Tasered To Death in Louisiana - Finally some Accountability

"It is our intention to show at trial that Mr. Nugent caused the death of Baron Pikes by 'Tasing' him multiple times, unnecessarily and in violation of Louisiana law, and by failing to get him medical attention when it was apparent he needed it," Nevils said in a statement. "In a civilized society, abuse by those who are given great authority cannot be tolerated."

- Winn Parish District Atty. Chris Nevil



Tasered While Black publisher says: "Back on July 12th we reported on how 21 year old Barron Scooter Collins, was Tased to death nine times over the course of 30 minutes. It appears that the advocacy work by the family of Baron Scooter Pikes, and the work of Radio Talk Show host Tony Brown, along with the national reporting of the Baron Scooter Pikes case by Howard Witt have caused Winn Parish District Atty. Chris Nevils to obtain an indictment of a former cop in a Taser death in Louisiana."

As reported by Howard Witt, "a ruling in a racially explosive case that some forensic experts have described as police torture, a grand jury in the small Louisiana town of Winnfield indicted a white police officer Wednesday on charges of manslaughter and official malfeasance for repeatedly shocking a handcuffed black suspect with a Taser device, resulting in the man's death due to cardiac arrest.

After two days of closed testimony, Winn Parish District Atty. Chris Nevils announced that the grand jury had indicted Scott Nugent, 21, for the death in January of Baron "Scooter" Pikes, 21, while in police custody. Two other Winnfield police officers who were present during the incident were not charged.

Nugent, who was fired from the police force in May, could face up to 45 years in prison if convicted on the charges. He surrendered to sheriff's deputies immediately after the indictment was issued, a spokesman for Nevils said, and a $45,000 bond was set."
Read more HERE

Cross posted on African American Political Pundit
and Electrocuted While Black

The Politics of Blacks and Crime in Massachusetts

Ok, Now that I have celebrated the NewEngland Patriots. Yeah! Let's back to some serious business. Black folk.

Take a look at how many black folks get Wrongful Murder Convictions in Massachusetts. This includes Marlon Passley. who was recently highlighted in an article, Justice undenied by Adrian Walker, in the Boston Globe Newspaper (December 18, 2007).

Black Accountability Project: Why are so many black men and woman getting convicted for crimes they did not commit in Massachusetts? What is the (black) Governor of Massachusetts doing about it? Who should be held accountable? How?

Adrian Walker writes: Marlon Passley didn't know his destination on the morning in April 1999 when he was awakened by guards at MCI-Cedar Junction.

His life sentence without parole for first-degree murder had been recently affirmed by the Supreme Judicial Court. Yet he was headed for a courtroom.

When he got to the SJC, he discovered that the Suffolk district attorney's office was about to argue for his freedom. In the course of an investigation into another crime, strong evidence had been uncovered that Passley was innocent. The state that had put him away was now asking the court to let him go.

Passley was released on his own recognizance that afternoon, and the charges were formally dropped a few months later.

Homicide prosecutors generally consider their work done once someone is behind bars. David Meier, the head of the Suffolk homicide unit, wasn't satisfied with that. Not even close.

"It was important to the integrity of the system, to the defendant, and to the victim's family," Meier said yesterday.

Meier will leave his job at the end of the year, closing the book on an exemplary 24-year career as a prosecutor in Middlesex and Suffolk counties. By no means are his greatest triumphs releasing the wrongfully convicted; he has sent dozens of murderers to prison.

But Passley's case - and at least five others that followed - exemplify his devotion to truth over expedience. Not everyone who works in law enforcement can claim that. More HERE