Current Events > Police paid a woman to lie on stand.

(+) Yeah! (+)

A broke homeless woman was paid $30,000 to testify about an Oakland slaying she never witnessed. An allegedly rogue detective was bent on closing a case, with or without real evidence. Two young men were sentenced to serve life in prison for a murder they did not commit. A homicide victim was denied justice because the real killer was never caught. Three children grew up without a father in their life.

This stark picture was painted in a federal civil rights lawsuit that was filed Thursday for Giovante Douglas and Cartier Hunter against the Oakland Police Department.

The two Bay Area natives served nearly a decade in maximum security prisons before their convictions were overturned and their freedom was granted.

At a news conference held outside the Oakland courthouse Thursday, civil rights attorney Adant Pointer told reporters, Imagine being sentenced to life, to serve the rest of your natural life behind bars, for something you did not do?

https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/2-men-wrongfully-convicted-of-oakland-murder-file-lawsuit/

That "rouge" detective is now behind bars, right?

__starsnostars posted...

That "rouge" detective is now behind bars, right?

A rouge detective would just be red-faced.

Isolated incident of police authority abuse #727152627536

Zoinks

ai123 posted...

A rouge detective would just be red-faced.

Rekt

ai123 posted...

A rouge detective would just be red-faced.

It's the only way they could feign being embarrassed by their actions.

And ofc the article uses the "one bad apple" language to try to act like the problem is just a few bad cops here and there and not a system that allows or even incentivizes things like this to happen.

These mofos are literally legalized organized crime. Wonder how much illegal shit they do for the US government?

The case is against the one specific detective, but there's no way he paid $30,000 of his own money just to close a case. Either the department as a whole is behind it, or he's into some other illegal shit if he has that much to just throw around.

codey posted...

The case is against the one specific detective, but there's no way he paid $30,000 of his own money just to close a case. Either the department as a whole is behind it, or he's into some other illegal shit if he has that much to just throw around.

Yeah. Was going to say, coming into this topic you usually see it being just a couple hundred, but 30k is a LOT. Wonder what happened to the woman, if she gets in any trouble/has to pay any of it back.

Also, yeah, this is why I am predominately against the death penalty.

Heineken14 posted...

Yeah. Was going to say, coming into this topic you usually see it being just a couple hundred, but 30k is a LOT. Wonder what happened to the woman, if she gets in any trouble/has to pay any of it back.

Also, yeah, this is why I am predominately against the death penalty.

They should absolutely forfeit the money to her. Consider it part of the penalty, then slash the precinct budget by $30k because they clearly don't need it. Play stupid games, ...

This should be a criminal trial.

Heineken14 posted...

Also, yeah, this is why I am predominately against the death penalty.

It's why I'm not. The people that abused the system should be subjected to it. They were willing to ruin a man's life and let the murderer roam free for no other reason than wanting to close a case.

StarSpangled posted...

This should be a criminal trial.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/5/1/AAegNYAADft_.jpg

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/9/2/AAYZyTAAEkSI.jpg

Heineken14 posted...

Yeah. Was going to say, coming into this topic you usually see it being just a couple hundred, but 30k is a LOT. Wonder what happened to the woman, if she gets in any trouble/has to pay any of it back.

Also, yeah, this is why I am predominately against the death penalty.

Honestly let her keep the money. She was acting at the orders of the police. That's basically entrapment.

Whole department needs to be flushed and I'd want to investigate the prosecutors as well to see if they knew she wasn't a witness.

Hope those men get a large payout, and that detective gets locked away forever.

Tyranthraxus posted...

Honestly let her keep the money. She was acting at the orders of the police. That's basically entrapment.

Whole department needs to be flushed and I'd want to investigate the prosecutors as well to see if they knew she wasn't a witness.

I'm of the opinion that this is probably how it should be handled. Because I'm not sure what the witness could have done. Considering how corrupt these people were, saying "no" could have resulted in their demise.

Fuck the police

There's no way this was a one off event or only orchestrated by the one cop

Fuck the police

DarthAragorn posted...

There's no way this was a one off event or only orchestrated by the one cop

Fuck the police

It is definitely not a one off. Have you heard of The Innocence Project. Here's an excerpt from their site (https://innocenceproject.org/restoring-freedom/):

To date, we have helped free or exonerate more than 200 individuals, most of whom are from communities of color that tend to be more heavily policed, face persistent discrimination, experience poverty at higher rates, and are confronted with many more challenges in the criminal legal system. Altogether, these people have spent more than 3,600 years behind bars.

That's just what one organization with limited resources has been able to do. There are almost certainly many more wrongfully convicted people still in American prisons.

Oh it's for sure happened elsewhere in the country, I meant within this one department.

DarthAragorn posted...

Oh it's for sure happened elsewhere in the country, I meant within this one department.

As another user said I don't think this is within the department. It IS the department. You don't just get $30,000 in bribe money without some kind of OK from the police chief.

DarthAragorn posted...

Oh it's for sure happened elsewhere in the country, I meant within this one department.

For sure. It's highly doubtful this is the only time something like this has happened within that department.

How is eyewitness testimony even used as the crux in a case anymore?

C_Pain posted...

How is eyewitness testimony even used as the crux in a case anymore?

Because it sways juries.

Giacomo_Hawkins posted...

Because it sways juries.

It's infuriating.