I would say that limb is pretty secure. Just don't fall off! :-)
Posted on 06/19/2013 10:40:56 AM PDT by Deadeye Division
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled yesterday that police officers are not exempt from prosecution under the state’s witness-intimidation law.
In a 6-1 decision, the court upheld the 2010 conviction of a former Cincinnati police officer for intimidating a teenage boy into making a false confession for several robberies by threatening to jail his mother and remove his siblings from their home.
While the boy spent nine days in juvenile detention, Officer Julian Steele persuaded his mother to meet with him several times, telling her he wanted to discuss her son’s release. Eventually getting her to meet at his apartment, Steele asked her to engage in sexual activity with him. She agreed, telling investigators later that she had complied because she believed “he had the power over (her son’s) release.”
During that time, Steele told prosecutors, he knew the boy had not committed the crimes, but he arrested the teen to compel his mother to cooperate with the investigation. A vehicle registered to her had been seen in the neighborhood of one of the robberies. Prosecutors initially thought that the boy had been sent home on the day of his arrest, but after learning he was still locked up, they had him released and charges against him dismissed.
Steele was fired from the police department, convicted and sentenced to five years in prison for the abduction and intimidation of the teen.
“Steele proposes that an officer cannot be prosecuted for the offense of intimidation ... based on actions taken by the police officer while conducting an interrogation. We disagree,” Justice William M. O’Neill wrote in the court’s majority opinion.
Noting that Steele “admitted to school employees, (to the teen’s) mother and to the prosecutor”that he knew the teen was not involved in the robberies, the court stressed that “we are in no way attempting to tie the hands of police officers in their broad authority to arrest and detain suspects. ...
“Our holding today would reach only the rare circumstance of a police officer depriving a person of his or her liberty when a reasonable police officer would know that there is no probable cause supporting the detention, no matter how brief.”
Joining O’Neill were Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor and Justices Paul E. Pfeifer, Judith Ann Lanzinger, Sharon L. Kennedy and Judith L. French. Justice Terrence O’Donnell dissented without writing an opinion.
ccandisky@dispatch.com
I am going to go out on a limb and suggest this is one of Holder’s people.
Whoever it was he deserves a long jail time.
No charge for the rape of the mother?
That limb you are on is quite secure.
Doesn’t say anything about that, so I presume not.
It’s almost impossible to prove rape long after the act occurred.
somehow they’d turn it against the mom, indicting her for attempted bribery.
Oh yeah, he is one of Holder’s people.
Did he shoot their 3 lb puppy after he felt that he was in danger for his life?
This case had to go all the way to the Ohio Supreme Court??
Fkr ...
I would say that limb is pretty secure. Just don't fall off! :-)
Ohio Ping
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled yesterday that police officers are not exempt from prosecution under the state’s witness-intimidation law.
In a 6-1 decision, the court upheld the 2010 conviction of a former Cincinnati police officer for intimidating a teenage boy into making a false confession for several robberies by threatening to jail his mother and remove his siblings from their home.
Cops are NOT your friends.
I'll bet it's not as rare a circumstance as the court seems to think it is.
““we are in no way attempting to tie the hands of police officers in their broad authority to arrest and detain suspects. ... “
I would suggest this case demonstrates the need for narrowing such authority.
Score at least ONE for us “little people”!
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