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Police Misconduct No Surprise to Protesters 04/03/01 - posted by Susan Phillips - Philly Independent Media Center While Philadelphia Police Commissioner John Timoney faces front page scandals of police misconduct and subsequent cover-ups, protesters facing charges from last August's Convention have successfully raised doubts about police testimony in court. On Thursday, March 15, a jury found 19-year-old, Matthew Berghs innocent of all charges related to his participation in the protests despite surprise testimony by Timoney. A student at Indiana University, Berghs was accused of hitting Philadelphia police officer Thomas Donahue with a seven-foot bamboo pole. However, the prosecution was unable to supply fingerprint evidence to support their claims and relied solely on eyewitness testimony from officer Donahue and Commissioner Timoney. Berghs, a resident of Bloomington, Indiana, was charged with a felony aggravated assault, as well as misdemeanors simple assault, obstruction of justice, and recklessly endangering another person. Assistant Public Defender, Shawn Nolan, revealed during the two-day trial that Matthew Berghs was actually the victim of police brutality on the day of his arrest. Nolan presented the jury with photographs of five-day old bruises and scrapes that showed Berghs had been beaten by police officers. Berghs testified that he was apprehended from behind with an officer's billy club and hit several times about the head, upper body, and legs. He was then thrown to the ground and sustained multiple injuries, some of which he says still afflict him. Both the arresting officer and Commissioner Timoney denied there was police violence during the arrest. "Timoney attempted to cover up police brutality in this case," said Christian Hansen of the R2K Legal Collective, "by discounting Berghs' injuries as minor bruises sustained during a day of chaos and street scuffles." Timoney's testimony did not directly implicate Berghs but claimed he saw Berghs being chased by Donahue. Timoney testified that minutes later he said to Donahue "I saw him. You got the right guy." On cross examination, Donahue admitted he never saw the stick before or after the alleged assault. Waving the pole around during closing arguments, Nolan referred to the instrument of crime as the "magic stick" and stressed the absurdity of its appearance and reappearance during an incident police claim lasted ten seconds. Implying falsified reports, Nolan questioned why Officer Donahue's story changed twice from arrest to the preliminary hearing to the trial. Donahue's original arrest report had Berghs throwing the stick, then swinging the stick and finally it added a punch in the face of Officer Donahue. "I'm really happy with the verdict," said Matthew Berghs. "I'm glad the people of Philadelphia could see through the police officers' lies. Hopefully my case will set a precedent for future RNC felony trials and other juries will be as inclined to see the truth." Berghs' case was the second felony case to come to trial. On Monday, March 12 AIDS activist Kate Sorensen was acquitted of three felonies and found guilty of one misdemeanor. Sorensen was acquitted of felony charges of riot, risking catastrophe and conspiracy and found guilty of one misdemeanor, criminal mischief. Sorensen stated that protests on the day she was arrested had focused on the high rates of incarceration of youth and people of color, the racist death penalty, and decent health care for prisoners. "A whole race of people are being warehoused," said Sorensen after the verdict, "and I'll continue to fight this." Reacting to the verdict, Sorensen asserted, "I'm ready to go back to what I'm supposed to be doing, which is being an AIDS activist." None of the evidence presented by the District Attorney's office linked Sorensen directly to the property damage committed on August 1, 2000. Testimony by the arresting police officer, Detective Albert Ford, revealed that he never saw Sorensen commit property damage nor did he hear what she said into her cell phone. Assistant D.A. David Desidario, however, attempted to prove Sorensen directed that property damage through her cell phone and by pointing her finger. Speaking after the verdict, Desidario claimed that it was the "nature of the case" that finding "someone an accomplice is just as liable" as if they were to be found guilty of committing the crime itself. Originally facing twenty charges and a one million-dollar bail, Sorensen, along with her lawyer Larry Krasner, expressed a mixed reaction. "The prosecutors took a big hit [with this verdict], we've seen a remarkable win record here," said Krasner. "Wins on 19 charges question the basis for guilty" [of criminal mischief]. "She was found guilty of a crime that was not supported by any of the evidence," he said, "and the conviction will easily be thrown out on appeal." Defense attorney Larry Krasner explained that finding Sorensen innocent of conspiracy precludes her conviction on criminal mischief since the prosecution presented no evidence of her direct involvement. "If the police say they didn't see anything, and the jury says not guilty of conspiracy, then how do we get to guilty," he asked. The first felony group trial is scheduled for April 6 in front of Judge Pamela Dembe. The four defendants, originally charged with aggravated assault and conspiracy, are now facing felony riot and misdemeanor disorderly conduct. Bill Beckler, one of the four defendents, volunteered with R2K legal during the Convention. Riding his bike throughout Center City on August 1, Beckler was working to collect names of arrestees. When he came upon his co-defendant Shane Bastien, Beckler says "the cops grabbed me, beat me and arrested me." Beckler spent 6 days in jail and was hit with a $60,000 bail. "Every single felony case has one thing in common," Beckler added, "a person was grabbed for doing nothing. So the cases [the police] screwed up the most, were the ones [where] they had to go on the offensive." "Neither Timoney nor the D.A. has shown they will crack down on blatant, established misconduct," said Beckler. A recent graduate of Colombia Law School, Beckler passed the New York bar exam and plans to move to Philadelphia to take the Pennsylvania bar and work at the Philadelphia public defender's office. "Philadelphia got more than they bargained for by arresting me," he said. In the face of its recent losing streak, the District Attorney's office has appealed the dismissal of charges against five School of the Americas Watch defendants facing misdemeanor charges. The School of the Americas Watch blocked traffic on July 31, 2000 while staging a mock atrocity illustrating the bloodshed committed by Latin American soldiers trained at the school in Ft. Benning, GA. They were each charged with blocking a highway and conspiracy. On October 30, 2000 Judge James De Leon ruled to dismiss the charges based on a motion of selective prosecution. The defense argued that a rally in support of the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal which occurred August 1, 2000 in South Philadelphia, blocked traffic for four hours and police arrested no one. The police "treated people differently based on the content of their speech," said Assistant Public Defender Shawn Nolan, "this clearly violates the first amendment." In other cases stemming from R2K, four defendants appealed their summary convictions of disorderly conduct and obstructing the highway on March 26 and await a ruling. Eighteen defendants found guilty of misdemeanors are appealing their convictions and three felony defendants still await trial for an incident alleging assault on Police Commissioner Timoney. |
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