[Peace] Sgt. Myers Given Probation: Torture Goes Unpunished

[Brian Dolinar]

Sgt. Myers Given Probation: Torture of Inmates Goes Unpunished by
State's Attorney

On Monday, October 26, former Sergeant William Alan Myers pleaded
guilty to charges of felony disorderly conduct and misdemeanor
aggravated battery. Charges of felony obstruction of justice and
felony aggravated battery were dropped. He received two years
probation, a $500 fine, and 100 hours community service.

This is the third cop in less than two years whose abuse of power has
gone unpunished by State's Attorney Julia Rietz (whose husband is,
incidentally, a cop). In July 2005, Urbana officer Kurt Hjort was
accused of rape by a 25 year old woman. Hjort was fired from the force
but special prosecutor Jim Dedman refused to even file charges against
him. In November 2005, Champaign County sheriff's deputy Ryan Garrett
lost his job after reports of physically abusing his wife, who later
left him, and threatening her boyfriend by telling him, "I'm a cop.
Watch your back." Garrett pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense and
received a two years conditional discharge. Garrett was represented by
Tony Novak, the attorney who also defended Sgt. Myers.

In all three cases, the loss of their job has been considered enough
punishment for these rogue cops. The response by Myers' attorney Tony
Novak is revealing:

"Alan Myers was a Champaign County Correctional Officer for over 13
years.  In November 2005, he was a sergeant and shift commander. It is
a thankless job.

Pursuant to his duty, he was attempting to control an extremely
disruptive inmate through use of a taser.  He failed to follow
protocol and then attempted to cover up his violation, ultimately
admitting the false report as contained in the charge of Disorderly
Conduct.

The guilty plea to the misdemeanor battery charge was a compromise of
a very close question of whether Alan Myers' use of the taser went
beyond what was necessary to control an extremely disruptive, mentally
unbalanced inmate.

Alan and I decided it was in his best interest to accept the plea
agreement although he has paid a heavy price in that he is unlikely to
ever work in law enforcement again."

Drawing attention to the length of Myers' employment, and his service
to the public for what is a difficult job, Novak says that Myers has
paid heavily for his abuses. The suggestion is that Myers suffered
enough because he lost his job.

Of course, if you or I, the average citizen, were caught stealing
money at our job, or if we committed aggravated battery against an
individual, we would not only loose our job, we would do some jail
time. Because of the police officer's unique position of power, the
expectations of them to uphold the law are not higher, but actually
lower than the ordinary citizen.

The 8th Amendement protects the public from "cruel and unusual
punishment."  This is one of the cornerstones of the American
Constitution and what makes it such a radical document. It says that
even the worst criminals in our society still have basic human rights.
Myers' attorney Tony Novak makes it clear that inmate Ray Hsieh, even
though he may have been mentally imbalanced, was being disruptive and
deserved what he got.

The Constitution apparently has no jurisdiction in the remote
cornfields of downstate Illinois.

The evidence in the case was that inmate Ray Hsieh was fully
restrained in a chair, his hands and ankles handcuffed, while Sgt.
Myers used a Taser on him four times.

Tony Novak said, "There was no torture here."

This was conceded to by the State's Attorney's office. Assistant
State's Attorney Steve Ziegler said that Myers "pleaded guilty to what
he did." Ziegler would not answer my questions: Why did he not pursue
felony aggravated battery against Myers? Why he did not file
additional charges against Myers for falsifying a police report on
Michael Rich? Why did he not even bother to call Trina Fairley,
another one of Myers' Taser victims?

The Sheriff was tight-lipped and had no comment.

The plea bargain given to Myers was covered by the News-Gazette, Daily
Illini, WDWS 1400 AM, and WILL 580. Still, none of these paid
journalists ever read the investigation into Myers where it reveals
his abuses against three other inmates. Independent media journalists
who broke this story received no acknowledgement for bringing it to
light. Local activists who have worked for over three years to stop
Tasers were not called for a statement. These people are volunteers
who receive no pay and dedicate themselves solely because of their
belief in justice. And then we are led to believe that it is police
officers who have a "thankless job."

Justice is a sham in Champaign County.

BD


-- 
Brian Dolinar, Ph.D.
303 W. Locust St.
Urbana, IL 61801
briandolinar at gmail.com