New York
Judge nixes New York City’s ‘vague’ ban on police restraints
NEW YORK (AP) — A judge Tuesday struck down a New York City law that had prohibited the city’s police officers from putting pressure on a person’s torso while making an arrest, calling the measure “unconstitutionally vague.”
Manhattan Judge Laurence Love wrote in a 17-page opinion that phrasing in the law, passed in the wake of the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, was hard to define and ripe for confusion.
Love’s ruling came in a lawsuit brought by police unions opposed to the law, which they referred to as the “diaphragm law” because it barred officers from restraining people “in a manner that compresses the diaphragm.”
Love, in his opinion, said that such phrasing “cannot be adequately defined as written.” He rejected the city’s proposal to simply remove those words from the law, saying he would not usurp the role of city lawmakers.
Lawyers for the unions argued that deleting the line would’ve made the law even more vague, leaving officers susceptible to criminal charges for sitting, kneeling or standing on a suspect’s chest or back regardless of how much pressure they applied, for how long, and whether that affected the person’s breathing.
Instead, the judge urged the city council to revisit the law and address the language issue. A bill proposed last year to revise the law amid outcry from police unions appears to have stalled. The New York City law was one of many police reforms enacted across the U.S. in the wake of Floyd’s death, which occurred as a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for about 9 1/2 minutes.
New York City’s law department, which defended the struck down law in court, said it is “reviewing its legal options.” The law had also outlawed the use of chokeholds by police officers. Love’s ruling has no bearing on a long-standing NYPD ban on the tactic. Chokeholds are also illegal under state law.
Messages seeking comment were left with the police department and with the police unions that sued over the law.
In the past, Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch has described the “diaphragm law” as legislative overreach that went against all training.
Love, in his ruling, noted that the NYPD has established new training procedures and blanket restrictions on sitting, kneeling or standing on a person’s chest or back, but that the department’s training materials had also failed to meaningfully address the legal definition of “compresses the diaphragm.”
Ohio
New trial date set for ex-vice squad officer over sex charges
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A new federal trial date has been set for a former Ohio vice squad officer accused of forcing women to have sex with him under threat of an arrest.
Ex-Columbus police officer Andrew Mitchell, 57, is also charged with pressuring others to help cover up crimes and lying to federal investigators when he said he had never had sex with prostitutes.
U.S. District Court Judge Edmund Sargus on Monday scheduled a Sept. 27 trial for Mitchell, who has pleaded not guilty. A federal indictment accused Mitchell, a 30-year veteran, of arresting two different women and forcing them to have sex before he would release them. Mitchell’s attorney says the allegations are unfounded.
The previous trial date was March 30 of last year.
Mitchell also faces state charges accusing him of fatally shooting a woman during an undercover prostitution investigation.
Columbus police said Mitchell shot and killed 23-year-old Donna Castleberry in August 2018 after she stabbed him in the hand during an undercover prostitution investigation. Mitchell, who has also pleaded not guilty to that charge, said it was self-defense.
Washington
Couple in court on murder allegation in starvation case
VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — The adoptive parents of a 15-year-old Vancouver, Washington, boy who died from starvation in November had bail set at $1 million each during a court appearance in Clark County.
Felicia L. Adams and Jesse C. Franks appeared Monday in Superior Court on domestic violence charges of second-degree murder and homicide by abuse in Karreon Franks’ death, The Columbian reported.
In response to the charges being read, Franks said, “I don’t know why I’m being charged with all of this.”
Senior Deputy Prosecutor James Smith described the allegations as “extremely concerning” and said the evidence in the case is overwhelming. Smith said Adams and Franks are each facing a minimum 20-year prison sentence if convicted.
The couple was extradited from San Joaquin County, California, where they had been in custody since June 4 on fugitive from justice warrants issued by Clark County.
On Monday, Vancouver attorney Jeff Sowder, who’s representing Adams, said she and her husband surrendered to police. Sowder said the couple left Vancouver after a reporter went at their door and neighbors learned of the criminal case, leading to their home being vandalized.
Adams legally adopted Karreon Franks and his two brothers in 2012. She is their aunt, court records show.
Karreon reportedly had a rare genetic disorder that affected his development, had severe autism and was legally blind, according to court records.
On Nov. 27, Adams and Franks took Karreon Franks to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver, where he was pronounced dead 14 minutes later.
The autopsy report found Karreon weighed 61 pounds and showed abnormal bone and hair growth, as well as lesions, likely caused by starvation, court records state.
A hospital nurse contacted Child Protective Services when the teen arrived. His brothers have been removed from the couple’s custody.
