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Defense lawyer for Phoenix officer charged with murder attacks key witness, his partner

PHOENIX — A jury on Tuesday began deliberating the fate of a Phoenix police officer charged with fatally shooting an unarmed suspect and his dog.

The deliberations came after the defense attorney for now-fired officer Richard Chrisman said the defendant’s partner made up a story that led to the charges, and the prosecutor said the partner stood up and told the truth after seeing a crime.

Attorney Craig Mehrens told jurors that officer Sergio Virgillo’s testimony was designed to protect him from allegations he left his partner alone in a dangerous situation because he was himself scared. His client acted in self-defense, he said.

“I think there’s good reason to believe that what you heard from officer Virgillo is not what happened,” Mehrens said. “And what you heard from Mr. Chrisman is what he was trained to do.”

Prosecutor Juan Martinez said the defense was trying to work around the facts to clear Chrisman.

“It is a nonsensical story that they have brought forth for you to consider,” he told jurors, who were scheduled to resume deliberations Wednesday morning.

Chrisman faces second-degree murder, aggravated assault and animal cruelty charges for the fatal October 2010 shootings of 29-year-old Danny Rodriguez and his dog. He has pleaded not guilty.

The former officer acknowledged under questioning last week that he was the aggressor in the early part of the confrontation but that he was just doing his job.

Chrisman and Virgillo were called to the south Phoenix trailer park by Rodriguez’s mother, who told them her son was violent and had punched a hole in a wall.

Chrisman and Virgillo confronted Rodriguez at the door to the trailer, and Chrisman forced his way inside. Rodriguez asked to see a warrant, and prosecutors say Chrisman then put his pistol against Rodriguez’s head and told him he didn’t need one.

Mehrens says that didn’t happen, but Martinez told jurors Tuesday that DNA on the officer’s pistol and a bruise on the dead man’s left temple shows it happened the way Virgillo testified.

The two officers then had difficulty controlling Rodriguez, and both fired their stun guns with little effect. Chrisman also used pepper spray on Rodriguez then shot his dog, who prosecutors say was not threatening the officers.

Virgillo said Rodriguez then got his bicycle and tried to leave the tiny trailer home, but Chrisman would not allow it and a tussle began.

Chrisman’s lawyer said Virgillo fled the trailer home because he was scared and couldn’t see the events that followed.

Chrisman testified that Rodriguez lifted up the bike and he thought he was going to use it to “smash my brains in,” so he fired twice, hitting Rodriguez in the chest.

Martinez told jurors there was no sign the bicycle had been hit with gunshot residue, and that they should believe Virgillo’s version — that he saw what happened and Rodriguez’s hands were up when he was shot. Mehrens said no tests were done on the bike and jurors can’t speculate.

Mehrens told jurors there’s just no reason a nine-year veteran officer who had never fired his gun in the line of duty would just snap one day and kill someone for no reason.

A second-degree murder conviction carries a 15- to 22-year prison sentence, but mitigating factors could reduce it to 10 years. Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, the charge for allegedly putting the gun to Rodriguez’s head, carries a 5- to 15- year sentence. The misdemeanor animal cruelty charge carries no jail time.

Drugged up cops, its not an epidemic, its a source of income for the cops too.

Federal prosecutors say a second former Philadelphia cop has been charged in the alleged robbery of suspected drug dealers while on duty.  U.S. Attorney's office says a new indictment unsealed charges 27-year-old Sydemy Joanis along with 23-year-old Jonathan Garcia with conspiracy, robbery, attempted robbery and firearms crimes.

Authorities allege that they enlisted another person to buy drugs, then made arrests during phony traffic stops and stole money they recovered between December 2009 and June2012.

More drunk cops

A Mason City Iowa cop named James Gray Jr has been accused of drunken driving.

He was charged with operating under the influence and with having an open container of alcohol in his vehicle. Gray already faces a charge of child endangerment in connection with a Jan. 24 incident. He's pleaded not guilty.

Bladensburg Md. cop Ridwan Osanyinpeju has been charged with theft

Bladensburg Md. cop Ridwan Osanyinpeju has been charged with theft in a credit card fraud case. Authorities say he stole more than $4,000 by illegally billing a woman's credit card. According to charging documents obtained by News4, Osanyinpeju created an online account for a business called Morid Protection Services in late January.

About two weeks later, someone claiming to be a Missouri woman requested a duplicate credit card to be mailed to a Baltimore address, which was then used to pay Morid Protection Services $4,205. The woman whose credit card number was used contacted authorities when she realized what had happened.

East Haven Connecticut — East Haven's Board of Police Commissioners has suspended,

East Haven Connecticut — East Haven's Board of Police Commissioners has suspended, without pay, one of four cops arrested on federal civil rights charges after being accused of harassing Latinos. The cop is Dennis Spaulding.  Spaulding was charged in January 2012, along with Sgt. Dennis Miller and Officers Jason Zullo and David Cari. They were accused of targeting Latinos for harassment.

More idiots at work

Jasper, Texas a town with a history of racial unrest on Monday fired two white police officers recently captured on video slamming the head of Keyarika "Sha" Diggles,  a black woman, into a countertop and wrestling her to the ground. “The amount of force used was abominable,” the woman's attorney, Cade Bernsen said. Diggles, 25, was brought to the jail on May 5 for an unpaid fine. She was was on the phone with her mother trying to arrange to get the $100 owed when cop Ricky Grissom cut off the call.

There’s no audio on the video, but Diggles and Grissom were apparently arguing when Cunningham comes in behind Diggles and attempts to handcuff her. When she appears to raise her hand to be cuffed, Cunningham grabs Diggles by the hair and slams her head into a countertop. The officers wrestle Diggles to the ground before dragging her by her ankles into a jail cell.  “She got her hair pulled out, broke a tooth, braces got knocked off … it was brutal,” the lawyer. Diggles was charged with resisting arrest for arguing with the officers, a charge dropped by he cops.

           

Ohatchee Al. cop Walter Louis Lefroy has been charged with burglary.  Lefroy, was arrested and charged May 30 with third-degree burglary just a few hours after he resigned from the police force.

Former Ashville NC city Human Resources Director Lisa J. Richmond is suing police officials and City Manager Gary Jackson, alleging she was falsely arrested and maliciously prosecuted in a case involving human resources department employees who misused their flexible spending health care accounts.

Idiots at work

The family of Raul Rosas Jr. has sued the city of Fresno and Fresno County for wrongful death, negligence and police brutality.  The civil-rights lawsuit alleges that cops responding to a domestic-violence report on June 5, 2011 handcuffed and pepper-sprayed Rosas, then sprayed his face with a hose when he lost consciousness.

The complaint says Rosas choked, lapsed into a coma and never recovered. He died about four weeks later.

Natchez, Mississippi: Debra Pernell-Simmons, a retired Detroit Public Schools teacher, who had complained of mistreatment when she was tased by police for filing the complaint.

South Texas cops ransacked the home of Jose and Maria Perez, an elderly couple looking for drugs, and finding none, forced the husband to set up a cocaine dealer and took a kilo for themselves, the couple claim in court. They have sued Hidalgo County, Sheriff Guadalupe "Lupe" Trevino and the City of Mission in Federal court. Five sheriff's officers, including members of the unit mentioned in the Perezes' lawsuit, pleaded guilty this week to drug charges.  The complaint reads "In July 2012, Jose G. Perez and his wife, Maria Guadalupe Perez ... were sitting in their home when six armed men burst into their home demanding drugs," the complaint states. "These invaders were agents and officers of the Panama Unit of the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Department and officers of the Mission Police Department. These intruders proceeded to ransack the furniture and broke open cabinets searching for their illegal prize.  When the intruders found nothing in the home of plaintiffs, they forced the elderly couple into an unmarked SUV, and told Jose G. Perez to 'call someone that sells drugs or else.'

Forth Worth cops tasered an overweight asthmatic to death in drug raid that uncovered no drugs. 350 pound Jarmaine Darden, the 34-year-old father dead after he was tased multiple times by the cops who kicked in his door. Family members said that they pleaded with the cops because Darden couldn't drop to the ground on his stomach as the commanded because he suffered from asthma. “They physically pulled him off the couch because, like I said, he was asleep. They pulled him off the couch and they tried to put him on his stomach. He can’t breathe on his stomach. He don’t even lie on the bed on his stomach,” said Donna Randle, the mother of victim.

When a hearing-impaired Washington woman failed to follow cop orders, because she couldn't hear them, the cops pucnhed her in the face as she tried calling 911 for help: In a recording of the 911 call, Graham can be heard saying: “You attacked me before you said anything! There is no point whatsoever for you to touch me like that, especially with my condition, so how dare you even touch me?”  Another responding cop punched Graham in the face a few times, while telling Graham not to resist arrest because he realized he wa son an open mic.

25-year-old Cary Ball Jr was shot 25 times by St. Louis, MO. Police. According to the cops….and only the cops….  Ball… an honor student with a 3.86 GPA, majoring in human services at Forest Park Community College, where he had been celebrated as an “emerging scholar.”… refused to pull over for a traffic stop, crashed into a parked car, and started running. According to cops Ball pointed a semi-automatic handgun at the cops prompting them to open fire. But several dozen wittness have sworn that Ball threw his gun on the ground and was walking toward police with his hands up to surrender when he was shot. The family suspects that Ball’s older brother, Carlos Ball, probably ran from the police because, as an ex-convict, it was illegal for him to possess a gun.

A California sheriff's deputy needlessly tasered and then shot George I. Ramirez

to death after his father called 911 seeking help for his son's depression,  the family claims in court. The father says he called 911 on April 16, 2012, seeking help for his son. He told the 911 operator that his son was depressed, but never said that the family was in danger or that a crime was in progress. A cop named Parra responded, finding the father changing a headlight and the mother indoors doing housework. The family says Parra asked about the son's whereabouts, but did not ask for details regarding his condition or why the family called 911.  Parra found Ramirez on the couch watching television, unaware that his family had called 911. Parra confirmed his identity and placed him under arrest by ordering him to stand up and turn around, according to the complaint. "In the process of standing up and complying with orders, Ramirez asked Parra why he was under arrest and if he could see his credentials," the complaint states. The cop responded by tasering Ramirez and shot him to death minutes afterwards.

In New York the State Senate, led by an idiot State Senator Joseph Griffo (R-Rome) passed a bill that would make annoying a policeman a felony. “Police cannot do their jobs if everyone is going to dispute their authority” Griffo the idiot said “We hope that by making it a felony to annoy an officer those accosted by the police will learn that the easiest path for them is to just do as they are told. If there are any legitimate beefs to be dealt with they can be taken up later by the lawyers.”

Schaumburg Ill. cop Bryan Woodyard has been charged with official misconduct for allegedly keeping a gun that a woman turned in to police for disposal.

Bruce Cramer, Reynoldsville Pa. cop will be reinstated. Cramer, suspended since April 12 without pay, will be reinstated with back pay, the borough council decided Friday. Cramer was suspended with pay at a special meeting March 11 2013 for charges including conduct unbecoming a cop and asking another cop to sign a document and changing items in the police log book. Reinstatment…boy, that’ll teach a lesson he’ll never forget.

Even more drunk and drugged up cops

Cook County prosecutors dropped drug charges today against a 28-year-old Elk Grove Village man named Victor Alvarado following a judge’s ruling that his guilty plea was based on the testimony of a Schaumburg cop named Matthew Hudak who is now under indictment for drug conspiracy charges. Alvarado pleaded guilty to possession of 15 to 100 grams of cocaine.  Thank you officer Hudak for letting a drug dealer go free.

Off-duty San Antonio cop Sergio Hernandez was arrested and escorted from a local sports bar, after patrons and bartenders complained he was pushing and shoving his way into the bar after closing time. Witnesses say he tried to kick his way back into Stacy’s Sports Bar in the 3800 block of Blanco Road. The bar had already announced last call for alcohol some 30 minutes earlier and had asked Hernandez to leave.

Witnesses said that Hernandez was belligerent and tried to leave the bar with a drink in his hand. They said he also threatened patrons and bar staff that he’d return to retaliate against them.

Suspended Indianapolis cop David Bisard returned to court where defense attorneys once again asked a judge throw out critical blood evidence in the case. Bisard was charged with driving drunk for the second time in April. His blood alcohol level tested at nearly three times the legal limit after he crashed a pickup truck in Lawrence.Because of the charges facing him from his first DUI arrest stemming from the August 2010 crash that killed Eric Wells, 30 and injured two others, Judge John Surbeck, Jr. ordered Bisard to be held in jail without bond until his trial in mid-October.

John Charles Kelly, a Pennington Gap cop who pleaded guilty to dealing prescription drugs will spend less than a year in prison.  Kelly was sentenced to six-months in federal prison and ordered to undergo three years of supervised probation. Kelly was also fined $450. Kelly is the second cop from Pennington Gap to be sentenced in federal court during the past month. In May, police chief William Bryan Young was given a nine-year prison sentence in an unrelated case by Jones at a hearing in federal court in Big Stone Gap. Young pleaded guilty to charges of distributing narcotics while on duty and orchestrating the robbery of the town's Rite Aid Pharmacy.

An on-duty NYPD detective named David Rojas was arrested for drunk driving in the Bronx. Inspector Kevin Catalina, the commanding officer of the 44th precinct, spotted while he appeared to be intoxicated about 3:15 p.m. He was arrested and suspended at the 44th precinct and charged with two counts of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs

Thief

Charged CSPD officer to keep pension

A state association governing pensions for police officers and firefighters said that a Colorado Springs sergeant James Butierres charged with crimes on the job won't lose his pension. Butierres retired from the police department Friday, a day after being formally charged with forgery and theft. He's accused of falsifying his time sheet and misusing grant money related to a car theft enforcement program.

worst of the month

The worst case is from Bolivia, North Carolina. According to the complaint filed by a minor’s guardian ad litem, a police officer, Jaymin Lenwood Murphy, came to a home to investigate allegations that an adult had sent inappropriate photos via cell phone to a minor child. The officer said he needed to question the minor in private. Once in private, the officer had the minor remove her clothing so he could take photos for his ‘investigative file.’ It gets worse. The officer later returned on minor’s fourteenth birthday and raped her.

The runner-up story comes from Bakersfield, California. A 21-year-old woman called the police to report a burglary. Two deputies arrived and one led her into a room where she was then sexually assaulted under the pretense of a ‘pat-down’ search by the deputy. The authorities did move promptly against this deputy–so good for them.