Two THP Officers On Leave Pending Investigation

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Two Tennessee Highway Patrol officers in Cookeville have been placed on leave pending an internal investigation of possible procedural violations.

Captain David Allred, who heads the Cookeville district of the THP, and Sergeant Keven Norris, a member of the THP’s critical incident response team in Putnam County, were placed on discretionary leave with pay last Friday.

The THP, in a news release Wednesday, did not specify the possible policy violations on the job by both State Troopers.

The news release said the two notified officials about the possible violations.

All departmental equipment including weapons, badges and commission cards were secured pending the investigation.

http://www.newschannel5.com/story/17331632/two-thp-officers-on-leave-pending-investigation

Just a Pet Peeve…

The Monterey TN Police Dept held a grand opening for a new building. During the ceremony the National Anthem was played.

Those in attendance took part… everyone except the cops.

Notice in this picture everyone, including a member of the US Army is rendering proper respect and conduct as defined by Title 36, Chapter 3 of the US Code for playing of our National Anthem.

Everyone that is except the cops in this picture…

There are three we can count and all three are simply standing there looking bored.

Sad, truly sad…

Photo from:

http://www.herald-citizen.com/view/full_story/18081579/article-Grand-opening?instance=main_article

Hawkins judge takes Fifth in response to board (of professional responsibility) charges

ROGERSVILLE — Hawkins County Sessions Judge James “Jay” Taylor “took the Fifth” once again Monday in response to several charges filed against him by the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Board of Professional Responsibility (BPR).

On Feb. 13, the BPR filed five charges against Taylor — four of which pertain to allegations of theft against clients in his private practice.

The other charge pertains to allegations of “misappropriation” of monetary donations gathered by Taylor for the purpose of installing a display of historic documents at the new Hawkins County Justice Center lobby, including a Ten Commandments plaque.

On Monday, Taylor filed his response to those charges stating he “has been advised by counsel to assert and invoke, and hereby does respectfully assert and invoke his privilege against self-incrimination guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution.”

A hearing will now be scheduled, and Taylor faces disciplinary action from the BPR ranging from public censure to disbarment.

http://www.timesnews.net/article/9044749/hawkins-judge-takes-fifth-in-response-to-board39s-charges

Ex-Blount County deputy indicted for murder in wife’s shooting

MARYVILLE (WATE) – The Blount County Grand Jury on Monday indicted a former sheriff’s deputy on a charge of murdering his wife.

Danny Ray Brewer, 38, a former Blount County deputy and Rockford police officer, is charged with second degree murder in the shooting death of his wife, Jennifer Cunningham Brewer, 28, in September 2011.

http://www.wate.com/story/17321340/ex-blount-county-deputy-indicted-for-murder-in-wifes-shooting

Former Union County deputy pleads guilty to assaulting wife

A former Union County Sheriff’s Office deputy who choked his wife and threatened to kill her pleaded guilty to an aggravated assault charge Monday and will escape a jail term if he abides by terms of an agreement approved by a judge.

Kelly J. Yount, 44, also walked away with a chance at erasing his record.

His defense attorney, Todd Daniels, and Assistant District Attorney General Tracy Jenkins announced a deal this week that gives Yount a chance to keep off his record a felony conviction for the Nov. 26 assault via judicial diversion but will require him to serve a three-year supervised probationary sentence.

Under the agreement approved in Union County Criminal Court by Judge E. Shayne Sexton, Yount must pay at least $100 in court cost a month. He was also ordered not to contact the victim, Lisa Yount.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/apr/03/former-union-county-deputy-pleads-guilty-to-wife/

US Supreme Court grants absolute immunity to investigators for prosecutor’s offices who give false testimony to grand juries.

The public generally perceives the Supreme Court as dealing with grand, abstract constitutional principles and writing esoteric opinions filled with judicial philosophy.  But while some cases might fit that description, much of the Court’s docket is comprised of cases that are less about dueling judicial philosophies, and more about weighing the practical implications of a particular rule in the context of the day-to-day functioning of the judicial system.

Such is the case in Rehberg v. Paulk, which was argued on Tuesday, November 1.  The issue in Rehberg is whether a complaining witness who provides grand jury testimony is absolutely immune from malicious prosecution liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.  Rehberg filed a federal complaint alleging that Paulk, an investigator for the District Attorney’s Office, had knowingly provided false testimony against him in multiple grand jury proceedings, which led to three indictments, all of which were subsequently dismissed.

http://www.scotusblog.com/?p=131017

Former Jail Employee Charged With Touching Inmate

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A former Davidson County jail employee has been charged after allegedly admitting to his superiors that he sexually touched a female prisoner.

James Whitfield Wilson, 50, surrendered himself at police headquarters on Saturday following his indictment on two counts of having sexual contact with a female prisoner.

Police said Wilson sexually touched the 28-year-old inmate through her cell door on two occasions last December.

http://www.newschannel5.com/story/17313335/fmr-jail-employee-charged-with-touching-inmate

Teen Home From Spring Break Say Shelby Deputies Beat Him

(Memphis 03/30/2012) – A college student home from Spring Break says he was beaten by Shelby County deputies. The teen, 18 year old Daniel Meeks, was arrested Tuesday after Sheriff’s deputies say he interfered with one of their investigations. What happened before and after the handcuffs went on is now the subject of it’s own investigation.

Meeks said, “The deputy stopped us and said where are ya’ll going. Do ya’ll stay over here. I was like naw, I’m going to my car and pointed at the car and he was like, get there. And, I was like that’s where I’m going and walked off.  Next thing I know he was jumping on me.”

Meeks thought he’d spend his spring break from college resting instead he’s nursing wounds he received after that arrest by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.

http://wreg.com/2012/03/30/teen-home-from-spring-break-say-shelby-deputies-beat-him/

Asset forfeiture, the effectiveness of drug dogs, and how difficult it is to get rid of a bad cop.

Last December, filmmaker Terrance Huff and his friend Jon Seaton were returning to Ohio after attending a “Star Trek” convention in St. Louis. As they passed through a small town in Illinois, a police officer, Michael Reichert, pulled Huff’s red PT Cruiser over to the side of the road, allegedly for an unsafe lane change. Over the next hour, Reichert interrogated the two men, employing a variety of police tactics civil rights attorneys say were aimed at tricking them into giving up their Fourth Amendment rights. Reichert conducted a sweep of Huff’s car with a K-9 dog, then searched Huff’s car by hand. Ultimately, he sent Huff and Seaton on their way with a warning.

Earlier this month, Huff posted to YouTube audio and video footage of the stop taken from Reichert’s dashboard camera. No shots were fired in the incident. No one was beaten, arrested or even handcuffed. Reichert found no measurable amount of contraband in Huff’s car. But Huff’s 17-and-a-half minute video raises important questions about law enforcement and the criminal justice system, including the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, the drug war, profiling and why it’s so difficult to take problematic cops out of the police force.

Similar stories have been reported along other forfeiture corridors across the country. In Teneha, Texas, police reportedly routinely pull over cars from out of state (the highway is popular for drivers, flush with cash and jewelry, going to and from casinos). A Nashville TV station recently reported on a stretch in Tennessee where the vast majority of police stops were of suspected drug runners leaving the city, meaning the police apparently preferred to let the drugs come into the city so they could seize the cash on the way out.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/31/drug-search-trekies-stopped-searched-illinois_n_1364087.html#comments

Bill targets panel that polices judges

A bill that would reform how judges are disciplined won unanimous approval from the state Senate on Thursday, as lawmakers accepted a compromise meant to increase the legislature’s oversight of the judicial branch.

Senators voted 30-0 to replace the Court of the Judiciary, which reviews and rules on complaints against judges, with a new 16-member board appointed by judges, legislative leaders and the governor. The unanimous vote increases the likelihood that the House would sign off on the measure, though a final vote has not been scheduled on companion legislation making its way through that chamber.

The new Board of Judicial Conduct would be created after years of complaints that the Court of the Judiciary did not aggressively investigate claims of judicial misconduct and was too closely tied to the Tennessee Supreme Court, which appointed more than half of its members.

The measure, Senate Bill 2671, also sets up a procedure for investigating complaints against judges and requires the board to report regularly to the Legislature on how grievances are resolved.

“There’s going to be more transparency,” said state Sen. Mae Beavers, R-Mt. Juliet, the bill’s sponsor. “I know some people aren’t going to be happy with it, but we’re going to have to see how it works.”

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/mar/31/bill-targets-panel-that-polices-judges/