Posted on 09/06/2007 9:07:49 PM PDT by abt87
MOUNT KISCO, N.Y., Sept. 6 — A village police officer was charged on Thursday with second-degree manslaughter in the death of a homeless Guatemalan immigrant four months ago that had shaken this community of 10,000 people.
The officer, George Bubaris, also faces one count of unlawful imprisonment and two counts of official misconduct, according to an indictment unsealed in Westchester County.
In a news conference on Thursday, the Westchester district attorney, Janet DiFiore, refused to detail what investigators believe transpired between Officer Bubaris and Mr. Perez, other than to say that Officer Bubaris, “while on duty as a Mount Kisco police officer, restrained Rene Perez and exposed him to a risk of serious physical injury,” recklessly causing his death.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
What are the details of the case? I’m not a fan of getting an advertising page from the NYSlimes when I click the link...
The Journal News has a good timeline:
http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070906/NEWS02/709060427
I tried posting their article originally, but The paper isn’t accepted as a source (lib paper). I understand that they support the DemocRats, but the timeline itself is pretty good.
Drunk illegal immigrants sleeping in the streets or cops "exposing" them to death through unnamed actions?
This one is murky....can’t really tell what is what.
I’m originally from Mount Kisco, and I have known about the illegal problem for years, but I never thought that my town would become the center of a media circus. I thought stuff like that would happen in some far off corner of the country (or at least 40-50 miles away in NYC or upstate).
The surveillance footage from Peltz’s estate does show his car, so that, combined with his absence, doesn’t look good. Of course, in criminal trials it must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt that an assault committed by Bubaris (seems likely, due to the autopsy results) caused Perez to ultimately die. Proving it in the legal realm is harder than it is in the realm of public opinion and speculation.
“I can’t believe this is happening.”
why?
Alcoholism doesn’t cause torn mesentery, a membrane that connects the intestines to the abdominal wall and it sure doesn’t happen by itself.
>>What are the details of the case? I’m not a fan of getting an advertising page from the NYSlimes when I click the link...<<
I read the whole story and still cant tell what happened. It sounds like the cop took a homeless man out in the country and left him on a dirt road where he died.
The coroner ruled it a homicide and the cause of death abdominal injuries.
But it sounds like they can’t prove the cop beat the man to death but since the cop had no business taking him out in the country and leaving him, they are holding the cop responsible but in a reduced fashion with 2nd degree manslaughter.
I think
It’s unclear to me that the officer actually hit the vagrant. If he did, and caused these injuries, he should be tried. My question is this. Could the vagrant have injured himself? Did this have to be an instance of brutality by the officer?
The grand jury seems to think so. I’m not sure how reliable the body is, if there was a good DA.
I would hate to see the officer have to stand trial unfairly, but would hate it worse to see the guy get off for killing someone.
What a mess.
Whatever the case with the dead vagrant, be he illegal or the habitual town drunk, he didn’t deserve the death penalty for his actions. If he is shown to have died at the hands of another, I want the perp taken down.
The death of [petty criminal] Mr. Perez, who was here illegally, upset the already fragile relations in this wealthy village in northern Westchester County, where professionals and owners of rambling horse farms coexist with day laborers and struggling families.
He wasn't an IMMIGRANT. He was an ILLEGAL ALIEN, dammit.
Could it happen if a drunken person fell on an object causing great injury?
See post #6
The DA is a Republican, to clear things up (she replaced the corrupt Jeanine Pirro). However, I think she’s about as conservative as David Souter, judging from her positions in her 2005 campaign.
“But a lawyer for Officer Bubaris, Eddie Hayes, said in a telephone interview after the indictment was unsealed that prosecutors could not “prove that anything my client did caused” Mr. Perez’s death.”
IMO this quote is like the lawyer may be conceding that something may have happened (beating?)????
And he was in this country since 1992! Also, if you good back a search through old JN articles, they explain that Perez lived in nearby Brewster, NY during the ‘90s (also a cesspool for illegals - even worse than Mount Kisco, which at least has some middle and upper-class neighborhoods). His first of many arrests in the Kisco-Bedford area was in 2000.
No the lawyer is admitting that the guy died. That is pretty clear. The question is did the person indicted do anything to cause that death.
The guy was a drunk. It is probably impossible to know when that injury was sustained.
Possibly. However, we haven’t heard from Burbaris on the stand yet, since the trial hasn’t started. He might have punched Perez and just left him to walk back to town himself. However, he has to prove that punching Perez, in and of itself, didn’t not cause Perez’s death (although the autopsy, Peltz’s footage, and Burbaris’ absence don’t look good...although the later MIGHT be cleared up if he can find any witnesses at the train station who saw him).
So, which part of the story do you not believe?
If you are going to follow this case please feel free to ping me any updates and new articles. I am interested in seeing how this one turns out.
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