Arthur Tesler, Jason R. Smith, Gregg Junnier To Be Sentenced Today in Botched Raid, Murder of Kathryn Johnston, 92, in 2006

UPDATE

According to WSBTV, U.S. District Judge Julie Carnes sentenced Smith first, giving him 10 years to serve with three years probation. The sentence for Junnier was six years in prison plus three years supervised release. Tessler was ordered to serve five years in prison plus three years supervised release. All of the sentences are minus time already served. All three must share the funeral costs that were paid for Johnston.

The scumbag cops who pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge in connection with the death of Kathryn Johnston, 92, during a botched drug raid. At the sentencing table at 10 a.m. this morning will be Jason R. Smith, Gregg Junnier and Arthur Tesler. They will be sentenced on a conspiracy charge of violating Ms. Johnston’s civil rights which resulted in her death. She was killed by a barrage of gunfire during the 2006 raid.

According to media reports, the U.S. attorney’s office has recommended that Smith serve about 12 and half years in federal prison and that Junnier and Tesler serve about 10 years. Prosecutors recommend that Smith and Junnier receive reduced sentences because of their cooperation with authorities. I hope the judge throws the book at these men. It is also my hope that they put them in general population where they can savor the prison experience in its entirety.

Filed under: Arthur Tesler, Botched Drug Raid, Civil Rights Violation, Gregg Junnier, Jason R. Smith, Kathryn Johnston, Maximum Sentence

Fort Lauderdale Appoints Frank Adderley, an African American Its New Police Chief

The city of Fort Lauderdale has just appointed its first black police chief, Frank Adderley, a 28-year veteran of the department. His appointment comes as the agency struggles with low morale, distrust of city management and historically poor relations with the minority community. He was appointed chief after Bruce Roberts abruptly stepped down. Adderley is a highly commended officer who has been a pioneer at the department, having been its first black captain, major and assistant chief.

“I am honored and very excited for the opportunity to lead the dedicated men and women of this department, and to serve the people of this community,” Adderley, 46, said in a statement released by the city.

Roberts decided to leave Wednesday in part due to brutal union contract negotiations and what he called “micromanaging” by the city manager’s office. Roberts had initially planned to stay for 90 days, but voluntarily resigned Thursday.

According to the Sun Sentinel, union contract negotiations have soured relations between rank-and-file members and city management in recent months. Roberts cited those negotiations in his letter of resignation and accused Gretsas of trying to punish union leadership and delaying the purchase of safety equipment. Gretsas responded that Roberts was too close to the union.

The Sun Sentinel said that Adderley is a native of Fort Lauderdale who grew up in the neighborhoods where the department has struggled to establish good relations. He graduated from Stranahan High School in 1980 and joined the police department that year. Since then, he’s held nearly every position at the department as he worked his way up the chain of command.

Adderley lives in Plantation. City officials said he doesn’t need to move into the city because he was promoted from within the agency. In 2006, after a spate of fatal police shootings in the city’s northwest section, Adderley helped to sooth relations with the historically poor, black neighborhoods. His promotion Thursday brought measured applause from black residents and leaders, I am sure in part due to a mistrust of the police department.

So, here’s a brother doing the right thing and I would like to salute him on his promotion and wish him all the best! Many feel that he will bring a fresh start to policing despite tensions between the black community and the police department. On a serious note, there seems to be a culture in the police departments across the United States that it is okay to shoot first and worry later. As Markel Hutchins, who is running for the 2nd Congressional seat against civil rights stalwart John Lewis has said, there needs to be a massive effort on the federal level to change the the way the police departments operate in this country. All too often we hear of police brutality and the ensuing cover-up, as evidenced from Sean Bell, the three men in Philadelphia, Kathryn Johnston of Atlanta who was fatally shot by police in a botched raid, as countless others. The task before Adderley is a daunting one, but to echo Markel Hutchins, in a recent interview I did with him (which I will put on the blog shortly), all change has to come from the federal and state levels. I echo his sentiments that the police department has to see that it needs to work with the community, not in an adversarial manner, to get things done. Many blacks are naturally distrustful of the police because of prior experience. Just my thoughts, you be the judge…..

Filed under: Frank Adderley, Kathryn Johnston, Markel Hutchins, police brutality

Atlanta Detective Arthur Tesler, Sentenced to Four Years, Six Months in the Shooting Death Of Kathryn Johnston, 92

Kathryn Johnston’s life should not have ended the way it did on November 21, 2006. Johnson, 92, was fatally shot after she fired at police as they burst into her residence. Why did this happen? The cops went to serve an illegal no-knock warrant that led to a botched raid and the planting of narcotics in this woman’s house, in an effort to conceal their wrongdoing. We are revisiting this case because Detective Arthur Bruce Tesler, 42, who was convicted of lying to investigators about the Kathryn Johnston shooting was sentenced today, by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson, to four years and six months in prison, as well as six months on probation. He was convicted of lying about the botched drug raid and was also acquitted of two other charges.

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Tesler, who was stationed at the rear of the house, fired no shots but admitted in court that he participated in a cover-up of the illegal no-knock warrant that led to the botched raid and of the planting of narcotics in the house to hide their wrongdoing. Tesler said he didn’t object to lies to get a search warrant and helped cover up the crime after an innocent woman was killed, because he feared retribution from Atlanta police if he became a “rat,” an FBI agent said. He could have faced 20 years in prison if convicted of all three charges, but the jury decided he was not guilty of violating his oath or false imprisonment related to his role in the raid.

Tesler was one of three officers charged in the Johnston case. The other two, Gregg Junnier and Jason R. Smith, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter as well as to federal charges of violating Johnston’s civil rights. The AJC said that Tesler spoke on his own behalf at the sentencing hearing. “I’m truly sorry for what happened,” Tesler said. “I want to do as much as I can to see that it never happens again.” Tesler said he hopes the community around Johnston’s Neal Street home and her family can heal. Heal? How many blacks in this country have stories about being profiled by the cops, sometimes with fatal results such as this?

The AJC said that State Sen. Vincent Fort and others called on U.S. Attorney David Nahmias to pursue federal charges in the case, which drew national attention and uncovered a pattern of Atlanta police abuses. Patrick Crosby, a spokesman for Nahmias, said the prosecutor’s office had no comment. Tesler was one of three officers charged in the Johnston case. The other two, Gregg Junnier and Jason R. Smith, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter as well as to federal charges of violating Johnston’s civil rights.

There is a serious problem with in many police departments across this country. It seems as though they feel they have a blank check to violate people’s civil rights and inflict bodily injury and sometimes death, and walk away scotch free. There is a certain sense of brotherhood evident as well that states implicitly that no one dare rat another cop out. They did the unthinkable to Ms. Johnston. They accused her of having marijuana in her house, knowing that the source of that drug was in fact the very officers who killed this woman. The same situation has reared its head in the beating of the three unarmed black men in Philadelphia and the NYPD’s shooting of Sean Bell, the unarmed man on his wedding day. There must be legislation on the federal level that seeks to hold these departments and police men accountable for their actions. They must not continue to engage in such barbaric behavior and walk free. This is sending the wrong message that it is open-season for the cops to do as they please.

The bigger problem with Ms. Johnston’s case was that the cops went to the judge and go a warrant based on a lie, which they claimed was a good tip from a criminal informant, who has since testified that he told them no such thing. A former Atlanta police officer Gregg Junnier, who has since been sentenced in the crime, previously testified that narcotics officers routinely lied under oath when seeking search warrants, essentially making a mockery of the justice system. He said that detectives would tell judges that they had verified their informants had bought cocaine from dealers by searching them for drugs before the buy took place. This is a big problem that needs to be fixed. Too many innocent lives will be impacted and possibly lost, as was Ms. Johnston’s, on a lie. What is happening in this country? Blacks and Hispanics are always on the receiving end of this pattern of criminal behavior. Just my thoughts, you be the judge….

Filed under: Atlanta Police, Bruce Tesler, Kathryn Johnston, No-Knock Warrant