Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

A Heartwarming Story of Crooked, Violent Cops and the Strangely Unnecessary Perjury that Got Them Off Charges for Burning and Beating a Frequent Felon

Posted on January 20, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

Federal prosecutors abruptly drop beating charges against 4 Miami cops “Four Miami police officers charged with beating a career criminal were set free Tuesday morning after federal prosecutors admitted the foundation of their case was constructed on perjury concocted by the criminal and his family.”

On its face this sounds like the Miami version of a 'man bites dog' story, with a dash of Perry Mason. With the extra added dollop that this is a re-trial of a long-running case.

Not only does it appear that the cops were telling the truth and the accused beating victim committed perjury, but the truth came out in a made-for-TV moment,

Former officers Aguero and Jorge Castello and suspended cops Jorge ''Termite'' Garcia and Wilfredo Perez were charged with beating, kicking and burning Anazco after he had been picked up.

Tuesday's shocking development started falling into place late Friday when federal prosecutors Curtis Miner and Jacqueline Becerra called Hialeah brake shop manager Armando Rodriguez to the stand.

Rodriguez did not testify at the 2002 trial, but his testimony was key to the prosecution in the retrial. On Friday, Rodriguez said he ordered parts to repair Anazco's Supra — corroborating Anazco's contention that the cops had beaten the wrong man because his car was in the shop when the rock was tossed.

But defense attorneys, led by Castello's attorney, Richard Sharpstein, quickly ripped apart Rodriguez's story.

Over the weekend, Miner said Rodriguez confessed that he fabricated the receipt showing that he ordered parts for the Supra and that he was asked to lie ''by others'' whom Miner did not name.

Rodriguez, who initially testified that he did not know Anazco before he came to his shop, later admitted he had known the career criminal at least 12 years and had even employed his uncle.

On Friday, Sharpstein confronted Rodriguez with forms Rodriguez and his wife signed in September 2001 to visit Anazco in a state prison. On the forms, Rodriguez said he was ''friends'' with Anazco.

During Friday's cross-examination by Sharpstein, Rodriguez admitted that Anazco's father, Asbert, had asked him to visit his son.

''This isn't hyperbole,'' Sharpstein said Tuesday. “In my 28 years as an attorney, I've never had a guy admit on the stand that he committed perjury. It just doesn't happen.''

I would like to write a heartwarming story about honest cops and the truth will out. But wait a minute. This is Miami we're talking about. It's not nearly that simple. For one thing, the victim's account of how he sustained his injuries was partly corroborated by two independent witnesses—both police officers.

Continue reading →

Posted in Law: Criminal Law | 1 Comment

Ed Hasbrouck on TSA’s Latest Idiocy

Posted on January 20, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

I very rarely quote entire entries from other blogs for copyright reasons, and because I think if folks write it, let them enjoy the traffic. But I’m making an exception here because it’s a tale of the sort of petty stupidity and tone-deafness to justice that just makes my blood boil (and because I know Ed Hasbrouck will forgive me…). So everything below the line is by him, not me.

The Practical Nomad blog: How the USA honors the memory of M.L.K., Jr.: It’s a national holiday today in the USA in honor of the birth anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

So what stirring story of the progress of American freedom and racial tolerance do I wake up to?

Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Liberties, Politics: International | Comments Off on Ed Hasbrouck on TSA’s Latest Idiocy

Matthew Yglesias Does Counterfactual History

Posted on January 20, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

Matthew Yglesias exercises his counterfactual imagination, and it's a doozy in which he speculates about

what if Nixon had won in 1960 and had to deal with the pressures of the Civil Rights movement. At the time, the allegiances of African-American voters were roughly split. The GOP in the aggregate was more supportive of civil rights than were the Democrats, but the leading civil rights advocates in the government were northern liberal Democrats. There's a fair chance that the circumstances would have forced Nixon to become a civil rights champion (as they forced Kennedy and LBJ), no Goldwater campaign, and no southern re-alignment. You might have seen northern liberals move into the GOP which then would have become something like a European liberal party dominated by Olympia Snowe types while the Democrats became a vehicle for white class politics.

On auspicious occassions African-American Republican politicians would speak proudly of their membership in “the party of Lincoln, the party of Nixon.”

I think it must help to have been too young to be a Watergate Wallower (like I was) to come up with something so…weird and transgressive.

Posted in Politics: US | 1 Comment

Florida Taliban (4) — Rev. Dozier on the Glories of Dozier, Jeb Bush, and the Republican Party

Posted on January 20, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

Looks like Rev. O'Neal Dozier knows what to say to keep Jeb Bush sweet: praise him to the skies and preach Republicanism from the pulpit. Here's Dozier speaking on the occasion of Martin Luther King Day a year ago:

The Rev. O'Neal Dozier, senior pastor and founder of The Worldwide Christian Center, went so far as to call [Jeb] Bush “the greatest governor ever.”

(Sun-Sentinel, January 21, 2003, Pride on Display; S. Florida Events Honor the Dream and Legacy of the Civil Rights Leader.)

Consider Black S. Florida Preachers Carry on Fight Against Injustice , a story in the Sun-Sentinal—which until now I always thought of as a decent newspaper. This news story (that's right, news, not editorial) printed a couple of days ago paints a glorious picture of Rev. O'Neal Dozier. It begins,

The Rev. O'Neal Dozier lives the message of Martin Luther King Jr. every day. As pastor of the Worldwide Christian Center in Pompano Beach, he uplifts the downtrodden by feeding them and paying their rent. In his sermons he preaches the importance of character. His leadership has transcended the pulpit to politics.

Somehow this news article never gets around to mentioning that Rev. Dozier might be controversial, or why.

Incidentally, until I read this article, I had no idea that Rev. Dozier was black. Does that mean he gets a free pass on MLK day? Somehow I doubt that King would have approved of Dozier—although that is apparently not Dozier's view, as he tries to wrap himself our secular saint's mantle:

“King didn't separate himself from the white establishment,” Dozier pointed out.

Neither does Dozier. A member of one of the state's Judicial Nominating Commissions, which screen and recommend judges, Dozier is active in the Republican Party and served as host to Gov. Bush at his church last King Day.

“We're not going to make advances for black people by slam-dunking [Republicans],” Dozier said. “We need to take a lesson from Dr. King. He had a peaceful approach.”

But even Dozier acknowledges that racism has not gone away. He thinks black people have not helped their cause much because whites perceive blacks as having lost the moral character they had during 1960s protests.

“If King were alive today, he would still be an activist,” said Dozier. “He would be an advocate for black people looking at character.”

Dozier worries that the younger generation needs to strengthen its character for the black community to achieve King's dream.

“Have you listened to the music? It's horrible. The way we dress with our pants down. The way we wear our hair makes us look like demons,” he asserted.

“How can you pierce the upper-crust establishment, where the money and political people are?” Dozier asked. “We can't unless we change our character.”

The article does, however, include a handsome photo of Rev. Dozier.

A little spell on Lexis suggests that Dozier was also active in the 'Ten Commandments' movement, speaking to support (now-former) Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore. Dozier has also been a prominent supporter of the FCAT, the standardized test relied on by the Florida school system, disagreeing with those who claim that the test is racially biased.

There are also some hair-raising interviews in which Dozier makes clear that he does not separate church and state. Rather, his vision of church — like the Mullahs in Iran — instructs the faithful as to how to vote, to support the wise and virtuous Republicans.

Continue reading →

Posted in Florida | 1 Comment

Second Take on Caucuses: A Chance to Dominate the Airwaves

Posted on January 19, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

A hotly contested Democratic primary season that stretches to the wire — even to a brokered convention — could be either the best or the worst thing for the Democrats. It's the best thing if a bunch of plausible and photogenic candidates suck up all the media's time and attention bashing Bush; Bush's negatives are already rising fast, and they'll keep on going up as Democrats have the limelight and use it against him. Once a nominee is selected, the press attention will shift elsewhere for a while, and he'll bounce back.

Of course, a hotly contested Democratic primary season that stretches to the wire — even to a brokered convention — could also be a disaster if the candidates spend all the time beating up on each other. And while one can spin Iowa to say that non-negative explains Edwards, it could also be argued that negative is what stopped Dean cold…

Posted in Politics: US | 3 Comments

First Take on the Caucuses: Democratic Party Wins In Iowa

Posted on January 19, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

OK. Looks like Kerry, Edwards (!), Dean, Gep, Other.

Gep will drop out, removing the Democrats' least viable major candidate, as the GOP would not even had to caricature him to call him a protectionist in the pockets of the special interests (unions). I don't have a good sense of the man, who seems generally decent and honorable, so I can't predict if he'll endorse anyone. The sensible thing would be to hold off, but at moments like this personal feelings can swing it.

Kerry and Edwards get a boost to New Hampshire. Kerry can now survive a (small) loss in his back yard. Edwards gets Big Mo and a huge increase in news coverage. Dean is wounded but not fatally. Coming in anything worse than a close second in New Hampshire would be major trauma time.

The biggest loser is the GOP. Not only are they deprived of a great target, but they have to spend more on opposition research for longer as there are so many targets.

The biggest question mark is whether the non-Edwards candidates will decide that Iowa is different from the rest of the USA, or if they will read Edwards's strength as a strong lesson that it does NOT pay to go negative against other Democrats. Here's hoping.

Update: See also my second take.

Posted in Politics: US | 1 Comment