PoliceDefense.org - Defending the Police - Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund

Vol 13, No. 1 (Spring, 2012)

From the Chairman

This newsletter is filled with news about seven of our cases, all of which are still active except for Stephanie Mohr. (I hope you saw her photo on page two.) We wish her well as she begins her life anew.

Our latest case is that of Detroit SWAT team member, Office Joseph Weekley. In a fast-paced incident in the middle of the night, he was momentarily blinded by his own team’s flash grenade and confronted by the suspect’s wife, who attempted to grab his gun. All of us, but especially the officer involved, are very saddened that the unintentional firing of the weapon resulted in the death of a child. Since this episode, Officer Weekley has not been able to work, for the psychological effects have been too much for him. It was a freak accident during the arrest of two dangerous murder suspects. We are helping him in his trial.

Last year, LELDF took on the case of the “Fresno Four,” the officers from California. Sad to say, this is a typical case of what is happening throughout the country. Instead of commending the police for removing violent (and in this case, illegal) criminals from the streets, the politically correct bureaucrats at the Civil Rights Division of the U. S. Justice Department literally made it into a civil rights case in favor of the criminal. They waited five years before filing any charges. Although the criminal was guilty as charged and plea bargained his sentence to just nine months, the police officers who arrested him face 10-year prison sentences for allegedly violating his rights, a convicted felon and an illegal immigrant. We estimate that it will cost a minimum of $100,000 to defend each officer from these unfair charges.

We are pleased that the re-trial of Connecticut officers Martin Praisner, Jr., and Steven Craig of the ECSU Police Department ended in a second hung jury. As a result, the officers have been effectively exonerated.

See also the article about the three civil cases we now are working on: those of Torrey Thompson, Ray Bunn, and Robert Lawlor.

Before I close, I want to fondly remember one of our stalwart board members, Eugene Methvin, who passed away in January. Gene was a pilot, journalist, senior editor of Readers Digest, and author of two books. He was a “shoe-leather reporter,” searching out the facts and exhibiting what a true journalist should be. He contributed more than 100 articles to Reader’s Digest and its 48 editions, reaching more than 100 million readers worldwide. He penned articles on organized crime and the Mafia, labor unions, civil liberties, the evils of Communism, and many other topics. In 1983, he was appointed by Ronald Reagan to the President’s Commission on Organized Crime, where he supervised the commission’s investigation and hearings on labor-management racketeering.

When he first joined the LELDF Board of Directors in the year 2001, we dedicated a page of this newsletter to his accomplishments. We are reprinting part of that 2001 article plus some more information at a tribute to Gene Methvin on our website.

All of our efforts in these important cases are made possible by your donations. We receive no grants or government subsidies. We are totally dependent on your generosity. And we are most grateful for your continued support!

Sincerely,

David Henderson Martin