I Shot the Sheriff

Bump & update below

Sheriff Joe is at it again: July 18th

Apology ordered in court paper flap

A Maricopa County Sheriff's detention officer has been ordered to apologize to a public defender for taking a document from files on her desk during a sentencing in Superior Court.

Judge Gary Donahoe said Officer Adam Stoddard must issue his apology at a news conference on the north plaza of the Central Court Building on or before Nov. 30 or face jail for contempt of court.

Stoddard was pictured on courtroom video Oct. 19 taking a piece of paper from the courtroom desk of Public Defense Joanne Cuccia.
[...]
Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Wednesday [...] "Superior Court judges do not order my officers to hold press conferences," Arpaio said in a statement. "I decide who holds press conferences and when they are held regarding this Sheriff's Office."

I've excerpted this article not to cherry pick quotes but to fall in the guidelines of copyright protection. The whole article is much more damning.

The defense counsel, the prosecutor and ALL cops are officers of the court. To have a sheriff's deputy steal defense records, copy them and send them to the government's side is not only theft it's against federal law and a violation of the Constitution.

The cop is lucky he was only found in civil contempt. He should go down! (By 'down' I meant to the corner and apologize.) Personally, I think the Feds should prosecute him & Sheriff Joe et al for Federal crimes, (no way that the County Atty will prosecute the theft that was involved), because they think that cops run the gov't.

But wait, there's more:

MCSO officer files motion to delay judge's ruling

[...]
Video footage shows Stoddard glancing at the documents during a sentencing hearing for Antonio Solis Lozano, 26. He's then shown removing the handwritten notes and having them copied.

INAL, but as I understand it there is no recourse when a judge sentences you for civil contempt. Criminal contempt, yes, civil, no.

Justice might be served if Arpaio & Lozano were sentenced to live in tents and made to wear pink panties.

Gosh, I bet they'd never flout the law again! Like Bull Connor never did.[/sarcasm]

Sheriff Joe has got to go. He's not just a criminal, he runs a criminal enterprise.

Mother of mercy, can this be the end of RICO?*

*Under RICO, a person who is a member of an enterprise that has committed any two of 35 crimes—27 federal crimes and 8 state crimes—within a 10-year period can be charged with racketeering. Those found guilty of racketeering can be fined up to $250,000 and/or sentenced to 20 years in prison per racketeering count. In addition, the racketeer must forfeit all ill-gotten gains and interest in any business gained through a pattern of "racketeering activity." RICO also permits a private individual harmed by the actions of such an enterprise to file a civil suit; if successful, the individual can collect treble damages.

When the U.S. Attorney decides to indict someone under RICO, he or she has the option of seeking a pre-trial restraining order or injunction to temporarily seize a defendant's assets and prevent the transfer of potentially forfeitable property, as well as require the defendant to put up a performance bond.

Update: A commenter thought I was over the top by suggesting RICO charges against Sheriff Joe. In a twist of irony, Joe has filed a lawsuit alleging RICO charges be applied to the Superior Court Judge Donahoe & county Supervisors.

Alleging widespread conspiracy, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio filed a civil suit in U.S. District Court on Tuesday against county administrators, elected officials, judges and attorneys. Those defendants, they say, are violating federal racketeering laws by hindering criminal investigations and depriving their offices of resources.

And speaking of "depriving their offices of resources" check this out:

Now, with Sheriff Arpaio's support, officers who protect the Superior Court where Judge Donahoe works are calling in sick in sufficient numbers to shut down business. The courthouse was also evacuated when a bomb threat against public defenders was phoned in (Cuccia is a public defender).

AZ is the new Alabama! Great job Alazonians! [/snark]

Notice he files the lawsuit in civil court. Not state criminal, not Federal criminal, but civil. Why? Because civil courts have a much lower standard of proof than criminal courts. It's still not gonna work.

He's cost Maricopa County taxpayers more money in lost Fed & state lawsuits against him and his thugs than any illegal alien has. But he doesn't care because the good citizens of the county pay for it. The good citizens of Maricopa county are also paying for him to sue ... wait for it ... wait for it ... Maricopa County!

Sher'f Joe has got to go.


Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

Shock the Monkey

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!?

Officer Shocks Girl, 10

An Ozark police officer used a stun gun on a 10-year-old girl Thursday, an action the child's father has publicly spoken against.

Officer Dustin Bradshaw used a stun gun to subdue the girl, whose mother had called police in response to her daughter misbehaving at the woman's residence, according to an Ozark police report.
[...]
Bradshaw said the child's mother attempted to place the girl in the shower to get her ready for bed.

"I witnessed (the child) screaming, kicking and resisting every time her mother tried to touch her," Bradshaw stated. "Her mother told me to Tase her if I needed to."

Bradshaw said he and the mother carried the child to the shower, but the child refused to cooperate.

Bradshaw said after realizing there would not be a "peaceful resolution," he moved the child to the living room and told her he was going to place her under arrest, according to the report.

"She was jerking her arms away from me violently while I was trying to cuff her and thrashing about wildly," Bradshaw stated. "While she was violently kicking and verbally combative, (she) struck me with her legs and feet in the groin."

Bradshaw said because he had difficulty placing handcuffs on the girl, he administered a brief drive stun to the child's back with his stun gun, the report states.

"She immediately stopped resisting and was placed into handcuffs," Bradshaw stated. "She would not [ED: could not, FIFY cop] walk on her own and I had to carry her to my police car."

There's more:

[Ozark's Police Chief Jim Noggle] said the officer properly used his discretion when he fired his Taser at the girl.

OMG, where to start? The Mom is a bad parent and should have custody taken away from her. No responsible person calls the cops on a 10 year old for having a tantrum. And especially not for encouraging a cop to taze their child.

The cop should go to jail for child abuse. This a$$hole managed to carry her into the shower and into a squad car (given, she was incapacitated by 50 thousand volts in the latter instance), yet he can't subdue a 10 year old girl without a potentially lethal weapon?

The police chief needs to be fired and never have another job in a supervisory position, and be sued personally. Who the hell sticks up for a cop that does this?

Addendum: Ozark police argued that had the officer grabbed the girl, he could have hurt her. "If you grab somebody, you can slip an arm out of joint," the police chief added. "They can slip from you and fall on the ground."

Yeah, like adults who are Tazed don't have spastic contractions of their muscles, dislocate their joints, and/or die. TASERs are less lethal than hand guns, not less than lethal.

What a brave and fierce thin blue line we have to protect us from ... 10 year old girls.

Let this be a lesson to you kids; the monster isn't under your bed, he's not in your closet, he's your Mom and Officer Friendly. And if you don't take your shower you'll be Tazed and sent to Juvie.




Cross posted at VidiotSpeak