Re: [Peace-discuss] Re: [Announce] [Peace] State’s Attorney Rietz Participates In Cover-up Of Police Brutality

Thu Jan 31 00:45:32 CST 2008

On the circuit clerk site the offense date is listed as 3/10/07 and the date
the charges were filed was 5/08/07.  Even making the allowance that filing
charges on the defendants birthday may be coincidental it is very telling
that the States Attorneys office waited over a month before pressing
charges.

This young man is facing the charge of resisting a peace officer. This begs
the question as to if the police officer had a lawful reason for stopping
the young man in the first place. The only public reason given for this was
that the defendant was leaving the park "after dusk".  Unlike other public
parks in the Champaign area Douglass park was the only one that had that
rule.  A group of individuals on a toxic tour was asked to define what
"dusk" is. Only one or two were able to give sunset as an answer. Since this
incident the park district has changed the time of the park closing to
reflect a more consistent hour.

Still considering that the young man was leaving Douglass Center (which was
open) with two companions it would seem that there was no real basis for
stopping him. Additionally a charge like "resisting a peace officer" is
generally given when a defendant knowingly and deliberately interferes with
officers from performing their lawful duty. The lawyers who post to this
listserve are welcome to provide any corrections or clarifications on this

So you have a kid who was resisting arrest - well what was he being arrested
for? Being in the park "after dusk"...in that case if this warrants an
arrest then how come his companions weren't taken into custody?  Here we
have a 17 yr old who has no prior criminal record in Champaign County being
pepper sprayed, beaten, and sent to the hospital and the States Attorneys
office failed to investigate this. That is truly a travesty of justice.

When Rietz ran for office she promised the African American community that
she would make changes so that the system would become more fair and just.
Since then her office has continued to treat officers who break the law with
leniency. Caucasian University of Illinois students who break the law are
often treated with kid gloves because the States Attorneys office doesn't
wish to ruin their future. Yet, how is it acceptable for her office to throw
the book at a young man for resisting a peace officer? But I guess since he
is young and black and not a U of I student it's perfectly kosher for Ms.
Julia to make an example of him.

Am I engaging in speculation...certainly. The facts lend themselves well to
that. Of course the people who really support her have written letters to
the News-Gazette talking about how she visits the school kids. In addition
by behaving like a good mistress in the plantation  she is being credited
for bringing 'integrity' to her position. Is that an example of engaging in
hyperbole? Of course...and it provides a metaphor for the people who believe
that the system favors the elite and screws the marginalized.

The bottom line here is Ms. Rietz did not keep the promises that she made in
the last election and that is why she is facing competition.

--Marti

On Jan 30, 2008 2:04 PM, John W. <jbw292002 at gmail.com> wrote:

>  At 12:26 PM 1/30/2008, Alfred Ivy wrote:
>
> Ms. Wendy,
>
> Raining on the conspiracy theory would be fine if the facts were
> different.  Here, we have a young man complaining of police misconduct.
> After those complaints are made known, the States Attorney does not
> investigate the matter as is required.  Rather the SAO charges the young man
> with the one charge which, if convicted, would negate his civil rights
> claim.  That is the conspiracy theory that we are really talking about here.
>
> Thank you,
> THE Alfred D. Ivy, III
>
>
>
> What is important is that we strengthen our case by keeping our conspiracy
> theories straight and factual, rather than weaken it by resorting to wild
> speculation and hyperbole.  Thank you for the clarification, THE.
>
> John Wason
>
>
>
> On 1/30/08, Wendy Edwards <wedwards at ncsa.uiuc.edu > wrote:
>
>  I hate to rain on the conspiracy theory, but the age to be charged as an
> adult in Illinois is 17, so the 18th birthday thing doesn't make much
> difference.
>
>
> Wendy
>
> On Jan 30, 2008, at 7:28 AM, Brian Dolinar wrote:
>
>  Some may remember an incident on March 30, 2007 when Champaign police
> sent 17 year-old Brian Chesley to the hospital after an incident in Douglass
> Park. The claims of police brutality were dismissed by local officials, and
> quickly dropped by the mainstream media, but the case remains in court.
> State's Attorney Julia Rietz, currently up for re-election, is taking
> Chesley to court in a trial that could begin in March for a misdemeanor
> charge of resisting a peace officer.
>
> Charges were filed five weeks after the incident on May 8, 2007, Chesley's
> 18th birthday, so he could be tried as an adult. The current prosecution by
> Rietz's office is clearly an attempt to stave off a civil suit against
> Champaign police for excessive use of force. Like the 2005 case of Sgt.
> Myers, a jail guard who was caught using a Taser to torture inmates, Rietz
> is once again placing the threat of law suits over the concerns of justice.
> This is an attempt to cover up another incident of police brutality.
>
> On March 30, at approximately 8:30 p.m., Brian Chesley was walking out of
> the Douglass Park gymnasium with two other youth, a 15 year-old and a 8
> year-old, after playing basketball. The two older boys were walking the
> younger one home. Park programs continued until midnight and park signs
> (changed soon after) indicated the park was closed at 9:00 p.m. Champaign
> police said the park closed at dusk and they had probable cause to stop the
> youth. What happened afterwards is in dispute. Champaign police say Chesley
> youth ran. Chesley says he was grabbed by police, thrown up against a fence,
> beaten, and heavily pepper sprayed. An ambulance had to be called to take
> him to the hospital.
>
> This occurred the same night as a Democratic fundraiser at the house of
> Gina Jackson, Champaign city council representative of District 1. Local
> kids came to her front door that night saying police had just beat up
> somebody. The alderwoman, with other members of the local Democratic Party,
> walked down the street to find a crowd of frightened youth, and young
> Chesley sitting on the curb obviously in pain.
>
> Community members went to Champaign city council the following Tuesday
> night to address what they said was police brutality. Martel Miller, of VEYA
> (Visionaries Educating Youth and Adults), brought Chesley and his mother to
> the meeting and pleaded for something to be done. Gina Jackson (who has
> endorsed Rietz's re-election) said that there must be "zero tolerance" for
> youth who do not obey authority.
>
> Attorneys Bob Kirchner and Ruth Wyman have taken up Chesley's case and are
> currently representing him. The State's Attorney's office attempted to make
> an offer of adult diversion, which would have required an admission of
> guilt. Chesley refused the offer. The trial date will be set in the next
> hearing on March 3, 2008 at 3 p.m. in Courtroom E.
>
> The Circuit Clerk web site clearly shows the offense date of 3/30/07 and
> charges filed 5/8/07, the 18th birthday of Chesley, 5/8/89:
>
>  https://secure.jtsmith.com/clerk/clerk.asp
>
> ***Don't miss the debate Wednesday night, January 30, 6 p.m.***
> University of Illinois Law School Auditorium
> Alfred Ivy, III, Julia Rietz, and Janie Miller-Jones.
>
> --
> Brian Dolinar, Ph.D.
> 303 W. Locust St.
> Urbana, IL 61801
> briandolinar at gmail.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/archive/peace-discuss/attachments/20080131/458f3155/attachment.htm