SmarterthanYou
rebel
http://blog.simplejustice.us/2012/08/24/justice-rafaele-inching-closer-to-reality.aspx
earlier this year, judge Thomas D. Raffaele's throat met the hand of a police officer on the street in Queens. Raffaele, a 69-year-old justice of the New York State Supreme Court, encountered a chaotic scene while walking down a Queens street with a friend: Two uniformed police officers stood over a shirtless man lying facedown on the pavement. The man’s hands were cuffed behind his back and he was screaming. A crowd jeered at the officers. When they first came upon the crowd, the judge said, he was immediately concerned for the officers and called 911. After he made the call, he said, he saw that one of the officers — the one who he said later attacked him — was repeatedly dropping his knee into the handcuffed man’s back. But within minutes, he said, one of the two officers became enraged — and the judge became his target. The officer screamed and cursed at the onlookers, some of whom were complaining about what they said was his violent treatment of the suspect, and then he focused on Justice Raffaele, who was wearing a T-shirt and jeans. The judge said the officer rushed forward and, using the upper edge of his hand, delivered a sharp blow to the judge’s throat that was like what he learned when he was trained in hand-to-hand combat in the Army.
Justice Raffaele said that after the officer struck him and he regained his composure, he asked another officer who was in charge and was directed to a sergeant, who, like the officer who hit him, was from the 115th Precinct. He told the sergeant that he wanted to make a complaint.
The sergeant, he said, stepped away and spoke briefly with some other officers — several of whom the judge said had witnessed their colleague strike him — and returned to tell the judge that none of them knew whom he was talking about. As the sergeant spoke to the other officers, the judge said, the officer who hit him was walking away.
After realizing that his status as a judge was not going to correct the actions of an abusive cop, the judge found himself in a position that most of the population finds themselves in when faced with misconduct by police.....he had to file a formal complaint.
After a brief 'investigation', it was declared by the Queens district attorney that he would not be filing charges against the cop.
after this 'shocking' announcement that the judge was not going to see justice done, he was forced take his case to the public. at least being a judge granted him a bit more status than some normal citizen.
http://www.newyorklawjournal.com/PubArticleNY.jsp?id=1202568440130&thepage=1&slreturn=20120724064545
A state judge who says he was assaulted by a police officer is accusing the Queens district attorney of orchestrating a cover-up after the prosecutor announced yesterday he will not file criminal charges against the officer who allegedly hit the judge and assaulted a homeless man.
"Everything they say is a lie," Queens Supreme Court Justice Thomas Raffaele said in response to District Attorney Richard Brown's press release.
Brown's statement said that an investigation indicated that the homeless defendant, Charles Menninger, 47, was attempting to strike two police officers with a metal pipe and was appropriately restrained. He also suggested that Raffaele, who happened on the scene while walking through his neighborhood late one night, encroached on police.
But Raffaele said yesterday that the press release is full of falsehoods, and maintained it was the police officer, not Menninger, who was violently "out-of-control."
Brown also said he could not prove that the officer who allegedly hit Raffaele with a karate-like chop to the throat "unjustifiably struck Justice Raffaele and that the judge sustained a physical injury." He indicated that Raffaele had walked into a "safety perimeter that police officers attempted to establish" to contain Menninger and keep him away from the crowd.
Raffaele said that when he was first interviewed in early June he gave investigators the names of witnesses who would corroborate his story. The judge said he later learned that the witnesses were not interviewed until much later and only after he complained.
"I have great respect for police officers," Raffaele said. "I think the vast majority are very brave and do great things to protect us. But when something like this happens, something totally unprovoked and very, very violent and it is brushed off, it is very discouraging and very upsetting. My feeling, frankly, is that somebody who is that violent and dangerous should not be walking around with a gun and a badge. He is an out-of-control, dangerous person."
blog.simplejustice.us/2012/08/24/justice-rafaele-inching-closer-to-reality.aspx
And so Justice Thomas Raffaele's journey continues. Still constrained to utter the requisite caveat of respect for police and one bad apple. He hasn't thought this through yet, recognizing that all the other police officers who didn't stop the officer from hurting him are protecting the one who did. He hasn't come to realize that Brown's allegiance is to the police, and not the judges. Or the truth.
earlier this year, judge Thomas D. Raffaele's throat met the hand of a police officer on the street in Queens. Raffaele, a 69-year-old justice of the New York State Supreme Court, encountered a chaotic scene while walking down a Queens street with a friend: Two uniformed police officers stood over a shirtless man lying facedown on the pavement. The man’s hands were cuffed behind his back and he was screaming. A crowd jeered at the officers. When they first came upon the crowd, the judge said, he was immediately concerned for the officers and called 911. After he made the call, he said, he saw that one of the officers — the one who he said later attacked him — was repeatedly dropping his knee into the handcuffed man’s back. But within minutes, he said, one of the two officers became enraged — and the judge became his target. The officer screamed and cursed at the onlookers, some of whom were complaining about what they said was his violent treatment of the suspect, and then he focused on Justice Raffaele, who was wearing a T-shirt and jeans. The judge said the officer rushed forward and, using the upper edge of his hand, delivered a sharp blow to the judge’s throat that was like what he learned when he was trained in hand-to-hand combat in the Army.
Justice Raffaele said that after the officer struck him and he regained his composure, he asked another officer who was in charge and was directed to a sergeant, who, like the officer who hit him, was from the 115th Precinct. He told the sergeant that he wanted to make a complaint.
The sergeant, he said, stepped away and spoke briefly with some other officers — several of whom the judge said had witnessed their colleague strike him — and returned to tell the judge that none of them knew whom he was talking about. As the sergeant spoke to the other officers, the judge said, the officer who hit him was walking away.
After realizing that his status as a judge was not going to correct the actions of an abusive cop, the judge found himself in a position that most of the population finds themselves in when faced with misconduct by police.....he had to file a formal complaint.
After a brief 'investigation', it was declared by the Queens district attorney that he would not be filing charges against the cop.
after this 'shocking' announcement that the judge was not going to see justice done, he was forced take his case to the public. at least being a judge granted him a bit more status than some normal citizen.
http://www.newyorklawjournal.com/PubArticleNY.jsp?id=1202568440130&thepage=1&slreturn=20120724064545
A state judge who says he was assaulted by a police officer is accusing the Queens district attorney of orchestrating a cover-up after the prosecutor announced yesterday he will not file criminal charges against the officer who allegedly hit the judge and assaulted a homeless man.
"Everything they say is a lie," Queens Supreme Court Justice Thomas Raffaele said in response to District Attorney Richard Brown's press release.
Brown's statement said that an investigation indicated that the homeless defendant, Charles Menninger, 47, was attempting to strike two police officers with a metal pipe and was appropriately restrained. He also suggested that Raffaele, who happened on the scene while walking through his neighborhood late one night, encroached on police.
But Raffaele said yesterday that the press release is full of falsehoods, and maintained it was the police officer, not Menninger, who was violently "out-of-control."
Brown also said he could not prove that the officer who allegedly hit Raffaele with a karate-like chop to the throat "unjustifiably struck Justice Raffaele and that the judge sustained a physical injury." He indicated that Raffaele had walked into a "safety perimeter that police officers attempted to establish" to contain Menninger and keep him away from the crowd.
Raffaele said that when he was first interviewed in early June he gave investigators the names of witnesses who would corroborate his story. The judge said he later learned that the witnesses were not interviewed until much later and only after he complained.
"I have great respect for police officers," Raffaele said. "I think the vast majority are very brave and do great things to protect us. But when something like this happens, something totally unprovoked and very, very violent and it is brushed off, it is very discouraging and very upsetting. My feeling, frankly, is that somebody who is that violent and dangerous should not be walking around with a gun and a badge. He is an out-of-control, dangerous person."
blog.simplejustice.us/2012/08/24/justice-rafaele-inching-closer-to-reality.aspx
And so Justice Thomas Raffaele's journey continues. Still constrained to utter the requisite caveat of respect for police and one bad apple. He hasn't thought this through yet, recognizing that all the other police officers who didn't stop the officer from hurting him are protecting the one who did. He hasn't come to realize that Brown's allegiance is to the police, and not the judges. Or the truth.