Jury Finds Two Cops Guilty of Sodomizing Man With Screwdriver

A federal jury late Tuesday held two Chicago police officers liable for the unreasonable search of a man who alleged that the officers sodomized him with a screwdriver during a search for drugs.

Coprez Coffie, 23, had testified that the tactical officers used the tool on him in a West Side alley in 2004. His family hugged after the verdict was announced.

“Justice was served, it was,” Coffie said after court. “Now you see what’s going on. It’s put to the light.”

The jury was not asked to decide damages because the two sides had previously reached a settlement of $4 million if the verdict favored Coffie.

The jury, which deliberated for three days, did not stop to speak to reporters.

Coffie’s attorney, Jon Loevy, said he believed it was the totality of the evidence in the case that led to the favorable verdict. Loevy had presented evidence that an internal police investigation uncovered screwdrivers in the car used by the officers, that Coffie had an injury to his rectum and that a forensic test suggested there was human fecal matter in the car’s glove compartment.

Loevy called the case a black eye for the Police Department, which did not discipline the officers, Gerald Lodwich and Scott Korhonen. The nine jurors found that Korhonen conducted an unreasonable search and that Lodwich failed to stop it, he said.

“It’s further evidence that the Police Department does not do an effective job of policing itself,” he said.

The department recently has been embroiled in a scandal involving its now-disbanded Special Operations Section.

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Kid Rock Arrested After Fight

While promoting his latest CD, Kid Rock vowed he was putting his days of made-for-the-tabloid antics behind him. The man from Michigan says he wants to be known for his music, not as a gossip-column item.

This weekend in Atlanta, Kid Rock managed to do both.

Saturday night, he rocked a sold-out Tabernacle at a show supporting “Rock N Roll Jesus,” currently the No. 1 album in the country and the first chart-topper of his 17-year career.

A few hours later, Kid Rock, who calls his genre-bending blend of country, rap and southern rock “hick-Hop,” was arrested after police said he and his entourage beat up a customer — at a local Waffle House.

Rock, whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, was charged with simple battery, as were five other men who were with him.

The 36-year-old rocker was released from DeKalb County Jail on Sunday afternoon after posting a $1,000 bond on the misdemeanor charge.

Police said Ritchie was finishing up a post-show meal at a Waffle House on Buford Highway about 5:15 a.m. Sunday when a customer recognized a woman in his entourage and began exchanging words with her.

Ritchie joined in the altercation, which soon escalated into a physical fight between the rocker and the man, Harlen DeJon Akins, 39.

Soon, five other men in his entourage — including the guitarist and the bass player in his band, Twisted Brown Trucker — jumped into the fray, and the fight spilled from inside the restaurant into the parking lot, said police spokeswoman Mekka Parish.

When the brawl ended, Ritchie and his group got into their tour bus and left the scene. An officer pulled the bus over at Buford Highway and Lenox Road, and all five men were booked into jail on the misdemeanor battery charge.

Along with Ritchie, police charged guitarist Jason E. Krause, 38, bassist Aaron Julison, 27, George P. Vourvoulias, 36; James W. Murphy, 34; and Brian O. Lang, 37.

Akins, the customer who suffered minor cuts and bruises in the fight, faces a more serious charge.

Police said that during the fight, he punched a window of the restaurant and broke it. Because the pane cost more than $500, Akins was charged with a felony criminal damage to property.

The staff at the 24-hour eatery at 2812 Buford Highway said Sunday evening that they weren’t permitted to talk about the fight that resulted in the boarded-up window, referring comments to the restaurant spokesman.

“He [Akins] destroyed the window,” said spokesman Pat Warner. “I really don’t know what the intent was behind it.”

Warner sidestepped questions about Kid Rock facing only a misdemeanor for beating a man, while his alleged victim was slapped with a felony for breaking an $800 window.

“We’re concerned about all our customers,” the spokesman said.

Ritchie’s publicist could not be reached for comment Sunday night.

It was the second weekend in a row that an artist who is signed to Atlantic Records has been arrested in metro Atlanta.

On Oct. 13, federal agents arrested rapper T.I. in a Midtown parking lot as he allegedly tried to illegally buy three machine guns and two silencers, hours before he was to receive two top awards at the BET Hip-Hop Awards.

Unlike T.I, whose rise to success is a bonafide rags-to-riches story, the myth that Ritchie cultivates about growing up in a double-wide trailer in Michigan belies the fact that his father successfully owned two car dealerships.

UPDATE: T.I.’s Lawyers Ask For Bond, Home Confinement

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) — Surrounded by record executives and 35 of his relatives, rapper T.I. entered a not guilty plea Friday to gun charges, but a federal judge said he won’t rule until next week on whether T.I. can remain free on a bail that could total $2 million in cash.

 

 

T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris, was arrested Saturday on weapons charges.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Baverman said he remained troubled about the behavior of T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris.

Despite an offer by Harris’ attorneys to have him placed under 24-hour monitoring with drug exams during the bail period, Baverman said, “I haven’t heard enough. This is an extremely gifted and talented musician. He has been exceedingly generous and has reached out to the community with great generosity. At the same time and on the same day he was supposed to receive one of the most important awards in his career, he shows up armed to buy machine guns.

“I’m concerned about that dichotomy.”

Baverman said he is concerned that Harris might be a flight risk. He said he wants to look into the monitoring service recommended by the defense attorney, and will ask for $2 million in cash for the bail bond, and for Harris to pledge the equity in both his houses, valued at $1.5 million.

Baverman said he will rule on whether he will grant bail for Harris on October 26.

Harris, 27, was arrested in a federal sting Saturday just hours before he was scheduled to perform at the BET Hip Hop Awards. His bodyguard-turned-informant delivered three machine guns and two silencers to the rapper, according to a Justice Department statement.

At the hearing, Harris’ attorneys attempted to show that he was not a flight risk by asking Harris’ relatives to stand. Around 35 people stood.

In addition, six record executives were present, including Lyor Cohen, chairman and CEO of U.S. Recorded Music for the Warner Music Group, as well as the president of Atlantic Records. The record executives spoke in support of Harris’ bail application and pledged up to $2.2 million in signature bonds on Harris’ behalf. The signature bonds would guarantee Harris would show up for trial or the executives would forfeit the $2.2 million.

After the hearing Harris’ attorney, Steve Sadow, said he had no quarrel with the judge’s deliberations “because he’s a man who is taking his job very seriously and there are positions on both sides that are conflicting. So he’s doing what he’s supposed to do and that’s all we can ask.”

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Amy Winehouse Arrested For Marijuana Possession

MTV.COM–Amy Winehouse’s attempt to get her career back on track after an alleged drug overdose in August hit a snag on Thursday, when she and husband Blake Fielder-Civil were arrested in Norway for marijuana possession. The Associated Press reports that the couple and an unnamed third person were arrested shortly after 6 p.m. at a hotel in Bergen, Norway, after the police received a tip. All three were held overnight and released at around 7 a.m. Friday (October 19) after paying approximately $715 in fines.

“They were found with 7 grams [about one-fourth of an ounce] of marijuana,” said Prosecutor Lars Morten Lothe. “She’s paid the fine, so this thing is over for us now.”

Winehouse, 24, is just starting a European tour and is slated to perform in Oslo on Saturday, before heading to the Netherlands on Monday for another show.

The U.K.’s Times Online reported that the marijuana was not found on the singer or her husband, but in their hotel room.

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Update: Pedophile Suspect Arrested

BANGKOK (AFP) — A Canadian schoolteacher accused of sexually abusing boys across Southeast Asia was arrested and paraded before the cameras in Thailand Friday, ending a global manhunt sparked by a decoded digital photo.

Christopher Paul Neil, 32, tried to hide under a blue shirt as he was led in handcuffs past dozens of waiting reporters and into Thailand’s national police headquarters.

He later sat in silence for about five minutes alongside police, stonefaced and wearing dark sunglasses with a white T-shirt and black nylon running pants.

Colonel Pasial Luesomboon, the officer who arrested him, told AFP that Neil only confirmed his name, age and nationality when he was arrested around 11:00 am (0400 GMT) in Thailand’s third-largest city Nakhon Ratchasima.

“Then he said he knew this day would come, because a Thai court had issued an arrest warrant. He said he needed a lawyer but hasn’t said anything at all since then,” Pasial said.

The worldwide search for Neil began just 10 days ago with a groundbreaking appeal from Interpol for the public’s help in tracking down a man seen in 200 photos on the Internet that appeared to show him abusing a dozen young boys.

The man’s face had been digitally swirled, but German computer experts reconstructed the images which Interpol then posted on its website along with its call for assistance.

The operation was codenamed “Vico” because the images were believed to have been taken in Vietnam and Cambodia in 2002 or 2003.

More than 300 people replied to Interpol’s call, with five people on three continents offering critical information, the agency said in a statement on its website.

“The fact that we went to the public was the breakthrough,” Interpol detective Mick Moran told AFP.

“We are absolutely delighted that this guy has been arrested,” he added.

Neil was found in a one-storey rental house in Nakhon Ratchasima, around 300 kilometres (200 miles) northeast of Bangkok, where he was with a 25-year-old Thai transvestite, police said.

Police gave no details about his relationship with his companion.

The deputy national police chief, General Wongkot Maneerin, said Neil could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted over accusations that he abused a nine-year-old boy in Bangkok four years ago.

If any other countries want to prosecute him, he could be extradited after serving any prison time received in Thailand, Wongkut added.

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Charges Dropped Against Beanie Sigel

Beanie Sigel has beaten another rap. Prosecutors withdrew charges yesterday against the rapper, whose real name is Dwight Grant, after he resolved a dispute over a rental car he had kept long past its return date.

“We’re satisfied with the way the D.A.’s Office handled the case,” said Sigel’s attorney, Fortunato N. Perri Jr. He said there were no further outstanding charges against his client.

Sigel, 33, of South Philadelphia, was dressed in a brown shirt and pants as he appeared at his 9 a.m. preliminary hearing at 55th and Pine Streets before Municipal Court Judge Frank Brady.

Perri said that an employee with Payless Car Rental told the court that there had been a “misunderstanding” and that the agency wanted to drop the charges.

Payless, which continued to charge Grant’s credit card, reported the car stolen on Sept. 6, nearly a month after it was due to be returned on Aug. 13. Sigel paid the nearly $5,000 he owed for holding the 2007 Nissan Altima past its deadline.

Perri helped Sigel beat an attempted-murder rap in August 2005, a month after he left federal prison on a gun charge. He was also briefly jailed in late 2005 for failing to pay $27,000 in child support.

T.I. Heads Back to Court

Rapper T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr., is scheduled for a 10:30 bond hearing at the Federal Courthouse in downtown Atlanta.

Earlier this week, a grand jury passed down three indictments against Harris. He is charged with possessing unregistered machine guns and silencers, unlawfully possessing machine guns, and being a convicted felon in possession of firearms.

U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said ATF agents didn’t target the famous rapper, but that’s where the evidence led them. Investigators say Harris asked his bodyguard to buy machine guns and silencers for him. Other guns were allegedly found in Harris’ College Park home.

Friday’s bond hearing before United States Magistrate Judge Alan Baverman is expected to draw a large crowd. After fans and media packed the courtroom during Harris’ initial appearance, plans have been made to move the bond hearing to a bigger courtroom.

Foxy Brown Update: Lawyer drops case after wife is threatened

The defense lawyer for rapper Foxy Brown was scared off her case after his wife was threatened by a mystery man in the lobby of their Brooklyn building, the Daily News has learned.

Attorney Alan Stutman, who was representing the diminutive diva on felony assault charges, asked off the case after the bizarre incident, which occurred Friday night.

Stutman’s wife told police that a man she did not know got out of a silver car and confronted her in the lobby.

“How can a beautiful woman like you be beaten up?” he asked and then fled.

Brown, 28, whose real name is Inga Marchand, was arraigned on an indictment that charges her with belting a Brooklyn neighbor with her BlackBerry in July.

Man just got out of jail, arrested on sexual assault charges

RICHMOND, VA — A man released Monday on bail from the Fort Bend County Jail on a sexual assault charge was arrested today after he allegedly tried to sexually assault two women in separate incidents, police said.

Ronald Geathers, 36, was arrested shortly after 1:30 a.m. in the 800 block of Maiden Lane, said Richmond police Sgt. Lowell Neinast.

Neinast said police were first dispatched to the 1700 block of FM 1640 at an apartment complex where a woman told officers a man had tried to sexually assault her.

While officers were investigating that report a second call came from a residence on Maiden Lane.

Neinast said a woman at that house told officers a man had tried to sexually assault her. When police arrived Geathers was on the scene and he was arrested.

The victims in the Maiden Lane case and the FM 1640 case identified Geathers as the man who had attempted to sexually assault them, Neinast said.

Geathers was arrested and charged with two counts of attempted sexual assault and taken to the Fort Bend County jail, Neinast said.

Geathers was indicted in August on a charge of sexual assault in connection with an incident which happened July 14.

What Do We Know About The Canadian Pedophile Suspect?

There’s still a lot we don’t know about Christopher Paul Neil, the main suspect in a global manhunt for a man seen in more than 200 child porn pictures.

The 32-year-old hails from B.C., but hasn’t been in contact with his family for more than a month. But his past provides some intriguing clues about what he’s alleged to have done. Neil spent time in Nova Scotia as a counsellor and chaplain at an air cadet training centre – and taught his young charges a class about moral issues.

His duties at Greenwood Air Cadet Summer Training Centre from 1998 to 2000 brought him into close contact with youngsters between the ages of 12 and 18. “If young people were very homesick and having trouble coping away from home at a camp, he would be there to counsel,” advises Captain Hope Carr. But there were no complaints about him during his time there and everyone seemed happy with his work.

It’s not clear what sent him overseas, but he admits on his MySpace page that he never really wanted to come back. An expatriate Canadian named Amy Bowler frequently ran into Neil when he surfaced in South Korea as an English teacher. “He had a number of close friends,” she recalls about the frequent karaoke singer. “He came out regularly for drinks. He was certainly not a pariah.”

Then there’s the matter of a mysterious blog entry from a man named “Peter Jackson”, who authorities believe may have been Neil posting under an assumed name. The blog was aimed at English teachers and reveals a man devoted to the teaching profession who often demonstrated a sophomoric sense of humor.  While there are frequent references to sex in his postings, none directly reference children.

Instead, “Jackson” complained about condoms in South Korea, talked about a nurse who bathed him in a Thai hospital and described rebuffing a man who hit on him in a sauna. It’s clear he was at least partly versed in avoiding the law. Among the topics he broached in some of his 300 messages – how to delay or skirt police background checks needed for some teaching jobs. And on a Korean job board, he writes about deleting computer files. “If you’re worried about content there are several ways to encrypt your drive,” he advises.

It was the images from a computer that landed Neil in trouble in the first place.