Outrageous Court Ruling

[IMHO]

A federal appeals court has thrown out the convictions of 3 of the now ex-cops who tortured Abner Louima..3 Louima Cop Convictions Overturned
One of these scumbags, Schwarz, reported held the handcuffed man down while another officer sodomized him with a toilet plunger. They should have charged them all with attempted murder

[dkiefner]

Hmmm. I suppose you think this means that they got off.

Actually, certain convictions were thrown out. One civil rights conviction was overturned and a new trial ordered for Schwarz on that charge only. Three obstruction charges were overturned for insufficient evidence.

The main defendant, Volpe, was neither involved in nor affected by these rulings.

[SGT Dave]

Yeah, GOD FORBID a COP get the same judicial protections a drug dealer or pedophile is entitled to...

Not taking up for the officers if they did those acts, but it just brings back memories of the Rodney King incident where the "public" wasn't happy with the court rulings and some (even elected officials) were suggesting trying them over (duh...double jeopardy... ) and some even suggested taking out anger by shooting cops over it. Not to mention the riots...

[PeelerUSA]

Amazing is it not. A federal court overturns a ruling and convicts a cop and the public says well he was obviously guilty, but when something is changed in favor of a cop, It is either fixed or the court is wrong.

[celia]

I don't now all the details, as I was involved in the defense of another officer on an unrelated case at the time, but it is my understanding that one of the officers who won an appeal was not even present as the time of the incident. The officer who did the actual act admitted guilt and is not one of those now being granted an appeal. My impression at the time was that at least some of the others who were involved were overcharged, overprosecuted, and over sentenced due to the typical anticop mob mentality of today's "public".

[SpecOpsWarrior]

originally posted by IMHO:
They should have charged them all with attempted murder

I'm sorry I missed that part of your profile that states your a prosecuting attorney and you know more about this incident than the FEDERAL PROSECUTORS who originally tried the case!

If you would have read the article you posted a link to, you would know why their convictions were overturned. But since you obviously didnt read it, I will post the important part of it here, for you to see.

The appeals court said Schwarz's convictions for civil rights violations must be thrown out and a new trial ordered because he was denied effective assistance of counsel and because the jury was improperly exposed to prejudicial information during deliberations.

The court also held that convictions against Schwarz, Wiese and Bruder at a second trial for conspiracy to obstruct justice must be thrown out for insufficient evidence.

Basically what they said was:

1. Schwarz had some pretty crappy attorneys.

2. The jury either saw or heard stuff they weren't supposed to know about.

3. There wasn't enough evidence to establish probable cause to believe that these men commited this crime.

Now whether you agree or disagree with this ruling is beside the point. These men have every right to take full advantage of our legal system, just like every other defendant. The fact that they were cops doesnt mean they dont have the same constitutional protections as everyone else!

[ 03-01-2002: Message edited by: SpecOpsWarrior ]

[THE BRONZE]

Isn't it strange how these types come out of the woodwork on cases involving LEO's, but we don't hear a peep out of them when dirtbags like Wesley Cook get awarded new hearings.

I suggest you go find some board for bleeding hearts if you want support for you gripe, IMHBUTIGNORANTO.

[Snoopy1]

I think Schwarz is innocent and I hope he wins if he has to go through another trial.

The victim couldn't identify him, Volpe said he wasn't there and his attorney wasn't exactly another Johnny Cochran or Alan Dershowitz.