Former DPD officer guilty of official oppression in beating handcuffed man

[JEDIYoda]

Americans need to wake up...this could have been any one of us......
What I find interesting is this officer in his own testimony was playing the "necessary force" card!!
Maximum sentence of a year -- you have to be kidding.......if it was anyone of us.....

DALLAS -- A Dallas County jury found a former Dallas police officer guilty of kicking and pepper spraying a handcuffed man as he lay on the ground in 2011.
Quaitemes Wiliams was found guilty of official oppression, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of up to a year in jail. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 18.

“I did not expect this result,” Williams said moments after the verdict. He declined further comment.

Russell Wilson, the lead prosecutor, said the verdict sends an important message that police brutality will not be tolerated.

“It was obvious from viewing the videotape [...] that it was clear he had gone way over the line,” Wilson said.

The jury’s verdict came after Williams took the stand as the final witness during the two-day trial. He was adamant that he did nothing wrong.

“Every amount of force that we used was necessary force, and it was only the necessary force,” Williams said.

There is more......
http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Jury-finds-former-Dallas-officer-guilty-in--264993791.html

 

[dank69]

Watch out for your cornhole

 

[Oldgamer]

I read another news article on this, and it talked about the Jury in this case being completely freaked out by what they saw on the video tape. I swear, it is becoming more and more clear that US citizens need to start investing and utilizing recording devices. I am thinking about getting a dashcam for my daughter and wife.

 

[Thebobo]

I AM AWAKE JEEEEEZZ

Also is there video? cause I need video to render verdict.

Ah ok here it is...

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=fd3_1298572484

Oh and $10 says the cop was ex military.

.

 

[Oldgamer]

I AM AWAKE JEEEEEZZ

Also is there video? cause I need video to render verdict.

Ah ok here it is...

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=fd3_1298572484

Oh and $10 says the cop was ex military.

.

Oh hey thanks for the live leak link! Daaauuum, the cop face stomped him.

 

[Zebo]

Quaitemes Wiliams....a ginger with a black name. Well at least some justice here. Better than guy who shot handcuffed man who got off scott free.

 

[Oldgamer]

I wonder, now that the cop has been found guilty in court if this guy will sue him and the department. Did anyone see that one town who had to shut their police force down because of all the lawsuits and settlements that caused the town to almost go bankrupt? LOL

Man I tell you, if you have rogue abusive cops on your force you better fire them and give them the boot before they cut into your local budget.

 

[waggy]

I wish every cop had video on them with EVERY stop. without this video the guy would never have been fired or found guilty.

 

[Genx87]

Im sure he was surprised by the verdict. Cops often times get away with all sorts of crap like this or worse. Like the guy cupertino cops beat to death while screaming for his dad? Jury found them not guilty. Unbelievable!

 

[SpatiallyAware]

"
A veteran officer who witnessed what happened immediately reported the incident.
"

This is the only reason the officer was caught. They grabbed the dashcam video within the 24-48 hour rollover cycle.

Back when they used tape these rollover 'policies' sort of made sense. But now that it's all digital, there's no reason to not store this for years.


What I find most interesting... Is that if an officer is accused of misconduct outside these couple day hold times they very rarely find the video... but... if the video exonerates an officer they mysteriously go back months if not years and get the footage.

 

[Zebo]

He was convicted because all his fellow officers on scene testified against him. Prolly wasnt liked. Either way justice served on 1 in a million.

 

[waggy]

He was convicted because all his fellow officers on scene testified against him. Prolly wasnt liked. Either way justice served on 1 in a million.

my first thought is he wasn't liked by other officers.

 

[Oldgamer]

He was convicted because all his fellow officers on scene testified against him. Prolly wasnt liked. Either way justice served on 1 in a million.

True...

 

[PokerGuy]

A good example of why we need as much recording of police activities as possible -- it's good for everyone involved.

 

[HumblePie]

The thing is, the force used to subdue and arrest the guy was justified. It's when the guy was laying on the ground in cuffs and no longer resisting, that the officer coming up to spray and kick him in the face was over the line.

Use of force to arrest is one thing. Being a asshole after doing your job is not.

 

[Oldgamer]

A good example of why we need as much recording of police activities as possible -- it's good for everyone involved.

I agree, I have seen a number of cities trying to implement the body cams. Apparently quite a few police unions are up in arms about it though. The ACLU is trying to establish some guidelines and suggestions on the body cams, like serious repercussions if the body cam "conveniently" gets shut off or "malfunctions" every time there is an incident with a citizen claiming there was abuse.

I think the body cams should just be a mandatory thing, it not only protects the citizens but also the cops. Man I could have sworn I read somewhere that they proved that cops were well behaved when they were monitored like this. Something like 80% of complaints against cops went down once they had them all wear body cams.