police – Tristan LeGrande Criminal Defense Blog

Washington Officer That Punched Handcuffed Woman Won’t Face Charges

Attorney Tristan LeGrande — Wed, 10 Dec 2014 16:46:25 +0000

Seattle police have released the in-car video of a police officer punching a handcuffed woman after she kicked him. The officer broke an orbital bone in the womans face. She was handcuffed, she was already subdued, but the officer felt the need to make her pay for kicking him as she was being placed in the back of his patrol car.

The King County Prosecutor announced that the officer will not face criminal charges; he acknowledged the officer’s actions might not meet the Seattle Police Department’s policies, but says that does not mean it was a criminal act.

Officer Adley Shepherd responded to a call about a possible domestic violence incident in South Seattle. The situation escalated. A woman involved in the incident, Miyekko Durden-Bosley, was put in handcuffs and placed in a patrol car.

Bosley kicked Officer Shepherd who responded with a single punch to the woman’s face.

Bosley’s attorney says the officer’s punch broke an orbital bone. Officer Shepherd’s attorney says his client did what he needed to in this circumstance.

The King County Prosecutor examined the findings and said there was not enough to prove the punch was unreasonable. No criminal charges will be filed against Officer Shepherd.

The Seattle Police Officers Guild is supporting Officer Shepherd who is a 9 year veteran of the department. The union says he should be returned to full duty as soon as possible. Officer Shepherd remains on administrative leave while an internal investigation proceeds.

Excessive force? Most certainly. Repercussions? Sadly no. I think the key thing that the King County prosecutor ignores is that this woman was handcuffed. She was already subdued, what possible excuse is there to break the orbital bone in a handcuffed womans face? This officer is absolute garbage. Maybe someday karma will catch up to him, but sadly, not this time.

Have you been charged with a crime?

If you are accused of ANY CRIMINAL OFFENSE it is essential that you have an aggressive criminal defense attorney in your corner. You need someone that will fight for your rights. You need a tenacious lawyer that will put the state to their burden.

Contact attorney Tristan LeGrande IMMEDIATELY by calling 281-684-3500.

http://www.legrandelaw.com

http://www.houstondrugattorney.net

Houston Criminal defense attorney Tristan LeGrande

Maserati Police Car? Cuff him Danno!

Attorney Tristan LeGrande — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 19:53:22 +0000

Police in Massachusetts cited the driver of a Maserati Gran Turismo for impersonating a police officer when he was found zooming around town in the exotic sports car painted black and white with police decals.

The Maserati Gran Turismo had been “dipped” (temporary plastic spray had been applied) to resemble a character from the Transformers movie. In the movie, Barricade transformed into a police car. The hot rod spared no expense making his own car look like the one from the movie, adding white doors and police-style decals.

The man was pulled over while driving the car earlier this month and summoned to appear on charges of impersonating a police officer.

Much like in Texas, cops in Massachusetts don’t take impersonating an officer lightly. In Mass., “falsely assuming to be a police officer” is the way they style the charge, and it is punishable by up to 1 year in jail and a $400 fine.

Here in Texas it is a little different – and maybe the man would have a defense! The most serious offense is impersonation of a public servant, which is a 3rd degree felony. However, the state must prove that you meant to induce someone to submit to your show of authority. (Little danger here with the Maserati I would think). The likely charge here would be False Identification as a police officer, which is a class B misdemeanor. It is a defense to this charge if “the item was used or intended for use exclusively for decorative purposes or in an artistic or dramatic presentation.” Under this defense, I would say that any good lawyer, in Texas, could get the charges dismissed. Don’t know what will happen to him in Yankee-land.

The man’s lawyer says his client plans on removing the temporary decorations, although he isn’t planning to do so until after he drives to court for his first hearing on September 4th.

Have you been charged with a crime?

If you’ve been accused of ANY CRIMINAL OFFENSE it is imperative that you have an aggressive criminal defense attorney in your corner. You need someone that will fight for your rights. You need a tenacious lawyer that will put the state to their burden.

Contact attorney Tristan LeGrande IMMEDIATELY by calling 281-684-3500.

http://www.legrandelaw.com

http://www.houstondrugattorney.net

Houston Criminal defense attorney Tristan LeGrande

El Paso prisoner shot & killed while in custody (w/ video)

Attorney Tristan LeGrande — Thu, 19 Jun 2014 00:15:26 +0000

Yet another horrible, cold-blooded act of police brutality at the hands of Texas corrections officers – but this time, they killed a man in cold blood. The city of El Paso released a video showing inmate Daniel Saenz being shot to death while in custody by Officer Jose Flores.

It all started when Saenz was taken to a local hospital after exhibiting strange behavior at a supermarket. At the hospital, he allegedly attacked an off-duty officer and was arrested.

The video speaks for itself. Yes, you can tell there was a struggle and that Saenz was being beligerant. But shooting and killing a guy in handcuffs!? Flores and another unidentified officer were struggling to take the handcuffed Saenz from the El Paso County Jail to a hospital for treatment after repeatedly banging his head against a doorway inside the jail. It ended with Flores pulling out his gun and firing a single shot – killing Saenz.

Saenz died later at a local hospital.

The Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas struggled to justify the shooting, only saying that officers had used their tasers on Saenz with little or no effect, as if that somehow justified Flores opting for his firearm.

A grand jury declined to indict Flores in the shootings because of “the totality of the circumstances, which include the long sequence of events that came before the shooting itself.”

More piss poor justification for the shooting was also released – the deceased criminal history, having been previously arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, family violence and assault of the elderly.

If they keep this up I will have to create a special category for police murders. Sheesh. Despicable.

Houston Police Dept. Fails to Investigate over 20,000 Criminal Cases

Attorney Tristan LeGrande — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 18:38:24 +0000

According to a report commissioned by the city, more than 20,000 burglary, theft, assault and hit-and-run cases were not investigated in 2013. When I stumbled onto this story the explanation given was that HPD is understaffed. This may be some of the reason this happened, but I am not buying that this is the only reason that this occurred.

The $200,000 study was conducted by the nonprofit Police Executive Research Forum and Larry Hoover, a professor of criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University.

According to figures Houston police reported to the FBI, the city recorded the most burglaries of any of the nation’s 25 largest cities from 2004 through 2011. In 2011, Houston recorded 27,459 burglaries, with Chicago second at 26,420.

When adjusting for population among the top 25 cities, Houston has the seventh-highest rate of burglaries and of violent crimes per 100,000 residents, though Chicago is excluded from the violent crimes calculation because it tallies forcible rapes differently. When calculating the rate of violent crimes excluding rapes, Houston drops to eighth.

Why do I really think this occurred?

For one thing, let’s go back to one of my first blog posts…the large scale sting operation that led to the arrest of dozens of prostitutes and their johns. How many officers and support personnel did that take? How many of the resources that could have been used to investigate and track down thieves, hit and run drivers, and people who assault other people did this take – and for how long?

Why else could this have occurred?

Well I will tell you one thing that is tying up a ton of the resources of HPD – investigating and arresting people for drug crimes (and on a disturbingly large scale, for simple drug possession). We put people in jail for pot. We put drug addicts in jails instead of treatment centers. We prosecute trace cases again. Get caught with even any detectable amount of a schedule I drug and you are looking at a felony charge and a possible jail sentence.

Add to this that we put people with mental health issues in prison, and things start to come together.

Yes, of course we are understaffed at HPD – but how are we using the resources that we do have?

Arrested for a drug possession offense?

Arrested for prostitution or solicitation of prostitution?

If you’ve been accused of a criminal offense involving drugs or accused of a prostitution related offense contact attorney Tristan LeGrande by calling 281-684-3500.