An NOPD officer twice arrested on domestic abuse allegations rejected a plea offer Wednesday (Oct. 28) that would have required him to resign from the force, his lawyer said. That helped pushed the trial of Officer James Cunningham until January.

Cunningham, 34, was arrested Jan. 13 and again Aug. 10, each time on allegations that he became violent during early morning arguments at the Algiers apartment of the same 36-year-old woman. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

The January arrest on domestic abuse battery and home invasion charges stemmed from allegations that he injured a woman's hand when he kicked down the door of her home during an argument.

The August arrest on domestic abuse battery and false imprisonment charges stemmed from allegations that he grabbed the woman, threatened her and refused to allow her to leave a home.

The state had offered to downgrade the felony home invasion charge to a misdemeanor domestic abuse battery charge, "with caveat that Mr. Cunningham resigns from the NOPD," said Orleans Parish Assistant District Attorney Tony Tran, in Criminal District Judge Laurie White's court.

Cunningham's attorney Greg Carter later, outside the courtroom, said his client rejected the plea deal. Court records indicate the trial for the two separate incidents was reset for Jan. 13, a year after Cunningham's first arrest.

Cunningham, an eight year veteran of the department, remains suspended pending the resolution of the criminal charges and of an NOPD Public Integrity Bureau's investigation. He appeared in court Wednesday, wearing a suit.

He had no comment on the development in his case.

In a yearlong investigation of sexual misconduct by U.S. law enforcement, The Associated Press uncovered about 1,000 officers who lost their badges in a six-year period for rape, sodomy and other sexual assault; sex crimes that included possession of child pornography; or sexual misconduct such as propositioning citizens or having consensual but prohibited on-duty intercourse.

The number is unquestionably an undercount because it represents only those officers whose licenses to work in law enforcement were revoked, and not all states take such action. California and New York — with several of the nation's largest law enforcement agencies — offered no records because they have no statewide system to decertify officers for misconduct. And even among states that provided records, some reported no officers removed for sexual misdeeds even though cases were identified via news stories or court records.

The FBI recently released its data on assaults on police officers in 2014. The good news is that reported assaults are down sharply. Unarmed and assaults with guns both dropped, while assaults with knives and edged weapons went up slightly. But overall, as this chart tweeted by University of South Carolina law professor Seth Stoughton shows, assaults on cops are at their lowest point since 1996 and have been dropping consistently since 2008.

Federal Court Order: Atlanta residents have the right to video police
and APD must fire an officer who interferes

by Dan Grossman on August 20, 2014

Under federal court orders in Calhoun v. Pennington and Anderson v. City of Atlanta, two cases I litigated with fellow Atlanta attorneys, Atlanta police officers are prohibited from interfering with the public’s right to photograph or video police activity, and the penalty for interfering with photography or video is dimsissal.

Anderson concerned a woman who was arrested, and had her cell-phone confiscated and her photos deleted, after photographing Atlanta police officers beating a handcuffed suspect. Calhoun concerned an unlawful police raid on a gay bar, during which Atlanta police officers prevented the victims from recording the actions of the police.

As part of the resolution of these cases the Atlanta Police Department was ordered to implement the following Standard Operating Procedures:
The Anderson order also required the Atlanta Police Department to amend its disciplinary regulations to make violation of these prohibitions an offense requiring dismissal of the officer.

Section 4.3.5(3) shall be revised to designate violation of the above-referenced rule regarding “Interference with Citizen’s Right to Record” as a Category D (Dismissal) offense.

Anderson v. City of Atlanta (1:11-CV-03398-SCJ, N.D. Ga.); APD.SOP.2011, Section 4.4.1 (“Interference with Citizen’s Right to Record”); APD.SOP.2020, Section 4.3.5(3) (“Disciplinary Process”).

It is important to remember that one may not physically obstruct or hinder a police officer in the process of recording him; the officer has a right and duty to do his job without interference, but as long as you are not physically interfering with the officer, an Atlanta police officer may not interfere with your right to record him in public.

We are proud that Atlanta residents have these additional protections regarding this important right. If anyone feels his or her right to record police has been restricted in any way, or if you would like a copy of the federal court orders in either of these cases, please email me at Dan@DanGrossmanLaw.com.

Philip White was travelling back home from a conference on technical advancements to assist the blind on May 22, 2012, when he missed his bus in Denver. White, who was 77-years-old at the time, and blind, called the police after the bus station security guard told him he had to leave the station. This call would prove to be detrimental.

White was told that the bus was full and he couldn’t get on board. He only wanted to discuss options with staffers at the terminal, but he eventually was told by a security guard that he was “trespassing” and he’d have to leave the terminal, according to court documents.

“Philip White missed his bus to the mountains, when he asked Greyhound staff for help in catching the next bus home, he was told by a security guard he was trespassing and had to leave the Greyhound Bus Depot,” said White’s attorney Mari Newman. “This is a Master’s Degree holder and long-time educator who was set upon with excessive force as police violated his civil rights, all over a bus ticket.”

After being told to leave, White declined and then called the police. Officer Kyllion Chafin of the notoriously brutal Denver police department showed up.

Chafin did not care that White was the person who had placed the call to police and instead of helping the man in need, he escalated the situation to violence.

Chafin quickly attacked White. White, having no idea if his aggressors were actually who they said they were, asked to feel Chafin’s badge to confirm he was an officer.

...

The cop grabbed his arms, forcing them behind him, then cuffed him so tightly he suffered nerve damage in his fingers — or eyes, for him. He was then slammed into the ticket counter leaving his head bleeding.

When Sgt. Bob Wykoff arrived, instead of trying to defuse the situation and offer the blind man help, without reading White his Miranda Rights, he began to video tape a bus station interrogation without White’s consent.

White was then brought to the downtown jail where he sat for 8 hours before police realized that they had no reason to keep him. He was then released, bloodied and bruised, without charges.

“I thought they would have killed me if they thought they could get away with it,” said White. “I always trusted cops, but now my confidence in them is shaken. I felt so bad I wanted to leave the USA.”

On Friday, the Denver taxpayers were held liable for Chafin’s violence. A jury awarded White $100,000 in compensatory damages and $300,000 in punitive damages.

Chaffin faced zero discipline and his department defended his brutal actions against this now 80-year-old blind man.

“We respect the court and we respect the jury’s decision,” said Sonny Jackson, a police spokesman. “We reviewed the case. We didn’t find any violations of policy. We are always looking for ways to improve.”

The city has agreed to a $500,000 settlement in a police brutality suit but claims its officers committed no "wrongful conduct" in the 2013 incident following a traffic stop.

With allegations of brutal mistreatment at the hands of six city police officers, married couple Phillip A. DuBose and his wife, Cheryl, both of Lebanon Road, settled in U.S. District Court in April for $500,000 with the city, the Bridgeton Police Department and several of its officers.

The settlement — which the defendants said in their request for a confidentiality agreement is not an admission of guilt — stems from a Feb. 20, 2013, incident in which DuBose was arrested and allegedly viciously beaten because he honked his horn.

DuBose's initial complaint documents the sequence of events that reportedly led to his arrest and the beating officers allegedly administered.

DuBose claims he was attempting to back his vehicle into a parking spot near Wood and York streets but was blocked by a police cruiser. In response, DuBose said he moved up Wood Street and found another parking spot but was issued tickets for double parking and excessive use of his horn.

DuBose admitted in the suit that at that point he “momentarily lost his temper” after being ticketed and struck his steering wheel, causing the car horn to sound again.

The officers then returned and allegedly told DuBose to get out of his vehicle.

Seconds after he was shot by a suspected car thief Friday, a Utah police officer pulled out his gun and fired back – striking an innocent bystander twice.

The Unified Police Department justified the shooting by saying the bystander looked “extremely close” to the suspect.

They also said the innocent bystander was suspicious because the cop saw him running away.

But they later learned he was running away from the initial gunfire.

Police eventually captured the original suspect, Jeremy Bowden, 32, arresting him on charges of attempted aggravated murder as well as a number of drug and weapons charges.

Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder told the media that Bowden a “very violent offender” with a lengthy criminal history.

But Winder didn’t offer much information on Bowden’s 25-year-old doppelgänger, who was initially listed in serious condition.

A Florida driver reportedly tweeted about being drunk on codeine before he struck and killed a 16-year-old boy and then posted a photo of his corpse on social media.

"I just killed a man," the since-deleted photo showing Trevius Williams' body and a "RIP" read, according to local media.

Now that boy's equally disgusted and heartbroken mother is fuming over not just the driver escaping charges but a drug test as well.

...

A spokesperson for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, reached by The Florida Times-Union, said there were no signs that 19-year-old driver, Keenan Slaughter, was impaired at the time of Sunday's incident.

Slaughter's tweet, reading "I drunk so much damn lean I feel like I'm off a NyQuil," are lyrics to a rap song. The mention of "lean" is to a homemade cocktail of promethazine with codeine.

The sheriff's office further said that posting the picture of the boy's body online was not illegal.

The ex-South Carolina Highway Patrol trooper who was charged after he shot an unarmed man in a gas station parking lot during a traffic stop in 2014 was recently charged for shoplifting along with his wife, officials said.

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said Sean Martin Groubert, 32, and 23-year-old Morgan Groubert were both charged with shoplifting on Oct. 18 at the Walmart located in the 10000 block of Two Notch Road.

Lott said deputies responded to the store after receiving a call from the store’s loss prevention employee. When deputies arrived, Lott said the employee told them that both Sean and Morgan Groubert were at the self-check out register paying for $136.04 worth of merchandise with $29.84.

Further investigation revealed that the price tags were changed on the items to alter the prices, Lott said.

Groubert was fired from the S.C. Highway Patrol shortly after Sept. 4, 2014 when his dash cam video recorded Groubert firing several shots at 36-year-old Levar Edward Jones. Several of Groubert’s shots hit Jones in the hip as Jones reached inside of his vehicle to retrieve his driver’s license from his wallet.

Fifth Circuit Solicitor Dan Johnson had Groubert indicted on a charge of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. A trial date has not yet been publicly announced in relation to that charge.

Police in the East Rock section of New Haven are trying to send a strong message to residents to lock their doors amid several car break-ins and they are doing it an a rather unconventional way.

Starting today, police who notice valuables left in plain view inside unlocked cars will take them to keep them safe from would-be burglars, according to the New Haven Register.

There have been eight car break-ins in one week alone and Lt. Herbert Sharp told the Register that this strategy will prevent burglars from getting expensive items from cars, while forcing residents to make a trip to the police station to pick up belongings.

After taking the valuables, police will either leave a note or call the resident.

The hope is that this will send the message to hide valuables and lock car doors.

Residents have a mixed reaction.


“I think that’s kind of a different way of looking at it. I don’t know how I’d feel about that,” Darin Curts, of New Haven, said.

“I think if it’s something really valuable, if they see something, like a wallet maybe or cell phone or camera, and it’s something that should be protected, it could be a good idea,” Allison Khoe, of New Haven, said.

George Critides, of New Haven, said he does not know if that would solve the break-ins.

"I think there should be more foot patrols and more bicycle police in the neighborhood,” he said.

Tacoma, WA - After every attempt to evade this lunatic was met him him still in pursuit, I was forced to face my attacker and subdue him. I held him in a headlock to prevent him from being able to continue his attack. I made sure to give him loud, simple and representative verbal commands. I did this for his sake as well as as mine....for any witnesses who would be nearby.
His whining about me spitting on him was about the mouthful of coffee that I just took a sip of. When I saw he was rapidly approaching me, I believed his threatened attack was now imminent. I was not going to try to take this crazy man down with a mouthful of hot coffee and risk burning my throat or choking on it in a fight.

The crazed government employee - employed by InterCity Transit - who never identified himself, was arrested but not placed in cuffs. Eventually he was simply cited and released. You See....the guy had a route to drive.

I was not charged with anything, as I was merely acting in self defense from my government-funded attacker.
I was also legally carrying my holstered handgun when I was attacked. At no point did I introduce my weapon into the situation or threaten my assailant with it...EVEN when he tried gouging my eye out with his finger. It's uncomfortable to imagine what might have happened if this psychopath were issued a gun for some reason.

Even with all this in mind, it was ME who was banned from all Pierce Transit properties, including all bus stops, or I would be arrested.

I walked some distance to a cab stand to pay 30 unexpected dollars to get to a job I was now an hour late for.
Oh....and riding on the bus is out for a while.

I walked away with minor cuts and abrasions to my face, eye, head, both hands, wrists and legs. Before you laugh at such trivial injuries, keep in mind that is they were on HIS skin, under reversed circumstances, the would mean additional incarceration time to the felony I would be charged with.

What makes his skin more valuable than mine?

This is a perfect and real-life example of how the government (in this case, Pierce and InterCity Transit) are using the government (in this case, the police) to threaten citizens who dare to exercise their First and Second Amendment rights in this country.

Another win has arrived for citizens who play an key part in the law enforcement accountability process. Photography Is Not A Crime reports that New Hampshire native Alfred Valentin has had wiretapping charges against him dismissed. Incredibly, New Hampshire prosecutors tried to use another state's law (via an appeals court decision) against Valentin in hopes of getting the charges to stick.

In an attempt to convict the Manchester man, prosecutors tried to take advantage of the Massachusetts wiretapping law, which is different than New Hampshire’s law.

In Massachusetts, the wiretapping law criminalizes all secret recording of conversations, even those that take place in public.

The prosecution claimed that Valentin secretly audio recorded two Manchester police sergeants by holding his phone by his leg, although it apparently wasn’t so secret that the cops didn’t notice.

...

The events leading to the failed prosecution of Valentin began with a no-knock raid by Manchester's SWAT team. Valentin had taken in a roommate who, unbeknownst to him, was currently under investigation for heroin trafficking. While Valentin was at work, the police raided his house, firing incendiary devices through his windows and seizing his home security cameras.

Valentin was summoned home by a neighbor who had found his dog wandering the streets. When he arrived, he was greeted by plainclothes officers who refused to identify themselves. The officers refused to show him a search warrant, telling him to "come back in an hour" when a supervisor would be there. Valentin returned to see the supervisor (and warrant) and began recording his interactions with the officers. The officers responded by arresting him for violating the state's wiretapping law.

This arrest was followed up by the police department issuing a press release falsely stating Valentin had been arrested in connection with a heroin trafficking investigation. In fact, he was never a suspect and was never charged with any drug-related violations. Because of this bogus press release, Valentin lost his job. He is now suing the involved officers for over $1 million, citing a list of constitutional violations and libel-related complaints.