oakland (5)
San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr speaks to members of the media
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SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr on Friday announced the conclusion of an Internal Affairs investigation into racist and homophobic text messages sent by officers.
Suhr said at least one police sergeant and a captain were involved. "It just makes me sick to even talk about it," said Suhr. "Certainly to have a member as high ranking as a captain was particularly disheartening."
The texts surfaced a couple of weeks ago after former officer Ian Furminger was sentenced on federal corruption charges.
Former officer Ian Furminger
Fourteen officers in all were the subject of an internal investigation. Suhr says eight - including the captain - sent messages sickening enough to warrant immediate suspension and eventual termination.
Michael Robison - a gay police officer and 23 year veteran - resigned over the texts he shared with Furminger.
On Friday, Officer Michael Celis, a 16 year veteran of the force, announced he'd step down as well - a move that may help the officers keep their pensions.
"Those [texts] don't represent his views, they don't represent how he approached his work and his life," said San Francisco attorney Tony Brass, who represents Celis and Robison. "But he understands that the texts are incompatible with continuing his work as a San Francisco police officer."
In a statement, San Francisco Police Officers Association President Martin Halloran said, "These officers need to be afforded their due process... If these allegations are proven to be true... there is no place for this type of behavior within the San Francisco Police Officers Association or the SFPD."
The officers will go before the Police Commission, which will have the final say on whether to terminate them or mete out another form of discipline.
Critics on Friday called for reform in the department. "We have to vet officers," said San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi, "so we don't have officers who hold racist views that are going to endanger not only themselves but the public, and also provide training on unconscious bias."
Suhr said the department recently restored a racial profiling class that had lost funding and plans to examine officers' backgrounds for warning signs.
"You have to assume that there could be more," said Suhr. "So we're going to look at their personal history questionnaires to see if there's some commonality that we hired somebody that we should've known that we shouldn't have hired."
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Free-agent quarterback JaMarcus Russell told ESPN's Colleen Dominguez that he tested positive for codeine after the Raiders selected him with the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft.
"I missed all of training camp, so I didn't get tested when all the other guys got tested," Russell told Dominguez during an "Outside The Lines" interview, the entirety of which can be seen at 9 a.m. ET Aug. 22. "I had a prescription from a doctor, but it wasn't the team doctor."
Russell also said he has used codeine without a prescription, but scoffed at reports that he had a drug problem.
Russell said the allegations of drug use stem from that positive test, and said he has not used codeine in three years.
When asked about Russell's positive test, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said, "No comment."
The former LSU star -- who had missed the 2007 training camp because of a lengthy contract holdout that stretched to the start of the regular season -- said the Raiders came to him and asked him about his possible drug use early in his career.
"Around the time when I first got there or a year after I got there," Russell said, when asked when the Raiders confronted him. "[They] said they were gettin' word in the streets about me using drugs. Then, one of the doctors came to me."
The Raiders released Russell in May, and he was arrested in July for alleged possession of codeine.
Two days after his arrest, the Raiders released a statement saying they "did all they could to intervene and assist with a myriad of issues with JaMarcus Russell."
When Dominguez read the statement to Russell during the interview, he seemed startled and told Dominguez the Raiders' words caught him off-guard. Russell said he had never seen or heard the statement before.
Russell, who was just 7-18 in his three-year career with Oakland, also criticized Raiders coach Tom Cable for blaming him for the team's failure to make the playoffs.
"It kind of took a lot out of me for the respect of Tom Cable," Russell said. "I could have been the worst in the universe. To go on national television and say it was all my fault. ... He's the head coach. I don't think that was very head coach-like, or man-like."
On Wednesday, District Judge Charles McKnight questioned the credibility of the testimony given by Marcus Stevenson, a longtime Russell friend who said he made the codeine-laced drink found in a July 5 raid at Russell's home. Stevenson testified Wednesday that the drink belonged to him, but the judge sent the case to a grand jury.
Mobile County (Ala.) Sheriff's Deputy Johnny Thornton testified the orange-colored drink in Russell's bedroom appeared freshly poured. Investigators said Russell, who was in the bedroom, told them it was his Kool-Aid. Thornton said it later tested positive for codeine.
Thornton also said there were nine people in the house and a codeine bottle without a prescription was found in a cabinet.
Russell's attorney, Donald Briskman, said in an interview with The Associated Press after the hearing that the codeine bottle was in a cabinet at a distance from Russell's bedroom. He said Stevenson told an officer at the home that it belonged to him, not Russell, but authorities took no action against Stevenson.
"They didn't arrest him at the scene. They targeted JaMarcus. ... He should have been discharged today," Briskman said.
Stevenson testified at the hearing that he mixed the drink and didn't make it for Russell. After the hearing, Stevenson was handcuffed and charged with possession of a controlled substance. He was released on bond.
Stevenson's attorney, Greg Evans, raised objections to the questioning of his client, citing his rights against self-incrimination. He later said Stevenson "was sworn to tell the truth and that is what he did."
It could be months before the grand jury decides whether the evidence warrants an indictment.
Source: ESPN
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Some people just don't know when to stop and walk away.
A group of females start scrapping in a parking lot. Well, really it's a bunch of h*es including a pregnant one.
None of them have any shame as they go at it, the pregnant gets kicked in the stomach, just wildness.
As one fight ends another one starts brewing as the pregnant chick refuses to just STFU. She keeps talking trash to one of the chicks until her man/pimp gets involved.
The dude and his group of females jump the pregnant chick, kicking, hair pulling and punching her in the face.
Damn....just..........damn
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LOS ANGELES — For 18 months, former Bay area transit officer Johannes Mehserle maintained a public silence about what led him to shoot unarmed Oscar Grant as he lay face down on an Oakland train platform.
More answers may come on Friday when Mehserle resumes testifying at his murder trial in a Los Angeles courtroom. His testimony marks the first time he's spoken publicly about the shooting early New Year's day 2009.
Mehserle, who is white, has pleaded not guilty to the 22-year-old black man. The trial was moved from Alameda County because of intense media coverage and racial tensions.
Friends and family of Oscar Grant
In a surprise move Thursday, Mehserle took the stand and told jurors that training he received didn't emphasize the possibility of mistaking his stun gun with his handgun.
But that's what his lawyer claims happened when Mehserle pulled out his .40-caliber handgun and shot Grant.
On questioning by defense lawyer Michael Rains, the brawny, 6-foot-4 Mehserle said he received Taser training in December 2008 and had only pulled it out once while on duty in the month before the shooting.
He said his former employer didn't put much weight on possible "confusion issues" where officers should place the Taser holster, only that the weapon wasn't to be put under their issued handgun.
"They left it up to us to figure it out," said Mehserle, who spoke in a calm, soft voice. "For me it wasn't that big of a deal."
Prosecutors say Mehserle intended to shoot Grant, and that Mehserle used his handgun because officers were losing control of the situation. Mehserle wore his stun gun on the front left side the night of the shooting, while his handgun was mounted on his right hip.
The trial adjourned late Thursday before Mehserle could give details about the shooting.
Former Bart cop Johannes Mehserle talking to his lawyer
Legal experts say while defendants in criminal trials rarely take the stand, his testimony could be compelling for jurors.
"They are going to want to get a sense of is he a good person, a thoughtful person," said Dr. Philip Anthony, a Los Angeles psychologist who is chief executive of the jury consulting firm DecisionQuest. "Most importantly, they want to hear what was running through his mind, his thought process when he fired that fatal shot."
On the stand, Mehserle did say when he arrived with his partner to the train station in response to a possible fight, that he could hear yelling and screaming from the platform above.
"I remember it being real loud," Mehserle said. "I didn't know if officers were involved in the fight or the crowd had turned on them. It didn't sound good."
He added he intercepted a few men who he said were approaching two fellow officers that had detained Grant and several friends against a concrete wall. He said the men, who turned out to be more of Grant's friends, were taunting the BART officers.
"I just instructed them to get back," Mehserle said.
He said he eventually looked at Grant and Jackie Bryson, who appeared to be upset. The other two officers, Tony Pirone and Marysol Domenici, had pulled their stun guns out and given the situation, Mehserle said he decided to do the same. Before Grant was shot, he snapped a photo of Mehserle pointing his Taser stun gun in his direction.
Mehserle said he wasn't sure what had transpired but tried to cool down Grant and Bryson.
"They were yelling '(expletive) that officer,' 'I'm going to sue,'" Mehserle recalled the two men saying of Pirone, who was described by some onlookers as the most aggressive and hostile toward Grant and his friends.
The shooting, and the events leading up to it, were captured on video by several bystanders.
Grant's uncle, Cephus "Bobby" Johnson said he believes Mehserle will try using his testimony to differentiate himself from Pirone.
"Now all of the sudden he's this huggable, passive, non-aggressive person who really believes in communication instead of exerting authority," Johnson said. "I'm not buying that."
Associated Press Writer Terry Collins contributed to this report.
Wanda Johnson, (R) hugs friend during demonstration outside Bart Station In Oakland
Unseen Footage Of Oscar Grant Killing
BART Cop Johannes Mehserle Takes Stand In Murder Trial
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