New Orleans Police Beating Caught on Tape

**Nia Imani** · 10-09-2005

New Orleans Police Beating Caught on Tape

By Mary Foster, Associated Press Writer

New Orleans- Two New Orleans police officers repeatedly punched a 64-year-old man accused of public intoxication, and another city officer assaulted an Associated Press Television News producer as a cameraman taped the confrontations.

There will be a criminal investigation, and the three officers were to be suspended, arrested and charged with simple battery Sunday, Capt. Marlon Defillo said.

"We have great concern with what we saw this morning," Defillo said after he and about a dozen other high-ranking police department officials watched the APTN footage Sunday. "It's a troubling tape, no doubt about it. ... This department will take immediate action."

The assaults come as the department, long plagued by allegations of brutality and corruption, struggles with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the resignation last month of Police Superintendent Eddie Compass.

The APTN tape shows an officer hitting the man at least four times in the head Saturday night as he stood outside a bar near Bourbon Street. The suspect, Robert Davis, appeared to resist, twisting and flailing as he was dragged to the ground by four officers. Another of the four officers then kneed Davis and punched him twice. Davis was face-down on the sidewalk with blood streaming down his arm and into the gutter.

Meanwhile, a fifth officer ordered APTN producer Rich Matthews and the cameraman to stop recording. When Matthews held up his credentials and explained he was working, the officer grabbed the producer, leaned him backward over a car, jabbed him in the stomach and unleashed a profanity-laced tirade.

"I've been here for six weeks trying to keep ... alive. ... Go home!" shouted the officer, who later identified himself as S.M. Smith.

Police said Davis, 64, of New Orleans, was booked on public intoxication, resisting arrest, battery on a police officer and public intimidation. He was treated at a hospital and released into police custody.

A mug shot of Davis, provided by a jailer, showed him with his right eye swollen shut, an apparent abrasion on the left side of his neck and a cut on his right temple.

"The incidents taped by our cameraman are extremely troubling," said Mike Silverman, AP's managing editor. "We are heartened that the police department is taking them seriously and promising a thorough investigation."

Davis, who is black, was subdued at the intersection of Conti and Bourbon streets. Three of the officers appeared to be white, and the other is light skinned. The officer who hit Matthews is white. Defillo said race was not an issue.

Three of the five officers — including Smith — are New Orleans officers, and two others appeared to be federal officers. Numerous agencies have sent police to help with patrols in the aftermath of Katrina.

Under normal circumstances, it takes unusually offensive behavior to trigger an arrest on Bourbon Street. But New Orleans police have been working under stressful conditions since the hurricane.

Officers slept in their cars and worked 24-hour shifts after the storm. Three-quarters lost their homes and their families are scattered across the country.

"Our police officers are working under some very trying times," Defillo said. "So it's a difficult time, but it doesn't excuse what our jobs are supposed to be."

Many officers deserted their posts in the days after Katrina, and some were accused of joining in the looting that broke out. At least two committed suicide.

Conditions have improved — officers now have beds on a cruise ship — but they don't have private rooms and are still working five, 12-hour days.

Compass, the police superintendent, resigned Sept. 27. Despite more than 10 years of reform efforts dating to before he took office, police were dogged by allegations of brutality and corruption.

On Friday, state authorities said they were investigating allegations that New Orleans police broke into a dealership and made off with nearly 200 cars — including 41 new Cadillacs — as the storm closed in.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051009/..._taped_beating

**Draptomania** · 10-10-2005

Three Police Officers Arrested in New Orleans Beating
Man Punched, TV Producer Pushed in Incident Caught on Videotape
By MARY FOSTER, AP

NEW ORLEANS (Oct. 10) - Three New Orleans police officers are facing battery charges after investigators reviewed a videotape showing two patrolmen repeatedly punching a 64-year-old man accused of public intoxication and a third officer assaulting an Associated Press Television News producer who helped capture the arrest on tape.

After being questioned and arrested, the three officers were suspended without pay Sunday, police spokesman Marlon Defillo said. The police promised a criminal investigation.

"It's a troubling tape, no doubt about it," Defillo said.

The assaults come as the department - long plagued by allegations of brutality and corruption - struggles with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the resignation last month of Police Superintendent Eddie Compass.

The APTN tape shows an officer hitting the suspect, Robert Davis, at least four times in the head Saturday night outside a French Quarter bar. Davis appeared to resist, twisting and flailing as he was dragged to the ground by four officers.

:blackicon

**Nia Imani** · 10-10-2005

Cloud hovers over New Orleans police after beating

By Paul Simao

New Orleans (Reuters) - Three New Orleans police officers pleaded not guilty on Monday to beating up a 64-year-old man and roughing up a journalist in another blow to a department already under fire for its performance in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Two officers, identified as Lance Schilling and Robert Evangelist, were charged with battery in connection with the arrest of Robert Davis on Saturday outside a bar in the Mardi Gras capital's historic French Quarter.

Officer S.M. Smith was accused of roughing up a producer for Associated Press Television News.

A video shot by APTN showed an officer punching Davis in the head several times as he apparently resisted and a group of officers subsequently dragging Davis to the ground.

The tape showed Davis being punched again and bleeding on the sidewalk. An officer identified as Smith then approached the APTN producer and ordered an end to the filming, jabbing him in the stomach when he presented media credentials.

Davis was arrested for public intoxication, resisting arrest and other charges following the encounter. Schilling, Evangelist and Smith were arrested the following day and suspended without pay. They were released on Monday on bail.

"I think it was awful," Mayor Ray Nagin said after a meeting with civic and political leaders. "I was surprised that it happened frankly. I don't know what the gentleman (Davis) did but whatever he did, he did not ... deserve what I saw on tape ... That kind of behavior is not going to be tolerated."

Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson called the incident a "Rodney King-style experience," a reference to the infamous 1992 videotaped beating of the black motorist by four white police officers in Los Angeles.

"There's no excuse for it all and they should be dealt with immediately," said Jackson, who is leading a bus caravan of New Orleans residents back to the city on Tuesday. Jackson has accused officials of neglecting the needs of poor evacuees.

Some police officers have even been accused of joining in the looting sparked by Katrina and at least two officers killed themselves in the aftermath of the hurricane. The city's police chief resigned last month.

Louisiana officials announced last week that they were investigating reports that officers had turned to thievery as the hurricane approached, including looting nearly 200 cars from a dealership.

While not excusing the actions of the three officers, city officials noted police had been working for more than six weeks in exceedingly difficult conditions. Many officers lost loved ones to Katrina or were displaced from their homes. Until recently, some were sleeping in their cars, tents or makeshift shelters.

"It is a department under a great deal of stress," Terry Ebbert, chief of New Orleans emergency operations, said after the meeting with political and civic leaders. "I know you see some of those feelings coming out in how they act out."

But to others, the Davis case fits a long-standing pattern of police brutality and misconduct in a city with a reputation for turning a blind eye to corruption.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051010/...4yBHNlYwNmYw--

**AfroNinpo** · 10-12-2005

BROTHER DAVIS TELLS HIS STORY

DAVIS VIDEO

**Nia Imani** · 10-12-2005

Big Easy Cops Deny Using Excessive Force

By Ross Sneyd, Associated Press Writer

New Orleans - A police union official and a lawyer for officers accused in the beating of a retired teacher on Wednesday sharply disputed the man's contention he was brutalized during his arrest, which was captured on video.

Attorney Frank DeSalvo said the video shows a truncated version of the Saturday night arrest and he disputed details the video appears to have captured, including whether the 64-year-old suspect was punched in the face.

"I see an incident of a man trying to be brought under control who doesn't want to be brought under control," DeSalvo said.

The man who was beaten, Robert Davis, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of public intoxication, resisting arrest, battery on a police officer and public intimidation.

Davis has described himself as a recovering substance abuser who has not had a drink in 25 years. His lawyer asked prosecutors to dismiss charges, but his trial was set for Jan. 18.

The two city officers accused in the beating, and a third accused of grabbing and shoving an Associated Press Television News producer, are due to go on trial on battery charges a week before Davis' trial.

Davis' lawyer, Joseph Bruno, said an APTN videotape of the confrontation shows his client being brutalized by police for no reason. After the arraignment, however, leaders of the city's police union offered their own interpretations.

Police union officials described Davis as so intoxicated that he staggered down the street, stumbled into a police horse and became belligerent when officers intervened.

DeSalvo said police union officials had "broken the thing down frame by frame" and saw officers trying to bring under control an angry man. "He brought it on by his actions," DeSalvo said.

No tests for intoxication were administered following the arrest. In such cases, judges typically rely on officers' observations, said police spokesman Marlon Defillo.

The officers involved in the incident — Lance Schilling, Robert Evangelist and S.M. Smith — did not speak during the news conference. DeSalvo said Schilling and Evangelist hit Davis' shoulders, and he denied the arrest was as violent as has been portrayed.

"He clearly was not hit in the face," DeSalvo said.

DeSalvo also disputed Davis' lawyer's contention that Davis suffered fractures to his cheek and eye socket. DeSalvo said the injuries were scrapes caused when he was placed face down on the pavement.

The three officers have been suspended without pay. Lt. David Benelli, president of the police union, said the suspensions would be appealed, although that's been delayed by a city government stalled in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Davis did not speak to reporters after his arraignment. He has said he approached a mounted police officer to ask about the city's curfew while searching for cigarettes on Bourbon Street and a confrontation ensued with another officer.

DeSalvo also claimed that APTN producer Rich Matthews grabbed Smith and spun him around before the officer responded by pushing the producer away from the arrest.

The video shows that when Matthews held up his media credentials, the officer shoved him backward over a car, jabbed him in the stomach and unleashed a profanity-laced tirade.

Matthews, who was not charged, disputed DeSalvo's account and said he never touched the officer.

A Department of Homeland Security official, meanwhile, said the agency would look into allegations by two hurricane relief volunteers who accuse federal officials of mistreating them after they saw Davis being beaten.

University of South Florida student Calvin Briles, 21, said that when law enforcement tried to clear bystanders from the area, he said, "I want to tell somebody about this."

Briles told the Bradenton Herald a man wearing a U.S. Customs vest then grabbed him, threw him against a car, pressed his head against the hood and told him, "It's none of your business."

Fellow USF student Mike Monaghan, 22, told the paper he was handled roughly after he tried to pick up a cell phone Briles dropped in the confrontation and a police horse nudged his head. An unidentified official grabbed him from behind and asked him why he hit the horse, he said.

Both men were handcuffed but neither was charged, although Briles said officials read him a handful of charges before eventually letting him go.

"We felt violated," Briles said.

Wade Thompson, the students' lawyer, said when contacted by the AP that his clients had no additional comment.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Marc Raimondi said Wednesday that the Homeland Security Department's inspector general would look into the complaint.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051013/...kxBHNlYwN0bQ--

**Nia Imani** · 10-13-2005

New York- The Associated Press on Thursday released the full video of police officers beating a retired teacher as they tried to arrest him on New Orleans' Bourbon Street.

On Sunday, the news agency had released an edited version of the video, shot by an AP Television News crew the night before.

"Viewer interest in these images has been enormous, so we are putting out the entire video," said AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll. "Many times people like to see more information, which is why we post documents, transcripts and other amplifying material to our Web customers."

The full version of the video runs just over five minutes, about one minute more than the edited version. The additional minute mostly shows the street scene and the officers continuing to struggle with 64-year-old Robert Davis.

Davis pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of public intoxication, resisting arrest, battery on a police officer and public intimidation.

The three patrolmen involved in the beating — Lance Schilling, Robert Evangelist and S.M. Smith — were arrested late Sunday and charged with battery.

Their attorney, Frank DeSalvo, contends the video of the Bourbon Street confrontation doesn't tell the whole story. Police union officials described Davis as so intoxicated that he staggered down the street, stumbled into a police horse and became belligerent when officers intervened.

Davis told reporters that he hasn't had a drink in 25 years.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/new_orlea...kxBHNlYwN0bQ--