RONNIE WHITE Murder Coverup Shows No Signs of Resolution!
nicenips
most corrupt, crooked, and incompetent forces in the United States.
Seldom does a week pass when an "officer" or four doesn't shoot and
kill an
unarmed suspect in their custody, or a fleeing suspect carrying no
weapon. And VERY seldom does the killer face punishment or even
dismissal. Sometimes, such actions lead to promotion.
But the Ronnie White case is special, inasmuch as both the County
police, corrections, and State Attorney offces seem complicit and
culplable in a crime that's shocked the entire nation.
And like the cops in neighboring dysfunctional Washington, D.C.,
Prince
George's pack of outlaw law-enforcers seem perfectly content to let
contoversial cases fade, fade away from public memory.
-----------------------
"Camera Failed in Inmate's Death"
"Man Died After Pr. George's Arrest"
By Aaron C. Davis and Ruben Castaneda
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, November 9, 2008; C01
A video camera that Prince George's County jail guards were required
to use in June as they rushed into the cell of an unconscious inmate
accused of killing a police officer failed to record the crucial
minutes when the guards arrived and moved his body, according to
confidential jail reports.
The reports -- handwritten statements signed by guards, supervisors
and jail nurses -- say the camera malfunctioned and did not capture
the first five minutes when a team of guards entered Ronnie White's
cell, began CPR and called 911.
The camera did not begin recording until after White, 19, was removed
on a stretcher and his cell was ordered sealed shut, according to the
reports.
Had it functioned, the camera might have created an objective record
of the positioning of White's body and the contents of his cell, both
of which factored into the state medical examiner's ruling that his
death was a homicide.
The medical examiner said White was strangled with a sheet, a towel or
the "crux of the elbow." An attorney for the guards' union has said
that the inmate hanged himself with a sheet.
For reasons involving liability, the team of guards that responds to
emergencies at the county jail is supposed to use the hand-held camera
each time it enters a cell, jail spokeswoman Vicki D. Duncan said. She
said the camera sometimes malfunctions.
Bobby Henry, an attorney for White's family, said the jail employees'
assertion that the camera malfunctioned shows that the "integrity of
the system has been seriously compromised."
State police, the FBI and State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey, all of whom
are investigating White's death, declined to comment on the failure to
record the entry and the minutes that followed.
White was at the jail for just over 36 hours, charged with first-
degree murder in the death of Cpl. Richard S. Findley. Police alleged
that White ran Findley down while driving a stolen truck June 27.
Vernon Herron, the county's director of public safety, said he was
unaware of the reports that the camera malfunctioned. He said that, in
response to White's death, the county plans to install cameras that
will record activity in all areas where inmates are housed and
transported.
The Washington Post reviewed 13 statements given to internal
investigators at the jail on the day of White's death, including those
from two guards said to be at the center of the investigation into
White's death. The language of the reports is, in many cases, similar.
"This incident was partially videotaped due to malfunction," one guard
wrote. "This incident was partially recorded due to a camera
malfunction," wrote another. Still another wrote, "Due to camera
malfunction this incident was partially recorded."
The absence of a video recording leaves investigators without evidence
that might have been useful in assessing the claims of Cpl. Anthony
McIntosh and Cpl. Ramon Davis, two guards assigned to the maximum-
security unit where White died June 29. County officials placed the
two on leave in September, saying, without publicly naming them, that
they were "the focus" of the police investigation.
Several days after White's death, McIntosh told investigators that he
was the first to find White and that the inmate was hanging by a
bedsheet. McIntosh said he panicked, pulled the inmate down and left
him on the cell floor, sources have said.
On the day of White's death, before the state police and FBI were
involved, Davis told county police there was a sheet in the cell,
according to a source familiar with his statement.
Yet the two guards' June 29 statements to internal jail investigators
make no mention of a sheet. And despite what he later told police,
McIntosh wrote that he was summoned to the cell only after Davis found
White unresponsive.
McIntosh's attorney did not respond to a message seeking comment. An
attorney for Davis declined to comment on the discrepancy between his
client's two statements.
Immediately after White's death, Col. Gregory O. Harris, deputy
director of operations for the county Corrections Department, told
reporters that the inmate was not allowed to have a bedsheet or any
ropelike material.
Investigators, however, have photographs of a sheet found in White's
cell hours after his death, according to two people who have seen
them. The sources, like others quoted in this report, spoke on
condition of anonymity because the investigations are ongoing.
Harris did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Duncan
declined to comment on his statement that there was no sheet because
the investigation is ongoing.
The presence of a sheet does not in itself prove homicide or suicide;
a sheet could have been used in either.
But George Harper, Davis's attorney, said he thinks the presence of a
bedsheet, along with no evidence of a struggle, points to suicide. "He
has nothing to hide, and he has tried to hide nothing," Harper said of
his client.
Harper said his client found White slumped on the ground, a bedsheet
draped loosely around his shoulders and neck -- potentially, he said,
in the position McIntosh now claims to have left him in earlier.
In an interview, Harper offered the most detailed account to date of
his client's actions in the hours before White's death. He said Davis
had been at the jail all night, working a shift from 11 p.m. until 7
a.m. and then staying on to work overtime from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. in
the unit where White was held.
Davis took a meal break at 9:30 a.m., Harper said. During the hour
Davis was away, McIntosh was the lone corrections officer roaming the
unit, he said. Harper said Davis returned at 10:30 a.m., and he and
McIntosh began distributing food to inmates in the cellblock. McIntosh
took the cellblock's top tier, and Davis took the ground level, where
White was being held in cell 102.
When Davis found White unresponsive, he called to McIntosh, Harper
said. McIntosh rushed downstairs, he said.
In his statement to jail investigators, Davis said he saw White
"sitting on his cell floor in an upright position." McIntosh, too,
described White as "sitting on the floor by the bed in an upright
position, appearing to be unresponsive."
"I lightly tapped det. White in the chest area with my hand to check
for any responsiveness," McIntosh wrote, using shorthand for detainee.
"There was not any movement from det. White."
A nurse who arrived moments later wrote in her statement that White
was sitting on the floor, leaning against a toilet, "with his head
slumping to his chest area, saliva coming from his mouth." Guards used
a defibrillator to attempt to resuscitate him, she wrote.
White was loaded onto an ambulance, and a corrections officer rode
with him to a local hospital. The officer wrote that, following jail
protocol, he cuffed White's left foot and left wrist to the stretcher
as paramedics tried to revive him, without success. White, he wrote,
"arrived dead."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/08/AR2008110802448.html?hpid=topnews
FagPlayboyHughHefner
You'd expect this in D.C. (Dysfunctional City), but Prince George's
County ... ?
Well, the Police Department DOES have its murky moments, for sure.
Shoot first and cover up quickly ... that stuff.
But heads should roll in the White case. Don't count on it ...
------------------
" 'A Camera Malfunction'?"
"The circumstances surrounding the death of a Prince George's inmate
get murkier."
Thursday, November 13, 2008; A22
THE CONVOLUTED explanations given by the correctional officers in
charge of a Prince George's County inmate who died in June have taken
another turn toward the implausible. The officers who rushed into the
cell of 19-year-old inmate Ronnie L. White were required to record
their actions with a hand-held video camera. But, according to
confidential reports obtained by The Post, the camera did not record
the officers as they entered the cell or in the minutes that followed.
Only after Mr. White was removed on a stretcher did the camera start
rolling. Guards say there was a camera "malfunction." We're skeptical,
as are public safety experts we consulted.
In the 4 1/2 months since Mr. White's death, the correctional officers
have repeatedly undermined their assertions of innocence. First some
of the guards refused to cooperate with investigators. Then they gave
incomplete accounts of how they found Mr. White. Now they offer a too-
convenient story about an inoperative camera. It's time for the
officers to stop their defensive maneuvering and tell investigators
the full truth.
The Post's Aaron C. Davis and Ruben Castaneda reported that the
correctional officers used similar language when explaining the
camera's failure to record, a sign the officers may have coordinated
their responses. "This incident was partially videotaped due to
malfunction," one guard wrote, in a statement given to internal
investigators. "This incident was partially recorded due to a camera
malfunction," wrote another. Mr. White died in the jail in Upper
Marlboro on June 29, two days after he allegedly killed a police
officer. The autopsy report concluded that Mr. White was strangled;
law enforcement officials maintain that he committed suicide. There
have been conflicting reports about whether guards found a sheet in
Mr. White's cell. The correctional center where Mr. White died also
has a reputation for officer misconduct. An officer was accused of
supplying cellphones to inmates earlier this year, for example.
State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey, who is leading the investigation, has
been accused of moving slowly. He's right to proceed with caution,
even if doing so means having to convene a new grand jury. But he
should use every investigative tool at his disposal to break down the
guards' apparent stonewalling and determine once and for all how Mr.
White died.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/12/AR2008111202534.html
YosemiteSam
IF the deceased was actually guilty of the charge(s) for which he was
arrested, good riddance. IF the deceased was not guilty of those
charges...hang the friggin cop(s).
So, what are the details surrounding the departed Mr. White's arrest?
YS
EVIL KNEVIL
departed Mr. White's arrest?"
-----------------
Basic details of White's alleged crime(s) ...
White had been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Cpl.
Richard S. Findley. Findley had been leading an investigation into a
car theft ring when he pulled over a motorist in rural Maryland. As he
was climbing out of his police cruiser, he was struck by a pickup.
Police said they believed the truck was stolen and that White was the
man at the wheel.
They arrested White and three other men hours later at a nearby
apartment complex where the pickup was parked. Findley had been rushed
to a nearby hospital. He died a short time later from complications
related to massive head trauma.
White was taken to the county's Correctional Center in Upper Marlboro
and placed in a maximum security cell. Officials say he had passed a
medical and psychological evaluation before he entered the facility
early Saturday, and guards were checking on him every half-hour. At
10:15 a.m. Sunday, he was seen sitting on his bunk and seemed fine,
guards said. Fifteen minutes later, he was dead.
----------------
[read whole story]
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92103242
nicenips
STILL
Akneigh Wombuster
What's Paying For These Murders?
------------------
"In Pr. George's, Concern Over 2007 Inmate Death"
"Care of Man Hurt by Punch at Issue"
By Ruben Castaneda
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 5, 2008; B01
Demetri R. Stover was in the Prince George's County, Md., jail
awaiting trial on charges he stole $60 worth of merchandise from a
grocery store when another inmate punched him. Stover fell to the
ground. He was found convulsing in his cell less than four hours
later; within a week, he was dead.
But as authorities sought to prosecute the inmate who hit Stover,
evidence emerged that Stover's subsequent treatment at the jail might
have contributed to his death. Stover, 46, was evaluated and released
from the medical ward in about five minutes.
The inmate who punched him, Octuan Gant, was initially charged with
manslaughter but pleaded guilty to second-degree assault. He is to be
sentenced today.
His attorney said in court that he and the prosecution "agree the
facts would not show that the injury resulting in [Stover's] death was
directly linked to the conduct of the defendant."
"The evidence would have shown other actions by the emergency response
team and by medical personnel that were the direct link," attorney
Michael D. Beach said.
Beach did not elaborate. Prosecutors did not dispute his claim. Both
sides have since declined to comment on Beach's assertion.
A video recording of the Aug. 17, 2007, incident shows that the guards
who tended to Stover, 46, after the assault handled him roughly as
they took him to the medical ward. The video shows that Stover's
evaluation lasted about five minutes.
"He did not get the right medical treatment," Stover's mother, Mary
Fulwood, said yesterday. "I believe if he had gotten the medical
treatment he needed, it would have been a different story. But he
didn't, and that hurts me. What can you do in five minutes?"
Vernon Herron, the county's director of public safety, said Stover was
examined by nurses with Correctional Medical Services, a county
contractor.
"It is of great concern to us that Mr. Stover later died as a result
of his injuries, and we have met with CMS and conveyed those concerns
to them," Herron said in a statement.
A spokesman for the company declined to comment, citing patient
confidentiality.
For reasons involving liability, the team of guards that responds to
emergencies at the county jail is supposed to use a hand-held camera
to document its actions. The recording of the Stover incident was
reviewed by The Washington Post.
It shows Stover lying facedown on the ground, arms behind his back, as
guards enter the housing unit. At one point, Stover wails in pain as a
guard appears to press his left knee into the back of Stover's head or
neck. The guards handcuff Stover and escort him away.
Next, Stover disappears behind a doorway. The guards, still in the
frame, appear to shove him. A thud can be heard.
Stover is one of 16 inmates who have died at the jail since 2000.
Nearly half of those deaths were homicides and suicides, putting the
jail's mortality rate above those of some big cities, according to
state and federal records.
The dead include Ronnie L. White, who was found asphyxiated in his
cell in June, less than 48 hours after he was charged with murdering a
police officer. His death has been ruled a homicide. A county grand
jury is investigating.
Stover is not the only person jail officials have failed to treat for
a head injury. On Nov. 1, Cpl. Onur Cinar, a jail officer, was struck
by an inmate, fell to the ground and hit his head on the floor,
according to court documents.
Although Cinar reported feeling dizzy, supervisors did not summon
paramedics. Hours later, a fellow officer drove Cinar to a hospital,
where he was treated and released. Three days after the attack,
relatives found Cinar unconscious at his home. He was hospitalized in
an intensive care unit and not released for 10 days.
Last year, Stover, who had a history of arrests for theft and drug
possession, was in jail awaiting trial on theft charges. Gant, then
31, was awaiting trial on assault charges. Those charges were later
dropped.
A little before 9 p.m. Aug. 18, Gant accused Stover of taking a
doughnut from underneath Gant's bunk, charging documents say. Gant
slugged Stover in the mouth. Stover went down, hitting his head on the
cement floor, the documents say.
The video shows about 10 members of the response team lining up behind
a door outside housing unit H-1. The officers enter the unit to find
Stover and Gant both lying facedown, their hands behind their backs.
Two officers immediately go to Stover. As one appears to put his left
knee into the back of Stover's head or neck, Stover begins to wail.
Another officer is heard to say, "Shut the [expletive] up."
Stover and Gant are led to the infirmary. The camera is turned to a
sergeant, who says Stover is not being cooperative. "No physical force
other than pressure points has been used," the sergeant says.
The sergeant says the inmates arrived at the medical ward at 8:55 p.m.
"It appears detainee Stover may have lacerations on his mouth. Not
sure yet," he says. "The nurse is going to check him out."
Later, Stover appears in profile as he is led from the infirmary, and
a large bump is clearly visible on the back of his head. The video
shows officers escorting Stover and Gant to separate cells in another
housing unit, and each is strip-searched off-camera. The camera turns
to the sergeant, who gives the time as 9:07.
About 3 1/2 hours later, officers found Stover convulsing in his cell.
He was flown by helicopter to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in
Baltimore.
Stover died Aug. 24, 2007. Medical examiners ruled that he died of
head injuries and declared his death a homicide.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/04/AR2008120403725.html
FudgePakinMama
"Law-Enforcement" Again Thumbs Nose At Justice and Honesty.
------------------
"Grand Jury Disbands Without Indictment in Prisoner's Killing"
By Aaron C. Davis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 13, 2008; B03
A Prince George's County grand jury hearing evidence in the June
slaying of an inmate who was accused of killing a police officer has
completed its term without issuing an indictment, prosecutors said
yesterday.
State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey sought to downplay the development. He
said the investigation into the death of Ronnie White, 19, is
continuing and that a new grand jury has been empaneled and will hear
evidence in the case.
"It's not that significant," Ivey said. "It's actually pretty routine"
to present cases to consecutive grand juries.
Sources familiar with the investigation, speaking on condition of
anonymity because grand jury proceedings are secret, said the last
grand jury heard testimony from jail guards who are under suspicion in
White's death, a state medical examiner and other witnesses. Their
sworn statements could be presented to the new grand jury, or they
could be called to testify again.
Citing the secrecy rules, Ivey declined to comment on whether he
sought any indictments from the grand jury that has disbanded. WJLA
TV-7 reported yesterday that the jury had declined to issue an
indictment.
However, the Maryland State Police and the FBI have not completed
their investigations into White's killing, Ivey said.
Two guards who were assigned to the maximum-security unit where White
died, Cpl. Anthony McIntosh and Cpl. Ramon Davis, were placed on leave
in September. Without publicly naming them, county officials said the
Maryland State Police had identified them as "the focus" of the police
investigation.
"The key is what the ultimate result will be and whether, I would say,
it's a right result," Ivey said.
White was at the jail for just over 36 hours, charged with first-
degree murder in the death of Cpl. Richard S. Findley. A medical
examiner found that White had been strangled.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/12/AR2008121203696.html
Kyle Schwitters
-----------------------------
"Father Seeks Resolution Months After Son Dies"
By Avis Thomas-Lester
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 23, 2008; B02
The father of a 19-year-old inmate killed in June at the Prince
George's County jail rallied supporters yesterday to demand that
someone be held accountable in the slaying.
"It's been six months, and still nobody can tell me who killed my son
or what happened leading up to his death," Ron Harris said. "I want to
know why there is still so much secrecy in this case and why, after
all this time, I still don't have answers."
Harris also questioned whether, as police allege, his son was driving
the truck that fatally struck Officer Richard S. Findley. Ronnie L.
White, charged with first-degree murder, was awaiting a court hearing
in the case when he was found unconscious in his cell June 29. The
state medical examiner's office ruled that he had been strangled.
Harris said people in the neighborhood where Findley was struck said
White was not driving the truck. Harris declined to provide the names
of witnesses.
In an interview later, State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey said, "All the
evidence I've seen suggests that Ronnie White was the driver, but I
promised Mr. Harris personally that I would review this matter, and I
am."
Court records show that an officer with Findley at the time of the
incident, Kelvin Scruggs, identified White as the driver.
Police have said that Findley, 39, and Scruggs were watching a
suspected stolen Ford F-150 pickup truck in the 14700 block of Laurel-
Bowie Road when two men got into the truck. When Findley approached,
the driver floored the vehicle and headed toward him. Findley was hit
and dragged but managed to fire shots that struck the hood and window.
Police have identified the passenger as Gerald Wright, 42, and have
said he was struck.
Harris's attorney, Julie Heiden, said Harris is demanding details
because he is trying to piece together his son's last hours.
"He can't sleep. He's constantly thinking about those 36 hours," she
said. "We are looking for a full investigation of the incidents on
Findley's death that led to the arrest of Ronnie White."
Ivey said he could not discuss details of the cases while the
investigation into White's death continues.
Harris said he also questions why White was identified as Findley's
killer when, according to a charging document filed in the case, a
lookout described the driver as 25 to 30 years old with black
dreadlocks. White was 19 and wore his hair short, Harris said.
"My son died in solitary confinement in a jail," Harris said. "They
know who was working in the unit where he was that day. The doors were
locked, and only a few people had keys. Yet, after all this time, they
say they don't have enough evidence to know who did it? Why not?"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/22/AR2008122202269.html
Youwang Wang
Ol' Grand Bag
Bowolov Colostomsky
Prince George's County Jail gaining an "unresponsive" reputation!
------------------
"No Sign of Trauma Is Found After Inmate Dies"
By Ruben Castaneda
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 26, 2009; B08
A 33-year-old inmate at the Prince George's County jail died early
yesterday after his cellmate found him unresponsive in his bed,
authorities said.
County police said in a news release that there was no evidence of
trauma or foul play. The cause of the inmate's death was listed
yesterday as pending, meaning a physical examination of the body at
the state medical examiner's office was inconclusive.
Jail officials know of no preexisting condition that might explain the
death of Charles R. Cooper, a Cheverly resident who was scheduled to
be tried yesterday on attempted-murder and other charges, said Michon
Parker, a spokeswoman for the county Department of Corrections.
The jail in Upper Marlboro has come under scrutiny since the death in
June of a 19-year-old inmate who was accused of killing a police
officer. The medical examiner found that Ronnie L. White was
asphyxiated and ruled the death a homicide. No one has been charged.
Cooper's cellmate tried to wake him for breakfast about 3:30 a.m.,
Parker said. Unable to rouse Cooper, the cellmate called for help.
Efforts by jail officials and paramedics to revive him were
unsuccessful. Cooper was pronounced dead at Prince George's Hospital
Center shortly after 5 a.m.
Cooper's medical history is part of the police investigation into his
death.
The cellmate reported hearing Cooper make a "gurgling" sound during
the night, said a jail employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity
because he has not been authorized to grant interviews.
According to charging documents, Cooper broke into an apartment in
Greenbelt in August, threatened the occupants with a handgun and
demanded money and drugs. One of the occupants took the handgun from
Cooper, but Cooper regained control of the gun and fired into the
victim's abdomen, the documents allege.
In addition to attempted murder, the charges against Cooper included
first-degree assault and robbery with a deadly weapon.
According to Circuit Court records, prosecutors were prepared to use
DNA evidence against Cooper.
Robert McGowan, Cooper's attorney, said he met with Cooper at the jail
Monday to discuss a plea offer that would have required him to plead
guilty to attempted murder and a handgun violation in exchange for a
sentence of 50 years. Cooper said nothing about feeling despondent and
was considering the offer, McGowan said.
"He just said, 'Okay, if this is what it is, this is what it is,'"
said McGowan, an assistant public defender.
In jail, Cooper was taking classes toward a high school diploma,
authorities said. Efforts to locate Cooper's relatives yesterday were
unsuccessful.
Sixteen inmates have died in custody at the jail in recent years,
nearly half in homicides and suicides, The Washington Post reported in
August. The jail reported nine deaths from 2000 through 2005. Most of
Maryland's jails reported few or no deaths during that period, The
Post reported.
The Prince George's jail has 1,500 inmates, most awaiting trial or
serving short sentences.
[Staff writer Aaron C. Davis and staff researcher Meg Smith
contributed to this report.]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/25/AR2009022501989.html
Nancing Prancer
Fictitious Assault "Case" Tossed Out As Officers Are Hoist By Their
Own (Video) Petard!
----------------
"Video Sinks Case Against Man Held in Police Assault"
"Charges Dropped; Pr. George's Starts Probe"
By Ruben Castaneda
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 28, 2009; B01
Charges against a man accused of assaulting two Prince George's County
police officers during an October traffic stop were dropped yesterday
after the defense attorney gave prosecutors a video recording that
does not support the arresting officer's allegations.
County police launched an internal investigation into the officers'
actions after a reporter who reviewed the video asked about
discrepancies between it and the arresting officer's account.
A camera mounted in a police cruiser captured much of the
confrontation between the officers -- John Wynkoop and Scott Wilson --
and motorist Rafael A. Rodriguez, although a portion of the
confrontation occurred off-camera.
The video does not show Rodriguez, 30, assaulting either officer. The
audio captured one of the officers mocking the Latino driver's accent
moments before the confrontation.
Assistant State's Attorney Stacey M. Cobb dropped two counts of second-
degree assault against Rodriguez on the same day he was scheduled to
go on trial. Cobb offered no explanation, and she declined to comment
later.
Wynkoop and Wilson did not respond to messages left at their
workplaces.
Maj. Andrew J. Ellis, a police spokesman, confirmed that an internal
investigation has begun. "One of the purposes of having in-car cameras
is to ensure officers follow proper procedures," he said.
In a sworn statement of charges, Wynkoop wrote that shortly after 8
p.m. Oct. 19, on Greenbelt Road in College Park, he was trying to cite
Rodriguez for having illegal blue lights on his Geo Prizm. The officer
wrote that Rodriguez refused the citation and said, "You can't handle
me, and you don't want me out of the car."
"This officer then opened the driver side door and asked the driver to
step out of the vehicle at which time the driver struck this officer
with a closed fist," Wynkoop wrote.
Wynkoop wrote that he pulled Rodriguez out of the car and handcuffed
one of his wrists. Rodriguez then "became enraged," the officer wrote,
assaulting him and Wilson. Rodriguez continued the assault even after
Wilson used pepper spray on him, Wynkoop wrote.
The video, subpoenaed by the defense, shows Wynkoop and Wilson sitting
in Wynkoop's cruiser after pulling Rodriguez over.
At one point, one of the officers -- it is not clear which one --
appears to mock Rodriguez by using an exaggerated accent as he repeats
the suspect's assertion that another officer had told him that the
blue-tinted lights on his car were permitted.
At another point, Wilson asks Wynkoop how he knows so much about
traffic law. Wynkoop responds that he previously worked for the Metro
Transit Police.
"Me and the chief butted heads," Wynkoop said. "It got so bad she sent
me to hug-a-thug classes every year. How many hug-a-thug classes can
you go to?"
The two officers eventually walk back to the Geo Prizm. Wynkoop goes
to the driver's side door and tells Rodriguez that he is issuing him a
citation.
In accented English, Rodriguez, a permanent legal resident originally
from El Salvador, responds, "I don't like your attitude."
The video shows Wynkoop ordering Rodriguez to turn off the car engine
and get out of the vehicle. Rodriguez does not immediately do so, and
Wynkoop opens the door and pulls him out. Rodriguez does not appear to
strike either officer.
Wynkoop slams Rodriguez against the car and handcuffs one hand.
Suddenly, Wilson pepper-sprays Rodriguez -- but also Wynkoop, who
cries out, "I can't see, dude!"
The three men go out of camera range, then Rodriguez comes back and
sits down near his car. Seconds later, Wynkoop returns, grabs
Rodriguez by the shoulders and slams him against the Prizm. At this
point, Wilson strikes Rodriguez several times in the head with his
retractable police baton.
The three men again go out of camera range, and Rodriguez is heard
repeatedly crying, "Don't kill me!"
A Berwyn Heights police officer arrives.
In an interview, Rodriguez said he begged the Berwyn Heights officer
to aim a gun at him so the Prince George's officers would stop beating
him.
Rodriguez said he was disappointed that his case didn't go to trial.
"I'd like the judge to see the videotape to see how I acted and how
the officers behaved," Rodriguez said.
Nancing Prancer
Commonplace ...
--------------
"In Baltimore, No One Left to Press the Police"
By David Simon
Sunday, March 1, 2009; B01
BALTIMORE In the halcyon days when American newspapers were feared
rather than pitied, I had the pleasure of reporting on crime in the
prodigiously criminal environs of Baltimore. The city was a wonderland
of chaos, dirt and miscalculation, and loyal adversaries were many.
Among them, I could count police commanders who felt it was their duty
to demonstrate that crime never occurred in their precincts, desk
sergeants who believed that they had a right to arrest and detain
citizens without reporting it and, of course, homicide detectives and
patrolmen who, when it suited them, argued convincingly that to
provide the basic details of any incident might lead to the escape of
some heinous felon. Everyone had very good reasons for why nearly
every fact about a crime should go unreported.
In response to such flummery, I had in my wallet, next to my Baltimore
Sun press pass, a business card for Chief Judge Robert F. Sweeney of
the Maryland District Court, with his home phone number on the back.
When confronted with a desk sergeant or police spokesman convinced
that the public had no right to know who had shot whom in the 1400
block of North Bentalou Street, I would dial the judge.
And then I would stand, secretly delighted, as yet another police
officer learned not only the fundamentals of Maryland's public
information law, but the fact that as custodian of public records, he
needed to kick out the face sheet of any incident report and open his
arrest log to immediate inspection. There are civil penalties for
refusing to do so, the judge would assure him. And as chief judge of
the District Court, he would declare, I may well invoke said penalties
if you go further down this path.
Delays of even 24 hours? Nope, not acceptable. Requiring written
notification from the newspaper? No, the judge would explain. Even
ordinary citizens have a right to those reports. And woe to any fool
who tried to suggest to His Honor that he would need a 30-day state
Public Information Act request for something as basic as a face sheet
or an arrest log.
"What do you need the thirty days for?" the judge once asked a police
spokesman on speakerphone.
"We may need to redact sensitive information," the spokesman offered.
"You can't redact anything. Do you hear me? Everything in an initial
incident report is public. If the report has been filed by the
officer, then give it to the reporter tonight or face contempt charges
tomorrow."
The late Judge Sweeney, who'd been named to his post in the early
1970s, when newspapers were challenging the Nixonian model of imperial
governance, kept this up until 1996, when he retired. I have few
heroes left, but he still qualifies.
To be a police reporter in such a climate was to be a prince of the
city, and to be a citizen of such a city was to know that you were not
residing in a police state. But no longer -- not in Baltimore and, I
am guessing, not in any city where print journalism spent the 1980s
and '90s taking profits and then, in the decade that followed,
impaling itself on the Internet.
In January, a new Baltimore police spokesman -- a refugee from the
Bush administration -- came to the incredible conclusion that the city
department could decide not to identify those police officers who shot
or even killed someone. (Similar policies have been established by
several other police departments in the United States as well as by
the FBI.)
Anthony Guglielmi, the department's director of public affairs,
informed Baltimoreans that, henceforth, Police Commissioner Frederick
Bealefeld would decide unilaterally whether citizens would know the
names of those who had used their weapons on civilians. If they did
something illegal or unwarranted -- in the commissioner's judgment --
they would be named. Otherwise, the Baltimore department would no
longer regard the decision to shoot someone as the sort of
responsibility for which officers might be required to stand before
the public.
As justification for this change, Bealefeld, in a letter to the City
Council, cited 23 threats in 2008 against his officers. Police union
officials further wheeled out the example of the only Baltimore police
officer killed as an act of revenge for a police-involved shooting --
a 2001 case in which the officer was seen by happenstance in a Dundalk
bar, then stalked and murdered.
Bealefeld didn't mention that not one of the 23 threats against
officers came in response to any use of lethal force. Nor did he
acknowledge that 23 threats against a 3,000-officer force in a year is
an entirely routine number; that the number of such threats hasn't
grown over the past several years, according to sources within the
department.
And union officials were comfortable raising the 2001 case without
being forced to acknowledge that the officer in that instance most
probably would have been killed had no newspaper ever printed his
name; he had testified in open court against the relatives of those
who later encountered him at the bar and killed him. So the case has
scant relevance to the change in policy.
The commissioner was allowed to stand on half-truths. Why? Because the
Baltimore Sun's cadre of police reporters -- the crime beat used to
carry four and five different bylines -- has been thinned to the point
where no one was checking Bealefeld's statements or those of his
surrogates.
On Feb. 17, when a 29-year-old officer responded to a domestic dispute
in East Baltimore, ended up fighting for her gun and ultimately shot
an unarmed 61-year-old man named Joseph Alfonso Forrest, the Sun
reported the incident, during which Forrest died, as a brief item. It
did not name the officer, Traci McKissick, or a police sergeant who
later arrived at the scene to aid her and who also shot the man.
It didn't identify the pair the next day, either, because the Sun ran
no full story on the shooting, as if officers battling for their
weapons and unarmed 61-year-old citizens dying by police gunfire are
no longer the grist of city journalism. At which point, one old police
reporter lost his mind and began making calls.
No, the police spokesman would not identify the officers, and for more
than 24 hours he would provide no information on whether either one of
them had ever been involved in similar incidents. And that's the rub,
of course. Without a name, there's no way for anyone to evaluate an
officer's performance independently, to gauge his or her effectiveness
and competence, to know whether he or she has shot one person or 10.
It turns out that McKissick -- who is described as physically
diminutive -- had had her gun taken from her once before. In 2005,
police sources said, she was in the passenger seat of a suspect's car
as the suspect, who had not been properly secured, began driving away
from the scene. McKissick pulled her gun, the suspect grabbed for it
and a shot was fired into the rear seat. Eventually, the suspect got
the weapon and threw it out of the car; it was never recovered.
Charges were dropped on the suspect, according to his defense
attorney, Warren Brown, after Brown alleged in court that McKissick's
supervisors had rewritten reports, tailoring and sanitizing her
performance.
And so on Feb. 17, the same officer may have again drawn her weapon
only to find herself again at risk of losing the gun. The shooting may
be good and legally justified, and perhaps McKissick has sufficient
training and is a capable street officer. But in the new world of
Baltimore, where officers who take life are no longer named or subject
to public scrutiny, who can know?
In this instance, the Sun caught up on the story somewhat; I called
the editor and vented everything I'd learned about the earlier
incident. But had it relied on the unilateral utterances of
Baltimore's police officials, the Sun would have been told that
McKissick had been involved "in one earlier shooting. She was dragged
behind a car by a suspect and she fired one shot, which did not strike
anyone. The shooting was ruled justified."
That's the sanitized take that Guglielmi, the police spokesman,
offered on the 2005 incident. When I asked him for the date of that
event, with paperwork in front of him, he missed it by exactly six
months. An honest mistake? Or did he just want to prevent a reporter
from looking up public documents at the courthouse? (Attempts to reach
McKissick, who remains on administrative leave, were unsuccessful.)
Half-truths, obfuscations and apparent deceit -- these are the wages
of a world in which newspapers, their staffs eviscerated, no longer
battle at the frontiers of public information. And in a city where
officials routinely plead with citizens to trust the police, where
witnesses have for years been vulnerable to retaliatory violence, we
now have a once-proud department's officers hiding behind anonymity
that is not only arguably illegal under existing public information
laws, but hypocritical as well.
There is a lot of talk nowadays about what will replace the dinosaur
that is the daily newspaper. So-called citizen journalists and
bloggers and media pundits have lined up to tell us that newspapers
are dying but that the news business will endure, that this moment is
less tragic than it is transformational.
Well, sorry, but I didn't trip over any blogger trying to find out
McKissick's identity and performance history. Nor were any citizen
journalists at the City Council hearing in January when police
officials inflated the nature and severity of the threats against
officers. And there wasn't anyone working sources in the police
department to counterbalance all of the spin or omission.
I didn't trip over a herd of hungry Sun reporters either, but that's
the point. In an American city, a police officer with the authority to
take human life can now do so in the shadows, while his higher-ups can
claim that this is necessary not to avoid public accountability, but
to mitigate against a nonexistent wave of threats. And the last
remaining daily newspaper in town no longer has the manpower, the
expertise or the institutional memory to challenge any of it.
At one point last week, after the department spokesman denied me the
face sheet of the shooting report, I tried doing what I used to do: I
went to the Southeastern District and demanded the copy on file there.
When the desk officer refused to give it to me, I tried calling the
chief judge of the District Court. But Sweeney's replacement no longer
handles such business. It's been a while since any reporter asked,
apparently. So I tried to explain the Maryland statutes to the shift
commander, but so long had it been since a reporter had demanded a
public document that he stared at me as if I were an emissary from
some lost and utterly alien world.
Which is, sadly enough, exactly true.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022703591.html?sub=AR
Nancing Prancer
By Ruben Castaneda
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 3, 2009; B01
Two Prince George's County police officers who are seen on a police
videotape beating and pepper-spraying a Latino motorist during an
October traffic stop have been suspended from the police force,
officials said.
In a statement, Police Chief Roberto L. Hylton announced the
suspension of the officers, John Wynkoop and Scott Wilson, pending an
internal investigation. Wynkoop and Wilson, who charged the motorist
with assaulting them, have been suspended with pay, officials said.
Hylton said he ordered the investigation as soon as the incident was
brought to his attention Friday. Much of the encounter was captured by
a video camera mounted in Wynkoop's police cruiser. One of the
officers also is heard mocking Rodriguez's Spanish accent.
"This investigation will be conducted thoroughly, yet expeditiously,"
Hylton said in the statement, released Saturday night. "I ask the
public to withhold judgment on this incident until the completion of
our investigation." He said the probe's findings will be released
publicly.
County Council member William A. Campos (D-Hyattsville), whose
district includes many Latino residents, said in a statement that he
has confidence in Hylton "and his commitment to having the law
enforcement personnel act professionally to protect and serve all
citizens in the community regardless of their economic status, color
of their skin or language they speak."
Wynkoop and Wilson did not return phone calls to their workplaces last
week. Wynkoop did not return a call to his home yesterday.
The traffic stop occurred on Greenbelt Road in College Park shortly
after 8 p.m. Oct. 19. In sworn charging documents, Wynkoop said he
stopped Rafael A. Rodriguez, 30, a permanent legal resident from El
Salvador, for having illegal blue-tinted turn signal lights on his
car.
Wynkoop charged Rodriguez with two counts of assault. On Friday, when
Rodriguez was to go on trial, a county prosecutor dropped the charges
without explanation.
Wynkoop accused Rodriguez of punching him in the stomach with a closed
fist. He also alleged that an enraged Rodriguez assaulted him and
Wilson even after Wilson pepper-sprayed him.
The videotape, which was subpoenaed by defense attorney Terrell N.
Roberts III, shows Rodriguez questioning the citation, saying another
officer had told him his lights were legal. A reporter for The
Washington Post has viewed the tape.
The tape shows Wynkoop ordering Rodriguez to turn off the car's engine
and get out. Rodriguez does not immediately do so, and Wynkoop opens
the door and pulls him out. Rodriguez does not punch or attempt to
strike either officer on the tape.
Wynkoop slams Rodriguez against the car and handcuffs one of his
hands. Suddenly, Wilson pepper-sprays Rodriguez but also hits Wynkoop
with the spray, and Wynkoop cries out, "I can't see, dude!"
The three men go out of camera range, then Rodriguez returns and sits
down near his car while Wilson stands nearby. Seconds later, Wynkoop
returns, grabs Rodriguez by the shoulders and slams him against his
car. At that point, Wilson strikes Rodriguez several times in the head
with his retractable police baton.
The three men go out of camera range again, and Rodriguez is heard
repeatedly crying, "Don't kill me!"
In the moments before the encounter, Wynkoop and Wilson are audiotaped
sitting inside the police cruiser. Wynkoop says that when he worked
for Metro Transit Police, the chief sent him to "hug-a-thug" classes.
After Rodriguez's car was pulled over, but before the physical
altercation, one of the officers -- it is not clear which one -- is
heard mocking Rodriguez's Spanish accent.
Roberts, Rodriguez's attorney, said he does not have confidence in the
county police department's ability to police itself but said he will
allow Rodriguez to meet with internal affairs investigators in his
presence.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/02/AR2009030201210.html
Smilin' Ed
GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD, RIGHT?
--------------
Politician Charged With Impersonation
By Aaron C. Davis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 3, 2009; B02
Prince George's County police say they are investigating whether a
Fairmount Heights Town Council member has been impersonating a police
officer after he was arrested outside a crowded dance early Saturday
with a gun and bulletproof vest, police radio and several law
enforcement badges.
Nathaniel R. Mines Jr., 39, has served as an elected council member
for eight years in Fairmount Heights, which borders Northeast
Washington. He is charged with having a 9mm handgun in his vehicle and
telling county police that he is a member of the Fairmount Heights
Police Department. It is the second time since 1996 that Mines has
been charged with impersonating an officer; the first case in the
District was dropped.
Mines said in an interview yesterday that he was lawfully carrying a
badge and gun when he was arrested Saturday working security at a
Knights of Columbus hall where he is a member. Mines said he was
appointed Fairmount Heights police commissioner several years ago and
carries the badge to prove it. The handgun is registered in his name,
he said.
"I'm the police commissioner," he said. "I was sworn to oversee the
police department, and I still hold that position." The 1996 case, he
added, was a mix-up.
Prince George's police and Fairmount Heights Police Chief Wendell
Brantley disagree, however, that Mines can call himself the police
commissioner.
"There is only one appointed head of the police department, and that
is myself," Brantley said yesterday.
Maj. Andy Ellis, chief spokesman for Prince George's police, said the
department is seeking information from anyone who might have
interacted with Mines acting as a police officer.
"Anybody who thinks they may have been a victim of Mr. Mines, we're
asking to call our violent crimes unit," Ellis said. "We think this is
very serious."
Mines was arrested early Saturday after he encountered police officers
outside a go-go dance at the Knights of Columbus hall in the 1500
block of Southern Avenue in Temple Hills.
Ellis said officers became suspicious when Mines identified himself as
a member of the police department, because county officers did not
recognize him. They then noticed that he had red and blue police
lights mounted inside a black Cadillac Escalade that he was driving.
County police called Brantley, who told them Mines is not a police
officer but a council member, Ellis said.
In the Escalade, county police found four law enforcement badges,
including a federal "inaugural" badge, a Fairmount Heights police
badge, two bulletproof vests, a police radio and a siren, according to
the police report. The Escalade had a Fraternal Order of Police
license plate. However, when officers tried to check the registration,
it did not appear to be registered to anyone, sources said. Mines was
released Saturday on his own recognizance; his police paraphernalia
was seized, but the Escalade was not impounded.
In July 1996, Mines was charged with burglary and impersonating a
police officer after authorities said he pushed himself into a hotel
room, showed a stolen D.C. police badge to a prostitute and her
client, and then burglarized the room. Prosecutors dismissed the case
in 1998 for lack of evidence.
Mines said the burglar had impersonated him, stealing his reserve D.C.
police badge to commit the burglary.
[Staff writer Keith L. Alexander and staff researcher Meg Smith
contributed to this report.]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/02/AR2009030202461.html
Smilin' Ed
----------------
"Corrections Officer Is Charged With Rape"
By Jonathan Mummolo
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 3, 2009; B05
A Prince George's County corrections officer has been arrested and
charged with breaking into the Prince William County home of a woman
he knew and raping her, county police said yesterday.
John Hanna, 43, of Glen Burnie broke into the woman's house and
threatened her with a gun, police said. After being raped, the woman
went to a neighbor's house, where police were called shortly after 9
a.m. Sunday, police said.
Hanna was still in the woman's home when police arrived, and he was
arrested "without any problems," police said in a statement. He was
charged with burglary with intent to commit a felony, rape, use of a
firearm in the commission of a felony and abduction. He is being held
without bond and is due in court April 13.
The woman was treated at a hospital. Her medical status was unknown
last night.
Hanna, a corporal with Prince George's Department of Corrections, had
been on administrative leave with pay since Jan. 15 because of an
incident that took place at the jail, corrections spokeswoman Michon
Parker said. She declined to elaborate on the incident because it is
under investigation, but she said there have been no criminal charges
thus far.
Because of the recent charges in Prince William, Hanna's status has
been changed to suspended without pay, Parker said. She would not
comment on the recent allegations.
Hanna's arrest is the latest in a string of troubling incidents
connected to the Corrections Department in the past year. Authorities
are investigating the death of Ronnie L. White, an inmate found dead
in his cell in June, less than 48 hours after he was charged with
killing a county police officer. The state medical examiner ruled the
death a homicide. No one has been charged.
That same month, then-Department of Corrections Director Alfred J.
McMurray Sr. was fired two days after officials discovered that four
handguns were missing from the jail's armory. The handguns have not
been found.
Last March, three jail officers were suspended amid an investigation
into allegations that guards conspired to smuggle cellphones to
inmates. One of the guards was suspected of being a member of the
Bloods street gang, according to court papers.
[Staff writer Ruben Castaneda contributed to this report.]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/02/AR2009030202445.html
mediumTITS
-------------------
"Pr. George's Officer Faces Hearing in Handling of Cases"
By Aaron C. Davis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 5, 2009; B01
At least a dozen suspects in armed carjackings and robberies went free
or received vastly reduced sentences because a Prince George's County
police officer routinely failed to follow up on leads, interview
witnesses, file court paperwork or appear at trials, his former
supervisor said this week during a disciplinary hearing.
Cpl. Alphonso Hayes could face suspension, fines and demotion if an
administrative board of three fellow officers finds him guilty of the
charges. The officers, presiding over a hearing rich in the argot of
the courts, were expected to hear additional testimony this morning.
Several of the suspects whose cases that Hayes, 41, is accused of
mishandling later committed other crimes, including carjackings,
according to court records and testimony at the hearing.
The hearing in Hyattsville, which is open to the public, offers a rare
look at the relationships between police officers and prosecutors in a
county with one of the highest concentrations of violent crime in the
Washington area. In addition, Hayes's defense team has suggested that
difficulties in those relationships might extend beyond the cases he
handled.
Steven Sunday, who is representing Hayes, said that the officer is
being unfairly scrutinized for "routine procedural violations." Sunday
said that county detectives regularly fail to meet a requirement that
they get together with prosecutors within 30 days after a suspect's
arrest, a failure that is among the charges against Hayes.
Sunday, an attorney for the county police union, said that there is no
documentation proving that Hayes was aware of the court hearing or
trial appearances he is accused of missing. Testimony suggested that
records of whether officers have been notified of required court
appearances are not well kept.
Hayes's former supervisor, Sgt. Gerard Manley, testified that Hayes
was placed on desk duty late in 2005 and transferred out of the
department's carjacking unit when Manley began building a case against
him. At some point, after Hayes became aware that he was under
scrutiny, cabinets full of his files disappeared, Manley said.
"I think you'll have a hard time finding any of the case files that
Cpl. Hayes worked on," Manley told the board of three officers.
Sunday did not address that issue. Hayes, who was not charged in
connection with the missing files, did not testify.
The hearing, which started Tuesday and is expected to end today, has
focused largely on cases that Hayes worked on from 2004 to 2006 while
in the department's carjacking unit. He faces 15 counts of failing to
follow up investigations, failing to attend to duty, failing to appear
in court and failing to screen a felony case or warrant. Hayes's
promotion to sergeant is also in the balance; it's been held in
abeyance since the allegations were made in 2006.
Maj. Andy Ellis, chief spokesman for the Prince George's police
department, said the case is unusual because it took so long to reach
a hearing. He attributed the delay in part to motions by both sides
and to the fact that some of the allegations surfaced after the
initial charges were made.
The elapsed time was an issue for both sides, according to testimony.
Officers struggled to remember dates, reports and conversations.
Among the witnesses was Fissha Eshete, a Hyattsville resident who was
beaten with a metal pipe during a carjacking involving four men in
2005. Eshete, 62, testified that he tried repeatedly to get Hayes to
focus on the case, in which Hayes was the lead detective.
Sunday appeared to suggest that Eshete's overseas travel had
complicated the investigation. Eshete said he gave the officer a phone
number where he could be reached in Ethiopia.
Eshete said Hayes did not show him a photo lineup of potential
suspects for 11 months. By that time, Eshete said, although he had
gotten a good look at his attackers, he could identify only one of the
men in the lineup.
Anthony Cannon, another suspect in Eshete's beating, was not charged
in the case. He was, however, convicted in a string of subsequent
carjackings. Manley testified that Cannon had been suspected in at
least 30 carjackings, most of them armed, in the months after Eshete
was attacked.
Although some of the suspects were convicted after another detective
took over the case, Eshete appeared agitated about how long it took to
resolve it. He ended his testimony by saying: "Is that it? Okay, then
don't call me anymore."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/04/AR2009030403517.html
Ol' Grand Bag's 'Other Woman'
lapable
------------
To his mother, no less!
------------
"Pr. George's Judge Defends Release of Murder Suspect"
By Ruben Castaneda
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 11, 2009; B01
According to police, Sean Sykes and an accomplice stabbed a man in
Prince George's County last month and then threatened to kill a
witness who saw them dragging the victim out of an apartment building.
Sykes was arrested, charged with second-degree murder and held on $1.5
million bond.
But when Sykes, 18, appeared in court last week, a judge took an
unusual step: He released Sykes to the custody of his mother.
Yesterday, District Court Judge Hassan A. El-Amin defended his
decision and denounced the Maryland judicial system's method of
determining whether and under what conditions defendants are released
before trial. El-Amin said the vast majority of defendants, even those
charged with murder and other serious crimes, appear at bond hearings
without an attorney, as Sykes did.
"Our whole bond system is problematical," El-Amin said in an
interview. "It's barely constitutional."
A spokesman for State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey said prosecutors will
file a motion challenging the judge's decision.
"You might send a school kid home with his mother for playing 'hooky'
or acting up in school," spokesman Ramon Korionoff said in a
statement. "But for murder, where the original bond was $1.5 million,
with the co-defendant threatening the witness to keep the witness
quiet and where the witness lived in the same apartment complex, it
ought to be another story."
District Court judges in Prince George's rarely release murder
defendants before trial. The few who are released usually post a high
bond -- generally no less than $500,000.
In setting bond, judges are supposed to consider the safety of the
community and whether the defendant is likely to flee. About a dozen
friends and relatives were in court to support Sykes on Thursday; El-
Amin said he was convinced that Sykes was neither a danger nor a
flight risk.
"I take the presumption of innocence very seriously," El-Amin said. "I
read between the lines and listen to the voices."
Sykes is charged in the slaying of Rene R. Belasco, 24.
Shortly before midnight Feb. 24, police went to an apartment building
in the 1100 block of Kennebec Street in Oxon Hill. Police found
Belasco on the sidewalk, suffering from stab wounds. He died at a
hospital.
A witness identified Sykes as one of the two men who dragged Belasco
from the apartment building, according to a charging document. The men
threatened the life of the witness if the witness talked to police,
according to the document.
The witness picked Sykes and the second suspect, Wysan R. Longstreet,
from photo arrays, the charging document alleges. Police are looking
for Longstreet, authorities said.
Attempts to find a phone number for relatives of Belasco's were
unsuccessful.
El-Amin, who was appointed to the bench in 2000, estimated that 85
percent of the defendants who appear before him at bond hearings are
not represented by an attorney. That makes it harder, sometimes
impossible, for defendants to get a fair hearing, he said.
"Half the time, defendants say, 'I'd like to be heard,' and judges
tell them not to say anything because they might incriminate
themselves," El-Amin said.
The state public defender's office takes the position that staffing
all bond hearings and earlier appearances, before court commissioners,
would be a poor use of resources. The state's highest court is
expected to rule this year on whether the right to counsel extends to
those proceedings.
[Staff writer Dan Morse contributed to this report.]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/10/AR2009031003497.html