Statewide CopWatch Blotter

By Scott Henson

A lot's going on around the state on the police accountability front. What follows are brief updates on some of the most important developments:

Forrest Hill protesters still angry after court ruling

A Tarrant County district judge ruled in December that protests against police misconduct may continue, but placed restrictions on blocking traffic and forbade them from disrupting Forrest Hill City Council meetings.

Since September civil rights activists and concerned citizens staged a half-dozen protests against the Forrest Hill Police Department. Forrest Hill is a suburb southeast of Fort Worth. Groups involved include the Tarrant County Local Organizing Committee and the Coalition for the Advancement of Civil Rights.

Protesters blocked traffic by walking very slowly, inching along, at designated crosswalks en masse. Police say protesters blocked an emergency vehicle en route to a call, but protesters deny that.

Police and federal investigators are examining about 25 complaints related to police brutality, harassment,rudeness, and failure to provide medical treatment to prisoners in custody. City officials and protest leaders signed an agreement October 23 in which the city agreed to address these concerns, but community leaders say city officials aren't moving quickly enough and protests have continued.

South Texas police chief fired, sentenced for lying

Pay close attention to the details of police misconduct and you see some pretty weird stuff. Few cases get weirder than that of fired Lyford, Texas Police Chief Joseph "Sure Shot" Leal, sentenced by a district judge in December to eight years probation after he lied to lawmen about being ambushed by drug dealers on a Willacy County country road.

An investigation by the Texas Rangers and the Willacy County Sheriff's Department traced the slug to the chief's own gun: He shot himself, in other words, then lied to the police. And despite presumed training as a peace officer Chief Leal didn't think to use a weapon untraceable to him or to throw the gun in the ocean. We're not talking here,folks, about the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Leal plead guilty to giving a false statement and concealing a weapon. His sentence included permanent suspension of his Texas law enforcement license and attending two years of mandatory psychological counseling.This bizarre incident left the small South Texas town without a police force of any type. Two investigators quit because they feared they'd be retaliated against for pursuing a case against their boss. The only other two sworn officers have both taken employment elsewhere, leaving no one to mind the store.

Soccer Mom's arrest sparks U.S. Supreme Court review

God bless the angry soccer moms!

Gail Atwater, a Lago Vista doctor's wife, sued the Lago Vista police department after Officer Bart Turek stopped her on the way home from her child's soccer practice for failure to wear a seat belt. He arrested Atwater, handcuffed her behind her back in front of her two children and hauled her to jail on the seat belt violation alone!But this time they harassed the wrong person, because Mrs. Atwater and her husband financed appeal after appeal until the U.S. Supremes took the case this month. You can read the appeals court brief that went against her and two dissents in her favor at http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/98/98-50302-CV2.HTM, and an amicus brief on her behalf by the ACLU at http://www.aclu.org/court/atwater.html. In early December the Supreme Court heard oral arguments and will reach a decision in the coming months.

In Texas police officers are authorized to arrest anyone at a traffic stop for any violation except speeding, granting officers unbelievable power during those specific interactions with citizens. They rarely do so because there's no point and it would become an administrative nightmare to process them all. But Texas law gives officers that authority.

At a traffic stop, basically, the cop is god almighty under Texas law, and you are his plaything. Cops can even arrest people, like Mrs. Atwater, whose alleged crimes don't carry a jail sentence. All they have to do is show"probable cause" that any criminal violation, no matter how insignificant, occurred. Jaywalking, a broken taillight,expired inspection stickers, California stops at empty intersections- any of these minor violations can justify your arrest at the discretion of the individual officer.

Whether or not Mrs. Atwater wins her case, the Texas Legislature should change this totalitarian law to disallow arrests solely for non-serious traffic offenses. This case gets noticed because a white doctor's wife was subjected to humiliation and false imprisonment. But for every Gail Atwater who goes to court, hundreds of less fortunate or less courageous people endure this kind of selective, disgraceful treatment with no recourse.

La Resistencia in Houston calls on DA to drop charges

On December 3, 2000, La Resistencia issued a call for the Houston District Attorney to drop pending perjury charges against Rogelio Oregon, brother of Pedro Oregon who was shot to death by Houston police officers in 1998.

The following excerpts came from La Resistencia's public statement:

"Who are the real criminals? Let's look at the facts in this case:

1) Six cops broke down Pedro's door and fired 33 shots at him- 12 bullets hit Pedro, 9 in the back! One cop even reloaded;

2) Pedro was unarmed and no drugs were ever found in his apartment;

3) Only one cop was tried for anything in the state courts- a misdemeanor trespass charge- and he was acquitted;

4) In 1999, a federal grand jury indicted two of the cops for depriving a person of his civil rights by unlawful entry. In April of this year, Judge Nancy Atlas dismissed even these pitiful indictments;

5) Immediately after the charges against the cops were thrown out, the state charged Rogelio with three counts of perjury, two of which are felony charges;

6) After 2 years of promises and maneuvering, none of these murdering cops have ever been charged with Pedro's murder!"

La Resistencia's efforts were unsuccessful. Rogelio Oregon entered into a plea agreement soon after this statement was released rather than risk two felony convictions. But given that no crime was found to be taking place in the Oregon home, charging a witness with felony perjury amounts to major overkill. Without a plea, Rogelio Oregon risked prison time over charges that he committed perjury in an investigation where no criminal activity was alleged by the cops! By comparison the Lyford chief of police (see above) received only probation for lying about his own actually illegal activities.

Houston police accountability activists say charges against Rogelio Oregon were thinly veiled CYA efforts to discredit a witness against killer cops and head off potential civil litigation. Pedro Oregon's six killers remain on the payroll of the Houston Police Department. Prosecuting the family of their victim serves no one's interests except those with something to cover up.

Hampton University lawsuit vs. Lubbock police thrown out

If you're looking for satisfaction after being victimized by the cops, the Texas federal courts aren't a very receptive forum to air your complaints, and our appeals court in New Orleans is worse. That's why it should come as no surprise that the 5th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit by Hampton University and its women's basketball coach alleging civil rights violations by the Lubbock Police Department.

The lawsuit derived from a much-publicized incident where in 1998 the Lubbock police arrested Hampton coach Patricia Bibbs, her husband, and an assistant coach on suspicion of running a scam operation. Bibbs and her co-plaintiffs say they were targeted because they were black. Either way it turned out to be a case of mistaken identity- the coach was in town only for a game against the Texas Tech Lady Raiders.

The case garnered national attention when the plaintiffs hired attorney Johnnie Cochran. But he and State Senator Royce West dropped out, leaving Texas NAACP chief and Austinite Gary Bledsoe as the losing attorney of record.