Here's an example of where the guy worked his way into a worse situation BUT should have never been approached by the officers in the first place. Empty train. Guy sleeping. Police decide to write him a ticket. Come on.

 

Watch NYPD Violently Arrest Man for Napping in Near-Empty Subway Car | Mediaite

***

 

 

 

Details on what happened yesterday:

 

 

1. Stewart Ferrin, the arresting officer, is the son of a former Tempe Homicide Detective. As you'd imagine, his father probably had some pull. That's why it's somewhat odd that there was a very quick investigation that found and reported no wrongdoing, but, in contrast to other high profile cases, was not passed up the chain of command to the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s Special Investigations Unit as it usually would have been, but was investigated at a more local level.

 

Don't believe me? Here are the words of an ex-Arizona Police Officer:

 

"It would’ve been nice had the ASUPD handled the matter appropriately and completely from the beginning and not wait until the national media took charge of the process. An investigation into allegations of abuse by a police officer needs to be done right the first time. Considering the potential for the case involving Ore to become high profile, an outside investigation of the allegations of abuse should’ve been examined by the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s Special Investigations Unit that routinely conducts internal investigations for police agencies statewide, and not the officer’s co-workers and supervisors.

 

Take that for what you will.

 

 

 

2. Because of what's happened already, Arizona State University has agreed to have the FBI independently investigate the incident for any Civil Rights violations (those things that I said were probably going to be an issue the whole time, but what do I know, because I was told more than once that no Civil Rights violations had occurred, but hey, I'm not a DA with a good grip on it either).

 

Considering that at the preliminary hearing, the arresting officer was not present because he's placed on administrative leave, and that the FBI will probably be conducting an actual investigation into the matter that already should have been performed by the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s Special Investigations Unit, but was for whatever reason not passed onto them, then I think it's safe to say the Defense had a solid day.

 

 

 

3. Finally, the probable cause for the stop, namely, that Ms. Ore was "walking in the middle of the road/almost struck" wasn't a part of the details/report that the police had released with the first reports, and only really surfaced later after some controversy started to swirl. That's a huge problem for the Constitutionality of the stop. That might come up during an FBI inquiry, but lets not get ahead of ourselves because those have not even been put into issue yet. Add to that the fact that we've still not even seen the full video of the dashcam where the "stop" was made, or heard the witness who called 911 on the stand, and... I think we get the picture.

Edited July 4, 201412 yr by JokersWild24

...

Edited July 4, 201412 yr by Jumper_Dad
never mind

I might be a smug condescending butthole that made a lot of people who I really respect mad at some point in this argument, but hell if I didn't see this bloodbath coming a mile away. When I said he probably overfilled by trying to stick her with a felony and would have been better off letting it go even if he felt he was right, I might have had a clue what I was talking about after all.

Don't pat yourself on the back too hard yet. There's still hope that justice will rightfully be served against the entitled professor.

Don't pat yourself on the back too hard yet. There's still hope that justice will rightfully be served against the entitled professor.

 

 

And if the FBI investigation that appears to be coming finds the officer did nothing wrong, then I'll fully support him. I just think it's fair that it's looked at by someone who doesn't work directly with him and his stepmom. I think a lot of this could have been avoided if, as suggested by the former officer who I'd quoted, that it'd have been passed up to the chain to the Special Investigative Unit that normally does that.

 

I'm not advocating anyone kicking police officers, and I don't think the FBI is either. The whole situation leading up to the stop is what seems fishy to me. If they end up finding things occurred that shouldn't have and they are serious enough, he may be facing charges himself.

 

Still some time left, of course. I don't think the prosecution's case is off to a hot start though.

And if the FBI investigation that appears to be coming finds the officer did nothing wrong, then I'll fully support him. I just think it's fair that it's looked at by someone who doesn't work directly with him and his stepmom. I think a lot of this could have been avoided if, as suggested by the former officer who I'd quoted, that it'd have been passed up to the chain to the Special Investigative Unit that normally does that.

 

I'm not advocating anyone kicking police officers, and I don't think the FBI is either. The whole situation leading up to the stop is what seems fishy to me. If they end up finding things occurred that shouldn't have and they are serious enough, he may be facing charges himself.

 

Still some time left, of course. I don't think the prosecution's case is off to a hot start though.

 

My opinion is that they didn't see anything remotely wrong so they didn't think it was necessary to ask anyone else to investigate. Now they're doing it to cover their own butts. Unless there's something crazy we don't know about, it doesn't appear he did anything wrong at all.

There is zero reason for the FBI to be involved. If they want to file a civil suit it is their right. But the FBI has more important things to do.

There is zero reason for the FBI to be involved. If they want to file a civil suit it is their right. But the FBI has more important things to do.

 

No disagreement with me on that one.

 

It's something that ASU has agreed to requests for most likely because their were so many questions about how quickly the initial statements from them came, who conducted the initial investigations, and now how they've started to reverse course.

 

Also, apologies if my initial post was unclear, because there's no word as to wether or not the FBI actually ends up conducting the investigation or not.

 

Just my guess, but I think that the defense attorney would have been fine with an initial investigation being conducted by an AI Department similar to the one mentioned in the opinion piece written by the ex-Arizona officer that I'd quoted, but it wasn't. Because it wasn't, they basically gave her a card to play where they let her defense team basically do anything short of handpicking the people who'd be doing it once the media circus started.

As long as the FBI is part of the Department of Justice and Eric Holder is our Attorney General, any of its "investigations" will be suspect. That is the cost of politicizing federal agencies to further a particular political agenda. I am sure that nobody is more upset about the hit that the reputation of the FBI has taken under Holder's "leadership" than its career employees.

Yet another controversial case with the ASU police department involving assault of an officer (and it's not the one where the kid who got the President's Scholarship to the school and was lauded for his work and character on ASU's webpage is involved either).

 

Her Judge gave a preliminary ruling against the ASU police force yesterday. Ironically enough, the Judge found that there was no probable cause to ask the girl for her ID, that she didn't have to show it to them, and that a jury could decide whether the girl's charges of assaulting a police officer were actually self defense.

 

 

Here's an excerpt with the full article linked below:

 

When officers approached Maxson, they asked for her identification. She began to take it out, but says she reconsidered, and refused to hand it over.

 

"I told him, 'You have no authority over me,' because I wasn't doing anything illegal," she told 3TV.

 

Police say Maxson became "physically combative," as they tried to remove her from the car.

 

"There wasn't any kicking. There was flailing and movement, but there wasn't any aggressive hitting toward the cop," Maxson recalled.

 

In video recorded by an officer, Maxson is seen screaming, "You cannot do this to me! Under law, you cannot do this!"

 

"I feel the way I wanted to exercise my rights as a human being. I saw what they were doing as unlawful in how they approached me and how they pulled me out of the car," Maxson said.

 

She was arrested, and badly bruised. Some of the bruises on her face and arms are now visible scars. Maxson claims officers were overly aggressive, rough, and pushed her face against the pavement.

 

ASU Police say Maxson was hitting her own head against the asphalt.

 

The officers tied Maxson's wrists and ankles together, and searched her. An officer recorded this part of the altercation, but not the portion in which Maxson sustained her injuries.

 

Judge rules against ASU Police in second controversial arrest case | azfamily.com Phoenix

I just watched the "arrest" video of Faith Moxson. She's literally praying during part of it. Wearing a dress, lying facedown on the pavement with her hands tied (not cuffed or zip tied) behind her back, being searched by a male officer and asking her God to protect her. I see absolutely nothing in her video that should do anything but shock or outrage people.

 

She did nothing wrong, nothing illegal, nor was she suspected of doing anything wrong or illegal. Officer or not, someone can't come up to you and demand that you identify yourself in that situation. Even worse, you can't arrest them when they don't. Unless there's something the Judge and her attorney are missing that the police got right and we aren't being told about it, based what I've seen in the video, this poor girl deserves everything she winds up getting from the officers in the civil suit that it looks like she has a hell of a shot at ending up winning.

 

Heads are really going to start rolling in this whole ASU mess and we've probably not heard the last about a civil suit that's going to be filed. Hopefully the "respect" the officer thought he earned when he unlawfully arrested her, most likely because he didn't like the way she respond to his unlawful request, was worth it to him. It's probably just cost him his job and a lot more.

 

 

I'm of the opinion that if you are someone like Ersula Ore and you go to the media and try to get publicity for your trial, you are playing a very dangerous game. If you go her route, you'd better have a clean nose because if there's something there that can be used against you, it's likely to come out. Following the news reports and just seeing a ton of evidence that looks like it's going to end up killing ASU come out with each passing day, I can definitely see why her attorney went with such a bold move.

 

Believe it or not, lawyers aren't just out looking for any little thing to cost officers their livelihoods and get them fired, and they have to try other cases later in front of the same Judges, against the same departments, officers, etc., so their professional reputation is something that they want to keep in tact. A great way of keeping your reputation up is not filing frivolous claims, and/or to just avoid being "that guy (or that girl)" in general.

Also highly ironic that in the Faith Moxson incident, there's no video of her "banging her own head against the pavement", but there is footage of her being searched.

 

Maybe I'm crazy, but if I'm an officer and I see someone who is banging their own head against the pavement, I'd think that's the part I'm probably going to want to record because I'd be afraid they would try to say that I did it. Instead, we just have other parts filmed.

You would be amazed how many "Jerks" you can come in contact with on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis. 4.0 doesn't mean someones not a jerk.

 

 

Completely agree on the 4.0 and being a jerk. People can be jerks regardless of their GPA. I can be a condescending know-it-all and my GPA would need years of classes to even get back above the 3.5 level.

 

Being a jerk won't help you with police, but it's not really illegal per se either. I don't try to be a jerk in encounters with police. I'm not advocating others doing it either. I think it's somewhat stupid when people do that just for the sake of doing it. All that said, if you want a job where you avoid jerks at all costs, being campus PD probably isn't right for you. Take enough of these incidents, no matter how many times someone could have handled it better and the situation would have played out differently if they had, and after a certain amount of time, people just start seeing the officer/department as the common denominator.

 

 

Whatever the case may be, I don't think it's a good look when you have Ersula Ore, Jason Heckendorn, and Faith Maxson having some common threads in each of their cases, especially given the media attention this is getting and the Federal investigation breathing down your neck. Officer Ferrin was not the person who arrested Moxson, but it doesn't help him or ASU in terms of there being arguments that start to get into Departmental training, supervision, and review.

 

ASU was reeling at the start of the week, and I don't know how many more stories like Heckendorn’s or preliminary rulings like Moxson’s that they'll be able to withstand before it turns into something that effects the whole unit, regardless of how many "jerks" Ferrin actually ran into or how many of those people would have been much better off just being entirely compliant with commands whether they are legal (Heckendorn), debatable (Ore), or outright illegal (Moxson).

 

 

In this news report, you can see the road that Ms. Ore was on (pictures in post #29). In the interview, Ore's attorney also remarks about how fast the officer could have been traveling on a closed road. Reports indicate that the officers were responding to a call about a stalled vehicle in the area, which you'd have to think is a non-emergency call considering. Ms. Ore had just finished teaching a class, and I'm going to speculate that she probably wasn't the only jaywalker at or around that time, nor was she close to the danger to herself and others that Ferrin is trying to make her out to be in attempt to cover for himself.

 

Things like those news reports that give the whole build up to the kicking incident are what everyone is going to see and hear, and after they see or hear enough of those, they probably aren't going to be in the mood to hear, "well, if she'd have just complied, did what I said, and had acted nice about it all, she wouldn't have been in that position". That's probably not the message ASU wants to come across with at this point in time, regardless of whether or not all three that I've mentioned are completely insufferable and acted like the epitome of a jerk.

 

Unless there's more we don't know or haven't seen, people are going to remember the professor being slammed on a car hood, the pretty girl who scars on her face laying on the pavement praying because she didn't obey an unlawful request and got arrested, or the bio of the President's Scholar from the school's website. Given that, it's a little hard to overcome the prosecution or defense team in the civil suit that follows asking for sympathy by saying, "well, Ms. Ore was technically committing a crime, Ms. Moxson was haughty and defiant in saying 'you have no authority over me', or Mr. Heckendorn appeared belligerent and our officers were in an already volatile situation due to the crowd. If those are the kind of arguments ASU is going to depend on now, they’re probably fighting a battle that’s been lost. If I'm ASU, my focus is now on how much further into damage control mode I plan on going and if there's any way to just stop the bleeding.

Didn't one report say he initially asked her to get out of the street as she was blocking the road and she either ignored him or refused and that led to the rest of this?