Thursday, February 9, 2012

East Haven Accuser Quiety Exits, Stage Left

In a further effort to get the other side out there I am taking articles written by Attorney Karen Lee Torre from the Connecticut Law Tribune. She has a distinctive perspective that I think you will be very interested to read about. This is the 1st part of a 2 part story on the East Haven Police Department.

Reprinted with permission, Connecticut Law Tribune"

Monday, January 9, 2012

Images
Karen Lee Torre

East Haven Accuser Quietly Exits, Stage Left



Last month, I mentioned that locals I met view the allegations of “racial profiling” and other abuses by East Haven police officers against Latinos as politically motivated and suspect. The ink wasn’t dry on that column when one of the plaintiff-accusers in Chacon v. East Haven Police Department managed to validate their assessment.
On Dec. 12, 2011, plaintiff Yadanny Garcia unilaterally moved to dismiss all of his claims against East Haven police officers. Filed by his counsel, David N. Rosen, the motion was curiously bald. Rosen merely represented to the court that Garcia chose to abandon his claims, but notably added the dismissal should be “with prejudice.”
Wait a minute, I thought. A plaintiff in a media-soaked bias case, represented by a lawyer who unabashedly claims the ability to maximize damage awards, just figured he’s got better things to do? I practiced law too long not to recognize this as flagging the existence of an undisclosed back story. Sure enough, the backdrop was provided in subsequent objections to Garcia’s motion, filed by the town and the accused officers.
Underscoring the significance of this are Garcia’s allegations, set forth in a complaint freighted with melodrama and broad histrionic sweeps against the whole police department. There are chapters describing the plaintiffs’ alleged experiences with police officers cast as lawless, bigoted, brutes, each chapter introduced by a theatrical headline.
Garcia sued four officers, the whole department, its chief and the town itself in connection with a single incident on Aug. 8, 2009. Garcia claimed he was a passenger in a car driven by a cousin, that the two stopped at an East Haven bar to use the bathroom, and that upon exiting, he was accosted by four officers, tased three times, punched, called a “f---ing Ecuadorian,” and subjected to a “phantom arrest.” End of story.
As Garcia would have us believe, he had done absolutely nothing wrong, was minding his own business, and was selected for police abuse because of his “race” and “ethnicity.” (Since Latinos are white, the reference to “race” is inaccurate, as is the suggestion that officers know one’s ethnicity by looking at them).
That story alone strikes me as implausible, and recent filings flesh it out. The defendants assert that Garcia withdrew his claims because they “are demonstrably false” and he has no credibility. What actually occurred, they say, “is that [Garcia] was intoxicated and was operating a [car] registered in his name …when he came upon a sobriety checkpoint that had been previously advertised in the New Haven Register.” He reportedly tried to evade the DUI checkpoint by shifting his car in reverse and driving backwards over a curb, nearly striking the driver behind him.
Officers gave chase, eventually finding Garcia hiding behind brush in a parking lot. He had abandoned his car and fleeing on foot, leaving behind his keys and cell phone. Garcia also reportedly lied about whether he had been drinking. He first denied it, then admitted having a few beers. He failed a horizontal gaze test, and then refused to take a breathalyzer after being warned in writing that refusal would result in a license suspension. Garcia was charged with DWI, unsafe backing, and interfering with police. Some “phantom arrest,” huh?
Seeking to avoid suspension, Garcia testified at a DMV hearing that his cousin was the driver. His testimony in other respects varies from his complaint (for example, he claims “two or three” cops came at him, not four, and mentions one tase, not three). Apart from Garcia’s ipse dixit, there isn’t a shred of evidence to support the “my cousin the driver” claim. The hearing officer did not find Garcia credible, concluded he was the driver (of his own car), and suspended his license.
The East Haven officers object to Garcia’s motion because it fails to dismiss all defendants sued based on Garcia’s claims. The town goes further, demanding that Garcia be sanctioned for filing patently meritless allegations that Garcia and his lawyers allowed to “sit in the public sphere for over an entire year,” while they garnered mass media attention and cast the officers and the town in a “terrible light.”
Worse, the town notes, the plaintiffs and their lawyers “added sensational charges that the officers’ conduct was based on the plaintiffs’ race and ethnicity, a libelous claim that would be actionable were it not cloaked with the immunity of the litigation privilege.”
East Haven has been hammered by the media, which has all but declared the Chacon plaintiffs proven victims. The Obama Justice Department has launched a corresponding assault on the town, attempting to goad it into voluntarily ceding the management of the police department over to a federal judge. Could it be that the DOJ hopes East Haven will roll over, lest the DOJ actually have to prove its case – and prove it with what, witnesses like Yadanny Garcia?
Worse, the media suggests, a grand jury will soon indict numerous officers based on the very sort of claims made in the Chacon case. On what evidence will law enforcement officers face criminal prosecution? The stories told by those they arrest, like Yadanny Garcia? That is truly scary.
Recently, DOJ officials flew in from Washington, D.C., and, before a gaggle of invited reporters, publicly defamed the East Haven Police Department, notwithstanding ongoing grand jury proceedings. What did they know about Yadanny Garcia and when did they know it?
At minimum, this cautions all to pause and decline to throw stones until these allegations are put to the test of cross-examination and adversary process. •
Karen Lee Torre, a New Haven trial lawyer, litigates civil rights issues in the federal courts. Her e-mail address is thimbleislands@sbcglobal.net.

11 comments:

  1. Innocent until proven guilty. The media and the FBI should hold their heads down in shame.

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  2. the truth shall come out. No thanks to the left wing bias media!

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  3. Dan, are you and Karen teaming up to write more on East Haven or just reposting the 2 stories she wrote. I would love to read more, maybe you should start an online newspaper as an alternative to the New Haven Rag or the Huffington Post's- East Haven Patch.

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  4. Here's another great read from another great attorney. These people live inside the court and see the truth. http://www.pattisblog.com/index.php?article=Bambi_Goes_Cop_Hunting_In_East_Haven_5135 . This was written the day the cops got arrested, now he representing one of the east haven 4.

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  5. Great piece but please fix the spelling mistakes. It really looks bad.

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  6. I have said all along that the reasons behind the complaints need to be investigated by asking what led to these charges? Were the 'supposed minorities" pulled over for something like a tail light, unregistered motor vehicle, speeding or just plainly looking suspicious in behavior? BINGO! trying to avaoid a Sobriety Checkpoint, panicked and acted suspiciously, that's no way to avoid arrest! Obviously, Garcia didn't want to get caught, so he just decided to take someone down with him! You think so?

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  7. Dan,
    You always come thru...many thanks...and many thanks to
    Karen Lee Torre for the article.

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  8. Fantastic now lets see if this can make the news to give our town back a little credibility. Plain and simple I don't care who what or where you come from or your natioanlity and background, if you want to live in our town live by the same rules and regulations as Myself and every other tax payer in East Haven. By our laws for every American not just for one persons certian nationality. As for our Mayor Joe, I know him personally and he does look at his community as a whole not segregated by Latino, Italian etc.. even though his comment about tacos may have been a little off, instead of just making a big deal over that one line, They should have paid more attention to what he actually stands for and that's looking out for his whole community and cleaning up our streets and making it safe and inviting for all those who pay taxes here...I am very happy he is back in office and April is out it is her that made such a mess of things and Joe who has had to step back into the big pile of poo and is trying to clean it up..

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  9. its seems the federal government is doing all it can to stop states and local governments from dealing with illegal immigration. Examples include sueing Arizona, Utah, Alabama, and South Carolina over their laws. Also, condcuting "pattern and practice" investigations agaist Sheriff Joe and the town of East Haven. Now they have crossed the line,in arrested 4 hero officers, in an attempt to stop other officers from arresting mass groups of illegal immigrates, who violate state laws, including motor vehicle laws.

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  10. Dan, Great Job researching the truth... Americans are losing their freedoms.... Shame on Eric Holder & the DOJ, Shame on the former Police Comm. Chairman Brow.... Shame on Democratic Chairman Ruocco, Shame on Hongo & Patty Coooooooooo !!!!!

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  11. Send the dry wipes to the last 4 above..now they can't
    run this town anymore for the former mayor! AND,they just can't handle it! Boo Hoo! We don't need those underhand
    tatics that took this town down. You dragged Mayor Maturo and Chief Gallo thru YOUR mud when neither one deserved it! Your personal vendetta is yours..it did not and does not belong to the town! In the words of some people...
    GET OVER IT!

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