Archive for the ‘Corrupt Cops’ Category

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December 21st, 2009

DA Watch: Yolanda Madden Freed by Judge After 4 Yrs – DA Failed to Turn Over Exculpatory Evidence

You may remember the case of Yolanda Madden because of the notorious YouTube video awhile back showing the Odessa cops being caught on video by Kopbusters.  (We wrote about the Kopbusters story last December and you can watch the video on that post). 

Well, after being in jail for four years — yep, 4 YEARS — Yolanda Madden is once again enjoying her freedom after Federal District Judge Rob Junell vacated her sentence. 

The Smoking Gun that was hidden from the defense

While the federal judge wouldn’t go so far as to accuse the prosecution of intentionally hiding the Smoking Gun documentary evidence, no one could argue its existence.  What was it? 

A log sheet.  A simple, routine log sheet of the Odessa Police Department.  The big deal about the log sheet is the absence of a key name on its roster.  Odessa Police Deparment Officer Greg Travland testified at Madden’s trial that she confessed to him — but the Smoking Gun log sheet reveals that Travland was NOT in the police station at the time. 

Of course, this story gets worse.

Yolanda Madden consistently claimed that drugs were planted on her.  She told this to anyone who would listen — loudly.  Her husband spent the family’s life savings in support of his wife, believing that she had been set-up. 

A drug informant ADMITTED that he was the one who planted the drugs (crystal meth) on Yolanda Madden.  Madden took a polygraph and passed.  So did the informant.  Madden took hair follicle and urine drug tests.  No evidence of drugs. 

Law enforcement didn’t care.  Madden was still tried and convicted. 

Madden’s Family Sought the Help of Barry Cooper’s Kopbusters

Frustrated and feeling powerless, Madden’s father asked Kopbusters to come to Odessa and help them fight the injustice.  Kopbusters did — and the result was their now-famous video of the Odessa cops entering a phony drug house set up by the Kopbusters.  For details on how the Odessa cops fell prey to the Kopbusters, check out our December 10, 2008, post where Kopbusters founder (and former cop) Barry Cooper gives all the details.

What Happens Now? Get this — another trial has been set.

Let’s recap:

1. Kopbusters demonstrate that the Odessa cops play fast and loose with the law in drug cases;

2.  an informant gives testimony in court that he planted drugs on Yolanda Madden;

3.  the informant passes a polygraph;

4.  Yolanda passes a polygraph;

5.  Yolanda tests clean in hair follicle testing;

6.  Yolanda tests clean in urine testing; and

7.  the cop who claims Yolanda confessed to him wasn’t even at the police station at the time of the purported “confession,” as revealed by a log sheet NOT PROVIDED TO THE DEFENSE during trial….

and the federal judge schedules a new trial for Yolanda Madden, set for March 1, 2010.  They’re going to try her AGAIN?

What’s Really Going On Here?

It’s already being reported that the real story behind all this is the cops mistook Yolanda Madden for a drug dealer they nicknamed “the Ice Queen,” and used the informant with a bag of meth (which he handed over to Yolanda) as a way to bust this notorious Poison Ivy of Odessa. 

Sure looks like they got the wrong girl and they’re finding it very, very hard to admit they’ve made a mistake. 

Someone — like the Attorney General, the Texas Rangers, or the FBI — should help them.

Posted by Michael Lowe at 6:10 pm

3 Comments
Labels: Cop Watch, Corrupt Cops, DA Watch


December 9th, 2009

Jail Watch: Criminal Network In Texas Dept of Criminal Justice System? Texas Rangers Investigate

Right now, one of the biggest news stories we’ve had in years may be breaking – if convicted rapist Arcade Joseph Comeaux is telling the truth.  Considering who’s giving his words some weight, looks like he just might be.

Huntsville Inmate Arcade Joseph Comeaux Escaped Last Week

Last week, Comeaux escaped as he was being transported by bus from the Huntsville prison to Beaumont, where he would be near to medical treatment facilities in Galveston for his purported stroke that had left him paralyzed. Comeaux – despite being handcuffed and shackled to his wheelchair – pulled a pistol on the two guards accompanying him, and after firing a warning shot, successfully ordered the two guards to handcuff themselves together, in the back of the bus.  Comeaux took their guns (he now had three), dressed himself in one of their uniforms, and walked away.  That’s right – walked.  He’d been conning everyone that he couldn’t use his legs, apparently pretty convincingly. 

National Media Coverage of The Big Bus Escape

Combine a record like Comeaux’s and the circumstances of his escape, and sure ’nuff you’ve got the national media hounds pouring into the state.  CNN detailed Comeaux’s 30 year prison record.  America’s Most Wanted acted fast, with Comeaux being a focus of their December 5th episode — six days after his escape.  Lots of questions were being asked about how this guy could free himself from the clutches of the Texas Department of Corrections. 

Comeaux got caught and now he’s squealing.

Freedom didn’t last long for Arcade Comeaux.  He was caught within two weeks of running – a salesman called in a tip to 911 about a strange man loitering in the lobby of a Houston business.  The Houston cops responded, and Comeaux was arrested and taken into custody without incident. 

According to media reports Comeaux was cold, wet, tired, hungry — and barefoot.  There were reports he was still wearing the duds he’d taken from the bus guard when he walked away on November 30th.  Even the New York Times reported on the capture.

After Capture, Comeaux Starts An Even Bigger NewsStory – He Had Help From the Inside

Lots of folk probably thought that the story ended in Houston when the manhunt was over.  Sounds reasonable, right?  But noooo.  Arcade had just began earning his plug (with a tip of the hat to Jay Leno). 

Comeaux met with a local community activist, Quanell X at the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and here’s where the Big Story begins. According to Arcade Comeaux, staff of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice got the gun to him that he used on the bus.  (Someone on the inside sold it to him, but the price hasn’t been reported.)  They helped Comeaux hide it there in his Huntsville cell until he got an opportunity to use it.  And, once he was on the lam, he got help from a criminal network connected to the prison system – staying in safehouses and the like. 

Comeaux told the activist that he was part of a group planning a larger escape, but he got antsy and decided to make a break for it himself.  (Riding that bus and getting nearer to a hospital team that might blow the whistle on his fake paralysis might have been a factor — but that hasn’t been substantiated.)

Oh, and Comeaux gave Quanell X names of those who helped him — identifying members of this Secret Network inside the TDCJ. 

Texas Department of Criminal Justice Responds – Comeaux Just Pulling Another Con

At the get-go, the  TDCJ Inspector General John Moriarty has stepped up to the plate and said that while all of this will be investigated,  it is his opinion that Comeaux is a liar.  Moriarty points to how he was wearing the same clothes for eight days as belaying the existence of any criminal network. 

But that doesn’t explain the gun that an inmate had on a prison bus.  It doesn’t explain how he faked being handicapped for all that time while in lock up, either. 

Enter the Texas Rangers, the Texas Legislature, and the Lt. Governor

This week, two Texas Rangers met with Arcade Comeaux.  So did State Senator John Whitmire (D-Houston), chairman of the Texas Senate’s Criminal Justice Committee.  

Senator Whitmire should be pretty interested in a full investigation of prison smuggling — as you’ll recall, it was State Senator John Whitmire who was threatened last year by a Texas Death Row inmate who was using a smuggled cellphone. 

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has formally requested that Whitmire’s committee hold hearings investigating how various items of contraband (including Arcade’s gun) get smuggled into these lock-down facilities.  Dewhurst has also requested legislative investigation into how Comeaux could con so many law enforcement officials that he was an invalid, needing a wheelchair.  (This is especially interesting since Dewhurst already has two year old video from the prison showing Comeaux could walk.)

Let’s all watch this story and see what happens.  Looks like this is just beginning and who knows how big this story may get ….

Posted by Michael Lowe at 6:33 pm

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Labels: Corrupt Cops, Crime News, Jail Watch, Uncategorized


September 8th, 2009

Cop Watch: Refugio Chief of Police Indicted after Fed Investigation

The Federal Bureau 0f Investigation (FBI), together with the Texas Rangers, just keeps on its quiet tour of the State of Texas, bopping one law enforcement agency after another with criminal indictments.  They’re doing this so often, it’s almost like an adult and scary version of Little Bunny Foo-Foo in that forest with all the field mice ….

FBI and Texas Rangers Investigation Results in Felony Indictment of Refugio Chief of Police

Last Wednesday, the FBI and Texas Ranger team were down in Refugio, watching as the Grand Jury issued an indictment of the Chief of Police for Refugio, Texas (about 30 minutes north of Corpus) on charges of (1) felony theft by a public servant, (2) misapplication of fiduciary property and (3) three counts of abuse of official capacity.  Police Chief Chris Brock surrendered the next day and was released after posting $55,000 bond.

Chief Brock is accused of stealing somewhere between $20-100,000 from a police forfeiture account.  The investigation took about three years, and started with someone complaining to the Texas Rangers about the forfeiture monies (cash taken from criminals). 

Those Tempting Forfeiture Accounts

Forfeiture accounts appear to be very tempting for law enforcement … just this past June, we were posting about over $4,000,000 in drug forfeiture money that was missing from the Jim Wells County accounts and discovered to have been used by the old District Attorney on trips to Vegas and things. 

Geez, pondering all those millions missing from the Jim Wells County forfeiture account, it sorta sounds like Refugio Chief Brock wasn’t doing anything much more than hitting petty cash ….

Posted by Michael Lowe at 3:28 pm

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Labels: Cop Watch, Corrupt Cops


July 15th, 2009

Cop Watch: Exotic Dancer’s Testimony Believed Over Dallas Cops and Felony Drug Case Thrown Out by Dallas Judge

Scarlett Haley is an exotic dancer here in Dallas. On Monday, Scarlett testified before District Judge Pat McDowell, telling the Court that the Dallas cops had lied. The Judge believed her, not the police. Wow. And, yes, this is a true story.

Here’s what happened – according to Scarlett.

Scarlett was asleep, at home, when there was a knock at the door. Her mother answered, and Dallas police came in. They were looking for Scarlett’s boyfriend. They were looking for drugs. (more…)

Posted by Michael Lowe at 12:22 am

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Labels: Cop Watch, Corrupt Cops, Orwellian Threats to Rights


July 13th, 2009

Cop Watch: FBI Busts 2 Sheriff’s Deputies in Major Meth Distribution Biz Run by Motorcycle Gang

Of course, this was a drug dealer’s dream.

For many years, the Hockley County Sheriff’s Lead Investigator Deputy Gordon Bohannon and Narcotics Officer Jesse Quintanilla were working with Motorcycle Gang leader and drug dealer Bobby Duwayne Froman by helping him avoid getting caught as he ran a big meth distribution business out of the Lubbock area, which networked over to California and up north to several Plains states. (more…)

Posted by Michael Lowe at 2:46 pm

1 Comment
Labels: Cop Watch, Corrupt Cops


June 8th, 2009

Cop Watch: Texas Rangers Investigating 2 Seguin Cops in 2 Separate Incidents

Seguin Police Chief Kevin Kelso, according to media reports, first became aware of some bad stuff going on within his department when he got word that the Texas Rangers were investigating one of his officers — so Kelso put this officer on paid leave.

Sometime after that, a second set of facts revealed themselves about another Seguin police officer, and a second investigation into these allegations is also being undertaken. Kelso is threatening this second cop with termination.

The media coverage hasn’t given great detail about what’s going on over in Seguin, but through the Texas Public Information Act, the Seguin Gazette-Enterprise has reported about three letters that have been released to them.

First Seguin Police Officer – Allegations of Some Type of “Criminal Complaint”

The first two letters, from Chief Kelso to the first officer, reference allegations of a “criminal complaint,” and the placing of the first officer on paid leave. The second letter to this same officer forbids him from entering the Police Department “for any reason at any hour,” and gives Kelso’s request that the officer stay in his home and available to investigators during normal business hours.

Second Seguin Police Officer – Allegations of “Improper Relationship with a Minor Child”

The third letter was written by Seguin Chief Kelso to the second, unidentified officer just last Friday. This letter gives more details into what the allegations are against this Seguin cop, and the letter itself is quoted in the Seguin Gazette Enterprise and reprinted here:

“I am considering termination of your employment for conduct unbecoming an officer of the Seguin Police Department…. Specifically, it is alleged by two local educators that you have engaged in an improper relationship with a minor child and that you are responsible for inappropriate communications (text messages) with that child.”

Interestingly, the San Antonio Express News is reporting these two police officers as being one currently on the force, and one who has “recently left the force.”

Sources:

Seguin Gazette-Enterprise
http://www.seguingazette.com/story.lasso?ewcd=22b2e3dd51dd606f

San Antonio Express News
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/Texas_Rangers_probe_sex_allegations_against_Seguin_officers.html

Posted by Michael Lowe at 2:37 pm

No Comments
Labels: Cop Watch, Corrupt Cops


May 20th, 2009

Cop Watch: Starr County Sheriff Rey Guerra Pleads Guilty to Drug Smuggling

Reymundo “Rey” Guerra was Sheriff of Starr County, Texas, for several years — in fact, he was running for re-election last year when the FBI arrested him on drug trafficking charges. That made it hard for the citizens of Starr County since Rey Guerra was the only name on the ballot. They re-elected Guerra despite his troubles.

Guerra Was Re-elected and Had to Resign His Post – Twice

As a condition of his bond, Rey Guerra resigned his post before the election. Then, the voters elected him back as Sheriff, and he had to resign the post a second time. Yeah, this game of musical chairs really happened.

Sheriff Guerra wasn’t busted all by himself — he was first arrested as part of a big nationwide bust of Gulf Cartel members by the feds back last Fall. In fact, the feds describe him as a “minor participant” in the Cartel’s operations.

What Did Starr County Sheriff Rey Guerra Do That Was So Wrong?

Seems there was a human smuggling group in the Starr County area led by a man who used to be a cop in Mexico, name of Jose Carlos Hinojosa. Guerra and Hinojosa met when they were both in law enforcement.

However, like many stories out of Mexico these days, Hinojosa traded his job with Mexican law authorities for employment with a national drug organization: this one, the infamous Zetas. The Zetas are a feared paramilitary group with close affiilations with the Gulf Cartel. (Hinojosa’s already pled guilty to drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracy.)

Hinojosa would help Guerra get suspects back from Mexico who had escaped across the border, and in exchange, Guerra would give Hinojosa the names and contact information of informants targeted for raids in Starr County. Guerra didn’t do this thinking that Hinojosa was still a cop — Guerra did this knowing that Hinojosa was now a member of the Zetas, and had apparently known this as far back as January 2007.

Oh, and Guerra also got paid $2,000 – $3,000 for each scoop on informants he provided.

Now, he’s pled guilty to one federal count of drug smuggling conspiracy, just one week before his trial.

As part of his plea deal with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Sheriff Rey Guerra has admitted to using his elected office as Sheriff of Starr County, Texas, to help drug dealers (read that the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas) as they trafficked in narcotics in Starr County and Miguel Alemán, Tamps, Mexico.

Right now, ex-Sheriff Guerra faces spending the rest of his life in prison. The federal sentencing hearing is set for July.

And, if you’re thinking that putting a former Sheriff into a federal prison for the rest of his life is akin to a death sentence of sorts, you might well be right.

Sources:

The Monitor
http://www.themonitor.com/articles/sheriff-26040-guilty-starr.html

The Brownsville Herald
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/sheriff-97563-guilty-starr.html

The Associated Press
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j-jrJN7CWIGaTnumy_YsWHTHoprAD97TKOV82

Posted by Michael Lowe at 2:42 pm

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Labels: Cop Watch, Corrupt Cops


May 13th, 2009

DA Watch: Whistleblower San Marcos DA Lynn Peach Resigned Yesterday

Lynn Peach went through law school and started building a legal career in what she thought would be a life as a career prosecutor. Lynn Peach thought she was one of the good guys, pursuing justice.

And she is, just not in the way that she thought.

On Monday, Hays County Assistant District Attorney Lynn Peach resigned her position there in San Marcos, telling reporters that she had no choice due to the “…profound philosophical differences…” between the Hays County District Attorney’s policies and what she thinks is right.

Peach is hanging up a shingle in San Marcos, and starting up her own private legal practice. And yes, she says, “I believe that I did the right thing.”

What Happened Here? Lynn Peach Revealed Some Sneaky Business With an Informant

Then Assistant District Attorney Peach discovered, and revealed in open testimony, that the original informant against Shawn Nathan Shipman (a 29-year-old local facing assorted narcotics charges) was a snitch (aka “confidential informant”) who had been cooperating with the San Marcos cops to feather her own nest — she had some legal troubles of her own, and was trying to help herself out with the scoop on Shipman. The snitch was successful: in exchange for her info, her case was dropped.

Was this told to the defense, or to the courtroom? No. And this is the deceit that Peach sought to rectify. The untrue story that was first told was that the informant was “a concerned citizen,” and it was told by San Marcos Police Department Detective Laray Taylor and Hays County Assistant District Attorney Chris Johnson represented this false story to be true. Peach called it all fraud on the court.

The Cops Lied and the DA Told, and Now She’s Quit

Lynn Peach took the stand and revealed the truth about the informant in this case. Shipman is getting a new trial. The District Judge in the case, Jack Robison, has recused himself (i.e., quit the case) and the Hays County District Attorney’s office offered no objection to Shipman’s request for a new trial.

So, Shawn Shipman got a new trial on May 4th — and on May 11th, Lynn Peach got a new chapter in life.

Welcome to the other side of the docket, Sister Peach.

Source:

SanMarcosNewsStreamz.com
http://www.newstreamz.com/2009/05/12/peach-resigns-in-protest-from-das-office/

San Marcos Mercury
http://www.sanmarcosmercury.com/archives/8436

Posted by Michael Lowe at 2:27 pm

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Labels: Corrupt Cops, DA Watch


April 13th, 2009

Corrupt Cops: Proposed Law sets the Texas Rangers upon Corrupt Cops Statewide

Dallas State Senator John Carona has been a busy guy — he’s drafted a bill that is about to go before the entire Texas Senate which, if passed into law, will create a special division of the elite Texas Rangers.

What will this special division do? Their entire mandate will be to track down and lasso corrupt cops in Texas.

Yep, the famous Texas Rangers will soon have a squad, if you will, dedidated to ferreting out evildoers in local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. Federal and state. Anywhere in Texas.

It’s unclear how many Rangers will be assigned to this division, but we’re sure that the “one riot, one Ranger” reputation still holds true.

What brought this on?

Apparently, the amount of influence that drug cartels have been having on law enforcement across the State of Texas has become evident all the way from the border up to Dallas, where Senator Carona wrote his proposed law.

Not Everyone’s Happy

Surprise, surprise. There are some elected officials that criticize this proposed law because, they say, we’ve already got the FBI investigating things. And, anyone reading this blog with any regularity knows that’s true: the FBI has been revealling all sorts of bad acts across this State.

However, proponents point to the strength of the drug cartels as efficient organizations whose operation cross several borders – and that these cartels are known to approach and turn law enforcement officials to their side, as standard operating procedure. Proponents argue that having the Rangers in addition to the FBI can’t hurt. It’s a big job, and it’s growing.

Status of the Bill

The senator’s proposal should reach the Senate floor for a vote next week. If the bill becomes law, then the earliest that we’ll have Rangers with their own Corrupt Cop Division is 2010.

Background of the Texas Rangers

What’s the big deal about the Texas Rangers, anyway? Well, first, they’ve been around forever. The organization was begun in 1823 by Stephen F. Austin — “the father of Texas” — just two years after he brought around 600 settlers into the Texas area, as part of a contract that Austin had signed with Spain. Seems Stephen F. Austin thought that the settlers needed some protection, and since there was no Spainish army to protect them, Austin created the Rangers.

Since then, in various incarnations, the Texas Rangers have fought against horse thieves, fence cutters, robbers, raiders, and other assorted bad folk. A concise history can be found at the Texas Department of Public Safety site (shown below) and a romantic tale of the Texas Ranger can be found in Larry McMurtry’s famous novel (and later, TV mini-series), Lonesome Dove.

Surely There’s Enough Work to Go Around ….

As for those objecting to the proposed bill, you gotta wonder. Seems like there’s more than enough corruption in Texas law enforcement these days to keep both the FBI and the Rangers busy….

Sources:

Brownsville Herald
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/create_96865___article.html/law_enforcement.html

Texas Department of Public Safety
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/director_staff/texas_rangers/

Posted by Michael Lowe at 1:36 pm

6 Comments
Labels: Corrupt Cops


March 16th, 2009

Cop Watch: Tenaha Police Highway Robbery Scheme Subject of Fed Class Action Suit

Tenaha is a small Texas town, but it’s on a big traffic route. It sits smack dab in the pathway between Houston and Louisiana’s gambling spots, on US 59 – a highway that’s also known to be a major route for drugs being transported up from Mexico to the South and Midwest.

Lotsa cash in those cars as they speed down the highway.

Which may be why the police in Tenaha got the big idea to start pulling people over and taking property from them. And by property, we mean cars, cash, cell phones, digital cameras. Apparently, whatever took their fancy.

Traffic Stops Gone Very, Very Bad

What these cops in Shelby County, Texas, were doing was bending the State of Texas asset forfeiture law, which was enacted to discourage drug trafficking.

The Tenaha police would stop drivers and detain them. The local District Attorney was in on the con game, too, by the way.

The drivers, with their families in tow, were taken in – and shown paperwork where they could be charged with bad, bad felonies like money laundering. The option? Forfeit the property (cash, car, whatever) to the county, sign a waiver, and escape the high costs of defending themselves against this bad, bad crime. If anyone balked and children were involved, these renegades would threaten to call Child Protective Services to come and take the kids.

Imagine how horrible this must have been for these drivers. No wonder many of them just signed the waiver and got the heck out of there.

Class Action Suit Reveals the Numbers

In the class action suit filed by 10 of the wronged drivers, paperwork reveals that out of almost 200 instances (covering 2006-2008) where the cops took property, only 50 were charged with any kind of drug possession. The other 147 had nothing illegal with them, and had done no illegal act (like speeding, etc.).

The class action also reveals that most of those pulled over by the Tenaha cops were out of state drivers.

And, the biggest fact of all in this case: most of these drivers were African American.

Yep, that’s right.

Suit filed in Marshall, Texas, and It’s Got Lots of Official Government Defendants

In addition to the guy who did most of the arrests in these cases, Tenaha City Marshall Barry Washington, the lawsuit also brings in as defendants Tenaha’s Mayor, George Bowers; the District Attorney of Shelby County, Linda K. Russell, and the Shelby County Constable, Randy Whatley.
Sources:

KTBS.Com
http://www.ktbs.com/news/Lawsuit-challenges-traffic-stops-in-East-Texas-town-27709/

Wall Street Journal
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/03/10/chicago-trib-use-caution-while-driving-through-tenaha-texas/

Posted by Michael Lowe at 2:59 pm

3 Comments
Labels: Cop Watch, Corrupt Cops, DA Watch


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