physically attacked, nor was anyone else, and he did not have a court order to physically assault the man in the hopes of finding evidence.
Actually a good judge; he is basically telling the PD that the JBT should be fired.
thats funny. because i have arrested people on that exact charge for these exact actions and the ADA kept the charges.
I suggest that you cease presuming that you know me, how I think, and who or what persuades me. The fact is that this cop was not in any physical danger, nor was anyone else at the scene, yet he took it upon himself to physically assault the man in the hopes of finding evidence.
Is that what they teach police? To choke someone who is already subdued as a method of trying to get what they are looking for?
I’ve noticed lately that a lot of LEO’s refer to non-LEO’s as “civilians”
Which branch of the Military do the LEO’s serve under?
fair enough. this cop could be a total d-bag and require the proper discipline. there are plenty out there who could use some time off the street. but that doesn’t mean he had no right to believe this kid swallowed drugs.
Three trains of pro-cop thought
1) judge is on the take or uses drugs
2) almost-racism
3) reasonable search tactic that would leave suspect fine in 10 minutes (ignoring bruises)
One should easily see from examining these threads the underlying currents in society which support the formation of the more brutal police states - there is always a portion of the population which supports authoritarian tactics, no matter what.
I’ve noticed that too. It really is quite disturbing.
So another words he is judging him before the cop has had a trial.
Maybe that is the kind of Judge you want in your neighborhood.
police are allowed to kick down a door given certain circumstances. mostly if there is a chance evidence is being destroyed. i don't see a real difference here.
no one ever said the cop was in physical danger. thats not part of the story. it's simple evidence recovery.
It is a LIVING substance created by G_D! As opposed to toxic enzymatic excrement!
The law causes MORE damage than the vegetable matter does! That's a FACT!
Look at one of the great things enzymatic excrement prohibition gave us------- The Kennedys!!!!!
The continued prohibition of plant matter has CREATED the horribly destructive murderous black market gangster society. LEO prohibition MAKES the problem in the first place!
I am far from an anarchist. I appreciate what LEOs do. They have to put up with some cerially degenerate scum. Pot heads are NOT scum. They are generally very peaceful G-d fearing people, who just want to live in peace.
Now crack and meth ought to be given away on the streetcorner with propane torches blazing for free! Of course the morticians would be working overtime for a couple of weeks, but the problem would soon burn itself out!
LOL! What a hypocrite!
You're the nitwit who opened the thread with a very fine example of what you wish others to "cease" doing to you.
I will admit that finding that an alleged LEO is among the vocal supporters of this cop is somewhere between appalling and depressing. My sarcastic comment about finding this cop a job in his jurisdiction may have had more serious merit that I thought.
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