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Posted on 09/30/2008 5:26:43 PM PDT by bamahead
All officers involved were fired or quit
The raid on Russell's Tire Shop had the look of a successful garden-variety drug bust.
Acting on an informant's tip, police stormed the building on North Galvez Street and hauled out three suspects, a bag of heroin, a quarter-ounce of crack cocaine and more than $4,000 in cash. Police say they found the evidence in plain sight.
But 11 months after the August 2002 bust, prosecutors dropped the charges. And this June, attorneys for the city offered the men accused of dealing the drugs $85,000 to settle a lawsuit that alleged the four New Orleans police detectives involved in the raid planted the drugs -- and uprooted the lives of innocent people.
Prosecutors had a problem: In the years since the bust, the police officers involved ran into legal troubles of their own.
One detective tested positive for cocaine and another was caught using a stolen Social Security number to lease a Corvette. A third officer was pulled over in Illinois driving an unauthorized New Orleans Police Department squad car; authorities found him with some marijuana and a woman wanted for prostitution. The fourth detective resigned as police were investigating a stolen gun found in his squad car. All four officers were ultimately fired or quit.
The three drug suspects -- Leo Hammond, his son Gregory Hammond and Tyrone Taylor -- say they were the victims of rogue cops who were willing to frame innocent men after a bust turned up empty. None of the accused had outstanding warrants or prior arrests at the time of the raid. All passed court-ordered drug tests, court documents show.
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
Hey..It’s New Orleans. The cops are crooks and crooks are cops...Just look at the Mayor and re-elected Congressman Jefferson..This is what Obammy will bring nationwide.
....and that is why Bobby Jindal is needed in LA.
This crap is typical of the NOLA cops.
New Orleans seems to have a problem with their law enforcement officers. I mean seizing firearms from citizens during Katrina was bad enough.
A crummy 85 grand for a civil rights violation?
That's a lot more than victims of civil rights violations most often get, which is zero. Many plaintiffs in "civil rights" (constitutional) cases lose because of bad lawyering or statist judges before the case even gets to a jury.
85,000 would not due. At least 1 million.
DO not DUE.
Just another “isolated” incident...
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