In Tyree
Carroll Police Beating Case, Judge Rules Vs Police
Press
release... Press release... Press release...
DATE:
February 17, 2017
WHO: Justice4Tyree Campaign
WHAT:
Police stop of Tyree Carroll who they beat was illegal, Judge rules
tinyurl.com/TyreeCarrollVideo
CONTACT:
Prof Dorothy Roberts 215-573-2155 Phoebe Jones 215-848-1120
justicefortyree@gmail.com
Tyree Carroll
In a
strong rebuke of police involved in the 2015 beating of Mr Tyree
Carroll, Judge Kai Scott ruled at a Wednesday February 15 hearing in
favor of Mr Tyree Carroll’s motion to suppress, or keep out of trial,
drugs that were allegedly seized from him following an illegal stop by
the same police that seconds after the stop began to beat him.
Judge Scott said that Mr Carroll had been doing nothing wrong on April
3, 2015 when he was stopped by police while riding his bike and beaten
by the three officers who illegally stopped him. These three officers
were soon joined by about a dozen others. Following the stop and
beating, Mr. Carroll was arrested and eventually charged with possession
of the drugs and two counts of aggravated assault against the police who
were beating him. In a strongly worded and clear ruling, Judge Scott
said that Mr. Carroll had the right to leave and walk away from the
police, and that the police had no legal right to restrain him.
Judge Scott stated again the facts of the case: that Mr Carroll had been
riding his bicycle near where he lives, that he was in normal
conversation with two people who were under surveillance, but who were
not arrested or charged, that the police had recognized and known Mr
Carroll and therefore had no need to ask for his ID, and that Mr Carroll
had tried to walk away casually. Her ruling rejected the claims made by
the prosecutor that the police were within their rights to talk to Mr
Carroll as a “mere encounter” and that Mr Carroll’s subsequent "assault”
would have led to the recovery of the drugs. The Court rejected this
argument, correctly ruling that but for the initial illegal police
action, there would not have been any subsequent encounter leading to
the alleged drug seizure.
The
previous day the prosecution called one of the arresting officers to the
stand who testified to punching and kicking Mr Carroll and calling him
foul names. The prosecution admitted the video of the beating into
evidence and the judge viewed it twice. Mr Carroll spent 5 months in
jail because the illegal arrest violated his parole for a previous minor
conviction.
The prosecution has 30 days to file an appeal and a hearing on that is
scheduled for March 16, 2017. If there is an appeal, the decision gets
reviewed by Superior Court which could take months to decide. The
prosecution will then decide whether or not to pursue its case against
Mr Carroll for the remaining aggravated assault charges.
"The
prosecution will have a hard time trying to defend the vicious beating
caught on video when Mr Carroll had been doing nothing wrong and was
within his rights" said Michael Wiseman, the lead attorney for Mr
Carroll. Co-counsel Mr Berto Elmore said, “We fought for justice. I
couldn't stand to see another Black man beaten by the Philadelphia
police have to take a plea.” Also part of Mr Carroll's legal team
is Mr Shaka Johnson who represents him on the related parole violation
matter.
Professor Dorothy Roberts for the Justice4Tyree Support Campaign says:
This is a victory for Tyree Carroll and his family who have
persevered against all odds in getting justice, for all who have faced
police racism, illegality and violence, for other Black men and women
beaten by police, and for the multi-racial group of supporters, women
and men, who have come out to every hearing for almost two years and
worked to get this in the public eye. This was a racist attack and part
of an on-going pattern of institutional racism by law enforcement. We
won't rest until the police who did this, and those who let them get
away with it, are held to account so that this doesn't happen to anyone,
including Tyree, ever again."
Mr Carroll was encouraged by the ruling, but stated, "I'm still
nervous. I don't want the cops to kick my ass again because I beat the
case."
The courtroom has had a constant stream of family members and supporters
at every hearing since the hearings began in April 2015. There to hear
the verdict was Mr Carroll's sister, brother, young nieces, and several
supporters. Unfortunately his grandmother -- who hadn't missed a
hearing and who has been beside her grandson every step of the way
despite the stress and being in a wheelchair and in ill health -- had
been taken to the hospital that morning and was not there to mark the
occasion.
The
Justice for Tyree Campaign are
family members and others in Philadelphia and around the country who
have come together to press for Justice for Tyree Carroll.
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