http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/27/international/europe/27italy.html

 

Italians Angry Over Inquiry on Iraq Death

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL

International Herald Tribune

 

Published: April 27, 2005

 

OME, April 26 - Tensions between the United States and Italy surged Tuesday, as Italian politicians and citizens reacted furiously to leaked reports in the Italian news media that a joint investigation into the shooting death of an Italian agent in Baghdad would absolve American soldiers of guilt in the incident.

 

The United States ambassador to Rome, Mel Sembler, met twice with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his top aide at the government's headquarters to try to avert a crisis that could cost the United States one of its staunchest European allies in the Iraq conflict.

 

Mr. Berlusconi has kept 3,000 Italian troops in Iraq, even though Italy's involvement is wildly unpopular here. The news that the inquiry might absolve the American soldiers of all guilt comes at an extremely vulnerable moment for the beleaguered Mr. Berlusconi, who was forced to resign temporarily last week; he has since formed a new and tenuous coalition government.

 

On Tuesday, in a speech before Parliament, Mr. Berlusconi insisted that the investigation into the death of the intelligence agent, Nicola Calipari, was not finished, and criticized the news reports as "unfortunate indiscretion." The speech had been intended to highlight Mr. Berlusconi's economic plans for Italy.

 

"The government will talk only at the opportune moment, when the investigation is finished," he said. "The committee was formed to find out the truth, to give justice to the hero Calipari, to whom we bow. Our representatives are working well."

 

The findings of the investigating team, which includes an Italian general and an Italian ambassador, have not yet been released. But on Sunday and Monday, unidentified Army officials in the United States described some of its conclusions to reporters, setting off the imbroglio.

 

According to these accounts, the investigators found that the American soldiers who shot at a car carrying Mr. Calipari and an Italian journalist, Giuliana Sgrena, on the road to Baghdad's airport had generally followed standard procedures and instructions.

 

The two Italian members of the team returned to Rome from Baghdad on Saturday night, although it was not clear if they had come back in protest or for routine consultations.

 

United States officials here in Rome sought to play down the leaks about the investigation, also saying the two sides were still working on the report. "We have not abandoned hope for a combined report," said an official with the American Embassy here. "But there's some more work that needs to be done before that's going to happen,"

 

Mr. Calipari was returning to Baghdad in a car on March 4 after securing the release of Ms. Sgrena, who had been kidnapped by insurgents. The car was peppered with bullets as it approached a temporary American military checkpoint, killing Mr. Calipari and wounding Ms. Sgrena and two other intelligence agents.

 

After the killing, the United States and Italian governments agreed to conduct a joint investigation, because accounts of witnesses - including the journalist and the American soldiers - varied greatly as to whether the car had been warned to slow down and how fast it had been traveling.

 

The bullet-riddled car in which Mr. Calipari and Ms. Sgrena were riding was returned to Italy on Tuesday, now that the evidence-gathering phase of the investigation is over.

 

In the last two days, the Italian news media has been filled with unattributed reports that the two Italian members of the team have refused to sign the investigation's report, because they disagree with its conclusions. On Tuesday, Ms. Sgrena, who is now recovered, called the investigation's conclusions "a slap" for the Berlusconi government.

 

Likewise, in Parliament, the many politicians who are antiwar and anti-Berlusconi, wasted no time in condemning the investigation, even as they confessed they had no formal knowledge of its findings.

 

Laura Cima, a member of Parliament with the Green Party, called the findings, "a big slap in the face for the Italian government," and said the government should demand the truth "if it can find any pride at all."

 

Antonio Falomi, a leftist senator, criticized the report that he said he had not yet seen, saying: "The conclusions made by the report are not satisfactory. There are too many shadowy points."

 

As if the rain of political criticism was not enough for Mr. Berlusconi, Italian prosecutors in Milan were once again planning to indict him, a former media magnate, for financial crimes, Reuters reported Tuesday.

 

Jason Horowitz contributed reporting for this article.

 

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http://slate.msn.com/id/2101379/

 

Printing Problems

The inexact science of fingerprint analysis.

By David Feige

Posted Thursday, May 27, 2004, at 2:35 PM PT

 

The release and exoneration this month of Brandon Mayfield, the Portland, Ore., lawyer arrested in connection with the Spanish train bombings, raises important questions about the nature of scientific evidence. Mayfield, a 37-year-old lawyer, ex military officer, and convert to Islam, was jailed for two weeks after the FBI discovered his fingerprint on a bag of detonators recovered after the deadly Madrid bombing that killed 191 people in March. Mayfield, it was also quickly disclosed, represented a defendant in a child custody case who was linked to terrorism. After matching the print and reviewing the evidence, special agent Richard Werder swore out an affidavit and used it to get a material-witness warrant. Mayfield was quickly arrested and sent to jail. More quick and aggressive police work in a terrorism case, keeping the homeland secure.

 

Except for the part about how the fingerprint wasn't Mayfield's at all.

 

In the affidavit, Werder was unequivocal about whose fingerprint was on the bag—it was Mayfield's. "The FBI lab stands by their conclusion of a 100 percent positive identification," was the way the print match was described. They may have been 100 percent positive, but they were also 100 percent wrong. This sort of forensic puffery, usually practiced by government experts or agents, is both commonplace and deadly. Botched forensics, whether they result from oversight, sloppiness, ego (i.e., Martha Stewart's perjurious ink examiner), or malice can easily sink an innocent defendant who might be ill-equipped and sometimes unable to unscramble the convincing, if false, forensic hash cooked up by the government. And with fingerprint evidence, often elevated to "smoking gun" status by our culture and our courts, the chance for serious mischief is greatly increased.

 

In the Mayfield case, of course, the government did manage to correct its own error; small solace to Mayfield, who spent two weeks incarcerated as a witness to a crime he knew nothing about. The confusion, said Robert Jordan, the FBI agent in charge of Oregon, resulted from analyzing an image of substandard quality. Now Mayfield's case has a number of disturbing aspects to it, the arrest-first-ask-questions-later approach to the war on terror not alone among them. But one of the most frightening consequences of the Mayfield incident is the bureau's attempt to explain away Mayfield's total misidentification by blaming it on a bad digital print. The reality is that it's not the print that's bad, it's the science.

 

Clearly the digital image analyzed by the FBI wasn't so awful that they sought to see the original—they seemed to have passed up that opportunity when they were meeting with Spanish investigators in Madrid on April 21. Nor was the print so weathered that it couldn't be matched at all. And it didn't degrade in transmission, either. The FBI already has complex standards for electronic fingerprint transmission, which include things like geometric image accuracy and modulation transfer function standards*. No one suggested that there was a degraded print problem in the affidavit supporting the warrant. On the contrary, the FBI ran the print, matched it to Mayfield, claimed total certainty, and set about getting him into custody.

 

The use of digital prints isn't at all unusual. The FBI has already admitted that they regularly use digital images of fingerprints, and that, in this case "it was absolutely acceptable to examine a digital image." Ultimately, as I predict the FBI's internal investigation will conclude, the use of the digital print will turn out to have been just fine. So, what was the real fingerprinting problem, and why doesn't the FBI want to address it?

 

For generations, and until DNA came along, fingerprint evidence has been touted as the ultimate forensic tool. So unique and special are our fingerprints that DNA itself is often described as a "genetic fingerprint." And that essential truth remains. Done correctly, fingerprint analysis can be a powerful forensic tool of identification. The problem is that there aren't universal standards for what "done correctly" means. The supposed science of fingerprints is more like an elaborate boys club of certified examiners who decide—subjectively and not always consistently—what constitutes a match. This absence of basic uniform standards is the dirty little secret of Mayfield's fingerprint problem.

 

Fingerprint matches are made on the basis of what's known as "points of comparison," as a quick look at your thumb will demonstrate. What you will see are the friction ridges that comprise your unique fingerprint. The friction ridges whirl and spit, creating unique patterns that ultimately become the biometric data every burglar loves to hate. Comparing prints is a matter of looking for places where the ridges join or split—something that can be compared between prints. These points of comparison are used to both exclude prints (prove they are not the same) and to match prints. The problem is this: Print examiners and even the computers that do the preliminary scans don't actually match the entire print. In deciding if a print matches they almost always decide on the basis of a partial analysis.

 

Running a fingerprint against the massive database that contains all of the fingerprints from all of the people arrested all across America is a daunting technological task. It is accomplished by the feds with a system they call IAFIS—the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System. IAIFIS does the heavy lifting of initially comparing a latent print against the vast database. When IAFIS finds what it considers a match, it spits it out, and a human (more often several) takes over.

 

In his 1892 book, aptly titled Finger Prints, Sir Francis Galton described a method of comparing points of similarity that is still used today. Indeed, despite high-tech labs and CSI:Miami, the process of fingerprint comparison at the human level hasn't advanced much since Galton's day. It still involves magnifying glasses and lots and lots of patience. Examiners comb over two prints, stripped of any identifying information, in order to find and highlight points of comparison. It is generally understood that there are between 35 and 50 points on a typical finger. How many constitute a match? The rather unscientific answer is, it depends. Some police departments require 10, others 12, some are satisfied with eight. This lack of uniformity can mean that one agency (the FBI, say) may declare a print match while another (the Spanish National Police, say) says no. Ultimately, as Simon Cole, the author of Suspect Identities: A History of Fingerprinting and Criminal Identification explains—and the FBI acknowledges—the decision to declare a match is a subjective one, based on the totality of the circumstances and the examiner's knowledge and experience.

 

Those subjective decisions mean that that the government can profess certainty and still be dead wrong. Without agreement on essential baseline standards, fingerprinting will remain a practice rather than a science. Make no mistake about it, fingerprints are valuable forensic evidence, based on unique biometric data. But when the evaluation of that data rests on a because-I said-so analysis, the door is wide open for injustice. And as Brandon Mayfield's case amply demonstrates, taking the government's say-so as definitive simply isn't enough. And when psudeoscience is turned loose in the context of the war on terror, the results may well terrify.

 

Correction, May 28, 2004: The original article erroneously referred to modulation transfer function or MTF standards as "modular transfer function standards." The MTF is a method of determining spatial resolution in images. (Return to corrected sentence.)

 

David Feige, a public defender in the Bronx and a Soros Media Justice Fellow, is the author of the book Indefensible, to be published in 2005.

 

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http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Apr-17-Sun-2005/opinion/1005355.html

 

Apr. 17, 2005

Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

 

VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: Of rats and sinking Ponzi schemes

 

Last time, we promised to get to the assertion of visiting Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., ranking minority member of the House Budget Committee, that Social Security is "mandatory" -- an argument offered a bit heatedly when I asked him what would happen to all his schemes if younger workers simply refused to keep paying.

 

"I don't think it was voluntary to start with, in 1935, but I have no question today it is absolutely mandatory," Rep. Spratt told me on March 29. "There is no doubt in my mind that if you don't send in your Social Security taxes there will be tax liens filed against you."

 

Advertisement

 

Go to www.cjmciver.org/sapf/ and click on "Second response from the SSA."

 

There, you will find a letter dated Nov. 18, 1997, from Charles H. Mullen, associate commissioner in the Office of Public Inquiries of the Social Security Administration, to a former police officer of my acquaintance, reading in part:

 

"This is in response to your recent letter about the Social Security Number (SSN).

 

"The Social Security Act does not require a person to have an SSN to live and work in the United States, nor does it require an SSN simply for the purpose of having one. However, if someone works without an SSN, we cannot properly credit the earnings for the work performed."

 

Yes, an employer (with an EIN) is indeed required to ask for a number to complete (without compensation) federal tax-collection paperwork. But if the employer finds the employee has no such number, the employer need only submit the forms to the IRS with a statement that a number was requested but not received. This procedure is specifically laid out in 26 CFR 301.6109-1(c).

 

How then can the government functionaries (though never under oath) tell us the tax is mandatory?

 

Because it is -- in those island territories where the Congress has plenary jurisdiction, not subject to the constitutional restriction that "No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken" (Article I, Section 9), a requirement which has been found to bar a direct federal graduated wage or income tax, and which the Supreme Court in the Brushaber and Baltic Mining cases correctly ruled had not been affected by the purported enactment of the 16th Amendment, which does not seek to repeal the above cited section, but only allows an income tax to be enacted as an indirect excise.

 

You can look it up. Title 26, United States Code, Chapter 21, "FEDERAL INSURANCE CONTRIBUTIONS ACT," Sec. 3121 (b). defines "Employment" as "any service ... performed ... (I) within the United States ..."

 

But how does the Act then define "the United States"? It directs us at Sec. 3121(e)(2) that, "For purposes of this chapter ... the term 'United States' when used in a geographical sense includes the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam and American Samoa."

 

No other locations are named.

 

Nor are we or the courts or the executive free to infer that the authors "must have" meant "as well as the 48 states," since the U.S. Supreme Court in Gould v. Gould, 245 US 151, ruled: "In the interpretation of statutes levying taxes it is the established rule not to extend their provisions by implication beyond the clear import of the language used, or to enlarge their operation so as to embrace matters not specifically pointed out. In case of doubt, they are construed most strongly against the government and in favor of the citizen."

 

No federal court will or ever has allowed the top Treasury lawyers to be placed under oath and asked to explain why the FIC Act doesn't say "and the 50 states, those being Alabama, Alaska," etc., if that's what it means, and why on earth the law has never been amended to so read, despite legal scholars assiduously pointing out this devious little anomaly for 70 years.

 

Furthermore, even if participation in the "Social Security" intergenerational income-transfer Ponzi scheme were currently mandatory, then-Treasury Secretary William Simon warned in an article in the Nov. 3, 1976, Wall Street Journal that because the Trust Fund "has not been allowed to grow to more than a fraction of the required size" for long-term solvency. "When the current workers retire, they will be completely dependent upon future workers for their benefits. Their position is even more vulnerable, should anything go wrong with this delicate balance. ... Each generation has the power through the electoral process to refuse to pay."

 

I would argue not only that this becomes more likely as taxes go up and benefits are reduced, but that it could also happen de facto, whether or not a vote is allowed, through the mechanism of more and more young people simply performing more and more of their labor (online, perhaps) in the untaxed "gray market."

 

This -- not fear of enemy terrorism or evil drug dealers -- is why the federal government is now dragooning everyone from bank tellers to supermarket clerks to pawnbrokers into the uncompensated government spy service, trying desperately to track the movement of any sum of cash or valuables worth more than $5,000, introducing "Suspicious Financial Transaction Reporting Forms" and going so far as to create the new crime of "structuring" to nab anyone who goes from supermarket to supermarket, buying multiple $900 money orders on the same day.

 

They're afraid the rats are getting ready to abandon their sinking Ponzi schemes.

 

Vin Suprynowicz is assistant editorial page editor of the Review-Journal and author of "The Black Arrow." His Web sites are www.TheLibertarian.us and www.LibertyBookShop.us.

 

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Sheriff Joe Arpaio totals his cop car in a one car accident on a shopping trip to the Osco drugstore by his home in fountain hills. also sheriff joes home address is published on the web by the new times. you can see it at

 

   http://156.42.40.50/CampFinDocs/pdf/2004_17747.pdf

 

this should test that law that makes it illegal to post the home addresses of cops on the web

 

http://new_news_articles.tripod.com/cgi-bin/mod.pl

 

Enemies List

Arpaio haters, perceived and otherwise, beware! Looks like Joe's up to his old tricks

BY JOHN DOUGHERTY

john.dougherty@newtimes.com

 

Recent events lead me to believe that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio may again be abusing his police powers for political purposes. That is, the paranoid and increasingly disoriented Arpaio is turning up the heat on some of us who have landed on his enemies list.

In the past month, county deputies have conducted searches of homes and a business of two of Arpaio's political rivals, and it was announced that the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is seeking felony charges against me for a column I wrote last July.

 

At the same time, the MCSO, without conducting a proper investigation, cleared Arpaio of wrongdoing in a mysterious April 2 one-vehicle accident in which he totaled his county-owned police cruiser.

 

These are the latest examples in a pattern of such behavior by Arpaio and his deputies during his 13-year run as sheriff. His modus operandi has been to attack enemies and protect friends.

 

It's scary, but the 72-year-old sheriff is the most powerful politician in the nation's fourth-largest county. What other pol in the Phoenix area can get away with dispatching a police force to search property, seize records and threaten political rivals with jail?

 

What other pol can deploy his own deputies to clear him of wrongdoing when he gets in a jam?

 

Deputies have been involved in three criminal investigations since March 31 that underscore how Joe Arpaio prefers to operate the MCSO.

 

On that date, sheriff's deputies raided a Mesa towing business owned by Lee Watkins, a prominent political operative who supported Arpaio's opponent, W. Steven Martin, in the November general election.

 

On April 14, the MCSO raided the Glendale home of Chuck Carpenter, a Republican party official who strongly supported Arpaio's rival, Dan Saban, in the Republican primary.

 

On April 18, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office notified me that I was under criminal investigation -- at Arpaio's request -- because I published the sheriff's home address in my column and it wound up on the "World Wide Web" last July.

 

In the first two examples, other police agencies were either conducting or had conducted investigations into the allegations that led the MCSO to launch the raids. Arpaio should have stayed out of both cases.

 

In addition to these politically tainted criminal probes, there is a disturbing development in the fledgling campaign to get enough signatures for a recall election that would kick Arpaio to the curb.

 

On the weekend of April 16, the office of the Recall Arpaio campaign committee was burglarized. A computer with hundreds of e-mail addresses of recall supporters was stolen. Numerous other valuable items were left behind.

 

Recall leaders contend they were the target of a Watergate-style break-in orchestrated by the MCSO or Arpaio supporters. It's not like similar hanky-panky hasn't happened before.

 

"I feel this was a counterattack measure," recall leader Linda Saville said in an e-mail to supporters. Arpaio and MCSO officials didn't respond to my requests for comment about the incident.

 

Now about that one-vehicle accident involving our doddering sheriff . . . perhaps the best way to judge a law enforcement agency is to assess how it handles investigations of top officers. The MCSO had the golden opportunity of proving to the public that it is completely aboveboard, that it treats even the sheriff just like anybody else.

 

It flunked this litmus test.

 

Shortly after 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 2, Sheriff Joe Arpaio decided to do a little shopping on a day off from work.

 

Arpaio hopped in his fully loaded, county-owned, 2001 Crown Victoria police cruiser and headed to the Osco drugstore near his home in Fountain Hills.

 

Unlike most of us who must shell out hundreds of dollars a month in car payments, gasoline, repairs and insurance, Arpaio has no such worries. Maricopa County taxpayers pick up the tab for all expenses related to his police car, which doubles as a family ride for him and his wife, Ava.

 

Arpaio turned off East Palisades Boulevard and steered the unmarked police cruiser into the Osco parking lot.

 

He scoped out a parking space and made his final approach.

 

But then, something inexplicable happened.

 

Instead of stopping, Arpaio's vehicle sped across the parking lot, careened over a curb, crashed across a large boulder and finally came to a stop on a sidewalk.

 

There were two flat tires, the front wheels were damaged, the radiator was leaking, the front bumper was crumpled, the air conditioner was mangled, the front suspension destroyed and the rear driver side quarter panel was dented.

 

Arpaio's car had smashed into the curb and boulder with such force that the drive shaft snapped.

 

The sheriff was lucky he hit the big rock. If Arpaio's car had traveled a few more feet, it would have ended up on busy East Palisades Boulevard.

 

Within seconds, a witness called 911, and MCSO deputies were dispatched to the scene. At first, no one knew the driver of the runaway vehicle was Mr. Law-and-Order himself.

 

But MCSO Deputy Roger Bierwalter instantly recognized the driver of the car when he arrived on the scene about 10:40 a.m.

 

Within minutes, a battalion of deputies swooped into the Osco lot to tend to their rattled leader. The Rural/Metro Fire Department dispatched an ambulance.

 

The Department of Public Safety received a call to dispatch an officer, but the MCSO quickly waved off the state police. This was an investigation that was best kept in house.

 

Curious bystanders began gathering to gawk at the scene. A source informs me that folks began taking photographs of the shaken sheriff and his wrecked car, which triggered a harsh rebuke from deputies. The source said the deputies told bystanders not to take more photographs and confiscated onlookers' film.

 

The MCSO wouldn't respond to questions about this incident either.

 

According to Deputy Bierwalter's report, which I obtained under the Arizona Public Records Law, Arpaio offered a vague explanation for the mayhem:

 

"Mr. Arpaio said he had pulled into the parking lot of the Osco Drug store and was going to park his vehicle in a space on the north side of the parking lot when his vehicle would not stop."

 

In other words, Arpaio blamed the accident on the car -- which apparently seemed reasonable to Deputy Bierwalter.

 

He noted in his report that the sheriff didn't appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. But there is no indication that Bierwalter conducted a sobriety test, much less asked Arpaio if he was taking drugs, prescribed or illegal.

 

Rather than conducting a thorough investigation to determine how fast Arpaio was traveling when he smashed into the curb, Bierwalter drew up a rough sketch of the accident site and called for a tow truck.

 

Arpaio refused medical treatment from the fire department but was taken to a hospital where he was treated for aches and pains.

 

The MCSO and Arpaio hoped this would be the end of the story.

 

But I think it should be just the beginning.

 

Did Arpaio's Crown Victoria -- the same model that is infamous for exploding in accidents -- really have a mechanical failure that somehow kept it from stopping?

 

I seriously doubt the vehicle suddenly threw itself in drive. It's far more likely that Arpaio, for whatever reason, lost control of the police cruiser.

 

It's well-known that Arpaio gets easily rattled and confused.

 

Last summer I approached him in a parking lot following a Scottsdale campaign appearance and asked why he drove his county police cruiser to political events. He became so flustered that he inadvertently turned on his flashing police lights while he was backing up.

 

My hunch is that Arpaio simply became confused when he pulled into the Osco lot and hit the accelerator instead of the brake. Why is anybody's guess. Maybe it's just because he's old.

 

The MCSO's whitewash doesn't stop at the accident scene.

 

County procedures require an internal investigation any time a county employee is involved in an accident while driving a county vehicle. In the case of the sheriff's office, a disciplinary review board assesses the situation.

 

If an employee is found negligent, he or she could be held financially responsible for damage to the vehicle.

 

I sent an e-mail to Lieutenant Paul Chagolla, an MCSO spokesman, asking whether such a disciplinary review board would be convened to review Arpaio's accident. Chagolla hasn't responded.

 

Launching politically motivated criminal investigations would be nothing new for Arpaio.

 

Last summer, he dispatched members of his "threat assessment squad" to interview a woman who claimed she had been raped 30 years ago by her stepson, then running against Arpaio in the upcoming Republican primary.

 

Despite the dubious nature of the claim and the fact that it involved Arpaio's political rival, MCSO deputies initiated a criminal investigation of Dan Saban. The department quickly provided a copy of its criminal inquiry to a Phoenix TV station.

 

Channel 15 broadcast a news story stating that Saban was under investigation for raping his stepmother, an allegation he vehemently denied. However, the damage was done.

 

Immediately after the Channel 15 broadcast, the MCSO did what it should have done from the outset -- send the case to another police agency because of the obvious conflict of interest. The Pima County Sheriff's Office dropped the case because of lack of evidence and the fact that the statute of limitations had expired.

 

There's the same odor of politics in MCSO's March 31 raid of Cactus Towing in Mesa.

 

Cactus owner Lee Watkins is a longtime political operative who supported W. Steven Martin in his failed run as an independent against Arpaio in the November general election.

 

No charges have been filed in the case, but the raid came at the same time Cactus Towing was renegotiating a lucrative and contentious towing contract with Mesa.

 

Search warrants show that the MCSO is investigating Cactus on suspicion of using police towing contracts to gouge car owners by tacking on illegal charges, keeping a second set of billing records and defrauding insurance companies.

 

While these may be legitimate issues to probe, the MCSO is not the right agency to be involved in the case because of Watkins' close connection to one of Arpaio's political rivals.

 

Cactus Towing already was under investigation by the state Attorney General's Office.

 

Two weeks after the Cactus raid, deputies showed up at the home of Republican party activist Charles "Chuck" Carpenter and seized two computers, CDs and a video card.

 

The raid came nearly two months after his son, Mark Carpenter, allegedly told an MCSO detective during a job interview for a position as a detention officer that he repeatedly viewed child pornography in 2003.

 

Rather than arresting Mark Carpenter on January 28 at the time of this rather incredible admission, the MCSO waited seven weeks to obtain a search warrant and seize the computer equipment. Mark Carpenter has never been charged.

 

Chuck Carpenter says he thinks the MCSO wasn't interested in the case until investigators discovered that Mark Carpenter was his son.

 

Carpenter was a leader in last year's Republican party rebellion against Arpaio. It was Carpenter who made a motion for the Republican party to endorse Saban rather than incumbent Arpaio in last September's primary.

 

"I was on their hit list and they hit me," Carpenter tells me. "I have been a very outspoken critic of our idiot sheriff."

 

Once again, Arpaio could have avoided the appearance of a politically motivated investigation if the MCSO had referred the case to another police agency.

 

Two days after the raid on Carpenter's home, the Recall Arpaio headquarters was burglarized.

 

Recall organizers are convinced that the break-in at the law offices of prominent Phoenix attorney Joel Robbins is linked to the MCSO.

 

"I firmly believe the sheriff's office had something to do with it," recall leader Linda Saville tells me.

 

She has good reason to be concerned. Her brother, James Saville, spent four years in county jail after he was entrapped by MCSO deputies in a phony 1999 plan to kill the sheriff ("The Plot to Assassinate Arpaio," August 5, 1999).

 

James Saville was busted in a televised arrest and charged with conspiring to build a car bomb to kill the sheriff. James Saville was eventually acquitted of the charges and released from jail. He has since filed a civil suit against the MCSO.

 

His struggle spurred Linda to launch a political action committee called Mothers Against Arpaio that supported Saban in last fall's primary. Soon after Arpaio won reelection, Linda Saville began organizing the recall drive.

 

On the Monday following the break-in, April 18, I received a voice mail message from John Stolze, a criminal investigator from the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. Stolze said he wanted to discuss my column in which Arpaio's home address was published.

 

I haven't talked to Stolze, but New Times' attorney Steve Suskin has. Stolze told Suskin he is conducting a criminal investigation to determine whether I committed a Class 5 felony for disclosing Arpaio's home address. State law prohibits the publishing of a peace officer's home address on the "World Wide Web" if the author knows that it poses an "imminent and serious threat" to the officer's life.

 

The events leading to the publication of Arpaio's home address began early last summer when I went to the Maricopa County Recorder's Office to gather information on about a dozen of Arpaio's commercial and personal real estate investments.

 

To my surprise, I found that nearly all of Arpaio's real estate records -- records that for anybody else are available for public inspection -- had been removed from the recorder's files.

 

I soon learned that Arpaio had redacted the records based on the state law.

 

I asked the recorder's office to release Arpaio's real estate records and simply black out any home addresses and phone numbers. The recorder's office refused. So did Arpaio.

 

Luckily, the recorder's office missed redacting a few of Arpaio's records. And what I found was troubling. The records showed that the sheriff had invested more than $790,000 in cash in just three commercial real estate projects since 1995.

 

That seemed like a pretty hefty amount to plow into property for a guy on a civil servant's salary.

 

In the July 8, 2004, column in question, I slammed Arpaio for refusing to release the commercial real estate records.

 

I found it ludicrous that he could withhold from public inspection a real estate portfolio easily worth more than $1.5 million under the guise of protecting his home address.

 

Especially since that address is readily available from a number of sources, including the Maricopa County Clerk's Office, the county elections department and the state Corporation Commission.

 

If Arpaio's address is already on the public record, I saw no reason not to publish it.

 

For those of you curious about where the sheriff lives, check out the elections department's Web site at http://156.42.40.50/CampFinDocs/pdf/2004_17747.pdf

 

phoenixnewtimes.com | originally published: April 28, 2005

 

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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0429iraq-coffins29.html

 

Pentagon releases images of coffins

 

Washington Post

Apr. 29, 2005 12:00 AM

 

WASHINGTON - From a row of silhouetted hearses on a rain-drenched tarmac to a convoy of olive-green trucks each bearing a casket, more than 700 images of flag-draped coffins of American service members killed at war were released by the Pentagon this week in response to a lawsuit.

 

The photographs, taken by military photographers from 2001 to 2004, show rows of coffins from Iraq and Afghanistan lining the mechanical silver interiors of Air Force C-17 jets. Many depict solemn honor guard ceremonies for the fallen troops at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and other U.S. military facilities.

 

"This is an important victory for the American people, for the families of troops killed in the line of duty during wartime and for the honor of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country," said University of Delaware Professor Ralph Begleiter, whose October 2004 lawsuit spurred the release. He sought the release under the Freedom of Information Act.

 

"This significant decision by the Pentagon should make it difficult, if not impossible, for any U.S. government in the future to hide the human cost of war from the American people," Begleiter said in a written statement.

 

The Pentagon, however, said the release of the photographs, which it termed "historical documentation," does not signify any lifting of the ban on media coverage of returning casualties.

 

That ban, first imposed in January 1991 during the first Gulf War and continued by President Bush with the start of the Afghanistan war in October 2001, is intended to "ensure privacy and respect is given to the families who have lost their loved ones," said Col. Gary Keck, a Defense Department spokesman. Both Republican and Democratic administrations, however, have made several exceptions to the ban in the past decade.

 

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government hippocrites. in all of the military trials where american soldiers have been accused of murdering iraqi citizens they have trivial sentences for their crimes such as 6 months in jail. in this case where an american soldier was accused of killing american in iraq he didnt get the standard 6 months in jail. the military court sentenced him to death.

 

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0429iraq-101.html

 

GI gets death sentence

 

Associated Press

Apr. 29, 2005 12:00 AM

 

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - A military jury sentenced a soldier to death Thursday for a grenade and rifle attack on his own comrades during the opening days of the Iraq invasion, a barrage that killed two officers and that prosecutors said was driven by religious extremism.

 

Sgt. Hasan Akbar, who gave a brief, barely audible apology hours earlier, stood at attention between his lawyers as the verdict was delivered. He showed no emotion.

 

He could have been sentenced to life in prison with or without parole for the early-morning March 2003 attack, which also wounded 14 fellow members of the Army's 101st Airborne Division at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait.

 

The 15-person military jury, which last week took just 2 1/2  hours to convict Akbar of premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder, deliberated for about seven hours in the sentencing phase. After jurors reached a verdict, they voted on whether to reconsider the decision after one juror asked that they do so.

 

The sentence will be automatically appealed. If Akbar is executed, it will be by lethal injection.

 

"I want to apologize for the attack that occurred. I felt that my life was in jeopardy, and I had no other options. I also want to ask you for forgiveness," Akbar told the jury before it deliberated in the sentencing phase.

 

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http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/issues/2005-04-28/culture/speakeasy.html

 

Love Bug Off

No sex, please. We're Scottsdale

BY ROBRT L. PELA

Robrt.Pela@newtimes.com

 

Wendy Cashaback is wearing a stiff upper lip these days. She's also wearing a tiny Danskin dress and flashing a warm smile at everyone who visits her shop, even that creepy guy over by the sex lotions who's been admiring the fur-lined handcuffs for way too long. When Creepy Guy asks Cashaback, "Do you guys have layaway?" she just smiles and says, "No, but we have a great line of tee shirts over in the corner."

It's those tee shirts that have gotten Cashaback into trouble lately with Scottsdale officials and her uptight neighbors. Her racy Old Town clothing boutique, The Love Bug, was recently served with a formal request from Scottsdale police asking that Cashaback remove the tee shirts -- most of which are printed with slogans containing the word "fuck" -- from her front window. Today, the shirts -- including "I Have the Dick, I Make the Rules"; "Fuck Me, I'm Mexican"; and the always-popular "Fuck You, You Fuckin' Fuck" -- are displayed toward the back of the store, safe from discovery by the hordes of impressionable youngsters who apparently flock to downtown Scottsdale's shopping district.

 

Typically, cases like this one begin with police and are moved to a city prosecutor. But Cashaback's dirty laundry case began with Scottsdale City Attorney Joseph Bertoldo, who apparently sicced police on The Love Bug. Bertoldo doesn't seem too concerned about possible First Amendment violations, probably because Cashaback's naughty window display violated a city code banning "projection or display of specific sexual activities" within 1,000 feet of a community building. The only community building within that distance belongs to the Downtown Group, a city department charged with managing downtown Scottsdale. The Downtown Group filed the formal complaint against Cashaback, who swears that her store is selling "good, clean fun" and is considering a lawsuit claiming her First Amendment rights are being violated.

 

Meantime, with no "Fuck" in her window, sales are down, and Cashaback's nerves are beginning to fray. "But I'm a warrior," she says while ringing up a pair of crotchless panties. "This story isn't over yet."

 

New Times: I guess when you hang a giant dildo in a store window, your First Amendment rights go right out that window.

 

Wendy Cashaback: But that's the thing. We had nothing like that in the window. It was just the tee shirts.

 

NT: Tee shirts with the word "fuck" printed on them. Which have since been classified as "provocative merchandise" that is "emblazoned with profanity."

 

Cashaback: Right. The police dropped this note off saying we were in violation, and we had to take the shirts out of the window. We complied. Because apparently it's a Class 6 felony. $150,000 in fines if I didn't remove them. I was like, "Wow!" I understand how [the shirts] can be offensive to kids and so on. But you know something? I even covered them up. I put big stickers over the letter "U" on each shirt, so you couldn't read them anymore, and they said it wasn't acceptable. There's some law that you can't have sexually explicit material on display in public.

 

NT: I guess the word "fuck" is sexually explicit. What will happen now?

 

Cashaback: I've taken the shirts out of the window, and my lawyers are investigating whether I have the right to do anything about putting whatever I want back in my windows. Because 99 percent of our business comes from that window. People walk by and see those shirts and laugh their heads off and come in and buy one for themselves. And you know what [the Downtown Group] said? That we were frightening tourists with our window display. Frightening tourists!

 

NT: The nerve! Do you suppose that Scottsdale is too snooty for sex?

 

Cashaback: I can see their point that this might be offensive to some people, but at the same time the city was plastered with posters for that movie Meet the Fockers. Come on. Get real. Meanwhile, I'm scaring tourists with my window displays. I'd like to meet those frightened tourists.

 

NT: Maybe the thinking is that if kids see this stuff in the window, they'll be corrupted.

 

Cashaback: We don't even get kids around here. I took the shirts out of the window and now no one's coming in. I've got all this nice stuff in here, and the people who walk by keep walking. I'm starting to think, Well, we can't display the shirts in the window, but we can wear them. Maybe we should put one of the shirts on and go stand outside the store. Is that public display?

 

NT: Meanwhile, I'll bet the people who turned you in are in here all the time, buying dildos and thong underwear.

 

Cashaback: I wouldn't recognize them. I mean, they came in and asked me to move the shirts to the back of the store, and I didn't. And then the city attorney went to the police, and it's just exploded. Now people are taking polls about whether I should be allowed to display what I want to. There was a letter to the editor that said that I am "arrogant and uncivil." What's that? People are calling up to say, "The Love Bug used to be a Disney family movie, now it's a raunchy store on Craftsman Court."

 

NT: Maybe the problem is that you run a sexy store and the director of the Downtown Group is named John Little.

 

Cashaback: You're funny. I haven't met him. But there are people in the City of Scottsdale office who have come and told me that people higher up just want me to go away.

 

NT: All because you displayed a shirt printed with the slogan "I Fuck on the First Date."

 

Cashaback: It's a word in the dictionary. Well, I've heard it's in the dictionary. I haven't looked it up. I had this old British lady, 85 years old, come into the store and say, "I love these shirts. And you know, it's a good strong word. It's in the dictionary." Maybe I should display the dictionary in my window, open to that page. With a light on it! And a sign that reads, "As seen in Webster's."

 

NT: That'll show 'em. Sounds like the Downtown Group is just a bunch of old biddies who need to get laid.

 

Cashaback: Somebody's got issues. Because the whole store is geared around good, clean fun. And people love it. There was a poll on the TV news, and only 3 percent of people said I shouldn't be allowed to display the shirts in the window. Three percent. And 83 percent were for it. And the other percent, whatever that would be, didn't have an opinion.

 

NT: This is Old Town Scottsdale. Maybe you should display turquoise-encrusted cock rings.

 

Cashaback: There are people who would like that. One of them got mad because I said there were too many turquoise jewelry stores down here, and we were just trying to give people something different. This person called me and said I shouldn't even exist. All because I said that about some squash blossoms. How many cowboy art galleries do we need?

 

NT: Dozens, apparently. Will you prevail?

 

Cashaback: Absolutely. I'm a Viking. What I really don't like is the defamation of my character. People I've never met are slamming me. I'm "arrogant and uncivil." They're trashing me. I'm not running an abortion clinic here. It's a sad situation. But you know something? This whole thing is putting The Love Bug on the map.

 

NT: Free publicity!

 

Cashaback: If we don't [win], we'll just wear the shirts if we can't display them. One of the girls who works here is Mexican, and she was wearing the "Fuck Me, I'm Mexican" shirt, and she was in the window and people were just laughing and waving at her. I'll just pay the staff to stand outside the store in our shirts. Put some spotlights on them. Then what? We'll see how that goes over.

 

phoenixnewtimes.com April 28, 2005

 

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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0430fraudsentence.html

 

Ex-pastor sentenced for stealing from flock

Mesa man draws 12 1/2 years in prison

 

Michael Kiefer

The Arizona Republic

Apr. 30, 2005 12:00 AM

 

A Mesa man who preyed on elderly and disabled members of a church congregation where he was assistant pastor was sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison Friday in Maricopa County Superior Court for theft and fraud.

 

According to the terms of his plea agreement, Douglas Sanchez, 57, must also serve seven years of probation and make restitution of more than $1 million to his victims.

 

Over a 10-year period, Sanchez befriended the churchgoers and persuaded them to put their properties or savings in his control, promising to make investments on their behalf. He bilked some of them out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

"Mr. Sanchez has turned our lives upside down," said Carol Butler of Mesa, who, with her husband, lost more than $220,000 to Sanchez. "At this point I see no way out of our debt."

 

Other victims who spoke at his sentencing described how they would give good money after bad to their friend and pastor.

 

"I feel like he came into my house and robbed us," Linda Perrotta said. "He didn't have a gun, but he robbed us."

 

Perrotta and her husband lost more than $150,000.

 

Sanchez was indicted on 24 counts of fraud, theft, forgery, identity theft, illegal control of an enterprise and other charges. In March, he pleaded guilty to nine counts.

 

Sanchez expressed his remorse to the court and asked for leniency, but the prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Theodore Campagnolo, said, "The defendant's acts were intentional, they were ongoing and they were unforgivable."

 

Judge Michael Wilkinson imposed the aggravated sentence on two of the counts, 12 1/2 years each, to be served concurrently. He also sentenced Sanchez to probation on several of the counts, but because they will be served concurrently, Sanchez will serve a total of seven years' probation.

 

"This crime has caused lasting serious emotional and financial harm to the victims," Wilkinson said. "They had such a trust in you, such a belief in you."

 

Wilkinson scolded Sanchez for posing as a man of faith.

 

"All that was stripped away," he said.

 

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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0430roberts30.html

 

2 dead people plus $4.7 million equals 1 justifiably fired cop

 

Apr. 30, 2005 12:00 AM

 

Assuming that the city of Chandler is not run by an absolute nutball, I suspect ex-Officer Dan Lovelace might want to start reading the want ads.

 

The guy was a police officer for six years. In that time, he killed one person, played a big role in the death of a second and cost Chandler taxpayers $4.7 million.

 

Not exactly a record that's likely to make you employee of the month. So it wasn't surprising this week when the city's Merit Board voted unanimously to deny Lovelace's request to have his gun and his badge back.

 

Lovelace has been appealing his firing since July when a jury found him innocent of murder charges in the 2002 death of an Ahwatukee woman.

 

I'm not sure why he wants his old job back, other than for some sort of vindication that he will never get, or ammunition in his $1 million lawsuit against the city. Clearly, he's angry with his former fellow officers, the ones who took umbrage at the fact that he shot a woman through the heart in a moving car as her son sat in the back seat.

 

"I lost my faith in the Chandler Police Department," a defiant Lovelace told the Merit Board on Wednesday. "We're supposed to be a team. We're supposed to be a brotherhood. They betrayed my trust."

 

Never mind about the public's trust. Which, I must point out, has been a tad shaken since details of this guy's on-the-job performance came out.

 

In March 2000, he chased a stolen truck through city streets at speeds of up to 100 mph, despite a supervisor's order: "Don't push it." The truck blew through a stop sign and two red lights before striking a Camaro broadside at a third red light. The innocent driver, Bradley Downing III, died instantly.

 

That one cost taxpayers $2.8 million.

 

Two and a half years later, Lovelace met up with Dawn Rae Nelson in the drive-through lane of a Walgreens pharmacy, where she was attempting to use a phony prescription to get a muscle relaxant.

 

Before it was done, Nelson was dead and Lovelace was left to explain how he feared for his life as her car came at him. This, even though she was shot from behind.

 

That one cost taxpayers $1.9 million.

 

The jury in his criminal trial believed Lovelace's story. Who knows? Maybe he really did fear for his life in the 3.9 seconds it took for the tragedy to unfold that October afternoon. But he has had 2 1/2 years to think about the events of that day, 2 1/2 years to think about what went wrong and why.

 

Two and a half years to think about whether he should have taken her keys if he thought she might run. Whether he should have chased after her car if he knew where she lived. Whether he should have drawn his gun. Taken aim. Fired.

 

And his response?

 

"I did nothing wrong," he told the Merit Board on Wednesday. "I stood tall that day not only for my wife, my family or myself but for law enforcement."

 

It'll be up to Chandler City Manager Mark Pentz to decide whether Lovelace will again "stand tall" as one of Chandler's finest. I can't imagine it'll take long, unless he hails from the Barney Fife school of law enforcement.

 

Chandler is $4.7 million and two deaths into Dan Lovelace's mistakes.

 

Maybe he really did feel he would die that day when he shot and killed the fleeing Dawn Rae Nelson. But a series of bad decisions led him to that unhappy circumstance.

 

And yet he stands there, 2 1/2 years later, the persecuted victim who did absolutely nothing wrong.

 

It's just that his misdemeanor suspect was shot through the heart.

 

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8635.

 

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this is about the mexican id cards called "matr&#29555;ula consular". the state of arizona wants to make it illegal for mexicans to use them as id when dealing with the state. i say f*ck it. when dealing with the cops i say do as i do and just take the 5th and refuse to give them your name.

 

http://www.azcentral.com/lavoz/noticias/articles/0429peligro-CR.html

 

En peligro el futuro de la matricula consular mexicana en Arizona

 

EFE

Abril 29, 2005

 

Phoenix (Arizona).- El futuro de la matr&#29555;ula consular mexicana se encuentra en manos de la gobernadora de Arizona, Janet Napolitano, quien tendr?que decidir en los pr&#38363;imos d&#29168;s si se proh&#29154;e el uso de esta identificaci&#37870; en el estado.

 

La gobernadora tiene en su poder una propuesta de ley que proh&#29154;e a agencias estatales, departamentos polic&#29168;cos y gobiernos locales aceptar la matr&#29555;ula consular como una forma de identificaci&#37870; oficial.

 

Con una votaci&#37870; 31 a 25, la legislatura de Arizona aprob?ayer la iniciativa SB 1511, la cual requiere ahora de la firma de la gobernadora para convertirse definitivamente en ley. publicidad

 

De ser aprobada, la ley afectar&#29168; directamente a los m&#23283; de 102.000 mexicanos que han obtenido la matr&#29555;ula consular en Arizona.

 

Para la gran mayor&#29168; de ellos, la matricula consular- un documento expedido por los consulados mexicanos en los Estados Unidos -es la &#57390;ica identificaci&#37870; con la que cuentan.

 

En 1996, Arizona aprob?una ley que exige prueba de residencia legal a todas aquellas personas que soliciten una licencia de conducir o una tarjeta de identificaci&#37870; estatal.

 

La iniciativa es una de varias ofensivas de la legislatura estatal en contra de los inmigrantes indocumentados.

 

Pati Urias, directora de comunicaciones de la oficina de la gobernadora, inform?que hasta el momento Napolitano no se hab&#29168; postulado ni a favor ni en contra de la propuesta de ley.

 

La gobernadora tiene un plazo de cinco d&#29168;s, con excepci&#37870; del domingo, para firmar o vetar la propuesta de ley.

 

"Es un duro golpe para nuestra comunidad", dijo el diputado estatal David Gallardo (D-Phoenix).

 

Indic?que esta propuesta obligar&#29168; a los residentes de Arizona a tener que presentar una identificaci&#37870; oficial, inclusive para poder ingresar a una sala de emergencia.

 

La matr&#29555;ula consular es utilizada por miles de mexicanos en Arizona para poder conectar servicios b&#23283;icos a sus hogares, como luz, agua, gas y tel&#23976;ono. Tambi&#24175; es aceptada por bancos y departamentos polic&#29168;cos como forma de identificaci&#37870; v&#23278;ida en todo el estado.

 

De convertirse en ley, dependencias estatales y gubernamentales s&#37834;o podr&#29168;n aceptar identificaciones federales, del estado de Arizona o de tribus ind&#29874;enas como formas de identificaci&#37870; oficial. La matr&#29555;ula consular seguir&#29168; siendo utilizada para abrir cuentas de banco o para comprar un auto.

 

La iniciativa afectar?directamente a aquellas personas que s&#37834;o cuentan con la matr&#29555;ula consular para identificarse.

 

"No s?qu?har&#29168; sin la matricula, es la &#57390;ica forma que tengo para poder cambiar mis cheques cada semana", dijo Elena Rojas, empleada de limpieza.

 

Indic?que para poder llevar a cabo hasta el m&#23283; sencillo tr&#23269;ite, siempre le piden una identificaci&#37870;.

 

Cr&#30275;icos de la medida aseguran que afectar?seriamente a la comunidad inmigrante, especialmente a los indocumentados, quienes podr&#29168;n verse imposibilitados inclusive de poder vacunar o registrar a sus hijos en las escuelas.

 

Propulsores de la iniciativa aseguran que la matr&#29555;ula consular mexicana puede ser falsificada u obtenida de manera fraudulenta, lo que podr&#29168; ser aprovechado por personas con dobles intenciones.

 

Los legisladores que impulsaron esta propuesta argumentan que la matr&#29555;ula consular podr&#29168; ser utilizada por presuntos terroristas para establecerse en Arizona y obtener los servicios que necesitan mientras planean un ataque.

 

Por su parte, el gobierno mexicano ha reiterado en varias ocasiones que la matr&#29555;ula consular es un documento seguro, que cuenta con varias medidas para evitar su falsificaci&#37870;.

 

Antes de poder obtener la matr&#29555;ula consular, los mexicanos deben presentar una serie de documentos que acrediten su identidad y su nacionalidad, como el acta de nacimiento

 

A nivel federal, en el Congreso existe una medida similar que prohibir&#29168; el uso de la matr&#29555;ula consular mexicana como forma oficial de identificaci&#37870; en los Estados Unidos.

 

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http://www.azcentral.com/lavoz/spanish/us/articles/us_84852.html

 

Irak: insurgentes lanzan nuevos ataques; 10 muertos, 32 heridos

 

Por BUSHRA JUHI

04/30/2005

 

- BAGDAD (AP) _ Los insurgentes lanzaron nuevos ataques el s&#22670;ado en Bagdad y en el norte de Irak, matando al menos a 10 iraqu&#29551;s e hiriendo a 32, dijeron las autoridades. Los nuevos episodios de violencia ocurrieron un d&#29168; despu&#24293; de estallar m&#23283; de una docena de veh&#29555;ulos cargados con explosivos, la mayor&#29168; en la capital iraqu? matando a 50 personas, entre ellas tres estadounidenses.

 

La polic&#29168; dijo que el s&#22670;ado, un atacante suicida hizo estallar un veh&#29555;ulo con explosivos cerca de las oficinas del Consejo Nacional del Di&#23278;ogo, una organizaci&#37870; que agrupa a 10 facciones sun&#29551;s que estaban negociando su participaci&#37870; en el nuevo gobierno controlado por la mayor&#29168; chi&#30275;a. La explosi&#37870; mat?a dos civiles e hiri?a 18, dijo un agente de polic&#29168; que pidi?no ser identificado por temor a represalias.

 

Miembros de la coalici&#37870; sun?hab&#29168;n criticado la designaci&#37870; de un nuevo gabinete indicando que no inclu&#29168; a suficientes sun&#29551;s.

 

Otro atacante suicida hizo estallar el s&#22670;ado un veh&#29555;ulo con explosivos cerca de la mezquita Mohamad Rasoul Al?en el este de Bagdad, matando a dos mujeres y a una ni&#37785;, e hiriendo de gravedad a cuatro soldados, dijo el teniente coronel de la polic&#29168; Ahmed Abboud Effait.

 

Dos iraqu&#29551;s: un polic&#29168; y un ex funcionario del partido Baath de Saddam Hussein, tambi&#24175; murieron el s&#22670;ado en tiroteos en Bagdad, dijo la polic&#29168;.

 

Por otra parte, cuatro soldados estadounidenses murieron y dos resultaron heridos por una bomba colocada al lado de una carretera, en el noroeste de Irak, informaron el s&#22670;ado fuentes militares.

 

El ataque contra una caravana de la Fuerza de Tareas Libertad ocurri?el jueves en la ciudad Tal Afar, a 150 kil&#37844;etros al este de la frontera con Siria, inform?el ej&#24296;cito de Estados Unidos.

 

Otros cuatro efectivos estadounidenses resultaron heridos el viernes en la noche cuando el veh&#29555;ulo en que viajaban cay?a una zanja y volc? cerca de c&#23275;cel de Abu Ghraib, al oeste de Bagdad, dijo el s&#22670;ado el ej&#24296;cito de Estados Unidos.

 

Hasta el viernes, por lo menos 1.579 miembros del ej&#24296;cito norteamericano hab&#29168;n muerto desde el comienzo de la guerra en Irak, en marzo del 2003, seg&#57390; un conteo de The Associated Press. Por lo menos 1.199 murieron como resultado de acciones enemigas, seg&#57390; el departamento de Defensa de Estados Unidos.

 

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what else is new????? when regular pigs falsely arrest people they never get punished either.

 

http://www.prensahispanaaz.com/index.asp?id=772

 

Edición en línea - Principal

Edición: 708. Del 27 de abril al 3 de mayo del 2005

Esta noticia ha sido visitada: 57 veces

 

“Perdona” procurador a sujeto que arrestó a indocumentados

 

Leo Hernández

 

El procurador del Condado, Maricopa Andrew Thomas, decidió no presentar cargos contra el individuo que detuvo a punta de pistola a siete indocumentados mexicanos.

 

Pero aclaró que esto no quiere decir que cualquier persona pueda hacer lo mismo, pues el de Patrick Habb “es un caso único por sus circunstancias, y tras haber hecho un análisis completo (decidí que) no es apropiada una acción judicial”.

 

En conferencia de prensa, el funcionario defendió su decisión asegurando que Habb no violó ninguna ley, y por tanto no hay delito que perseguir. Además, recordó que hay una ley en Arizona, que permite a los ciudadanos intervenir y hasta detener a una persona que está cometiendo una felonía, y desde su punto de vista, eso fue lo que hizo Patrick Habb, ya que se trataba de un “pollero” transportando a un grupo de ilegales, y el contrabando humano constituye una felonía.

 

Pero el propio Habb ha manifestado que no sabía que esas personas eran indocumentados, pero se sintió en peligro y por eso sacó su pistola. Como se recordará, ese incidente ocurrió el pasado 10 de abril en un área de descanso de la carretera estatal 8, cerca de Gila Bend.

 

Habb se destuvo en ese lugar para descansar un poco y para bajar a su perro a caminar; eran como las 9:50 de la noche cuando vio a los inmigrantes que se estaban subiendo a una camioneta.

 

Fue entonces que los enfrentó, los encañonó y los obligó a que se bajaran y se pusieran boca abajo en el piso, para enseguida llamar al 911 y pedir ayuda policiaca.

 

Al lugar arribaron agentes del Sheriff del Condado Maricopa y también de la Patrulla Fronteriza; estos últimos se llevaron a los indocumentados, mientras que los alguaciles interrogaron a Patrick Habb y decidieron detenerlo. Días después el acusado salió libre tras lagar una fianza de 10 mil dólares y posteriormente el procurador decidió retirar los cargos de asalto agravado que habían sido formulados en su contra.

 

Al final de su conferencia de prensa, Andrew Thomas declaró a PRENSA HISPANA: “Quiero que quede bien claro que cualquier persona no puede detener a indocumentados y si alguien hace eso le vamos a aplicar la ley”.

 

Dijo que su por ejemplo, si alguien va a un lugar como a la Home Depot o a un centro de jornaleros donde podría haber ilegales, y los detiene a punta de pistola, estaría cometiendo un crimen.

“El caso de Patrick Habb fue único, en circunstancias muy especiales”, recalcó.

 

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http://www.prensahispanaaz.com/index.asp?id=706

 

Edición en línea - Ritmo Joven

Edición: 708. Del 27 de abril al 3 de mayo del 2005

Esta noticia ha sido visitada: veces

 

Implantes de colágeno Para unos labios de tentación

 

PRENSA HISPANA

 

El colágeno es una proteína que se encuentra en la naturaleza incluyendo el cuerpo humano. General-mente, el que se utiliza para aplicaciones estéticas es el colágeno bovino que, tras tratarlo, se parece mucho al humano.

 

Hay que tener en cuenta que los implantes mejoran pero no hacen milagros.

 

Si te decides a aumentar tus finos labios, lo primero que tienes que tener en cuenta son las proporciones reales. No intentes parecerte a una modelo. El inyectar sustancias siempre es algo peligroso si no se realiza por profesionales, así que ponte en manos de un buen experto. Antes de decidirse a hacerse un implante de colágeno en los labios el especialista debe hacer un estudio de cuál es tu tipo de piel. Lo más adecuado antes de decidirse por la cirugía es hacerse un tratamiento de limpieza, hidratación y nutrición para que la piel esté bien preparada para recibir el implante, no se produzcan inconvenientes y los resultados sean visibles lo antes posible.

 

El procedimiento

 

Antes de inyectarse el colágeno hay que hacer una prueba de alergia para descartar esa posibilidad. Se debe realizar un mes antes de la implantación, si aparecen picores o irritaciones hay que descartar el uso de colágeno. Pero ahora la ciencia ha avanzado mucho y hay otros materiales para realizar el implante.

 

El colágeno no se puede inyectar tampoco en mujeres embarazadas, a personas con alergias a productos bovinos o a los alérgicos a la anestesia local, ya que aunque la operación no necesita dormir al paciente, sí se anestesia la zona a tratar para evitar sentir algún tipo de dolor.

 

El colágeno se inyecta mezclado con agua salada con ayuda de una aguja muy fina. Esta agua se absorbe en los días siguientes. Mientras se produce la inyección, se masajea el labio para que el colágeno se distribuya por las zonas deseadas y al mismo tiempo se evita la aparición de hematomas y granulomas, que son quistes internos de la piel.

 

No se necesita ningún tipo de cuidado post-operatorio, no hay que lucir ningún vendaje ni dejar de comer, beber o maquillarse.

 

Resultados temporales

 

El número de sesiones que se necesitan varía dependiendo del grosor de los labios de la paciente y también del tamaño que quieren que alcance. Generalmente, con una sesión es suficiente, donde se aplica un centímetro cúbico de colágeno.

 

Hay que tener en cuenta que no son resultados permanentes, que desaparecen generalmente a los seis meses aproximadamente, ya que el material inyectado se metaboliza en el cuerpo y es absorbido. Aunque lo cierto es que eso depende mucho de la paciente. Hay personas en las que tan sólo duran unos días y en otras pueden llegar incluso a ser permanentes.

 

<#==#>

 

how do you say microsoft sucks in espanol??? or is it better to say go UNIX, go LINUX. perhaps vamanos UNIX, vamanos LINUX, no va Microsoft.

 

http://www.prensahispanaaz.com/index.asp?id=707

 

Edición en línea - Ritmo Joven

Edición: 708. Del 27 de abril al 3 de mayo del 2005

Esta noticia ha sido visitada: 1 veces

 

Actualizarán Windows XP en forma compulsiva

 

PRENSA HISPANA

 

Aquellos usuarios que tienen Windows XP en sus PC’s sentirán nuevamente el “acoso” de Microsoft para actualizarlo con el Service Pack 2, el segundo paquete de actualizaciones consideradas críticas por la empresa.

 

Es que Microsoft distribuyó a mediados del año pasado el SP2 Blocker Tool, para bloquear temporalmente la instalación automática del Service Pack 2 para Windows XP y así evitar posibles incompatibilidades con otros programas.

 

Ese bloqueador expiró el 12 de abril, por lo que los usuarios no podrán seguir recibiendo actualizaciones del sistema operativo si no cuentan con el SP2.

 

Durante ese lapso, Microsoft analizó las compatibilidades con diversos programas y elaboró finalmente una lista con 50 aplicaciones que no funcionan con el SP2.

 

Sin embargo, según la empresa, las computadoras que cuenten con el Service Pack 2 tendrán una mayor protección contra virus, gusanos, intromisiones desde otra máquina en forma remota y un firewall más potente, entre otras.

 

La actualización puede descargarse en forma automática o encargar un CD. Para la primera opción, Windows ofrece -a todos aquellos que poseen una conexión a la Red- el sistema de actualización automática. Este proceso no hace más que instalar los parches que Microsoft lanza periódicamente al corazón del sistema operativo: son las actualizaciones que la empresa llama “críticas”.

 

También existen las “no críticas”, que rejuvenecen aplicaciones como el Windows Media o el realizador de videos caseros Windows Maker.

En este punto, el usuario puede decidir si quiere actualizar Windows en forma manual o que lo haga el sistema automáticamente, cuando haya novedades.

 

Lo más recomendable es elegir esta última opción, ya que además puede configurarse el intervalo de actualización.

 

En el caso de elegir instalar la actualizacion desde un CD, hay que ingresar a la página de Microsoft para ordenar el disco, que puede demorar unas 6 semanas.

 

<#==#>

 

did you know that a homeless person who takes a piss in an ally is a "sex offender" under the current law?

 

did you know that a drunk leaving a bar who takes a piss behind a dumpster is a "sex offender" under the current law.

 

this law stinks!!!!!

 

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0501sexoffenders01.html

 

Some sex offenders get to quit probation

County considering pleas to end lifetime monitoring

 

Judi Villa

The Arizona Republic

May. 1, 2005 12:00 AM

 

Sex offenders who were supposed to be monitored for life are beginning to ask to be let off probation in Maricopa County - and some of their requests are getting the OK.

 

In the past three years, 20 sex offenders went to court and successfully petitioned to be released from lifetime probation, according to Maricopa County's Adult Probation Department. Some say it's just the beginning of a push by sex offenders to ease the strict behavioral restrictions placed on them for more than a decade.

 

The petitions come 12 years after the county formalized its specialized sex offender probation program and as the result of a state law that allows all probationers to petition for early termination. The first wave of sex offenders now have completed years of intensive treatment and have been on a maintenance program long enough to argue they are no longer a danger. advertisement

 

Those who agree with them say there should be some sort of "light at the end of the tunnel" to motivate sex offenders to comply with treatment requirements and behavioral restrictions. But others say the risk of a sex offender committing a new crime is simply too great to loosen the reins, particularly when society believes that they will be watched forever.

 

Two recent child-abduction murders in Florida have ignited a national debate about how closely sex offenders should be watched and for how long. Both murder suspects are sex offenders; neither was on lifetime probation.

 

Currently, 1,542 sex offenders are on lifetime probation in Maricopa County.

 

Before a judge terminates that, he looks at the severity of the offense and whether the concerns that initially triggered lifetime monitoring have been addressed. Also factored into the decision are the sex offender's performance on probation, risk assessments, and the victim's opinion.

 

Those most likely to get a second chance include offenders involved in statutory rapes or incestuous relationships.

 

"I just can't imagine the thought process," said Stephanie Orr, executive director of Casa, the Center for Prevention of Abuse and Violence.

 

"When this happens to families, it's much like a disease. Somebody gets diagnosed with diabetes. You don't just go on the medical plan that they have for diabetes and then when they seem like they're getting better, you take them off the diet and the program.

 

"This is it for life. This is how your family's going to be for the rest of their lives. It's not an option. We have to protect the children."

 

But Charles Onley, a research associate at the Center for Sex Offender Management, cautioned, "Not all sex offenders are the same.

 

"You may have guys who are in for Internet porn and never touched a kid. You may have guys in for statutory rape. There's a lot to be said for what type of offender you have there. How much of a threat does he actually present to the community?"

 

One of the men who had his probation terminated had served more than two years in prison for the attempted sexual abuse of a child. After eight years on probation, he was released to live with his new wife and two minor stepdaughters in Montana. Montana officials would not allow the man to live with his family if he was still on sex-offender probation.

 

Another man who molested his stepdaughter and one of her friends was released from probation after psychological evaluations and risk assessments determined he had taken responsibility for his actions, was remorseful and could control his behavior without supervision.

 

In addition, The Arizona Republic reviewed the cases of 44 sex offenders who appeared in court over a yearlong period and found one in four was granted some sort of modification of his probation terms.

 

Those ranged from allowing a sex offender to go with his wife on a seven-day trip that he had earned at work, to allowing a father to take his children to parks, school events and movies and allowing his children to have playmates at the house as long as his wife was home, too. Another sex offender, convicted of engaging in intercourse and oral sex with a 16-year-old family friend, was granted permission to be present in public forums, including grocery stores and sporting events, "for legitimate purposes."

 

A surge in termination requests prompted Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Eddward Ballinger Jr. to start a monthly sex-offender court last year to "prevent us from making mistakes." But Ballinger insisted there is not, and will not be, a "wholesale termination of probation."

 

"If someone says to me, 'Lifetime probation means lifetime probation,' you're right," Ballinger said. "There better be a good reason to change it."

 

One Valley sex offender, who is getting ready to petition to be let off lifetime probation, said he is undergoing a battery of tests and evaluations to prove he isn't a danger.

 

The man, 36, who is not subject to community notification and asked that his name be withheld to protect his family, has been on lifetime probation since 1991. He said he was involved in "incestuous behavior" with his younger siblings while he was a teenager and again as a young adult. He turned himself in to get help.

 

Over the years, he's learned to understand his offense cycle, recognize red flags and avoid them. He lives under strict probationary restrictions as well as safeguards he and wife have built into their lives. He won't initiate contact with minors. Going to a baseball game is OK, but he's never been to a Little League game. His wife attends the parent-teacher conferences and other school events for their three children. Every year, he takes a polygraph test.

 

If he were let off probation, the man would be able to travel without approval, which he can't do now. And he could attend large family gatherings without having to tell every parent what he's done and obtain their written permission for him to be there.

 

He said he doesn't need supervision to remain vigilant, but he understands the community's trepidation about sex offenders. He's crossed the line and he knows some would say it would be easier for him to do it again. Even he's had that "oh my gosh" feeling when he gets public notifications about sex offenders in his neighborhood.

 

"You can't help but be a little worried," the man said.

 

But, he said, "I wouldn't be as high-risk as other people might be. . . . I chose to live a better life."

 

Before 1985, lifetime probation didn't exist for sex offenders. But that year, the Arizona Legislature passed a statute permitting it, and two years later Maricopa County created a specialized sex offender supervision program. Formalized in 1993, it quickly became a national model for the management of sex offenders.

 

While nearly 15 percent of 2,967 sex offenders released from Arizona prisons were rearrested for a new sex offense, those in Maricopa County's lifetime probation program fared better. Fewer than 2 percent of 2,344 supervised offenders committed a new sex crime.

 

The recidivism rates are a good reason to keep offenders on lifetime probation, said Rachel Mitchell, chief of the sex-crimes bureau at the Maricopa County Attorney's Office."They can relapse," Mitchell said. "Sex offenders have deviant sexual interests and while you can curtail those if you're dealing with a pedophile, you can't completely obliterate that as a sexual desire. The same issues that led you to offend before can lead you to offend again."

 

Today, about a dozen states have some sort of lifetime supervision for sex offenders, and Florida is pushing legislation that would include lifetime electronic monitoring for child molesters.

 

In Maricopa County, lifetime probation now is included in nearly every plea agreement involving a sex offense. At the same time, anyone on probation for any crime is allowed to petition the courts to have the terms modified or eliminated. Generally, sex offenders who petition to be released from lifetime probation must have completed about five years of intensive therapy and stepped down to a maintenance program for another two years.

 

Lifetime probation involves intensive treatment and surveillance, and routine polygraph testing. As a sex offender complies with requirements and makes progress, restrictions are lessened and probation officers check on the offender less frequently.

 

"That should be the reward, decreasing the controls but not severing the relationship," Casa's Orr said. "It keeps the person in the system and it keeps a level of monitoring. It may be drastically reduced but at least it's some level of monitoring."

 

For a long time, Dr. Tom Selby, who treats Valley sex offenders, would have agreed. But Selby said there is "an incredible range" of sex offenders, and not all of them pose a lifelong danger to the public. At one end of the spectrum are pedophiles, hard-core exhibitionists and rapists who will never get off probation no matter how well they do. At the other end are sex offenders convicted of statutory rape after consensual sex with a girlfriend just a couple years younger and men who were involved in incestuous relationships where "beyond that there was little or no other acting out," Selby said.

 

These sex offenders tend to mature with years of therapy and take responsibility for their actions. Some marry and have children. And Selby said he eventually has to ask himself: Are we damaging their families? Are we setting them up for failure by keeping them under strict sex-offender restrictions?

 

"For years I've preached life is life," Selby said, "but there is a small percentage that it probably is appropriate to get off."

 

"They won't be getting off probation unless at that point they were deemed to be not a threat."

 

Onley of the Center for Sex Offender Management said the possibility of someday getting off lifetime probation could be an incentive for sex offenders to do well during treatment.

 

"Not having an expectation of an out becomes self-defeating later on," Onley said. "There's two doors here. I do one thing and I can go back to prison. I do another thing and I can get off this supervision. . . . Having the possibility of an out may be a motivator."

 

Mitchell sees it differently: The prison term hanging over a sex offender's head can be a huge incentive to attend therapy and abide by all the behavior restrictions. It also can ensure that if an offender's situation changes, he can be forced back into treatment.

 

"We want to keep these people monitored for as long as possible," Mitchell said.

 

"The bottom line is it makes society a lot safer."

 

<#==#>

 

cops like to brag and tell that they risk their lives for us on a daily basis and that they have the most dangerous jobs on earth. in none of these tables did being a cop come in as being the most dangerous job. and in several of the tables the job of being a police officer didnt even show up in the top 10. and cops never came in lower then 7th place. and that only happened once. firemen also like to do the same type of bragging and it is also a lie. firemen only showed up in one table and they came in 14th place.

 

1 timber cutters

2 fishers

3 pilots and navigators

4 structural metal workers

5 driver-sales workers

6 roofers

7 electrical power installers

8 farm occupations

9 construction laborers

10 truck drivers

 

http://money.cnn.com/2003/10/13/pf/dangerousjobs

 

1. Truck driver

2. Farm worker

3. Sales supervisor/proprietor

4. Construction worker

5. Police detective

6. Airplane pilot

7. Security guard

8. Taxicab driver

9. Timber cutter

10. Cashier

11. Fisherman

12. Metal worker

13. Roofer

14. Firefighter

 

Source: U.S. Labor Department

http://www.comebackalive.com/df/dngrjobs.htm

 

Occupation Relative Risk* Leading Fatal Event

 

Average All Jobs 1.0 Homicide and Accidents

 

1 Fishers                          21.3 Drowning

2 Timber Cutters                   20.6 Struck by Object

3 Airplane Pilots                  19.9 Airplane Crashes

4 Structural Metal Workers         13.1 Falls

5 Taxi Cab Drivers                  9.5 Homicide

6 Construction Workers              8.1 Vehicular, Falls

7 Roofers                           5.9 Falls

8 Electric Power Installer/Repairer 5.7 Electrocution

9 Truck Driver                      5.3 Highway Crashes

10 Farm Occupations                 5.1 Vehicular

11 Police, Detectives, Supervisors  3.4 Homicide, Highway Crashes

12 Nonconstruction Laborers         3.2 Vehicular

13 Electricians                     3.2 Electrocution

14 Welders and Cutters              2.4 Falls, fires

15 Guards                           2.3 Homicide

16 Groundkeepers and Gardeners      1.9 Vehicular

17 Carpenters 1.6 Falls

18 Auto Mechanics                   1.1 Highway Crashes, Homicide

19 Supervisors, Proprietors, Sales  1.0 Homicide

20 Cashiers                         0.9 Homicide

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics - Compensation and Working Conditions Online

http://www.menstuff.org/issues/byissue/dangerousjobs.htm

 

Occupation             Fatalities per 100,000

 

1  Timber cutters             118

2  Fishers                     71

3  Pilots and navigators       70

4  Structural metal workers    58

5  Drivers-sales workers       38

6  Roofers                     37

7  Electrical power installers 32

8  Farm occupations            28

9  Construction laborers       27

10 Truck drivers               25

 

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics; survey of occupations with minimum 30 fatalities and 45,000 workers in 2002

 

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/invest/extra/P63405.asp

 

  Job                   Number

                            Of

                    Fatalities  Fatality Rate

1 Timber Cutters           105  122.1

2 Fishermen                 52  108.3

3 Pilots                   230  100.8

4 Structural Metal Workers  47   59.5

5 Extractive Occupations    69   53.9

6 Roofers                   65   30.2

7 Construction Workers     288   28.3

8 Truck Drivers            852   27.6

  All Occupations        5,915    4.3

 

http://www.forbes.com/2002/09/03/0903worksafe.html

 

1. Timber cutters

2. Airplane pilots

3. Construction laborers

4. Truck drivers

5. Farm occupations

6. Groundskeepers

7. Laborers

8. Police and detectives

9. Carpenters

10. Sales occupations

 

http://www.insurance.com/Article.aspx/artid/23

 

1 Timber Cutters

2 Fishers

3 Pilots & Navigators

4 Structural Metal Workers

5 Driver - Sales Workers

6 Roofers

7 Electrical Power Installers

8 Farm Occupations

9 Construction Laborers

10 Truck Drivers

 

http://www.quia.com/rd/23965.html

 

This article says that most of the cops that die are certainly not heros.

 

Dangerous jobs

More police officers die each year in patrol car crashes than at the hands of criminals, and most of the time the accidents occur when the officers are not speeding to an emergency, a new study says.

 

But the researchers say the number of deaths could be reduced if police departments did more to encourage officers to use seat belts. The authors of the report, in The Journal of Trauma, reviewed hundreds of police car accidents across the country from 1997 to 2001 and also found that officers involved in crashes were 2.6 times as likely to be killed if they were not wearing seat belts...

 

Dr. Jehle said that officers who were interviewed for the study were surprised to find that about 60 percent of the deaths occurred during routine driving. They tend to view the car as a haven. "It's their office," he said. "They're in it all the time."

 

http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2005/02/dangerous_jobs.html

 

Occupation (Number of fatalities in 2003)

 

1. Truck drivers                                   (861)

2. Farmers/Ranchers                            (329)

3. Construction laborers                       (289)

4. Grounds maintenance workers         (156)

5. Miscellaneous agricultural workers (131)

6. Police officers                                   (128)

7. Retail managers                                (124)

8. Aircraft pilots                                   (113)

9. Movers                                              (106)

10. Logging workers                             (104)

 

http://monster.typepad.com/monsterblog/2004/10/the_most_danger.html

 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1.4 million injuries and illnesses that required recuperation away from work occurred in private industry in 2002. Sprains and strains were the leading cause of injury in every major industry.

 

What occupations tend to report the highest number of injuries?

 

1 Truck drivers

2 Nursing aides, orderlies and attendants

3 Laborers (nonconstruction)

4 Janitors and cleaners

5 Construction laborers

6 Assemblers

7 Carpenters

8 Supervisors, proprietors, salespeople

9 Cooks

10 Sales clerks

 

http://www.emcins.com/emcrm/insights_newsletters/insight04v26/topten.htm

 

<#==#>

 

this is a site kevin may be interested in if and when he gets out of jail. it appears to give a daily summary of the iraqi resistance in english.

 

      http://freearabvoice.org

 

i got it from that bum ernie hancock who i am pissed off at.

 

<#==#>

 

28 April 2005

 

Dear Mike

 

I am sorry to hear you can no longer correspond with Laro. It seems absurd that they classify you as an inmate. Thank you for sending that New Times article about Ray Krone.

 

You are right that the insanity defense is not a “get out of jail free” card. John Hinlkey has been confined to St. Elizabeth’s hospital these past 24 years after being found not guilty by reason of insanity of an attack on Ronald Reagan. They could hold me at the Arizona State Hospital just as long if I were found guilty but insane.

 

Nothing was settled at the settlement conference except to hold another one Monday, 2 May. The prosecution was inclined to make a deal but needed authorization from her supervisor.

 

The proposal is to convict of felony disorderly conduct (recklessly handling or displaying my firearm) and give probation. I am inclined to accept that offer if it is officially made and authorized. It will mean I am a convicted felon, but it will get me out of here. I worry about my career as many apartment complexes will not hire convicted felons. If I go to trial, I will probably be convicted of this charge anyway. It’s what is known as a “lesser included offense” of the charge of aggravated assault. I don’t think I was handling my pistol recklessly, but a jury probably will think so.

 

As to the aggravated assault charge, the prosecution maintains it was attempted suicide-by-cop but contends I intended to threaten the cops with my pistol thus constituting an assault. I maintain I was only going to shoot myself.

 

No cockroaches here yet, but there will be if we aren’t able to clean our cell floors. At the old jail we could use the broom or the mop from the day room during our hour out. Here we have no access to a day room or a broom or mop. In other hygiene deficiencies they haven’t issued us a change of clothing yet, only new boxers and towels. They have confiscated our radios and failed to order our book orders, so it is boring here.

 

Yours,

 

Kevin

 

<#==#>

 

of course the low level rif raf are being made scape goats for this. i doubt if any officers will ever be charged with crimes, much less plead guilty or be convicted for torture at Abu Ghraib or gauantanamo in cuba.

 

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0502IraqPrisonAbuse02-ON.html

 

Woman pleads guilty to Iraq prison abuses

 

Associated Press

May. 2, 2005 09:00 AM

 

FORT HOOD, Texas - Pfc. Lynndie England, who appeared in some of the most graphic photographs depicting physical mistreatment and sexual humiliation of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison, pleaded guilty Monday to charges arising from her role in the abuse scandal.

 

The 22-year-old Army reservist entered her pleas to two counts of conspiracy to maltreat prisoners, four counts of maltreating prisoners and one count of committing an indecent act.

 

In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop another count of committing an indecent act and one count of dereliction of duty.

 

If the plea agreement is accepted by the judge, Col. James Pohl, a jury of officers and enlisted soldiers will decide her punishment following a sentencing hearing expected to last several days.

 

The plea agreement, which came the day before England was scheduled to go to trial, lowers her maximum possible sentence from 16½ years in prison to 11 years.

 

England, from Fort Ashby, W.Va., is one of seven members of the Maryland-based 372nd Military Police Company charged with humiliating and assaulting prisoners at Abu Ghraib. She became a central figure in the scandal after photos of her surfaced.

 

One image showed her smiling and posing with nude prisoners stacked in a pyramid while giving a thumbs-up. Another showed her holding a hooded, naked Iraqi prisoner on a leash, and one showed her smiling and pointing at a naked detainee's genitals while smoking a cigarette.

 

England's lawyers have argued that she and others in her unit were acting on orders from military intelligence to "soften up" prisoners for interrogations. But Army investigators testified during hearings last summer that England said the reservists took the photos while "they were joking around, having some fun."

 

The Abu Ghraib scandal, which went public in April 2004, damaged the image of America's military leadership at home and sparked outrage around the world. Several government investigations have been conducted, but so far only low-level soldiers have been charged, although the defendants and other critics have alleged that high-level officials condoned the abuse.

 

Four other members of the 372nd and two low-level military intelligence officers have entered guilty pleas, with sentences ranging from no time to 8½ years. The only soldier to stand trial so far is Pvt. Charles Graner Jr., the reputed ringleader of the abuses and said to be the father of England's infant son. Spc. Sabrina Harman, a former Abu Ghraib guard, is scheduled to go to trial at Fort Hood next week.

 

<#==#>

 

To:

From: "Terry" <terry@terrybressi.org>  Add to Address Book

Date: Sun, 01 May 2005 23:50:58 -0700

Subject: [lpaz-discuss] Arizona Roadblock Update - 01MAY2005

 

This is an update on the unlawful multi-jurisdictional roadblock that

took place on Arizona SR86 on December 20, 2002. For a complete account

of this incident, please visit:

 

http://www.terrybressi.org

 

In this update I discuss changes to the court schedule, recently received discovery documentation, lawsuit amendments and issues surrounding the Motion to Reconsider. Links to recently added documentation are provided towards the end of this update and an online version has been posted at:

 

http://www.terrybressi.org/roadblock/update/stop17.html

----------------

 

Court Schedule:

 

In the last update, I indicated a judicial hearing was scheduled for

April 25, 2005 where the court would hear arguments surrounding the alleged sovereign immunity of the defendants related to the roadblock, stop, questioning and initial detention prior to my unlawful arrest.

Limited discovery was allowed by the court and both sides were preparing for the hearing. On April 1st however, a court order was issued which vacated the April 25th hearing, extended the discovery time frame, and indicated an in-chambers decision would be made in lieu of a hearing. The reason provided by the court for the change was that facts urrounding the defendants alleged sovereign immunity and our ubstantive claims for relief are so intermingled that the court must review the evidence within the boundaries of Rule 56 summary judgment.

Further, case law indicates that given the circumstances, the court must examine the evidence in a light most favorable to the plaintiff since a finding of fact in such circumstances must be made at trial. As such, the judge decided a hearing was inappropriate & set May 6th as the deadline for our final response to the Motion for Reconsideration. He also set May 27th as the deadline for the defendants final reply.

 

Given that the April 25th hearing was canceled, my deposition along with that of two eye witnesses were taken on Wednesday, April 27th at the

Gust Rosenfeld law firm in downtown Tucson by defense attorney Roger Frazier. Final motions will now be prepared and submitted to the court followed by a court order regarding the scope of the trial sometime after May 27th.

 

In addition to the depositions that took place last Wednesday, former TOPD officer Joseph Patterson was deposed several weeks ago. Mr. Patterson heard about this incident some time ago and when I contacted him, he indicated a willingness to testify on our behalf. Mr. Patterson testified that in his experience, the TOPD routinely conducted roadblocks with the intention of enforcing state law on non-tribal members through their AZ POST certifications. He also testified that TOPD officers routinely claimed state jurisdiction when it was in their best interest to do so and tribal jurisdiction when state requirements were burdensome in any way. In essence, Mr. Patterson verified that jurisdiction shopping was a standard TOPD practice during the time frame he worked for the agency.

----------------

 

Discovery:

 

Over the past several weeks, I've been reviewing discovery documentation submitted by the defendants. As you'll see below, the defendants failed to adequately respond to our discovery requests. What has been released in comparison to what hasn't is proving to be fairly interesting however. Links to most of this documentation can be found at the end of this update.

 

While reviewing the defendants response to our request for production of documents and things, the following observations have been made:

 

* The defendants admit the TOPD have no written guidelines regarding checkpoint/roadblock operations even though a tribal case referenced by the defendants (over 16 years old) explicitly addresses a need for the development of such guidelines. Instead of developing guidelines per tribal court instructions however, the Chief of Police has been content with keeping a copy of the court decision in his office over the years in lieu of actual guidelines.

 

* The defendants state they cannot find any copies of the December 20, 2002 roadblock operational plan. Affidavits recently added to the website from Lt. Ford and Assistant Chief of Police Joseph Delgado address this point. This is in spite of the fact that over 26 officers participated in the operation and the plan was allegedly approved by the Chief of police or his assistant prior to December 20th. The defendants did manage however to produce copies of roadblock operational plans conducted prior to and after the December 20, 2002 roadblock.

 

What's interesting to note about these operational plans is that they either indicate involvement of state/federal agencies or that the scope of roadblock operations were expansive and encompassed all manner of general crime control interests. Given the 'loss' of all copies of the operational plan for the December 20, 2002 roadblock and the nature of other roadblocks conducted by the TOPD, there's no reason to believe the December 20th roadblock was limited to public safety issues & didn't involve federal/state agencies.

 

* The defendants have only released copies of five arrest reports associated with roadblock operations although three more are expected in the near future. There are strong indications that additional arrests were made at the roadblock but documentation that would confirm this has been withheld. Additionally, none of the documentation released indicates when U.S. Customs or Border Patrol agents were called to the scene, who called them, or why they were called.

 

* The defendants state the Border Patrol and U.S. Customs were only called to the scene after alleged violations requiring their presence were identified. When the arrest records were reviewed however, it became apparent that I was the second arrest of the night while the first report of illegal aliens and drugs didn't take place until after I had already been stopped. Why were both agencies already on-scene by the time I arrived?

 

* The defendants claim they have no records associated with Border

Patrol or U.S. Customs involvement at the scene and we should seek such records directly from those agencies. FOIA requests to both agencies however have been denied based upon 'personal privacy' concerns and that disclosure could compromise enforcement techniques. I guess we all know what enforcement techniques are being protected. Responses like this make it clear why individuals must take it upon themselves to gather and document as much information as possible when faced with the threat of these types of operations.

 

* The defendants admit that roadblock dispatch records associated with

this case have been destroyed. Their excuse is that such records are

routinely destroyed 18 months after they are generated. What they fail

to mention however is that if such records are associated with an

ongoing legal action or investigation, they are obligated to preserve

them. Since I submitted a Notice of Claim against them six months after

the incident occurred and legal proceedings have been ongoing since

2003, there is no valid excuse for the destruction of this evidence.

 

* The defendants failed to provide us with a copy of the roadblock

summary report. Lt. Ford and Detective Traviolia admitted to the

existence of this document when they were interviewed by defense

attorney Marc Victor. The Summary Report would presumably provide an

overview of the total number of arrests, seizures, detentions, etc

along

with other information that could be used to determine the scope of the

operation along with the involvement of other agencies.

 

With regards to the defendants response to our request for admissions:

 

* On-scene commander, Lt. Ford, admits to enforcing seatbelt laws at

the

roadblock - contrary to the desires of the Chief of Police. The

seatbelt

law was only enforced against non-tribal members because the tribe has

no equivalent law.

 

* In one of our requests for admissions, we asked the defendants to

admit to carrying out the roadblock in conjunction with the Border

Patrol and U.S. Customs. The response we received is telling:

 

"...Anything agents from those agencies may have done after probable

cause leading to their involvement arose, or any actions they may have

taken, was done under their own power or choice, independent of the

TOPD's operation and initial stops at the checkpoint."

 

At the very least, this indicates the TOPD made no attempt to maintain

operational control of their roadblock because they allowed federal

agents to engage in simultaneous operations after arriving on-scene.

Regardless of why federal agents were present at the roadblock or why

they stuck around to assist, the TOPD is ultimately responsible for

their actions given that they claim it was purely a TOPD operation.

 

* The defendants admit that U.S. Customs Agent Dreland approached and

spoke to me while the TOPD were conducting their investigation.

 

* The defendants admit to seeking consent to conduct trunk searches of both tribal and non-tribal members stopped at the roadblock. Trunk searches have nothing to do with sobriety and everything to do with general search's for contraband material - a purely law enforcement endeavor.

 

As you can see, even though the defendants failed to fully comply with our discovery requests, the omissions and discrepancies associated with this incident continue to grow as we look deeper into the incident.

----------------

 

Motion to Reconsider:

 

After reviewing discovery documentation, we motioned the court to deny the defense's renewed motion to dismiss. The basis being that the defendants were operating under color of state and/or federal law throughout the entirety of the operation and as such are not entitled to sovereign immunity for any aspect of roadblock operations. To support our position, we referenced multiple examples of multi-jurisdictional activity in the brief along with various statements made by the defendants.

 

We also pointed out that discovery was incomplete because the

defendants

admitted to 'losing' some documents, destroying others, and failing to

provide access to even more. It was especially interesting to note that

none of the arrest reports released involved a single instance of drunk

driving when this was the alleged purpose of the roadblock. We also

noted the heavy involvement of federal agencies along with statements

made by Lt. Ford during his interview with Marc Victor that showed

intent to enforce both state and tribal law from the inception of the

operation.

 

The defense responded to our motion with additional requests to dismiss claims arising from the roadblock and any actions taken prior to my arrest. They claim such actions were based solely on tribal authority and consequently the court lacks jurisdiction to hear evidence surrounding such issues. They also requested that all defendants not directly involved with my citation and arrest be dismissed from the lawsuit in its entirety.

 

In response to our claim that discovery was incomplete, the defense attorney stated the defendants neither destroyed nor failed to release documentation because such documentation would have to originate from the TOPD which is not a named defendant. The attorney fails to mention that the Chief of Police is one of the defendants in this case and has unfettered access to any such documentation. The motion also states there is no evidence the TOPD refused to release a copy of the operational plan to the Ajo Justice Court in December of 2003 even though I provided a copy of the transcript of court proceedings where it was made perfectly clear that the document would not be released to the court:

 

 The court: "Mr. Perkins, is it your understanding that that is regarded as an internal document and that it would not be...did you say it was an internal document that would not be made available to you?"

 

Mr. Perkins: "That's what Lieutenant Ford advised me why he was not able to bring that here."

 

This same document, the document the defendants refused to provide to the justice court while I was defending myself against charges involving jail time, is now reported as being lost by the defendants even though Lt. Ford indicates he forwarded it to the Assistant Chief of Police, Joseph Delgado. This must be an incriminating document indeed for them to not only have refused to release it to the Ajo Justice Court in 2003 but to have now 'lost' all copies of it after this lawsuit was filed.

----------------

 

Amended Complaint:

 

We recently amended the complaint to include issues of federal law. This was prompted by the removal of the case from the Arizona Superior Court where it was originally filed. This was made possible by a certification from the U.S. Attorney's Office stating the defendants were operating within the scope of their federal contract with the Bureau of Indian Affairs at the time of the incident. It was this basis the defendants used to not only remove the case to the federal court but also to have the malicious prosecution claim dismissed without prejudice.

 

Given these circumstances, we felt it was appropriate to amend the complaint to allow us to argue issues of federal law in addition to state law and to bring forward a Bivens claim. The judge granted our request to amend the complaint on April 1, 2005.

----------------

 

Documentation:

 

Since the last update in March, several files have been added to the website. The majority of these files are related to limited discovery on whether or not there are sufficient allegations to uphold our claim that the defendants were acting under color of state/federal law throughout the incident. If the judge rules against us, evidence will be limited to only those events that took place after I was forcibly removed from my vehicle. If the judge rules in our favor, the constitutionality of the roadblock itself can be examined within the context of the stop, questioning, detention, and arrest.

 

Links to discovery documentation along with a motion to amend the complaint, a demand for a trial by jury, and two court orders appear below. It should be noted, we will NOT seek to deny the defendants their right to a jury trial even though the defendants sought to deny my right to such a trial while I was defending myself against their malicious prosecution in 2003:

 

* http://www.terry ressi.org/roadblock/lawsuit/discovery. tm Limited discovery documentation including responses to non-uniform interrogatories, admissions, and documentation requests from both parties. It also includes copies of previous TOPD roadblock memo's, a copy of the contract between the Tohono O'odham and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, historical documentation related to the Arizona SR86 easement. In addition, you will find copies of the Tohono O'odham Constitution, a

tribal roadblock court case, and various tribal ordinances.

 

* http://www.terrybressi.org/roadblock/lawsuit/affidavit.h m Copies of affidavits from myself, the defendants, Assistant Chief of

Police Joseph Delgado, an eye witness, and others.

 

*

http://www.terrybressi.org/roadblock/lawsuit/docs/recon iderMotionReply.pdf Our objection to the Motion to Reconsider.

 

*

http://www.terrybressi.org/roadblock/lawsuit/docs/defenseReconsiderationReply.pdf

 

The defense's response to our objection regarding the Motion to Reconsider.

 

*

http://www.terrybressi.org/roadblock/lawsuit/docs/cour Order01Apr05.pdf Court order vacating the April 25th hearing in lieu of an in-chambers determination and extended time for discovery.

 

*

http://www.terrybressi.org/roadblock/lawsuit/docs/secondAmendedComplaint/secondAmendedComplaintRequest.pdf

 

Our motion to amend the complaint to include issues of Federal law.

 

*

http://www.terrybressi.org/roadblock/lawsuit/docs/secondAmendedComplaint/defenseReplySecondAmendedComplaint.pdf

 

Defense has no objections to the filing of an amended complaint but reserves the right to seek a dismissal.

 

*

http://www.terrybressi.org/roadblock/lawsuit/docs/secondAmendedComplaint/courtOrder28Mar05.pdf

 

Court order granting motion to amend the complaint.

 

*

http://www.terrybressi.org/roadblock/lawsuit/docs/secondAmendedComplaint/secondAmendedComplaint.pdf

 

The amended complaint including a Bivens claim.

 

*

http://www.terrybressi.org/roadblock/lawsuit/docs/secondAmendedComplaint/secondAmendedComplaintAnswer.pdf

 

Defense response to second amended complaint

 

*

http://www.terrybressi.org/roadblock/lawsuit/docs/defenseJuryTrialDemand.pdf

 

The defendants demand a jury trial

 

In addition to the files referenced above, I have also added information regarding a suspicionless DHS/Border Patrol Roadblock conducted on SR86 on April 14, 2005 - over 40 miles from the international border::

 

http://www.terrybressi.org/DHS/DHSroadblock.htm

 

This webpage has been added to the Homeland Security section of the website which highlights Border Patrol abuse near the border. I have found it necessary to carry recording devices with me while traveling this highway given the nature of enforcement activity taking place in

the area, my previous experiences, and knowing that the Border Patrol routinely refuses to comply with the Freedom of Information Act. These recording devices were utilized at this suspicionless roadblock to

generate photos, a video, and an mp3 file of the stop.

 

I can't stress enough that these types of suspicionless enforcement activities are being routinely wielded against the public many miles inland of the border. You may want to ask yourself why our rights are being undermined in this fashion when, by definition, illegal border crossings take place on the border - not 40 miles inside the interior of the country.

----------------

 

In conclusion, I'd like to point out that Article 2, Section 2 of the Arizona Constitution states that:

 

"All political power is inherent in the people, and governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and are established

to protect and maintain individual rights."

 

Similarly, Article III, Section I of the Tohono O'odham Constitution states:

 

All political power is inherent in the people. The government of the Tohono O'odham Nation derives its powers from the consent of the governed and is established to protect and maintain their individual rights. It shall not deny to any member of the Tohono O'odham Nation the equal protection of its laws or deprive any member of liberty or property without due process of law."

 

After more than 28 months of seeking an answer, no one has yet explained to me how suspicionless roadblocks where individuals are arbitrarily stopped, detained & questioned without cause and can be arrested merely for asking questions, serves to protect and maintain individual rights.

 

Your thoughts and feedback are always welcome. Thank you for your time.

 

Terry Bressi

roadblock@terrybressi.org

 

<#==#>

 

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0503TaserDeath03-ON.html

 

Assault suspect dies after police use Taser

 

Associated Press

May. 3, 2005 06:40 AM

 

A 24-year-old man died early Tuesday about an hour after being shocked multiple times by with a Taser stun gun, a Phoenix police spokesman said.

 

Police called for paramedics as soon as the man became unconscious, Phoenix police spokesman Sgt. Randy Force said Tuesday. The man was taken to a Paradise Valley hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

 

Force said police encountered the man - who was suspected in an April 17 assault on a police officer - at a northeast Phoenix apartment, where they were trying to arrest him.

 

When the man tried to run out a back door, the officers gave chase, and a female officer caught up with him and used her Taser on him. That didn't work, Force said, and a physical fight ensued. The male officer then used his Taser on the man, who was assaulting the female officer.

 

"The female officer deployed her Taser but it had no effect," Force said. "At one point the suspect was on top of the female officer assaulting her. She has serious facial injuries and a swollen lip."

 

Force said police are conducting two investigations into the death - one by the department's administrative professional standards team and another by a homicide unit, which is standard for any "in-custody" death, Force said.

 

The Phoenix police department was one of the first and largest police departments in the country to arm all patrol officers with Tasers. About 1,200 Phoenix officers now carry the weapon.

 

"I think it's safe to say that Tasers have allowed our officers, in hundreds of instances, to safely use a less-leathal means of subduing a suspect," Force said.

 

This is the second death following a Taser use that the Phoenix department has recorded. In 2004 another man died following a Taser shock, but a medical examiner attributed the death to drugs in his system and a pre-existing enlarged heart, Force said.

 

In July, a 29-year-old Flagstaff man died after he was shocked following a cocaine-fueled rampage in a Mesa convenience store. The man went into cardiac arrest after police shocked him seven times. In that case, an autopsy reported said that several shocks from the stun gun may have acted as a trigger in the death. However, the cause of death was ultimately ruled as complications of excited delirium due to cocaine.

 

The human rights group Amnesty International has called for studies of how Tasers affect patients with cardiac problems, epilepsy or multiple sclerosis, and many police departments across the country have said they intend to re-examine whether Tasers are a necessary part of officers' arsenal.

 

In March, Amnesty International said Taser's weapons have been responsible for 103 deaths since June 2001. Taser has stood by studies demonstrating the safety of its weapons.

 

<#==#>

 

why not stop calling it a drivers license and start calling it an "internal passport"

 

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0503licenses04.html

 

Some say provision puts costly burden on states

 

Matthew L. Wald and David D. Kirkpatrick

New York Times

May. 3, 2005 12:00 AM

 

WASHINGTON - State officials complain that requiring the verification of whether driver's license applicants are here legitimately will add a costly, complicated burden to the issuing of licenses, which has been their responsibility for almost a century. Civil rights organizations and privacy advocates say they are concerned that a standardized driver's license would amount to a national identification card and that a central database would be vulnerable to identify theft.

 

There is no reliable estimate of how many licenses have been issued to non-citizens, whether in the country legally or illegally.

 

The proposed regulations would replace a provision of the intelligence bill passed in December that called on state and federal agencies to develop new rules for licenses. That law did not specifically require states to check the citizenship or immigration status of applicants.

 

Some of the ideas in the new measure were rejected in the December debate. But conservative members of the House, led by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., R-Wis., threatened to block passage of the intelligence bill, until they won an agreement that they could try again this year. They got a pledge from the leadership to include the measures in a must-pass bill this year.

 

Supporters of the law say it addresses important security problems, and they note that of the 19 hijackers in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks used driver's licenses as identification when checking in, and that a few had had expired visas.

 

Supporters also say the measure will help control illegal immigration. Caroline Espinosa, a spokeswoman for NumbersUSA, a group that lobbies for tighter borders and tougher immigration laws, said, "This is really targeted toward national security, but a side effect would be discouraging illegal immigrants from coming into the United States and making it more difficult for them to open a bank account, buy a house, rent a car or buy a car."

 

State officials and some senators say the new provision, known as the Real ID measure, imposes verification procedures, such as the authentication of birth certificates, that would be difficult for even the federal government to meet.

 

However, many state licensing officials have long recognized a need for tighter standards and for better linking of databases, because many drivers whose licenses are revoked in one state quickly get a license in another.

 

In July, Tennessee began issuing driver's licenses marked "For driving purposes only. Not valid for identification," for people who cannot supply proof that they are legally in the state. The license is printed vertically, to distinguish it from most driver's licenses.

 

Tennessee has issued about 22,000 such cards since July, said Melissa McDonald, a spokeswoman for the state motor vehicle department.

 

<#==#>

 

http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/20050503-9999-1s3briefs.html

 

Boston settles with family of student killed at Sox celebration

 

UNION-TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICES

May 3, 2005

 

The city of Boston paid $5.1 million yesterday to the parents of a college student who was killed by a pepper-spray pellet fired by police trying to subdue a riot among Red Sox fans outside Fenway Park after Boston's playoff win over the New York Yankees last fall.

 

Victoria Snelgrove, a 21-year-old Emerson College senior, died hours after she was hit in the eye socket with the projectile Oct. 21 after Boston beat the Yankees for the American League pennant.

 

"I am hopeful the settlement recognizes the tremendous loss to them and represents our acceptance in the role the police played in that tragedy," Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole said.

 

O'Toole said Snelgrove was an innocent bystander and had not "engaged in any activity that would have led police to think that she was behaving unlawfully."

 

Patrick Jones, the Snelgrove's family lawyer, said that acknowledgment was the most important aspect of the settlement to her family.

 

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-fan-death-settlement,0,660421.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines

 

Boston Pays $5.1M to Dead Sox Fan's Family

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN

Associated Press Writer

 

May 3, 2005, 4:04 AM EDT

 

BOSTON -- Victoria Snelgrove wanted it all: To be a successful broadcast journalist and to meet her "Prince Charming" and start a family.

 

"I'm still young. I still have time," she said on a videotape she recorded in her bedroom.

 

Less than a year later, those hopes were cut short when Snelgrove was killed by police trying to subdue rioters after the Boston Red Sox won the American League pennant last fall.

 

On Monday, the city paid a $5.1 million settlement to Snelgrove's parents. It is believed to be the largest settlement in the city's history.

 

Snelgrove, an Emerson College senior from East Bridgewater, was hit in the eye socket with a pepper-spray pellet fired by a police officer outside Fenway Park on Oct. 21 after Boston eliminated the New York Yankees.

 

"I can't even imagine the pain the Snelgrove family has felt and will continue to feel," Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole said. "There is no amount of money that can relieve that pain, I'm sure."

 

Snelgrove's parents, Richard and Dianne Snelgrove, and her brother, Michael, spoke at length about her death on a DVD their attorney gave to reporters Monday.

 

"She was the light of our life," her mother said. "When she died, the light went out."

 

Richard Snelgrove recalled witnessing the last 12 hours of his daughter's life, after she lapsed into a coma. The family kept a bedside vigil in the hospital and watched her slowly "fade away," he said.

 

"I would hold her hand and there was just no movement," he said. "We stayed there until the last few moments. It was absolutely the most horrific time of our life."

 

Shortly after his daughter died, Richard Snelgrove discovered the videotape she recorded, apparently for a class project. Sitting on her bed, Victoria Snelgrove recalls feeling that she lived in a "bubble" until an aunt died after a short battle with brain cancer.

 

"Our lives were so good and we haven't been in touch with any tragedy or anything," she said. "That's one of my hugest fears -- that in a second my life or somebody close to me's life could just be taken away."

 

The DVD ends with a montage of family photos, including one her best friend Kaitlyn Sachetta snapped just minutes before Snelgrove's death.

 

"It just kind of shows what a great time we were having and how happy she was that the Red Sox had finally won and beat the Yankees," Sachetta said on the DVD.

 

Another friend, Kristen Daniels, said Snelgrove dreamed of appearing as an anchor on the "E!" entertainment television network and was looking forward to spending a semester in Los Angeles.

 

"Torie always knew what she wanted in life," Daniels said. "She had her goals set. She was going to achieve it."

 

Richard Snelgrove said he will cherish the memory of their morning routine, when he would kiss his daughter on her forehead before he headed off to work. "It was such a little thing, but I will miss it," he said, his voice wavering.

 

On Monday, O'Toole said Snelgrove was an innocent bystander and had not "engaged in any activity that would have led police to think that she was behaving unlawfully."

 

Patrick Jones, the Snelgrove's family lawyer, said that acknowledgment was the most important aspect of the settlement to her family.

 

Besides the Boston Police Department's internal review, two independent investigations are under way. The police commissioner also named a special outside panel to look into the shooting and police policies.

 

Prosecutors are looking into whether criminal charges are warranted against the officers who fired the pepper pellet weapons. O'Toole said investigators also are trying to determine if the weapon malfunctioned.

 

Two other people were injured when they were hit in the face by the pellets, which are fired from compressed-air weapons. A deputy superintendent who was in charge of operations around Fenway Park that night and fired one of the weapons, announced his retirement from the force Monday.

 

http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=81369

 

She thought cops would keep her safe: Hub settles Snelgrove suit for $5.1M

 

By Michele McPhee and Dave Wedge

Tuesday, May 3, 2005 - Updated: 09:58 AM EST

 

Victoria Snelgrove was seeking safety within a ring of Boston cops when she ended up in their line of fire during a wild celebration of Red Sox fans outside Fenway Park last year, her family's lawyer said yesterday.

 

New details of the 21-year-old Emerson College student's final moments emerged yesterday as the city announced a $5.1 million settlement with her family over her fatal shooting by police wielding pepper pellet rifles.

 

``She thought she was relatively safe, there were a lot of police around,'' Snelgrove family lawyer Patrick T. Jones said. Snelgrove and her close friend Kaitlyn Sachetta had been at a bar and were celebrating the win, pumping their fists with the crowd.

 

``She was so happy,'' Sachetta said about her friend.

 

But the crowd turned ugly and Jones said the women were ``blocked by a crowd from her car in a place where she and her friends felt they were the safest: in the presence of police, not in any way part of any rioting crowd.''

 

Yesterday was an emotion-charged day for both the young woman's family and police, as the settlement was announced and the veteran Boston Police commander who led special-ops police the night Snelgrove died retired under pressure.

 

``I will have to live with this that we tried to do the right thing for the right reasons and have a tragic, tragic result,'' saidDeputy Superintendent Robert E. O'Toole.

 

Meanwhile, Snelgrove's heartbroken father, Richard, wept as he remembered how he would plant ``butterfly kisses'' on ``Torie's'' forehead and tell her, ``I love you.''

 

``I miss it. It was such a little thing, but I miss it,'' he said in a recorded statement.

 

O'Toole headed the Special Operations unit, an elite squad whose fire from a ``less lethal'' FN-303 pellet gun killed Snelgrove and injured two others on Oct. 21, minutes after the Red Sox won Game 7 of the ALCS over the Yankees.

 

O'Toole has been criticized for firing the weapon himself without proper certification, and for not demanding his cops be fully trained in using the gun, part of a crowd-control arsenal given to the BPD to prepare for the Democratic National Convention.

 

An internal report on the case prepared by BPD detectives ``hammered O'Toole,'' saying his men fired more than 150 pellets, a source said, adding the report describes O'Toole as not having slept the night before the shooting after traveling from St. Louis.

 

The report is now being reviewed by Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley. His spokesman, David Procopio, said, ``We're reviewing the report to decide whether the officers' use of force was within the law.''

 

O'Toole, 59, defended his actions, saying he will not allow others to judge his 37 years of service by an incident that took place over ``five, 10 or 15 seconds.''

 

``If anybody in their right mind thinks that Bob O'Toole or any of the officers involved that night sleep well at night or don't think of it every day, then those people are foolish,'' he said.

 

The Snelgroves' lawyer and police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole announced the settlement, the largest in Boston's history, at BPD headquarters. The commissioner called Snelgrove an ``innocent bystander'' and said some questions remain unanswered.

 

``Of course, no amount of money can compensate the Snelgroves for the untimely loss of their daughter,'' she said. ``I am hopeful the settlement recognizes the tremendous loss to them and represents our acceptance in the role the police played in that tragedy.''

 

Under the settlement, the city will cooperate with the Snelgrove family if the family decides to sue gunmaker FN Herstal. If the suit is successful, the family agrees to repay the city up to $2 million.

 

http://enterprise.southofboston.com/articles/2005/05/03/news/news/news01.txt

 

East Bridgewater townspeople respond to the Snelgrove settlement

 

By Jennifer Kovalich, ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER

EAST BRIDGEWATER — Watching a Little League game at the Bedford Street Field Monday evening, Karen Leavitt's brown eyes filled with sadness as she learned a settlement had been reached in the death of Victoria Snelgrove, who was attending her alma mater.

 

"I'm glad they got something, but nothing can replace the fact that they lost their daughter," Leavitt, an Emerson College graduate, said.

 

"I just think it was a horrible, misfortunate accident. She clearly wasn't involved, just in the wrong place at the wrong time," Leavitt said. "I just feel horrible for the family."

 

Folks in this close-knit town of 13,000 residents were surprised a settlement was reached so soon and said they were still angered over what happened to "Torie," as Snelgrove was known.

 

Townspeople said they hope a scholarship in Snelgrove's name set up under the settlement will bring some good from the tragedy that took her young life.

 

"It's a great thing that they're doing," Julie Francoeur said of the scholarship fund.

 

The City of Boston will assist with a public memorial to Snelgrove and contribute $100,000 to the scholarship fund, Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole said Monday.

 

Snelgrove family attorney Patrick Jones, of CM Jones in Boston, said the scholarship fund is through The Community Bank in Bridgewater.

 

"They intend to use the funds contributed there to assist people coming out of high school going to college," Jones said.

 

Some residents in town said that while they are happy for the Snelgrove family that a settlement was reached, they did not feel $5 million was enough.

 

"You can't put a price on a loss of life, especially someone so young and talented as she was," said a woman at Harmony Liquors on Route 18 who only identified herself as Shirley.

 

She said she did not think Deputy Police Superintendent Robert E. O'Toole, who was in charge the night Snelgrove died and who fired one of the weapons, should be stepping down from his position and taking retirement. Instead she would have preferred to see more sanctions taken against him and other officers perhaps, and a closer look at how O'Toole delegated his responsibilities that night.

 

An independent commission is writing its report on its investigation into the incident.

 

Debbie Taylor, who was also watching the game at the Bedford Street Field, agreed. "His resignation is not going to solve anything," Taylor said.

 

Police Commissioner O'Toole, no relation to Robert E. O'Toole, said Monday the department's investigation showed Victoria Snelgrove was an innocent bystander.

 

"Torie was not the target of any police action, nor was she engaged in any activity that would have led police to think that she was behaving unlawfully," O'Toole said.

 

That admission from police was something that needed to be said, residents said.

 

"I think that was very important for the family that everybody understood she wasn't part of the behavior that was going on," said a woman at the Bedford Street Field who identified herself as E. Curran.

 

Taylor said despite the settlement, she hopes Boston police will find another way to deal with rowdy sports crowds. "There has got to be a better way of calming these college students," she said.

 

As residents reacted to news of the settlement, the Snelgrove family remained in seclusion at their house Monday evening. A police detail was stationed outside their Washington Street home to keep the media away.

 

Torie Snelgrove left her mark on East Bridgewater High School as the "best dressed" member of her class. She was a 2001 graduate of the school and had played field hockey, track and tennis teams and was active in the drama club and key club.

 

She attended Fitchburg State College before transferring to Emerson College to continue her studies in broadcast journalism. She also enjoyed music and photography, playing the piano, and was an avid horseback rider.

 

Her friend Kristen Daniels talks on a DVD released through the family attorney about Snelgrove's determination to reach her goal. "Torie always knew what she wanted," Daniels says. "She had her goals set, and she was going to achieve it."

 

Lisa Roberts, Snelgrove's field hockey coach at East Bridgewater High School, said she liked the idea of her student's name living on, helping others.

 

"I think that's one of the most productive ways to keep someone's memory alive," Roberts said. "She was just a really nice, nice girl, very cooperative, one of those kids willing to do whatever you asked her to do. She was a good kid."

 

Roberts said such the scholarship will be an honor for any student to receive. "I think only good can come from it," she said.

 

Jennifer Kovalich can be reached at jkovalich@enterprisenews.com.

 

<#==#>

 

cops screw up evidence and they get a bunch of money out of the screw up

 

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0503neevidence030.html

 

Police updating procedures on evidence care

 

Holly Johnson

The Arizona Republic

May. 3, 2005 12:00 AM

 

SCOTTSDALE - The Scottsdale Police Department is trying to comply with recommendations from an internal audit that found that the property-crimes unit failed to properly document and store items.

 

Some of the major changes include building a $32 million facility and $400,000 for the unit.

 

The 63,000-square-foot Support Services facility, located at 7601 E. McKellips Road, will house the property and evidence division as well as the new crime lab and communications hub. Construction is to be completed by the end of next year. advertisement

 

The November audit found that documentation of impounded property did not accurately reflect whether that property had been released or destroyed.

 

Some items in possession may not have been accounted for, and it was unknown how many pieces of unneeded evidence were in the department's possession.

 

Some of the recommendations that followed in December included changing the way invoices for impounded property are prepared as well as identifying and disposing of items dating back to the late 1980s and developing a database for managing impounded property.

 

Police Chief Alan Rodbell said the understaffed property unit didn't prioritize dispensing with old evidence, especially when new items needed to be processed.

 

The department expects to comply with recommendations by the end of the year.

 

"It wasn't a debate of agreeing or disagreeing with the recommendations put forth by the audit," Rodbell said last week. "We're all on schedule."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

<#==#>

 

Date: Tue, 03 May 2005 11:03:53 -0700

From: "Kristin Borns" kdborns@azoca.gov

Subject: State Ombudsman's Office

 

Mr. *********,

 

Your email was forwarded to our office, the State of Arizona Ombudsman-Citizens' Aide, from Senator Allen's office.  Our office investigates citizen complaints against the administrative actions of state agencies.  Our jurisdiction does not include courts, county agencies, ValueOptions, police, jails or the Secret Service.  As a result, we do not have the authority to investigate complaints against any of these entities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, if Mr. Walsh was at the Arizona State Hospital and has a complaint that they did not follow policies and procedures, this may be something we could look at.  However, if the hospital was following court orders, it is likely we would not be able to look into that issue.

 

Because of  statutory requirements regarding confidentiality, we need the complainant, Mr. Walsh, to contact us directly.  If he had involvement with the State Hospital, and believes they did not follow policies or procedures, please ask him contact us.

 

Thank you,

Kristin Borns

Assistant Ombudsman-Citizens' Aide

602-277-7292

<#==#>

            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

<*==*>

 

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0503officertheft-ON.html

 

Fired Flagstaff police officer pleads guilty to theft

 

Associated Press

May. 3, 2005 12:51 PM

 

FLAGSTAFF - A Flagstaff police officer pleaded guilty to a charge of felony theft for stealing nearly $1,800 from a man he had arrested for drag racing.

 

David T. Dyer, 28, was fired because of the theft. He was a probationary officer on the job less than a year at the time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dyer initially told investigators that he inadvertently left the scene of the August arrest with the money.

 

But prosecutors revealed in court Monday that jail surveillance tapes show Dyer concealing the suspect's wallet under a clipboard, then looking inside the wallet.

 

Police investigators found $1,600 of the drag racing suspect's money at Dyer's home on the day he was arrested.

 

Felony theft is punishable by six months to 2 1/2 years in prison, but Dyer is eligible for probation. No sentencing date has been set.

 

As part of the plea, Dyer must also pay back $188 that was unaccounted for when police seized the stolen money at his home.

 

"I think it's a betrayal of public trust and gives a black eye to the whole police department," police Chief J.T. McCann said upon learning of Dyer's plea.

 

Dyer's attorney, Michael Whiting, said his client would reserve comment until his sentencing.

 

<#==#>

 

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/POSTAL_PAY?SITE=AZMES&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

 

May 3, 5:04 PM EDT

 

Postal Service Execs Pocket Moving Money

 

By LARRY MARGASAK

Associated Press Writer

 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Postal Service gives its executives moving expenses of $10,000 or $25,000 without requiring receipts, allowing employees to pocket any leftover money.

 

The mail service says it uses the payments as a way of easing transitions to new, sometimes more expensive cities and ensuring that executives won't be lured away by competitors.

 

One senior vice president received $75,000 - $25,000 each for three moves from June 1998 to February 2001. The mail service gave 265 executives $10,000 each and 10 others $25,000 each in the past two years, according to information gathered by Senate Finance Committee investigators.

 

The Postal Service defends the practice, saying Congress wanted it to operate like private business where salaries may be higher. Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, isn't buying the argument.

 

"The American public does not want to pay more for postage so that you can give that amount to handouts to USPS executives," Grassley wrote in a letter Tuesday to Postmaster General John Potter. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the letter.

 

Ralph Moden, the Postal Service's senior vice president for government relations, wrote Grassley earlier this month that unlike other executive branch employees, postal executives do not receive automatic yearly increases.

 

"Increases to salary are solely based on performance," Moden wrote. "With no locality pay, we often have difficulty recruiting talented individuals for the more challenging positions, many of which are located in high cost-of-living areas.

 

"As a result, we use relocation benefits as an inducement to move to these higher cost-of living areas and defray the numerous expenses faced in such a move."

 

Whether a postal executive actually gets to pocket moving expenses depends on the locations involved and the size of his or her living quarters.

 

Moving expense figures provided by the American Moving and Storage Association shows that someone moving a two-bedroom apartment would likely pocket thousands of dollars if given a $10,000 stipend.

 

The association, which represents interstate movers, said such a move from Washington to Los Angeles would cost between $5,500 and $6,400. The same move from Baltimore to Chicago would cost between $3,700 and $4,300; from Atlanta to Dallas, $4,100 to $4,600; and from New York to Boston, $3,800 to $4,400.

 

For an eight-room house, a $10,000 payment might not cover a Washington to Los Angeles move, typically between $9,000 and $11,000. It would be more than enough for moves from Baltimore to Chicago, $6,000 to $7,200; Atlanta to Dallas, $6,200 to $7,300; or New York to Boston, $6,200 to $7,300.

 

In addition to moving costs, executives might incur real estate agent and closing costs in home sales.

 

Grassley wrote Potter that he doesn't understand why the moving payments should be justified on grounds that postal executives' raises are based on performance.

 

"If talented individuals are being rewarded for good performance, why do they need payments of $10,000 and sometimes more, as an inducement to relocate?" he asked.

 

In some cases, Grassley said, payments have been handed out to individuals who moved only a few miles.

 

Grassley said the deputy postmaster general, who received a $50,000 relocation allowance in 2000, and the postal vice president, who received the three payments of $25,000, are retiring soon and are eligible for one final relocation payment.

 

"I hope you can assure me that these individuals will not be receiving the same generous relocation allowances that they have received in the past," Grassley wrote. "Even if a generous relocation payment were necessary as an inducement to relocate, I don't see how it benefits the USPS or the American public to offer the same allowance upon retirement."

 

The Postal Service has proposed to the independent Postal Rate Commission that first-class stamps go from 37 cents to 39 cents, and that postcard costs be raised from 23 cents to 24 cents.

 

In announcing the rate proposal, the Postal Service said it is needed only because a 2003 law requires the agency to place $3.1 billion annually in an escrow account.

 

<#==#>

 

the government never lies to us. (well execpt when they f*ck up royally, steal stuff from us, or any number of other reasons when they will look bad if they dont lie)

 

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cardinals/articles/0504tillman04.html

 

Army hid truth about how Tillman was killed

New report details 'gross negligence'

 

Josh White

Washington Post

May. 4, 2005 12:00 AM

 

WASHINGTON - The first Army investigator who looked into the death of former Arizona Cardinals football player Pat Tillman in Afghanistan last year found within days that he was killed by his fellow Rangers in an act of "gross negligence," but Army officials decided not to inform Tillman's family or the public until weeks after a nationally televised memorial service.

 

A new Army report on the death shows that top Army officials, including the theater commander, Gen. John Abizaid, were told that Tillman's death was the result of friendly fire days before the service.

 

Soldiers on the scene said they were immediately sure Tillman was killed by a barrage of American bullets as he took shelter behind a large boulder during a twilight firefight along a narrow canyon road near the Pakistani border, according to nearly 2,000 pages of interview transcripts and reports obtained by the Washington Post.

 

The documents also show that officers made erroneous initial reports that Tillman was killed by enemy fire, destroyed critical evidence and initially concealed the truth from Tillman's brother, also an Army Ranger, who

was near the attack on April 22, 2004, but did not witness it.

 

Brig. Gen. Gary Jones prepared the report in response to questions from Tillman's family and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

 

In interviews with Jones, soldiers who were with Tillman when he died said they immediately reported that other Rangers, riding in a Humvee, emptied their weapons at his position on a hill without first identifying at whom they were shooting. Perceiving they were in a heated firefight, the soldiers rounded a corner and used several high-powered weapons to kill an Afghan Militia Force soldier working with the Rangers before pausing and turning their guns on Tillman. About 213 feet away, Tillman had been waving his arms and throwing a smoke grenade to signal his unit.

 

Jones reported that "some soldiers lost situational awareness to the point they had no idea where they were."

 

Tillman's death was a blow to the image of the Army and the special forces because of his storybook narrative. Tillman turned down a multimillion-dollar football contract with the Arizona Cardinals to enlist after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He and his brother joined the elite Army Rangers and deployed to Iraq and later Afghanistan, hunting the Taliban and al-Qaida through mountainous terrain.

 

Jones found that the operation was a routine "confirm or deny" trip to determine whether enemy combatants were in the town of Manah. Tillman's platoon had to split up because of a broken Humvee. His half went ahead toward the town. When the second half of the platoon followed through the canyon, it reportedly came under enemy fire. Tillman grabbed another Ranger and the Afghan soldier and got into position to lend fire support. When the second half of the platoon rounded a corner, they mistook the trio as foes.

 

In the documents, the soldiers who fired on Tillman cite many reasons for the confusion: The sun was going down and lighting conditions were bad; soldiers shot where they saw muzzle flashes but did not appropriately determine a target; they shot in the same direction as their team leader, assuming that he was firing at the enemy.

 

"I've replayed the events of that day and my actions in response to the events in my mind countless times. ... Given the same circumstances and having the same information I had, I would do the same thing," one soldier wrote in response to his punishment, which was getting kicked out of the Rangers. "I engaged men that I believed to be the enemy with the intent of killing them."

 

Another soldier wrote: "I wish that I would have taken a half-second to positively identify the targets instead of following another SOP (shoot where your team leader shoots). Maybe Cpl. Tillman would still be alive or maybe the outcome would still have been the same, but at least I wouldn't have to live with the guilt and re-experience that ambush while I sleep."

 

After the shooting, Tillman's brother was not informed about what had happened and was flown back to the United States with his brother's body.

 

Officers told the soldiers not to talk about the incident "to prevent rumors" and news reports.

 

The day after Tillman's death, his Ranger body armor was burned because it was covered in blood and was considered a "biohazard." His uniform was also burned. Jones noted that this amounted to the destruction of evidence.

 

Seven soldiers were given administrative reprimands for their actions, the most serious of which were for dereliction of duty and failing to exercise sound judgment and fire discipline in combat operations.

 

<#==#>

 

kevin did you smoke dope as a kid???? maybe thats what caused your schizophrenia? just kidding:) i though you had never taken drugs or booze.

 

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0503marijuana-war03-ON.html

 

Early marijuana smoking, mental illness linked

 

Pauline Jelinek

Associated Press

May. 3, 2005 01:10 PM

 

WASHINGTON - Youngsters who use marijuana are more likely to develop serious mental health problems, the government said Tuesday. A private group said law enforcement increasingly is targeting people who smoke and deal the drug.

 

Past medical studies have linked marijuana with a greater incidence of mental disorders such as depression or schizophrenia. But questions remain about whether people who smoke marijuana at a young age are already predisposed to mental disorders, or whether the drug caused those disorders.

 

Government officials say recent research makes a stronger case that smoking marijuana is itself a causal agent in psychiatric symptoms, particularly schizophrenia.

 

"A growing body of evidence now demonstrates that smoking marijuana can increase the risk of serious mental health problems," said John P. Walters, director of the White House Office of Drug Control Policy.

 

Administration officials pointed to a handful of studies to make their case. One, from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, found adult marijuana smokers who first began using the drug before age 12 were twice as likely to have suffered a serious mental illness in the past year as those who began smoking after 18.

 

The ratio was 21 percent to 10.5 percent. Those who first started as teens also were at significantly higher risk.

 

Also Tuesday, The Sentencing Project released a report that found the government's "war on drugs" has become the "war on drug" as police agencies increasingly target marijuana.

 

Begun in the 1980s, the war on drugs was aimed at stopping large-scale narcotics traffickers, particularly those selling cocaine. But since 1990 more of the focus has been on catching users and low-level dealers. And more often than ever, the drug targeted is marijuana, according to the group, a national nonprofit organization that works on judicial reform and favors alternatives to jail.

 

Of some 700,000 marijuana arrests in 2002, 88 percent were for possession, it said. And only one of every 18 of those arrests ended in a felony conviction.

 

"Arresting record numbers of low-level marijuana offenders represents a poor investment in public safety" and diverts resources from "more serious crime problems," said Ryan King, co-author of the report.

 

King found that in 1992 arrests for heroin and cocaine comprised 55 percent of all drug arrests and marijuana 28 percent. A decade later heroin and cocaine arrests accounted for less than 30 percent of all arrests, while marijuana's share had risen to 45 percent.

 

Jennifer deVallance, spokeswoman for the White House drug office, said there are many reasons for the greater focus on marijuana. Among them: Marijuana is the single largest drug of abuse in the nation, the strains are more potent than ever and more is known about health dangers.

 

"For the first time, more kids are seeking treatment for marijuana use than alcohol," she said.

 

The Sentencing Project called for renewed national discussion of the war on drugs, an idea echoed by the conservative American Enterprise Institute. The group reported last month that despite spending at about $40 billion a year now and toughening drug sentencing laws, "America continues to experience the Western world's worst drug problems."

 

An epidemic of heroin use more than three decades ago, followed by a 1980s epidemic of cocaine and crack, prompted a massive intensification in drug enforcement while giving short shrift to prevention and treatment, the institute reported. It decried budgeting that spends two-thirds of drug control funds on enforcement, 25 percent on treatment and just 12 percent on prevention.

 

---

 

Associated Press reporter Kevin Freking contributed to this story.

 

---

 

On the Net:

 

The Sentencing Project: http://www.sentencingproject.org

 

Office of National Drug Control Policy: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov

 

<#==#>

 

Ex-police officer pleads guilty in wiretapping case

 

Brent Whiting

The Arizona Republic

May. 4, 2005 12:00 AM

 

GLENDALE - Illegal wiretapping marks the latest embarrassment in a round of scandals rocking the Glendale Police Department.

 

Michael Duane Manning, a former senior investigator, has admitted blame for electronically eavesdropping on a female acquaintance, authorities said.

 

Manning, 49, a computer expert and nearly 28-year police veteran, retired June 30 after he came under investigation.

 

On April 21, Manning pleaded guilty in Maricopa County Superior Court to a charge of attempted interception of wire, electronic and oral communications.

 

The charge is a felony but can be designated a misdemeanor upon successful completion of probation.

 

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Manning will be placed on probation when he is sentenced May 18.

 

He also will be forced to surrender his peace-officer license.

 

Neither Manning nor his lawyer, Kerrie Droban, could be reached Tuesday for comment on the criminal case.

 

No one answered the door at the victim's home.

 

Lt. Harold Brady, a lawyer who serves as legal adviser to the Glendale department, said the case is disappointing.

 

"The department had no information or reason to believe that Officer Manning would be involved in something like this," Brady said.

 

Glendale has suffered public-relations setbacks since March 21, when Police Chief Andrew Kirkland was placed on paid leave amid allegations of a hostile work environment and an "inappropriate relationship" with a female officer. Kirkland resigned April 8.

 

Four days later, Brad Moore, a veteran police detective, was fired by the city for bungling about 250 domestic-violence cases since at least January 2002.

 

In Manning's case, investigators believe that he engaged in illegal wiretapping of communications by the female acquaintance, then 37, and surreptitiously taped phone calls at her Glendale home in early 2004.

 

Manning came under investigation after a tape recorder and a tape of several conversations were discovered in a police vehicle that had been assigned to him, authorities said.

 

The case was turned over to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, and Manning, who had special training in electronic investigations, abruptly retired in the face of the criminal probe, they said.

 

Reach the reporter at brent.whiting@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-6937.

 

<#==#>

 

drunk cop beats up his neighbor after refusing to pay topless dancers for table dances. yes cops are a moral becon that the rest of us should follow

 

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0504EVrader04.html

 

Former Chandler officer fights for reinstatement

 

Lindsey Collom

The Arizona Republic

May. 4, 2005 12:00 AM

 

CHANDLER - A former Chandler police officer is fighting for reinstatement after losing his job over the suspected drunken assault of a neighbor.

 

Brian Delbert Rader, 32, went before a Chandler hearing officer Tuesday to appeal his dismissal from the force after two years of service. Rader was fired in March when an internal investigation determined the officer had violated several city personnel rules.

 

The appeal comes amid ongoing criminal proceedings to determine if Rader assaulted his neighbor, Chris Malham, on Jan. 17. The altercation happened in the doorway of Malham's apartment, which was one building over from Rader's.

 

Rader was charged with aggravated assault and criminal trespass, both felonies. His trial is scheduled for July.

 

A felony conviction would be cause for his state peace officer certification to be revoked and make the city hearing moot.

 

The Rader hearing comes just a week after the city's Merit Board voted 5-0 not to give fired Chandler police Officer Dan Lovelace his job back. Lovelace, 40, was fired in 2002 after he shot and killed an Ahwatukee woman outside a drugstore.

 

In this case, Rader was said to be "extremely intoxicated" when he tried to enter Malham's apartment, and punched and bit him when he resisted, police records show.

 

Rader claims to have no knowledge of the assault at the Olive Grove Apartments.

 

Rader told police he was beaten up earlier that night outside a nearby topless bar, and while he didn't initially remember the details, they have since become clear in recurring dreams.

 

Rader's attorney, Dale Norris, said his client was disoriented, not intoxicated, when he showed up on Malham's doorstep. Norris said a doctor who examined Rader determined he suffered a concussion, presumably during a scuffle outside Sonny's Bar & Gentleman's Club.

 

Club manager Eugene Williams testified Tuesday that he contacted Rader twice that evening when he failed to pay for lap dances in a timely manner. Williams previously told police Rader left the bar before paying for the second set of lap dances and had to be summoned by two bouncers. He later said he didn't know whether the bouncers were involved, but Rader did not appear to be injured when he escorted him outside the building.

 

Defense attorney Norris said police could not definitively say that alcohol played a dominant role in Rader's behavior: no breath or blood samples were taken to determine his blood-alcohol content.

 

Police records show Rader admitted to drinking a bottle of wine and at least three shots of whiskey that day, beginning about noon. His current claim is that he started at 2:30 p.m.

 

Testimony is scheduled to continue Thursday.

 

Reporter Edythe Jensen contributed to this article.

 

<#==#>

 

and what about all us athests who think praying to santa claus is just as effictive as praying to jesus.

 

again mixing religion with government

 

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0504nebriefs04.html

 

Scottsdale/Northeast Valley briefs

 

May. 4, 2005 12:00 AM

 

City to commemorate national prayer day

 

SCOTTSDALE - The city will observe the National Day of Prayer on Thursday on the north lawn of Scottsdale City Hall, 3939 N. Drinkwater Blvd.

 

Former Congressman Matt Salmon will sing during pre-service music that will begin at 11:30 a.m., followed by a prayer service at noon.

 

Local leaders and pastors will lead the audience in public prayer for the nation, state and for Scottsdale, with participation from the military, fire and police, and local schoolchildren.

 

<#==#>

 

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0504nebriefs04.html

 

Scottsdale/Northeast Valley briefs

 

May. 4, 2005 12:00 AM

 

Blue ribbons to mark National Police Week

 

PARADISE VALLEY - In honor of the upcoming National Police Week, the Paradise Valley Police Department is offering free blue antenna ribbons to the public.

 

In addition, Paradise Valley police will place blue ribbons on each patrol car antenna today.

 

Residents can pick up their ribbons in the lobby of Paradise Valley Town Hall, 6401 E. Lincoln Drive, or the lobby of the Police Department, 6433 E. Lincoln Drive.

 

National Police Week is May 15-21. It begins with National Peace Officer's Memorial Day. On May 15, Paradise Valley will fly all its flags at half-staff from sunrise to sunset.

 

<#==#>

 

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=725854

 

Detroit Mayor Ran Up $210K on Credit CardRecords Show Detroit Mayor Ran Up $210,000 Tab on Credit Card Paid by Struggling City

By DAVID GOODMAN Associated Press Writer

The Associated Press

 

DETROIT May 3, 2005 — Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, whose city is struggling with a projected $230 million deficit, has charged at least $210,000 for travel, meals, a bottle of pricey champagne and other items on his city-issued credit card over nearly three years, public records show.

 

The charges cover the first 33 months of Kilpatrick's four-year term that began in January 2002. The Detroit Free Press said Tuesday that it obtained the records last month through a Michigan Freedom of Information Act request.

 

The purchases include 78 charges for meals over the 33 months, including a $283 bill at Danny's Grand Sea Palace in New York in January 2002 and a $456 bill at the Capital Grille in Washington in September 2003.

 

<#==#>

 

http://www.azcentral.com/lavoz/nacion/articles/042705soldado-CR.html.html

 

El soldado contra la guerra

 

EFE

Abril 26, 2005

 

&#58926;o peor es cuando un antiguo compa&#37777;ro te llama traidor. El tipo con el que pasaste el mismo miedo a las rondas diarias de mortero enemigo. Que te lo llamen otros, los que se quedaron en casa y no fueron a Irak, bueno..., pero que te lo digan los camaradas, eso es lo que m&#23283; te duele? dice Aidan Delgado, ex soldado norteamericano que pas?seis meses en la tristemente famosa prisi&#37870; iraqu?de Abu Ghraib.

 

A&#57390; as? Delgado necesita hablar porque el silencio le ahoga. &#58926;o que experiment?en Irak me llena de culpa y remordimientos, por eso critico la guerra? explica.

 

Entre sus peores pesadillas est&#23253; los seis meses que pas?en una compa&#21142;a de la polic&#29168; militar destinada en la c&#23275;cel de Abu Ghraib, en las inmediaciones de Bagdad.

 

En abril de 2004, esa c&#23275;cel se convirti?en sin&#37870;imo de torturas y abuso de poder, tras filtrarse a la prensa fotos de soldados estadounidenses maltratando a los detenidos. Delgado estuvo all?seis meses como mec&#23253;ico, pero le mantuvieron lejos de los prisioneros, a pesar de que habla un &#23275;abe &#58962;asable? porque &#58965;ab&#29168;n que yo estaba contra la guerra y estaba intentando hacerme objetor de conciencia?

 

Poca higiene y escasa protecci&#37870;

 

A finales de diciembre de 2003, los oficiales hab&#29168;n dicho a la tropa que destruyesen cualquier imagen de los prisioneros, seg&#57390; Delgado, pero eso no evit?el esc&#23253;dalo. &#58928;o me sorprendi? lo que sali?a la luz, confiesa el joven de 23 a&#38579;s, aunque &#24168; dice que no presenci?la tortura de los prisioneros. &#58936;i que los trataban duramente y los insultaban, que los agarraban y los zarandeaban, pero no m&#23283; que en otras prisiones? declara.

 

Catorce soldados han sido condenados en cortes marciales por los abusos, pero ning&#57390; oficial con rango mayor que sargento ha sido enjuiciado. Ning&#57390; directivo civil del Pent&#22676;ono ha asumido responsabilidad por los hechos, a pesar de que se han constatado comportamientos similares en las prisiones estadounidenses en Afganist&#23253; y en la de Guant&#23253;amo (Cuba).

 

Aunque Delgado nunca vio los ojos de terror de los presos durante los interrogatorios, lo que s?presenci?fue la falta de higiene en el campamento que alojaba a los detenidos comunes. Adem&#23283;, carec&#29168;n de abrigo para aguantar el &#58952;r&#29968; extremo?y de protecci&#37870; frente a los ataques de mortero. &#58919;ntre 50 y 60 prisioneros murieron en algunos meses?por la lluvia diaria de proyectiles, mientras que s&#37834;o dos soldados de EU perdieron la vida, seg&#57390; Delgado.

 

Sus experiencias en Abu Ghraib afianzaron su posici&#37870; contra la guerra. &#58926;a gente me llama traidor, pero yo soy un patriota. Apoyar realmente a los soldados es no usarlos como peones. Los soldados est&#23253; siendo usados en una causa que no es justa. Esta guerra era evitable? explicaba, frente a la Casa Blanca en Washington, un d&#29168; a finales de enero.

 

El presidente de Estados Unidos, George W. Bush, estaba dentro de la mansi&#37870;. Hac&#29168; pocos d&#29168;s que hab&#29168; jurado su segundo mandato y probablemente le duraba la resaca emocional de la victoria y de las pompas dignas de un emperador. La ciudad segu&#29168; tomada por el ej&#24296;cito de republicanos de sombrero tejano y mujeres con abrigos de piel que hab&#29168;n acudido a celebrar a su l&#29550;er. Delgado hab&#29168; venido de Florida con un objetivo diferente.

 

La ma&#37785;na del 20 de enero miles de invitados pasaban los controles de seguridad para acceder al parque frente al Congreso, en cuyas escalinatas, frente al bastidor de su c&#57392;ula inmensa y su m&#23275;mol blanco, Bush iba a poner la mano sobre la Biblia. Delgado se encontraba a un par de millas de distancia, en el parque &#58927;alcolm X? un jard&#29871; de geometr&#29168; francesa re-bautizado en honor del l&#29550;er negro asesinado en 1965.

 

Organizaciones en contra de la guerra hab&#29168;n erigido un tablado, al que se subi?Delgado. A su alrededor se apelotonaban centenas de manifestantes, principalmente j&#38269;enes, algunos con abundancia de piercings y cuero; otros, "ni&#38579;s bien" y miembros de grupos religiosos.

 

Juntos coreaban consignas como "paremos la guerra" y "llev&#24166;onos la Casa Blanca".

 

Delgado parec&#29168; fuera de lugar. Llevaba traje, corbata, un abrigo oscuro y zapatos negros embetunados como uno siempre se imagina los de los militares. Bien afeitado, atractivo, se daba un aire al actor Andy Garc&#29168;, quien naci?en Cuba, como su padre.

 

Delgado les dijo a los congregados que los 40 millones de d&#37834;ares que iba a costar la ceremonia de investidura de Bush, sin contar la seguridad, deber&#29168;n usarse para comprar chalecos antibalas a los soldados desplegados en Irak y blindar sus veh&#29555;ulos.

 

Desde el estrado, Delgado ten&#29168; una visi&#37870; de escalofr&#29968;: sobre la hierba helada del parque reposaban en formaci&#37870; geom&#24395;rica cientos de ata&#57380;es de cart&#37870; cubiertos de banderas de EU., en representaci&#37870; de los m&#23283; de 1.500 soldados de este pa&#30084; muertos en el pa&#30084; mesopot&#23269;ico. Si uno cerraba los ojos se pod&#29168; imaginar que eran finales de los a&#38579;s 60 y la guerra de la que hablaban todos era Vietnam.

 

Como entonces, los que se oponen a este nuevo conflicto reconocen que los ex militares disidentes tienen una voz poderosa. &#58930;uede que la gente les preste atenci&#37870; cuando dicen que ya es hora de terminar la ocupaci&#37870; y podr&#29168; no escuchar a alguien como yo? dijo Andrea Buffa, de la organizaci&#37870; &#58921;lobal Exchange? con sede en la capital de izquierda de Estados Unidos, San Francisco.

 

Pero en el Malcolm X aquella ma&#37785;na, entre los que escuchaban a Delgado no hab&#29168; nadie que estuviese a favor de la guerra o tuviese dudas sobre ella. Esos otros esperaban en el recorrido del desfile inaugural a las bandas y al autom&#38269;il del presidente y no acogieron bien la presencia de los manifestantes contra la guerra y contra Bush. "Creo que son unos est&#57392;idos, est&#23253; malgastando energ&#29168; y tiempo", dijo Lisa Ullman, de 43 a&#38579;s, que se vino a Washington desde Montana con un gran sombrero de cowboy. "Deber&#29168;n buscar un trabajo", a&#37785;di?

 

Dif&#29555;il camino

 

Delgado es uno de un peque&#38579; grupo de ex militares que ha escogido el camino dif&#29555;il. En un pa&#30084; inundado de lazos amarillos para expresar apoyo a las tropas, que un ex militar hable contra la guerra y cuestione las &#37838;denes que recibi?de sus superiores no est?bien visto. Prueba de ello son los problemas a los que se enfrent?el candidato dem&#37826;rata a la presidencia, el senador John Kerry, el a&#38579; pasado.

 

Kerry, quien recibi?tres &#58917;orazones P&#57394;pura?tras ser herido en combate en Vietnam, se uni?al movimiento en contra de esa guerra al terminar su servicio all? lo que fue muy criticado por algunos conservadores durante la campa&#37785; electoral. Incluso se abri?un debate p&#57378;lico sobre si mereci?sus medallas.

 

A Delgado le asustaron esos ataques. &#59017;l es un h&#24296;oe de guerra de verdad. Yo no soy John Kerry. Tengo miedo de que la gente me ataque de la misma forma que a &#24168;. A nadie le gusta o&#29967; que su pa&#30084; est?cometiendo errores? afirma.

 

Tal vez a Delgado se le escuche m&#23283; por ser un ex militar, pero por eso mismo muchos no le perdonan. &#58917;ualquiera en las fuerzas armadas que se haya alistado para proteger a nuestro pa&#30084; y ahora no lo quiere hacer est?perjudicando gravemente a este pa&#30084; y a sus compa&#37777;ros de armas? afirm?Jason Crawford, el fundador de la asociaci&#37870; &#58930;atriotas para la Defensa de Am&#24296;ica? que promueve &#58951;l derecho y la obligaci&#37870;?de EU de actuar unilateralmente en defensa propia.

 

Delgado se alist?el 11 de septiembre de 2001, pero su decisi&#37870; no tuvo nada que ver con los atentados de ese d&#29168;, que inspiraron tanto fervor patri&#37842;ico en Estados Unidos. &#58928;o me iba bien en los estudios y pens?que ser&#29168; una buena idea por un tiempo? dijo.

 

Delgado firm?un contrato de ocho a&#38579;s con la Reserva del Ej&#24296;cito de EU, un cuerpo cuyos miembros siguen con su vida civil tras la instrucci&#37870; y s&#37834;o son movilizados en caso de guerra o emergencia. No obstante, debido a la escasez de soldados, el Pent&#22676;ono ha tirado de estas unidades, que componen el 40 por ciento de las fuerzas en Irak.

 

Posteriormente se convirti?al Budismo y pidi?ser declarado objetor de conciencia. &#58919;s un proceso muy dif&#29555;il. El soldado tiene que probar que tras alistarse sus creencias han cambiado y le impiden matar? dijo Delgado. &#21276; ha sido uno de los 117 militares eximidos por ese motivo desde 2003, cuando comenz?la guerra en Irak. Un n&#57389;ero similar de solicitudes ha sido rechazado, seg&#57390; datos obtenidos de fuentes militares.

 

El Ej&#24296;cito acepta a &#58961;bjetores de conciencia genuinos, pero es importante recordar que los soldados se alistaron al Ej&#24296;cito, que es voluntario, porque quisieron? dijo el teniente coronel Bryan Hilferty.

 

Las reglas no permiten la objeci&#37870; de conciencia por el desacuerdo con una guerra espec&#29847;ica. Las opiniones sobre pol&#30275;ica exterior no le importan al Ej&#24296;cito. A Delgado s?

 

<#==#>

 

http://www.azcentral.com/lavoz/front/articles/042705ley-CR.html.html

 

Napolitano veta ley de armas

 

Por Sarah Muench

La Voz

Abril 26, 2005

 

La gobernadora Janet Napolitano vet?una propuesta que hubiera permitido a las personas portar armas cargadas dentro de bares y restaurantes.

 

&#58917;uando se trata del sentido com&#57390; y cuestiones de seguridad de armas, me interesa especialmente el punto de vista de la polic&#29168;? dijo Napolitano. &#58917;onsistentemente las organizaciones de la polic&#29168; de Arizona se han opuesto a esta legislaci&#37870; y sus preocupaciones no han sido escuchadas por los partidarios de esta propuesta?

 

Pese a la oposici&#37870;, el proyecto de ley, SB 1363, sometido por el senador republicano Jack Harper y el representante republicano Russell Pearce, fue aprobado por el Senado y la C&#23269;ara de Representantes, provocando un debate entre partidarios de los derechos de portar armas y propietarios de bares y restaurantes.

 

Sus oponentes han dicho que las &#58947;rmas y el alcohol no se mezclan? pero sus simpatizantes dicen que las personas tienen derecho a llevar una pistola por su seguridad. Por eso incluyeron en la propuesta que si una persona decide ingresar a un bar con una pistola, no se le permitir?consumir alcohol.

 

&#58915;nticip?que la gobernadora vetar&#29168; la propuesta? dijo Harper.

 

El legislador republicano expres?que la legislaci&#37870; se apoyaba en la segunda enmienda de la Constituci&#37870; estadunidense que garantiza el derecho de los ciudadanos a portar armas.

 

&#58930;ienso que (la gobernadora) no apoya la segunda enmienda? puntualiz?

 

Harper agreg?que su propuesta permit&#29168; que los due&#38579;s de los bares decidieran si dejar&#29168;n ingresar a personas armadas o no.

 

Justificando su decisi&#37870; Napolitano tambi&#24175; expres?preocupaci&#37870; por los due&#38579;s de bares y restaurantes diciendo que ser&#29168;n afectados de manera negativa.

 

Charles Eisenstein, director de San Felipe&#58808;, un bar en Scottdale, fue uno de los propietarios que le escribi?una carta a la gobernadora en contra de la ley.

 

&#58919;stoy encantado? dijo. &#58928;o me preocupan los ciudadanos que tienen armas, sino los que han tomando bebidas alcoh&#37834;icas y c&#37844;o reaccionar&#23253; a los que tienen pistolas?

 

El representante dem&#37826;rata Steve Gallardo aplaudi?la decisi&#37870; de Napolitano por poner fin a una propuesta que contaba con el rechazo tanto de la polic&#29168; como de los negociantes.

 

&#58930;oner un arma en las manos de una persona que ha consumido una bebida alcoh&#37834;ica, puede acabar en una situaci&#37870; tr&#22676;ica? concluy?Gallardo.

 

<#==#>

 

http://www.azcentral.com/lavoz/front/articles/042705lic-CR.html.html

 

Aceptan las licencias de otros pa&#30084;es

 

Por Valeria Fern&#23253;dez

Abril 26, 2005

 

A las personas que cuenten con licencias de conducir extranjeras reconocidas por las autoridades locales no se les confiscar&#29168; el auto bajo una nueva ley que cobrar?vigor a 90 d&#29168;s de culminada la actual sesi&#37870; legislativa.

 

&#58926;o que se requiere es una licencia de conducir v&#23278;ida, no tiene por qu?ser de los Estados Unidos? explic?Eric Edwards, director ejecutivo de la Asociaci&#37870; de Jefes de Polic&#29168; y consejero legal del Departamento de Polic&#29168; de Phoenix en asuntos legislativos.

 

La nueva ley, que busca proteger la seguridad p&#57378;lica contra los conductores negligentes, har?obligatorio que un oficial remolque un veh&#29555;ulo si se cumplen tres condiciones: estuvo envuelto en un accidente, el conductor no porta licencia de conducir y el auto no tiene seguro.

 

Si una de estas condiciones no se dan, pero la persona no tiene licencia de conducir v&#23278;ida el agente podr&#29168; optar por confiscar su auto, aunque no es obligatorio.

 

Normalmente las autoridades polic&#29168;cas reconocen licencias de conducir como v&#23278;idas siempre y cuando el pa&#30084; que las emita someta a prueba las habilidades del conductor, tal como es el caso de la polic&#29168; de Phoenix y el Departamento de Seguridad P&#57378;lica (DPS por sus siglas en ingl&#24293;) que patrulla las autopistas.

 

Una de las licencias reconocidas como v&#23278;ida es la de M&#24982;ico.

 

Actualmente cuando un agente de DPS detiene a alguien que no porta su licencia no se le permite manejar y su auto es remolcado hasta su casa, dijo Frank Valenzuela, portavoz para dicha agencia.

 

Bajo esta nueva disposici&#37870; el oficial podr&#29168; optar por confiscar el veh&#29555;ulo por 30 d&#29168;s y enviarlo a un dep&#37824;ito hasta que la persona presente una licencia de conducir.

 

&#58928;uestro trabajo no va a cambiar mucho? puntualiz?

 

De acuerdo a Valenzuela las licencias de conducir de M&#24982;ico son aceptadas siempre y cuando la persona no viva en Arizona ni trabaje, sino que se trate de un turista de paso.

 

En cambio las licencias de conducir internacionales no son v&#23278;idas para manejar en Arizona, ya que no son emitidas por ninguna autoridad reconocida.

 

De todas formas el agente explic?que rara vez los agentes se encuentran con personas que tengan este documento emitido en M&#24982;ico.

 

Actualmente si el auto es remolcado y debe ser guardado en un dep&#37824;ito la cuenta corre por el individuo y no por la agencia.

 

La medida tambi&#24175; representar?un aumento en las multas de 250 d&#37834;ares a 500 por la primera infracci&#37870; para quien conduzca su autom&#38269;il sin seguro.

 

Los promotores de esta ley, como el legislador dem&#37826;rata Robert Meza, aseguran que es una forma de proteger a la poblaci&#37870; contra los conductores irresponsables que causan accidentes y no cuentan con un seguro para cubrir los da&#38579;s y perjuicios.

 

Contacte al reportero: valeriafernandez@ashlandmedia.com

 

<#==#>

 

you just cant let a war criminal plea guilty to the charges can you. nope can let the american empire look bad.

 

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PRISONER_ABUSE_ENGLAND?SITE=AZPHG&SECTION=HOME

 

May 4, 5:10 PM EDT

 

Judge throws out England's guilty plea

 

By T.A. BADGER

Associated Press Writer

 

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) -- A military judge Wednesday threw out Pfc. Lynndie England's guilty plea to abusing Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison, saying he was not convinced the Army reservist who appeared in some of the most notorious photos in the scandal knew her actions were wrong at the time.

 

The mistrial marks a stunning turn in the case and sends it back to square one.

 

The case will be reviewed again by Fort Hood's commander, Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz, who will decide what charges, if any, England should face. If she is charged, the case would go back to a military equivalent of a grand jury hearing, an Article 32 proceeding, prosecution spokesman Capt. Cullen Sheppard said.

 

The military judge, Col. James Pohl, entered a plea of not guilty for England on a charge of conspiring with Pvt. Charles Graner Jr. to maltreat detainees at the Baghdad-area prison and a related charge.

 

The mistrial came after Graner, the reputed ringleader of the abuse, testified as a defense witness at England's sentencing hearing that pictures he took of England holding a naked prisoner on a leash at Abu Ghraib were meant to be used as a legitimate training aid for other guards.

 

Other photos showed England smiling while standing next to nude prisoners stacked in a pyramid and pointing at a prisoner's genitals.

 

When England pleaded guilty Monday, she told the judge she knew that the pictures were being taken purely for the amusement of the guards.

 

Pohl said her statement and Graner's could not be reconciled.

 

"You can't have a one-person conspiracy," the judge said before he declared the mistrial and dismissed the sentencing jury.

 

Under military law, the judge could formally accept her guilty plea only if he was convinced that she knew at the time that what she was doing was illegal.

 

By rejecting the plea to the conspiracy charge, Pohl canceled the entire plea agreement. The agreement had carried a maximum sentence of 11 years in prison, but the prosecution and defense had a deal that capped the sentence at a lesser punishment; the length was not released.

 

Neither prosecution nor defense lawyers would speak to reporters after the deal was discarded. England, shielded by her defense team, would not comment outside the courtroom.

 

Allen Rudy, a Dallas attorney, said Wednesday he could not recall a military plea being scrapped under such circumstances during his 25 years as a Navy lawyer and judge.

 

"That is a shocker," Rudy said. "But (Pohl) has to protect the defendant in that situation. ... He has to make sure (England) wasn't talked into it by her lawyer or her parents or someone else."

 

During defense questioning, Graner said he looped the leash around the prisoner's shoulders as a way to coax him out of a cell, and that it slipped up around his neck. He said he asked England to hold the strap while he took photos that he could show to other guards later to teach them this prisoner-handling technique.

 

At that point Pohl halted Graner's testimony and admonished the defense for admitting evidence that ran counter to England's plea on the conspiracy charge and one count of maltreating detainees.

 

The judge did not discuss the other five counts to which England had pleaded guilty.

 

Graner, who is said to be the father of England's infant son, was found guilty in January and is serving a 10-year prison term for his role in the scandal.

 

In a handwritten note given to reporters Tuesday, Graner had said he wanted England to fight the charges.

 

"Knowing what happened in Iraq, it was very upsetting to see Lynn plead guilty to her charges," he wrote. "I would hope that by doing so she will have a better chance at a good sentence."

 

Graner maintains that he and the other Abu Ghraib guards were following orders from higher-ranking interrogators when they abused the detainees.

 

<#==#>

 

winning the war in iraq just like we won the war in vietnam

 

http://nytimes.com/2005/05/04/international/middleeast/04cnd-iraq.html?hp&ex=1115265600&en=9a31d1e69771de76&ei=5094&partner=homepage

 

Bomber Posing as Iraqi Police Recruit Kills at Least 60

By WARZER JAFF

and RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.

 

Published: May 4, 2005

 

RBIL, Iraq, May 4 - A suicide bomber pretending to be a job seeker blew himself up outside a police recruitment center here, killing at least 60 prospective police officers and wounding 150 other people, officials estimated, as insurgents pressed their effort to destabilize Iraq's infant democratic government.

 

The attack was the biggest single act of terrorism in Iraq since early March and was only the second postwar strike of such magnitude in the normally calm and safe Kurdish territories, where a disciplined Kurdish militia, known as the pesh merga, enforces a strict system of checkpoints and racial profiling intended to keep out insurgents.

 

The bombing also came on the first full day in power for Iraq's first democratically elected government, whose president, Jalal Talabani, is a Kurd who once enlisted the aid of neighboring Iran to resist Saddam Hussein.

 

The suicide-bomber was in line with police and traffic police recruits at 9:30 a.m. here in the Kurdish provincial capital when he detonated his weapon, apparently realizing he would not be able to get past the search required to get into the Interior Ministry building where the recruits were being interviewed.

 

Blood was splattered the walls of nearby buildings, and human remains were scattered about, visible on the pavement, in trees and on top of damaged cars. Iraqi and American soldiers collected the body parts in plastic bags.

 

Arab television showed emergency workers frantically loading haphazardly bandaged victims into ambulances and racing them to hospitals, where doctors rushed them through hallways crowded with frenzied relatives. Blood mixed with water from fire hoses gathered in large pools in the street near the bombing, which occurred close to an office of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the dominant political force in most of northern and western Kurdistan and the party of Massoud Barzani.

 

The chief of the local committee of the Interior Ministry in Erbil, Abdul-Satar Sadeq, said the bomber was mingling among the recruits when he attacked.

 

"At the front gate there was a policeman organizing the movement of the recruits into the building, " he said. "At that time the bomber was queued with them, and because he was unable to enter the building he detonated himself by the gate where the young men gathered."

 

An American soldier who went to the scene afterward said, "The bomber was facing the front door, aiming at entering the office but he couldn't, so he blew himself up in the midst of the crowd."

 

Abdul-Razaq Sarmab, 17, who was hit by shrapnel as he waited in line, told Reuters from his hospital bed that "all I can remember is a huge explosion from behind which lifted me off my feet."

 

"The scene was like a slaughterhouse with body parts everywhere, heads, hands, eyes," Mr. Sarmab said. "It was terrible. Those who are doing this are animals because it is all against Islam."

 

The terror group Ansar al-Sunna took responsibility for the attack in an Internet posting, though it described it as a suicide car bombing intended as retaliation for Kurdish militiamen fighting alongside American troops in Falluja, Mosul and elsewhere.

 

Directed at Mr. Barzani, the statement said, "This operation that shakes your throne is a response for the torture our brothers undergo day and night in your prisons and is a response against the pesh merga forces that lent themselves to the crusaders and raised its weapon against the Muslims."

 

"Be acknowledged," it added, "that we are preparing more for you, so get ready for that sooner or later."

 

Only one other insurgent strike with a human toll on this scale has hit the Kurdish territories since American forces invaded Iraq more than two years ago: a Feb. 1, 2004 attack by twin bombers at political gatherings in Erbil that killed at least 105. Mr. Sadeq, the Kurdish Interior Ministry official, said today's attack in Erbil was carried out in much the same fashion.

 

While Iraq has been convulsed by a wave of terrorism and car bombings since the new cabinet was selected a week ago, there has not been one distinct attack this deadly since a bomber killed 53 in a funeral tent in Kirkuk on March 10. Ten days earlier, a suicide car bomber killed at least 136 people in the Shiite city of Hilla, mostly Iraqi police and army recruits waiting for medical checkups.

 

The new prime minister, Ibrahim Jaafari, a Shiite Arab, and most of his cabinet were sworn in Tuesday evening in a hall inside the protected Green Zone in central Baghdad. But the ceremony revealed the deep bitterness that has engulfed the formation of the government and the anger of Sunni Arabs who feel they have been short-changed.

 

Sunni Arabs, who formed the base of support for Mr. Hussein during his dictatorship and now figure prominently in the insurgency, largely boycotted the Jan. 30 elections. As a result, when the time came to form a cabinet, the two groups that Mr. Hussein's regime had most persecuted and murdered - the Shiites and Kurds, who mobilized voters and now dominate the new government - dominated the negotiations for the new cabinet posts.

 

Sunni Arabs are now demanding more in the new cabinet than the dominant Shiite alliance wants to give them. American and some Iraqi officials believe one way to dampen Sunni enthusiasm for the insurgency is to ensure that Sunnis with credibility among a wide swath of Iraqis who share their ethnicity - and are not simply seen as puppets of the Shiites - are brought into a few high-level government positions, like defense minister.

 

But so far, Sunni political leaders say, the Shiites have rejected their suggestions for Sunnis to fill these jobs.

 

Warzer Jaff reported from Erbil, Iraq, for this article, and Richard A. Oppel Jr. from Baghdad.

 

<#==#>

 

using police resources wisely??? naw if you ask me its a job program for cops

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/04/nyregion/04bus.html?oref=login

 

Lacking $2 Bus Fare to Shelter, Homeless Get a Free Ride, to Jail

 

Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times

 

By SABRINA TAVERNISE

 

Published: May 4, 2005

 

The M35 bus at night is a place of weary faces and empty pockets. It runs from Spanish Harlem to the largest men's homeless shelter in the city. Every night, men file on to get to a place to sleep. Sometimes they pay the $2 fare; sometimes they pay just a penny.

 

In recent years, other riders have appeared, just as scruffy but with a different goal. These are undercover police officers, aboard to arrest fare-beaters.

 

The arrests are part of a policy that began in the 1990's, when the New York Police Department took aim at minor crimes, like unlicensed street peddling and fare-beating. Since then, violent crime has fallen sharply, but arrests for minor crimes remain high. Misdemeanor arrests are up by 60 percent from 1990.

 

Arrests for minor crimes, the city says, lead to people the police are already looking for and deter more serious crimes.

 

Proof that it works, officials say, is in the vastly improved statistics on serious crime. Defense lawyers argue that the arrests are unfair because those arrested do not have fare money and pose no threat to society.

 

The M35 bus arrests offer a vivid look at the reality behind the debate. They began several years ago, after a complaint by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that a rowdy group of riders had tried to throw a driver off the bus for challenging them over the fare. Since then, undercover officers have monitored the route.

 

The bus starts at 125th Street and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, crosses the Triborough Bridge and reaches the shelters on Wards Island, a small island across the East River, in less than 10 minutes.

 

Homeless men and the lawyers who defend them say that the city created a Catch-22 when it designated the shelter as the place to sleep but then started arresting people who could not pay for the bus to get there. Even if they wanted to walk to the shelter, the men said, they could not, because the only footbridge from Manhattan is closed in the late fall and winter and at other times closes after 8 p.m.

 

"You're setting me up," said Shavar Shaver, 21, of Brooklyn, who was arrested with five other people for not paying his fare in January. "They're the easiest victims, the homeless people. Its entrapment. Why don't you go fight some real crime?"

 

Police and city officials say there is no excuse for fare-beating. One of the shelter operators runs a van service to Manhattan from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, said a spokesman for the city's Department of Homeless Services. Those who can show written proof of appointments in the city are given bus fare.

 

But the homeless men said the van service was not always reliable. Nicholas Haddon, 53, was arrested last month for fare-beating on the M35 after what he said was a long wait for a van that never arrived.

 

"I'm frustrated," said Mr. Haddon, who was evicted along with his roommate from a rented room in the Bronx. "There are some of us who are trying to better our lives, and get out of the system, but they're making it harder for us."

 

Paul J. Browne, the Police Department's chief spokesman, said officers were not harassing homeless men but were simply reacting to complaints from riders and the transportation authority. He said in a telephone interview that it was not unusual for the police to focus on fare-beaters to keep them from committing other crimes, and that the police often found people with warrants out for their arrest. The men are not immune from the law just because they are homeless, Mr. Browne said.

 

"We're not trying to prevent someone from going to a shelter, but at the same time you can't have large numbers of individuals evading the fare and essentially turning the bus - a public transportation facility - into their own vehicle," he said.

 

Indeed, that is exactly what M35 drivers interviewed along the route say charge the men are doing.

 

"They take it for granted that this is their bus," said one driver who asked that his name not be used because he had not been authorized to speak. "You can tell; it doesn't smell so good in here," he added, saying the homeless men often smelled of marijuana and beer.

 

Still, many drivers expressed sympathy for the men, with one saying he had developed a code to warn riders that the police might be on the bus. All the drivers allowed men who did not pay to board. The drivers say they are not required to force payment from the men.

 

"It's really sad," another driver said. "I've seen guys deteriorating right before my eyes."

 

Officers are cleverly disguised. On a night in late March, two men in scruffy clothing sat on the bus. One carried a pizza box. The other had a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. They suddenly stood, flashed badges and arrested a rider for not paying. In another arrest, officers posed as boyfriend and girlfriend, chatting in the back of the bus.

 

As the cases have made their way into court, they have confounded judges. Some refuse to give any sentence and order the defendants released, once they have pleaded guilty to the typical charge a misdemeanor crime of theft of services.

 

"I have been seeing these cases over and over, but nobody is telling me exactly what's going on," said Judge Evelyn Laporte of Manhattan Criminal Court.

 

In interviews, five criminal court judges who spoke on the condition of anonymity questioned the wisdom of the arrests, saying that they wasted judicial resources. A court system spokesman said he could not quantify the cost of arraigning one defendant, a process that involves a judge, a prosecutor, court officers and a court stenographer. Most defendants also spend the night in jail, which costs $163, according to a breakdown by the city.

 

"I consistently put on the record how outraged I am by the whole thing," said Kathryn E. Freed, an arraignment court judge. "It's a complete waste of the court's time. It takes a lot of person-power to process them, house them and feed them. Meanwhile, the shelter, where they're heading, is set up to do just that."

 

Perhaps most frustrating, some of the homeless men said, is that even after moving through the legal system, they are in the same predicament they were the day before: They still have to get to the shelter.

 

"It's going through the system for nothing," said Howard Breely, 49, who was recently released from a drug treatment program at a shelter on Wards Island. "I still have to get back there."

 

Since its financial troubles last year, the Legal Aid Society, the largest criminal defense organization in the city, no longer gives out subway fare to poor clients.

 

Many of the fare-beaters have criminal records, which means that judges cannot dismiss the cases. The result is misdemeanor convictions without any further jail time. The men can also lose a shelter bed if they are away overnight, forcing them to be reprocessed.

 

Even so, the arrests seem to be having the effect desired by the authorities. The drivers say they feel safer with the police present, and payments have shot up.

 

The banter on the bus also speaks of compliance. One night last month, a gaunt man in a wheelchair, who identified himself only as Smokey, shouted to a friend who was boarding that he was safe from arrest since everyone had seen him pay his fare.

 

"I ain't getting arrested for no $2," his friend said.

 

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he is pissed because they got caught. but that is what government is all about! stealing money from one group of people and giving it to another group. the only two questions are "who are we going to steal it from?" and "who are we going to give it to?"

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050504/ap_on_re_us/chicago_truck_scandal

 

By MIKE ROBINSON, Associated Press Writer

28 minutes ago

 

CHICAGO - Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley said Wednesday that new disclosures of corruption in city government, including allegations that payoff money found its way into his campaign fund, have left him "hurt, embarrassed, disappointed."

 

"Clearly, I'm not proud or pleased," Daley told a news conference, his first since a former city water official pleaded guilty to taking payoffs from trucking companies and said some of the money went to campaign funds, including Daley's.

 

It was the first time Daley's name surfaced in the yearlong investigation of the city's corruption-riddled, $38 million Hired Truck Program, which outsourced work to private trucking companies, some with mob ties.

 

Daley has not been accused of any wrongdoing, but said federal prosecutors had asked him not to go into detail about the ongoing investigation. In the past week, federal agents have carted off documents from several agencies in City Hall.

 

A number of city officials, including the former head of the Hired Truck Program, have already pleaded guilty to corruption charges. Others are awaiting trial.

 

Daley said it was important to "build on the reforms that were put into place after the first evidence of wrongdoing." Among other things, Daley has barred contractors who do business with the city from contributing to his campaign fund.

 

In his plea agreement Monday, former water official Gerald Wesolowski said "city officials" directed payoff money from the Hired Truck Program into various campaign funds. Daley said if any of that money reached his campaign, he is considering returning it.

 

When asked which city officials may have directed the money, however, Daley ended the news conference, saying: "Everybody supported my campaign. Everybody knows that. I won last time with 80 percent" of the vote.

 

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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0505taserfolo05.html

 

Father questions Taser's use on son

 

Judi Villa and Robert Anglen

The Arizona Republic

May. 5, 2005 12:00 AM

 

The father of the man who died after Phoenix police shocked him with a Taser is questioning whether officers misused the stun gun by applying it for too long.

 

Keith Graff, 24, died Tuesday, shortly after being struck with a Taser.

 

His father, Terry Graff, said witnesses told him the Taser was held to his son for 45 to 60 seconds. The stun gun delivers a 50,000-volt burst of electricity that causes involuntary muscle contractions and momentarily incapacitates suspects.

 

Because an autopsy is pending, it's too soon to say if the Taser contributed to Graff's death. But Terry said: "There's no other explanation. It was the Taser because it was left on too long."

 

Coroners across the country have noted that repeated or sustained bursts from a Taser contributed to deaths. Doctors in Nevada and Florida have said the repeated Taser strikes can make it harder for suspects to breathe and ultimately contribute to cardiac arrest.

 

Last year, a death in Clark County, Nev., raised questions about the way Tasers are used and about the lack of information available about the effects of multiple shocks.

 

In Graff's death, police estimate the Taser was used for 20 to 30 seconds, until Graff stopped fighting with officers. Graff stopped breathing a short time later and was pronounced dead at a hos- pital.

 

Sgt. Randy Force said there is a log on each Taser that can track how long it was used. That information will be part of the police investigation.

 

However, Phoenix police's use-of-force policy does not specify how long a Taser can be deployed.

 

"There's nothing that I know of that sets any time limit," Force said. "It's used until resistance stops."

 

Officials at Scottsdale-based Taser International have maintained its stun guns have never been blamed as the "sole" cause of death, saying other factors such as heart conditions and drug abuse contributed to the deaths.

 

Still, a growing number of deaths has caused civil rights advocates, human rights organizations and the media to question the safety of the stun gun and whether it can induce fatal heart attacks.

 

Since 1999, 110 people have died after police Taser strikes. Medical examiners across the country and in Canada have implicated Taser in 15 of those deaths, according to an ongoing Arizona Republic analysis. Taser was called a cause of death in three of those cases and a contributing factor in nine others. In three other cases, examiners said they were unable to rule it out as a cause of death.

 

Terry Graff said his son did not have any medical condition and although he had used methamphetamine in the past, he didn't believe Keith was using it again.

 

Keith spent two years in the Army's 82nd Airborne Division and was discharged about two years ago, his father said.

 

"He was jumping out of airplanes with a 90-pound pack," Terry said. "You can't tell me he had a weak heart."

 

His dad said Keith got mixed up with the wrong crowd after leaving the Army. He was released in February after spending nine months in jail for drug-related charges.

 

Keith then failed to report for intensive probation and a warrant was issued for his arrest. On April 17, Officer Carla Williams came across Keith while investigating a criminal trespassing report at a north Phoenix apartment complex. Police said Keith shoved Williams into a doorway and fled.

 

Officers tracked him to another north Phoenix apartment complex late Monday night, where Graff reportedly tried to run away, then fought with Williams. Officer Charles Anderson first touched Graff with his Taser then deployed the device until Graff stopped fighting, police said.

 

Terry Graff said that although his son had problems, Keith's death "ain't right."

 

"He was a good kid with a good heart," Terry said. "He didn't deserve what he got."

 

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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0505mob05.html

 

Ex-FBI agent indicted in '82 Miami slaying

 

Curt Anderson

Associated Press

May. 5, 2005 12:00 AM

 

MIAMI - A former FBI agent already imprisoned for shielding Boston mobsters from prosecutors was indicted Wednesday in the 1982 slaying of a former Miami gambling executive whose body was stuffed into the trunk of his Cadillac.

 

John J. Connolly Jr., 64, was charged in state court with first-degree murder and conspiracy in the killing of former World Jai Alai President John Callahan.

 

Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Miami-Dade County's state attorney, said Connolly gave mobsters key internal FBI information that led to the murders of several individuals, including Callahan. Connolly is not charged in any other murders.

 

"While John Connolly never actually pulled the trigger, it was his information that caused the death of John Callahan," Rundle said.

 

Callahan had been shot twice in the head and a dime was placed on his chest, an underworld signal to others not to "drop a dime" or snitch on other mobsters, investigators said. His body was found in a parking lot at the Miami airport.

 

"I can tell you he's not guilty," Connolly attorney Edward Lonergan said. "I've known John since 1961. John is a good, good man and this is a sad, sad process. It's just very disappointing."

 

Investigators said Callahan was a financial adviser to Boston's Winter Hill Gang run by fugitive James "Whitey" Bulger, who has previously been charged in Callahan's murder.

 

Fred Wyshak, assistant U.S. attorney in Boston who is assisting in the case, said Callahan was killed because he had paid $50,000 for the murder of World Jai Alai executive Roger Wheeler.

 

Wheeler was shot to death in Tulsa in 1981, after he refused to sell Callahan the jai alai business and learned the gang was skimming profits from him, investigators said.

 

Also charged in Callahan's death are Bulger's top lieutenant Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi and reputed triggerman John V. Martorano, both of whom have cooperated with prosecutors against Connolly.

 

Flemmi, 70, pleaded guilty in February 2004 for his role in the slaying and was sentenced to life in prison.

 

Flemmi, implicated in 10 other murders, was also sentenced to life last year after pleading guilty to killing Wheeler.

 

Connolly is serving a 10-year sentence in federal prison in North Carolina for convictions on racketeering, obstruction of justice and other charges stemming from his role in protecting Bulger and others from prosecution while simultaneously using them as FBI informers.

 

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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0505racialprofiling.html

 

State high court says racial profiling can get cases tossed

 

Michael Kiefer

The Arizona Republic

May. 5, 2005 12:00 AM

 

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that criminal charges can be dropped in cases where police officers stop motorists because of their race.

 

Justice Andrew Hurwitz wrote in the unanimous decision that a state can neither write laws that apply only to people of certain races, nor selectively enforce the law according to race, a practice commonly referred to as racial profiling.

 

"A state can no more make 'driving while Black' a crime by means of its enforcement than it could by express law," he wrote.

 

The ruling comes out of 2001 and 2002 cases involving Black and Hispanic motorists on Interstate 17 who were stopped for supposed traffic violations and found to be carrying illegal drugs.

 

Flagstaff attorney Lee Brooke Phillips got several similar cases involving Black and Hispanic motorists on Interstate 40 thrown out of Coconino County Superior Court by alleging racial profiling on the part of state Department of Public Safety officers. DPS was not able to produce records regarding the traffic stops, and the cases were dismissed.

 

Phillips made the same argument with three cases in Yavapai County Superior Court. He asked the state to pay for an expert who would compile statistics to show a disproportionate number of stops of minority motorists. The judge denied the request, arguing that racial profiling was no defense against criminal charges.

 

"She (the judge) ruled that the officers' motives were irrelevant as long as there was a traffic violation," Phillips said.

 

Phillips took the question to the higher court, and the Yavapai County case was put on hold pending a decision.

 

Phillips also filed a class-action civil lawsuit against DPS, accusing the agency of racial profiling. Although DPS admitted no wrongdoing, it entered into a settlement in February, promising to gather data and take measures to avoid the practice.

 

Wednesday's Supreme Court decision sent Phillips' case back to Yavapai County Superior Court. The high court did not dismiss charges because of racial profiling; it ruled that such a dismissal is possible on constitutional grounds if the racial profiling allegations are proven in court, which Phillips has not yet done.

 

The trial of the three defendants in the drug case can now continue.

 

"We thought it was a thoughtfully written opinion, and we think the Supreme Court has provided standards to guide the Superior Court on when an expert witness should be appointed," said Andrea Esquer, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Attorney General's Office.

 

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my favorite socialist put out this press release.

 

http://www.hannity.com/index/news-app/story.65/menu./sec./home

 

April 20, 2005

 

NEWS RELEASE

 

DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS • ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Contact: Kyrsten Sinema

 

(602) 926-5058

 

Border Patrol, Minutemen Have Double Standard on Immigration

 

PHOENIX, AZ (April 20, 2005) - Apparently the U.S. Border Patrol believes that national TV and radio stars don't have to play by the same rules as others.

 

Mr. Sean Hannity, a well-paid commentator for Fox News, climbed over a barbed wire fence separating the United States from Mexico yesterday at about 3:15 p.m. A few minutes later he climbed back over the fence, breaking federal law by reentering the U.S. illegally.

 

Mr. Hannity's border violations were videotaped by ACLU Legal Observers. The Border Patrol was contacted, but they chose not to arrest or cite Mr. Hannity for his willful violation of federal law. Likewise, Minutemen in the vicinity of the incident did not take the opportunity to turn Mr. Hannity over to federal officials, as they have allegedly done with all other illegal immigrants apprehended on the border this month.

 

Federal law, specifically 19 U.S.C. Section 1459(a), requires all "individuals arriving in the United States other than by vessel, vehicle, or aircraft [to] enter the United States only at a border crossing point designated by the Secretary; and immediately report the arrivals and present themselves, and all articles accompanying them for inspection; to the customs officer at the customs facility designated for that crossing point."

 

According to 19 U.S.C. Section 1459(e), anyone who intentionally enters the United States at a place other than a designated border crossing can be imprisoned for up to one year and fined up to $5,000. Mr. Hannity faces neither of these penalties. Individuals apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol do.

 

This is the very same crime that Minutemen have traveled across the country to Arizona to stop. While some may argue that Mr. Hannity's actions were not significant, he committed the same crime that all individuals who enter the country illegally commit. In fact, ACLU observers were warned that they would be arrested if they accidentally or deliberately crossed the border and tried to reenter the U.S.

 

Why is U.S. Border Patrol demonstrating such an obvious double standard? If the Minutemen came to Arizona to watch the border for signs of illegal immigration, why did they fail to report Mr. Hannity?

 

There is only possible conclusion. The Minutemen and the Border Patrol have one set of rules for television celebrities, and another for hard-working people who cross the border in search of work.

 

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messy yard laws are unconstitional becausw they give special rights to people who own undevolped land. those people have the right of not mowing their lawn, not picking up the garbage other people throw on their land.

 

that is from the arizona constitution in article 2 section 13 which is currently on the web at:

 

    http://www.azleg.state.az.us/const/2/13.htm

 

and says:

 

Arizona Constitution

Article 2

 

Section 13. No law shall be enacted granting to any citizen, class of citizens, or corporation other than municipal, privileges or immunities which, upon the same terms, shall not equally belong to all citizens or corporations.

 

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