[CO] Mayor Faldung pled guilty to family assaults though he and his wife deny they happened

...Jill Fladung wrote in the police report that her husband [Ault Mayor James Fladung] shoved her into a wall several times and that afterward, her wrists, shoulders and neck ached.  However, on Wednesday she told 9News she was not seriously hurt... Weld County District Attorney spokeswoman Thea Mustari said Fladung was charged with one count each of third-degree assault and child abuse... [Later Jill] denied that her husband assaulted her and said she called police because she was worried he would hurt himself... Police Chief Tracey McCoy said he stood by his officer's report, saying, "Sounds to me like a domestic violence victim recanting her story. My officers have no reason to lie"...

MAYOR WAS PROPERLY REMOVED
Knight Ridder Tribune
Bill Jackson
Oct 27, 2006
A Weld District Court judge ruled Thursday that the town of Ault acted properly in removing Mayor James Fladung from office earlier this year. Fladung said he had not talked with his lawyer and was not aware of the decision, but said he was disappointed... The town board unanimously decided Aug. 8 to remove Fladung from office, citing his alcoholism, his arrest in an assault this spring and his absence from meetings as reasons for his dismissal. A recall petition had been initiated by a group of residents prior to his dismissal...

THE PATH TO MAYOR FLADUNG'S REMOVAL:

AULT MAYOR CHARGED WITH DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, CHILD ABUSE
Family Refuses To Pay Bond
TheDenverChannel.com
May 3, 2006 [Excerpts] The mayor of Ault, a small town in northern Colorado, remained in jail Wednesday after being arrested over the weekend on charges of third-degree assault, domestic violence and child abuse. According to an arrest report, James Fladung's blood-alcohol level was at least 0.40 percent... Officers "observed the (Breathalyzer) results climbing at a rapid rate, reaching above a 0.4 (percent) . . . the numbers were moving too fast for the officer to read and the machine shut off and would not turn back on, as if it was broken," according to an arrest affidavit... Weld County District Attorney spokeswoman Thea Mustari said Fladung was charged with one count each of third-degree assault and child abuse, both misdemeanors. The mayor's wife, Jill, said her husband did not assault her and the couple's 15-year-old son got a mark on the wrist when he tried to take house keys away from his father. His bond was set at $3,000, which family members have refused to pay to help him sober up, his wife, Jill, said... She denied that her husband assaulted her and said she called police because she was worried he would hurt himself...

MAYOR IN JAIL ON DRUNKEN CHILD ABUSE ARREST
posted by:  Dan Viens  Web Producer
9News
Created: 5/3/2006
[Excerpts] ..."The report says he slammed me into a wall several times," Jill Fladung said. "That's absolutely false. He didn't lay a hand on me." Ault police officer Pete Jones wrote in his report that authorities had been called to the Fladung residence "numerous times" for domestic problems, which Jill Fladung also denied. Police Chief Tracey McCoy said he stood by his officer's report...

MAYOR OF AULT SPENDING TIME IN LOCKUP
Rocky Mountain News
By Bianca Prieto
May 3, 2006
[Excerpts] The mayor of Ault completed his third day in jail Tuesday, after being arrested on suspicion of domestic violence and child abuse. James Fladung, 49, was arrested Saturday afternoon at his home in Ault after he and his wife and 15-year-old son struggled over a house key when he came home drunk... Arresting officers took Fladung to North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley because of his high blood-alcohol level... He is being held on $3,000 bail. Mandatory restraining orders were obtained by the district attorney's office against Fladung because it is a domestic violence case. The charges stem from a shoving match during which Fladung allegedly pushed his wife, Jill, and left marks on his son's arms as the pair tried to lock him out of the house. "The man has never touched me (before)," Jill Fladung said Tuesday. "He is not violent." James Fladung suffers from severe alcoholism, she said, and she was forced to call police after repeatedly asking him to leave their home and go to a nearby relative's. She called police when she became fearful that someone would get hurt. "He's a human being, and we all make mistakes," she said. "He has a horrific disease, and I want him to get help with the alcohol... We all care about James so much that you have to do the tough love," she said. The couple have known each other since they were 5 years old and have been married for 20 years. "He has never, ever struck me," she said. "If he'd been such a horrible person, I wouldn't have stayed with him. I'm not one of those women." Ault police records show officers have been called to the Fladung home seven times since 2005...

AULT MAYOR’S WIFE SPEAKS ABOUT HUSBAND’S ARREST
Mayor had an 0.4 blood-alcohol level
Greeley Tribune, CO
By Mike Peters
May 3, 2006
[Excerpts] ...Jill Fladung said her husband, Mayor James Fladung, is not a bad man “but he has a drinking problem and we had to do something to make him get help.” Police were called to the Fladung house Saturday afternoon after he got into a struggle with his wife and their teenage son... Police said the struggle began when Jill Fladung installed new locks in the house, and when her husband came to the home, he somehow had a key... It may be a while before James Fladung learns about his mayoral status. Mayor Pro-Tem Troy Osborne said Tuesday the council will discuss the mayor’s arrest at Tuesday’s night’s work session, but they would have to meet in a regular public session to vote on his status. There are six town trustees, and it would take a two-thirds majority to remove the mayor from office. Fladung has been on the board about 10 years with two years as mayor.

AULT ROILED BY MAYOR'S ARREST
The mayor pro tem says he should resign.
By Mike McPhee
DenverPost.com
5/03/2006
[Excerpts] ...Ault police arrested Mayor James Fladung, 49, on Saturday for allegedly shoving his wife and son while he was staggering drunk... Fladung was charged with third-degree assault, child abuse and domestic violence... [His wife Jill] said the incident has turned into a political battle because the police department and the town's board of trustees don't want Fladung as mayor anymore... Jill Fladung said police have been to her home only once, last December, when her son called them because he was worried about his father being too drunk, not because of any argument or fighting. Police Chief Tracey McCoy said he stood by his officer's report, saying, "Sounds to me like a domestic violence victim recanting her story. My officers have no reason to lie"...

MAYOR CHARGED WITH DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
9NEWS Northern
Marissa Pasquet  Web Producer
reported by:  Roger Wolfe
5/3/2006 5:10 PM MST -
Updated: 5/4/2006 9:00 AM MST
[Excerpts] ...He was taken to the hospital before being transferred to the Weld County Jail. His family decided not to post the $3,000 bond. "We have to think of him and kind of the old tough love," said Fladung's wife Jill.  "I know that where he is right now he is safe, he has not been able to drink, his mind is getting clear so he can be clear for his hearing"... Jill Fladung wrote in the police report that her husband shoved her into a wall several times and that afterward, her wrists, shoulders and neck ached.  However, on Wednesday she told 9News she was not seriously hurt.  "I got pushed back and the police tell you to write that down, and you don't understand when you do that, that it's going to be blown so out of proportion," Jill Fladung said.  "I've been married to this man for 20 years and he has never once struck me, he has never raised a hand to me, never even grabbed me roughly." James Fladung has been on the town board of this small Weld County farm town for about 10 years, and has served as mayor for the past two years. Mayor pro tem Troy Osborne says the town board discussed Saturday's incident Tuesday night and their consensus is that Fladung should resign.  Jill Fladung agrees that her husband should step down as mayor. "He needs to get some serious help," Jill Fladung said.  "He doesn't need the pressure of being mayor and the decisions and so forth."  She hopes spending some time in jail will convince her husband to stay sober...

AULT MAYOR PLEADS NOT GUILTY IN CHILD-ABUSE CASE
Rocky Mountain News
May 9, 2006
[Excerpts] The mayor of Ault pleaded not guilty to child abuse and third-degree assault in a Weld County court Monday afternoon and was released from jail, ending nine days in lock- up... He was released on a personal-recognizance bond, which forbids him from drinking alcohol, using drugs or leaving the state. The restraining orders protecting his wife and son were modified to allow contact for counseling purposes. Third-party and phone contact also are allowed, said Thea Mustari, spokeswoman for the Weld County District Attorney's Office. Troy Osborne, Ault's mayor pro tem, said the Town Board will ask for Fladung to resign once it has the opportunity to speak with him...

AULT MAYOR PLEADS GUILTY TO ASSAULT
Knight Ridder Tribune
Mike Peters
May 31, 2006
[Excerpts] Ault Mayor James Fladung pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault in court Tuesday and agreed to enroll in a treatment program for alcoholism. Fladung said he wasn't guilty of assault but wanted to get the case behind him... The family has been contacted by the "Dr. Phil" show for a possible appearance, and the national news program "Inside Edition" has also contacted them... "I didn't want to plead guilty in court to something I didn't do," Fladung said. "But getting this over with quickly and getting me into treatment is the best thing for everybody"... Judge Julie Hoskins agreed to remove the restraining order after Fladung completed a 45-day in-patient alcohol therapy course at the Island Grove Treatment Center... Both Jill Fladung and their son received minor scrapes in the incident, but both insist now that they weren't assaulted...

AULT MAYOR ON 2 YEARS' PROBATION
Rocky Mountain News
Bianca Prieto
Jun 1, 2006
[Excerpts] A drinking problem, domestic violence and being absent from town meetings may cost the Ault mayor his position on the board. A group of concerned citizens are circulating petitions around the town of Ault in hopes of removing James Fladung from his position as Mayor. Dale Hinz, Jolene Andersen and Edwin Lesh, members of the recall committee, say the mayor has embarrassed the town with his recent arrest and guilty plea in May. Fladung was arrested at his home on April 30 after his wife called town police for assistance. He was arrested for third-degree assault, domestic violence and child abuse. But when the town board asked him to step down from the position in May, he said no... At one time, Lesh said the town was asked to participate in a function with other town and city officials of Weld County, and Fladung was intoxicated when he arrived. "We just want someone who can be there," said Andersen. "There's been other times that the Mayor couldn't be found"...

AULT MAYOR FIGHTS OUSTER
Knight Ridder Tribune
Mike Peters
Aug 10, 2006
[Excerpts]  The morning after Mayor James Fladung was voted off the town board by the other members, Fladung and his wife started actions to show the board was not only wrong in voting him off, but may have done something illegal... However, Town Attorney Russ Anson said the board took legal action, given to them by the Colorado statutes. Fladung said he is now trying to get an injunction to stop the board from dismissing him... The Fladung family will tape a session of the Dr. Phil Show in Los Angeles on Aug. 31. The show will discuss the problems of children of alcoholics, and all the family members are expected to be on the show...

MAYOR'S BATTLE WITH BOTTLE GOES PUBLIC
In tiny Ault, east of Fort Collins, a local flap is getting national attention, including free counseling for the mayor from TV shrink Dr. Phil. A recall vote looms
Denver Post
Monte Whaley
Sep 20, 2006
[Excerpts] ...Turns out producers for the famous television shrink saw the reports of the mayor's arrest and reached out to help the mayor and his family - counseling that is expected to be aired nationally within the next two weeks. It's the kind of public attention Ault doesn't need, town leaders say, a conundrum that Dr. Phil is not offering advice about... Fladung insists his addiction has never tripped him up as mayor. But plenty of folks, including the town trustees, say his drinking problem has hampered his work and become a high-profile embarrassment... Fladung, who along with his wife and son taped a segment with Dr. Phil last month, says his leadership is needed now more than ever... He is suing Ault's town trustees... Fladung claims his ouster was illegal because it wasn't due to official misconduct, only his addiction to alcohol... Fladung's wife, Jill, says she understands why the trustees don't want to deal with the stigma of a mayor fighting alcoholism. 'But this is a lot like a lynch mob working here,' she said. 'It's not illegal to be an alcoholic and be on the town board'... Over the past year, Fladung says, he could sense his life spinning out of control. His pint-of-vodka-a-day habit was causing money problems... 'We never knew which Jim we would get, whether he'd be sober or drunk,' Jill Fladung said...

MAYOR WAS PROPERLY REMOVED
Knight Ridder Tribune
Bill Jackson
Oct 27, 2006. pg. 1
[Excerpts] ...A Weld District Court judge ruled Thursday that the town of Ault acted properly in removing Mayor James Fladung from office earlier this year... In his decision Thursday, Weld District Chief Judge Roger Klein said the town's decision was right, adding that Fladung was given 30 days to appeal the board's decision. According to court records, Fladung ordered a transcript of the Aug. 8 hearing, but he didn't take any action...
[recant public official involved domestic violence oidv intimate partner violence (IPV) abuse accountability professionalism public safety fatality fatalities lethal murder state jail]

[NY] From the diary of Juliet Alexander before NYPD Sgt Peters murdered her

"The fear in me is so strong

that I feel something is going to happen

and happen real soon...

When I met Martin Peters darkness took over my life...

I guess that I was not quite mature enough to deal with an older man. Although I was a woman who was physically, mentally and verbally abused, I was not strong enough to talk to somebody about it...

I want to rise above all my downfalls...

I want to be free of Martin Peters. I want to be able to go on with my life, without living in fear.

I want a miracle.

I want to wake up one day and all this harassment and this abuse is all over...

As Martin once said to me,

'If I can't have you, no one will.'

Now you see why

I keep looking over my shoulders.

If this is the way it has to end,

I am prepared to meet my maker.

The end."

U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service Detention Enforcement Officer Juliet "Wendy" Alexander was murdered by the father of her 2 children, ex-boyfriend New York Police Sgt. Martin Peters on January 16, 2001.

NOTES FROM THE NEWS:

1/17/2001

NYPD POLICE SGT. MARTIN PETERS QUESTIONED IN DEATH OF JULIET PETERS - Cops were questioning a police sergeant last night in connection with the murder of his ex-girlfriend - the mother of his two children. A man was also shot... The wounded man, Nigel Callender, 32, was hit by gunshots in the neck and back... Callender was expected to survive, but he will be left paralyzed, police officials said. "His story had changed a number of times," said one high-ranking police source... Neighbors told detectives they saw two men climbing in a window of Alexander's apartment before the shooting... Officers said Peters had gone to Alexander's apartment in the morning to pick up their two children, an 8-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl, and take them to school... "His record is unremarkable," said the high-ranking official. "There is no history of domestic violence that we know of"... Alexander worked as a guard for the Immigration and Naturalization Service in Manhattan. She carried a gun on the job, but wasn't supposed to take it home. Cops found the weapon in the apartment, but said it did not appear it had been fired... Peters is regarded as a hard-working cop who often took on outside security work. He worked the midnight to 8 a.m. shift and had been studying for a nursing degree.

1/18/2001

SGT. PETERS STRIPPED OF GUN AND BADGE - Officials stripped a police sergeant of his gun and badge yesterday as cops worked to solve the mysterious murder of his ex-girlfriend - the mother of his two children... Sgt. Martin Peters, 36, was put on modified assignment and placed on desk duty after investigators questioned him about the Tuesday-morning murder of 29-year-old Juliet Alexander. Alexander was shot three times in the face and neck with two different guns... One of the weapons was a .32-caliber handgun, and the other was a .380 automatic, cops said... Cops were called to Alexander's Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment by Nigel Callender, 32, who was shot in the hand and neck in the attack and left paralyzed below the shoulders. Callender first told cops that Peters was the shooter - then he changed his story to say he didn't know who the attacker was...

4/30/2001

JULIET'S MOM AND KIDS MISS HER SO - ...In front of the open coffin, Juliet Alexander's 9-year-old son, Randall, and daughter, Reneshia, 5, stood rigidly, too stunned by their mother's sudden death to even cry. "Why is my mommy so cold?" the little girl asked. Just then, mourners heard a commotion outside. "You have no right to keep me out!" Alexander's estranged companion, Martin Peters, yelled at two patrol cops refusing him entrance. "I'm a sergeant. I'm your boss. You can't do this." There was good reason Peters was kept out of Alexander's wake, and eventually escorted from the area. In the minds of Alexander's family, and even among his NYPD colleagues, Peters was the prime suspect in her slaying... Peters, 36, the father of Raneshia and Randall, was questioned and placed on modified duty. He has denied any wrongdoing... The day Alexander was slain, she had planned to apply for additional child support for the children's Catholic schooling, said her mother, Sylvia Garcia... She had a new boyfriend, Robert Allen, who adored her. She enjoyed her job and hoped to become a Secret Service agent. Her children were flourishing. "It is hard for me to talk about my daughter," said Garcia, who is now raising her grandchildren. "Her children ask me every day where their mother is. I brought my kids here for a better life. It's the last thing you expect, that her life would be taken... She should have called the police so many times," Garcia said. Anne Marie Thomas, 30, who has known Alexander for 17 years, said she, too, had urged her friend to get help. "She used to come to me with bruises and crying, but she was scared calling the cops because he was a cop." Thomas said...

Apr 13, 2005
[NY] FEDS ARREST SGT PETERS - GF JULIET ALEXANDER MURDERED - ... Peters had been on desk duty since the Jan. 16, 2001, murder of his ex-girlfriend, Juliet Alexander, 29, the mother of his two children. Police believe Peters got a friend, Nigel Callender, to kill Alexander and then shot him, but they haven't been able to prove it... Peters could be seen trembling as Fox discussed his case...

Apr 13, 2005
[NY] WHO KILLED JULIET ALEXANDER?
...Anne Marie Thomas, 30, who has known Alexander for 17 years, said she, too, had urged her friend to get help. "She used to come to me with bruises and crying, but she was scared calling the cops because he was a cop," Thomas said. The problems escalated last year when Alexander successfully took Peters to Family Court to force him to pay child support...

Apr 14, 2005
[NY] NEWS ON MURDERED JULIET ALEXANDER FROM 2001 - ... Alexander was shot three times in the face and neck with two different guns, police determined yesterday - leading them to believe there may have been two gunmen involved...

5/15/05
[NY] NYPD SGT. PETERS ARRESTED FOR KILLING MOTHER OF HIS CHILDREN - ...Detectives from the department's Cold Case Squad and the Internal Affairs Bureau, along with federal agents, arrested Sgt. Martin C. Peters early yesterday outside his Harlem home, where he tried to run and was tackled by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, one investigator said... After dropping off their two kids at school Jan. 16, 2001, Peters allegedly returned to the Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment of his estranged wife, Juliet Alexander, and shot her three times in the head and face. Peters then shot his best friend, Nigel Callender, now 36, who was also in the apartment, in the head, neck and hand, paralyzing him, according to an indictment... Callender now says Peters killed Alexander, then shot him. Spanakos said Callender declined to identify Peters as the assailant in the past because Peters threatened to kill Callender and his family... In court yesterday, prosecutor Mike Spanakos said Peters was upset that Alexander, 29, a guard at a Manhattan immigration detention center, had started dating another man and was also seeking additional child support. "Mr. Peters told Ms. Alexander he would not give her any more money and he repeatedly punched her," he said. "When she attempted to flee, he shot her several times in the head."... Months after the killing, Sergeant Peters won custody of the children, and the 13-year-old boy and 9-year-old girl have since lived with him and his wife, according to the authorities, who said that Ms. Alexander's mother, Sylvia Garcia, was expected to seek custody soon... Ms. Garcia rejoiced at the charges yesterday. "Now I feel on top of this world," she said, "because after four years I had hopes that one day justice would be served, and, thank God, it was... I will never see my daughter again... The only thing I can look forward to is him in jail for the rest of his life. He has to pay for what he has done."

8/26/2006
EX-NYPD SGT PETERS FOUND GUILTY OF KILLING JULIET ALEXANDER - An ex-cop who almost got away with his ex-girlfriend's murder by threatening to kill the only witness was convicted. His friend Nigel Callender, who was left paralyzed by the attack, said Peters had been complaining about Alexander's demands for money for months. The day of the murder, he said, the couple got into a physical fight at her apartment. When she fled for the door, Peters pulled out a gun from his waistband... Prosecutors charged that Peters killed Alexander, 29, in her Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment after she refused to back down from pursuing child support payments for their son and daughter. Last week, the ex-cop took the witness stand and told jurors he "never" would have harmed the mother of his two children. He noted he even gained custody of the kids after her death... Callender finally cooperated with prosecutors when he was charged with immigration fraud. Prosecutors cut him a deal in return for his help with the case...

'GHOST' HAUNTS MURDERER: GAL PAL'S WORDS PUT KILLER COP IN JAIL FOR LIFE

New York Post
By Alex Ginsberg
October 26, 2006

A federal immigration agent, coldly gunned down by her cop boyfriend, spoke from beyond the grave yesterday, her words of fear and anguish - written shortly before her violent death - given voice by the prosecutor at her killer's sentencing.

"I feel something is going to happen and happen real soon," Juliet "Wendy" Alexander wrote on Jan. 3, 2001 - 13 days before she was shot three times in the head in her Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, home.

In the roughly 400-word personal essay, found on a computer disk by cold-case detectives hunting her killer, the 29-year-old Alexander wrote with chilling prescience of ex-beau Martin Peters, an NYPD sergeant with whom she was embroiled in a nasty child-support battle.

"Martin once said to me, 'If I can't have you, no one will,' " she wrote in the essay, read in court by Assistant DA Michel Spanakos. "Now you see why I keep looking over my shoulders. If this is the way it has to end, I am prepared to meet my maker."

Peters, 43, was convicted in September of shooting Alexander and putting his own best friend, Nigel Callender, in a wheelchair for life. At trial, jurors heard evidence that Peters had a six-figure debt and was struggling to make hefty child-support payments.

Callender insisted to investigators that the shooter was a stranger, but in 2005, under pressure, he flipped and agreed to testify, braving death threats from his former buddy.

Alexander's heart-rending essay wasn't admissible as evidence at the trial, but proved useful at sentencing yesterday in sealing Peters' fate: 43 years to life in state prison for murder, attempted murder and witness intimidation.

In the essay, Alexander revisited the tortured landscape of their 15 years together, much of which came out at trial before Justice Priscilla Hall - but never in her own words.

"When I met Martin Peters darkness took over my life," she wrote. "I always thought that everyone had a mind of their own. I guess that I was not quite mature enough to deal with an older man. Although I was a woman who was physically, mentally and verbally abused, I was not strong enough to talk to somebody about it."

Investigators found a card bearing an 800 number for domestic-violence support in the dead woman's wallet, but no evidence she ever used it.

Peters, who has maintained his innocence throughout and even testified in his own defense, remained defiant.

"I would like to let the court know that I did not kill Wendy," said Peters. "I did not shoot Nigel. These are things I would not think of doing and I am not responsible for any of these crimes."

Mingled with the foreboding in Alexander's writing was the sense that she was on the verge of moving past Peters and leading a normal, happy life.

"I want to rise above all my downfalls," she wrote. "I want to be free of Martin Peters. I want to be able to go on with my life, without living in fear. I want a miracle. I want to wake up one day and all this harassment and this abuse is all over."

SAW HER OWN DEATH: COP IN GRIM DIARY ENTRY GETS 43 YRS.
New York Daily News
BY NANCIE L. KATZ
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
October 26, 2006

Juliet Alexander and police officer Martin Peters had a stormy relationship - and in her diary, she predicted he'd kill her.

Peters was sentenced yesterday to 43 years to life in her murder.

Juliet Alexander knew she was going to be killed.

And her prophetic words - written just days before her ex-lover, an NYPD sergeant, pumped three bullets into her head - resounded yesterday at his sentencing in a courtroom packed with her weeping relatives and friends.

"When I met Martin Peters, darkness took over my life," Alexander, 29, typed on Jan. 3, 2001, into the personal diary she kept on her computer.

"The fear in me is so strong that I feel something is going to happen and happen real soon," Brooklyn prosecutor Michael Spanakos read, quoting from her entry.

"As Martin once said to me, 'If I can't have you, no one will.' Now you see why I keep looking over my shoulders. If this is the way it has to end, I am prepared to meet my maker.

"The end."

Peters, 43, who joined the NYPD in 1996, had bragged that his status as an officer would shield him from suspicion.

But last month he was convicted of killing Alexander and shooting and paralyzing his friend, Nigel Callender, who witnessed the Jan. 16, 2001, murder.

Yesterday, a judge slammed him with a prison term of 43 years to life, as he continued to profess his innocence.

"I did not kill Wendy," he told Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Hall, referring to Alexander's nickname. "These are things I would not think of doing."

But prosecutors said Peters killed Alexander, a federal immigration officer, because she had been demanding he pay child support for their two children.

Dubbed Marty the Murderer by fellow cops, Peters evaded arrest for four years by threatening to kill Callender if he ever ratted - and even gained custody of his children.

Then savvy NYPD Cold Case detectives finally threatened to press immigration charges against Callender if he did not testify.

He relented and told jurors how Peters attacked Alexander - then shot him when he refused to help.

Yesterday, Alexander's mother, Sylvia Garcia, said Peters used his position in the NYPD to intimidate her family and keep them from reporting years of physical and verbal abuse against her daughter.

In the diary, discovered by detectives in 2004, Alexander wrote, "What do I want out of my life? I want to be free of Martin Peters. I want to go on with my life without living in fear. I wanted to reach the top. ... I want a miracle."

Hall's sentence may not have been that. But for Garcia, it brought justice.

"He deserved what he got," she said. "Finally, I can put my daughter to rest."
[police officer involved domestic violence oidv intimate partner violence ipv abuse law enforcement public safety lethal fatality fatalities murder coverup fear new york state politics nyc police department united states federal cop on cop]

[MO] Kansas City Officers Minet & Reed, one scared little boy & one dead baby girl

Previous entry: [MO] "Resigned" Officer Minet indicted for murdering Alyssa

Well, here we are with no do-overs. Yesterday 2 year-old Alyssa Eickmeir's dad had to sit in the same courtroom with Officer Nicholas Minet - his ex-wife's boyfriend -who caused the death of his princess daughter.

From the news:

...Minet, 28, is accused of throwing her onto a mattress and shaking her, which injured her brain and fractured her skull. There also were bruises on her neck, back and forehead, and an adult bite mark on her left leg. "It took a lot for me not to get up out of that chair," the child's father, Chris Eickmeier, said minutes after the arraignment...


Do you swing or curl up and just cry?

Officer Minet was being arraigned on charges of first-degree assault and abuse of a child, with more charges expected now that Alyssa has lost her fight to live. The judge revoked his bond and he "resigned."

Really?

Why didn't the Kansas City Police Department have the balls to FIRE HIM? How do you OPT to resign when you have killed a tiny little girl?

If I didn't run into aNOTHer Kansas City PD RECENT child abuse case I'm sure I wouldn't feel as harshly as I do about the agency itself - but when KCPD's Officer MARK REED abused a 10-year old "relative" an August article said that although Reed was CONVICTED of the child abuse, he will REMAIN ON ACTIVE DUTY until sentencing.

Reed DENIED guilt, was FOUND guilty, and still stays?

Really? That's SYSTEMIC abuse of children. ALLOWING IT, from command ranks.

... A juvenile told an investigating officer that Reed had thrown him on a floor and rolled on him because he had not completed a task, the police report said. The 10-year-old then told the officer that Reed placed his hands on his throat and began to choke him. An adult guardian, who picked up the youth after school, reported to police that the child had swelling on his forehead, bruises(?) and swelling on his nose and small lacerations on his nose and upper lip...

Reed can't restrain himself with whom I will presume is his son - only ten - but he can have a gun and powers to arrest citizens? He can't even own up to it, admit he DID it - and KCPD keeps him? Was beating his son(?) his own private business? A personal issue?

...The event did not occur during Reed’s duties as a police officer...

WORD - it's not personal. It's a CRIME that demonstrates a loss of control over one's self and a predisposition to give-in to RAGE. Any reasonable non-law enforcement person will agree that is NOT who should be or remain a sworn officer.

But that's not all. Earlier this month - before Officer Minet fatally beat up 2 year old Alyssa, here is the resolution of his fellow officer's case:

A Kansas City police officer (Reed) convicted of misdemeanor child abuse was placed on one year’s probation Wednesday and given a suspended imposition of sentence... A suspended imposition of sentence means Reed’s conviction may be removed from his record if he successfully completes his probation term... Reed remains on normal duty...

What's that say? What was the message to the other officers? How above the law did their agency let them know they ARE?

And if Reed had been dealt with appropriately - jailed and fired - what would the message have been? Would Officer Minet have heard it?

I think he would. So though Officer Minet is responsible for killing Alyssa, my eyes are narrowed past him to his department for allowing this, empowering officers to do as they please, and erroneously thinking they are protecting their officers behind their inpenetrable blue wall. My eyes fall to the command officers, not to blame really, but to hold responsible - for one scared little boy and one dead little girl

It's no favor.

To anyone.

Get an officer-involved dv policy, make it detailed, and follow it. A cop's fall doesnt' make a department look bad, but how the department HANDLES it

does.

From what I've seen the only thing that changes things in a department as brazen as Kansas City's - the only course of action that seems to have the POWER to have an impact - is to hit them with multi-million dollar lawsuits.

That's sad, but it seems to be way it goes.
The only language that appears to get through.

Prayers for all.

[MO] I'm holding my breath as 2 year old Alyssa fights for her life - beaten by Officer Minet

Kansas City Police Officer Nicholas Minet beat up his girlfriend's daughter. Just a baby. Only two years old. Alyssa Eickmeir and those who love her are standing in the need of prayer. Friday Alyssa was in critical condition with brain injuries, a fractured skull, bruises on her forehead, on her back, on her neck, and an adult human bite mark on one of her legs. But the news tonight I'm reading says the doctors are not holding out a lot of hope because of brain swelling. For legal reasons her mother isn't being allowed to be by her side. I'm too sad for everyone to even be angry.
If we could just turn back time a little tiny bit.

[MS] Newly retired Major McClendon's defense for killing Angelia?

It sure is looking like former Jackson County Jail Warden Major Randy R. McClendon, who retired as warden of Jackson County Adult Detention Center in June - TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH HIS WIFE ANGELIA - will claim "nonviolent abuse" as his defense for MURDERING her.

...Before court Monday, [McClendon's attorney Calvin] Taylor said much information would come out in court that would be a surprise. Taylor stopped short of saying that his client had suffered spousal abuse, but he did say, "I think there was certainly nonviolent emotional abuse taking place and directed at and toward Mr. McClendon"...
(Source: $100,000 bond set for ex-warden, Biloxi Sun Herald, Margaret Baker, Oct. 17, 2006)

More:

Murdered Woman's Family Says Suspect Already Getting Special Treatment
WLOX, MS
Oct 17, 2006
Family members of a murdered Gautier woman say they already see signs of special treatment for the man accused of killing her... granted bond... "He came in a nice fresh haircut, freshly groomed, great outfit, dressed to the hilt, casually speaking. We expected him to be in a jail suit. He did not have handcuffs on, he didn't have shackles on. He committed murder. He took a life. He took a life and he walks in and is treated with more respect than everyone else in the room"... "If this trial takes place here, she will not get the justice she deserves. It needs to be moved out of this county or she will not get justice. He will go free. He's already free. Who gets to commit murder and travel out of state? He gets to go to Arkansas."...

McClendon out on bond
Pascagoula Mississippi Press, MS -
The Mississippi Press
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
By CHERIE WARD
Tears from Angie McClendon's family and friends echoed throughout the room as Randy McClendon's bail was set at a $100,000... More than 30 friends and family members filled Gautier City Hall as Gautier Judge Gary Roberts set the bond. McClendon's attorney, Calvin Taylor, pleaded his bail be moderate as nearly 15 police officers surrounded the room. "He's well-known and has substantial ties to the community. He's not a wealthy man, therefore, we ask his bond be reasonable"... Angie McClendon's family was outraged by the bail setting. As they flooded the parking lot, Angie McClendon's mother, Joy Bailey, had to be carried, surrounded by police, to her vehicle. Penny Foreman, Angie McClendon's first cousin... "Haven't talked to him. And don't want to. It's hard enough to sit in the same room and watch him be able to breathe. It hurts"...

[CT] Gun-to-Wife's-Head-&-Arrested-6-Times-for-DV-Officer Velez Wins BACKPAY

EVery body should KNOW.(HE'S BACK TO WORK AND LAST WEEK HE FLIPPED HIS CRUISER. WHY NOT?)
State Board Awards Back Pay to NL Cop For Suspension Time
City's Personnel Policy doesn't Apply To Velez case, Arbitrators Decide
By Julie Wernau
New London Day
10/17/2006
...The state Board of Mediation and Arbitration ruled that Genaro Velez Jr., a 24-year veteran of the department, should receive 101/2 months of back pay and credited leave time for the 17 months he was suspended on charges that he threatened to kill his wife... The board did not award back pay for the six months Velez was under a civil restraining order, but did award pay and benefits for the period when he was under a criminal protective order... “I'm really glad that everything worked out the way it should,” Velez said, thanking the union and union attorney...

What Investigation?
The New London Day
Oct 7, 2006
"...How could the department fail to follow up after Milford police alleged that the officer threatened to kill his ex-wife with his department-issued firearm? More to the point, how could Police Chief Bruce Rinehart have said that there was an internal investigation? The public now learns... that no such investigation was done... It is mind-boggling conduct by the New London Police Department leadership, especially when the matter involves a police officer who has been arrested six times on domestic-abuse charges and was the subject of several restraining orders..."

Bits & Pieces from earlier articles from The New London Day:

The New London Police Department continues to deny any wrongdoing... Velez has never been disciplined... "The charges were dropped in all of the cases because the witnesses were afraid to testify"... Sitting before a bank of television cameras speaking about her husband, Luz Velez said, "I'm scared, very scared"... He allegedly strangled her, compressing two of her vertebrae, the affidavit shows, and threatened to "empty his gun clip" by shooting all the bullets into her head and murdering her family members. Luz Velez alleges that her husband kept her locked in their home until she was able to break out Jan. 10 and escape to her sister's... "He views her as a piece of property and she fears for her life"... Velez's personnel records show that he has been the target of eight internal police probes, four supervisor complaints and 15 civilian complaints concerning his behavior with women, his police work and his dealings with the public. He has also had six restraining orders filed against him by four women. The charges in five of his previous arrests have been either dropped or dismissed...

[FL] Battered Officer Hill freed after killing husband

Charlotte County Officer Kathleen Hill was charged with second-degree murder. She shot her husband, Shawn Hill, 32, at least two times in the chest. The oldest child saw his father beat his mother. Doctors for both the defense and the prosecution testified that she suffered from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder because she was a battered wife. Friends and co-workers testified about her bruises, black eyes and limp.

Wife who killed spouse freed
Judge says he believes Kathleen Hill 's husband sexually tortured, abused her
Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL)
KRISTEN KRIDEL kristen.kridel@heraldtribune.com
Thursday, October 5, 2006

Former corrections officer Kathleen Hill killed her husband when she pumped three bullets into his chest.

But she was freed Wednesday to go home to her three children.

The judge said he believed the man she killed, Shawn Hill , sexually tortured and abused her.

In the past 20 years, more defense attorneys have turned to battered spouse syndrome to argue self-defense.

Yet, it's unusual for any convicted killer -- even a woman driven to kill by her tormentor -- to get off without serving prison time, a Stetson University law professor said.

But in the case of Kathleen Hill , doctors for both the defense and the prosecution testified that she suffered from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder because she was a battered wife.

If Hill meets the conditions of her release, she will never see the inside of a prison.

Circuit Judge Frank Porter sentenced her to two years of community control, a form of house arrest, and 28 years of probation. He suspended a 10-year prison term she would serve only if she violates probation.

"I am mindful, very mindful, of the effects of both the defendant's and Shawn Hill 's actions as they relate to their children," Porter said. "I'm bothered most by what the children have endured."

At least the oldest one saw his father beat his mother. The children -- ages 4, 11 and 13 -- were home when Kathleen Hill fatally shot her husband Oct. 22, 2004. Suddenly, they were fatherless and faced the possibility of losing their mother, too.

Hill testified Tuesday that she stayed with her husband mainly for the children. Hill , a law enforcement officer who owned two guns and was trained to use them, said she endured years of brutal beatings.

Friends and co-workers testified about her bruises, black eyes and limp.

All three psychiatrists called to the stand testified that she showed the symptoms of battered spouse syndrome.

The consensus of the doctors influenced the prosecutors' decision to offer Hill a plea bargain, Assistant State Attorney Martin Stark said. On Sept. 11, Hill pleaded guilty to manslaughter, instead of second-degree murder as she was charged. As part of the deal, she was promised a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Cases involving battered spouse syndrome are "tough," Stark said. Allegations that would be excluded in other cases are admitted to show the defendant's state of mind.

"Everything that makes them a battered spouse comes in," he said. "The only person who could respond is dead."

The Florida Supreme Court accepted the battered spouse syndrome as an argument for self-defense in 1993, said Robert Batey, a criminal law professor at Stetson University College of Law for 30 years.

"More and more states are accepting that evidence and allowing it," Batey said. "Florida has followed the trend."

But Shawn Hill 's family said the degradation of his reputation is worse than Kathleen Hill not being sentenced to prison.

"If I didn't know Shawn, I would have sworn he was the devil himself" after listening to defense testimony, said Leroy Washington, Shawn Hill 's brother.

"If all those people were aware of this abuse, why didn't they say anything to the people closest to Shawn -- his family?" Washington asked as he stared at Kathleen Hill .

A handful of Shawn Hill 's siblings and a niece testified they never saw signs of abuse. Before announcing his sentence, the judge addressed the family.

"I truly feel the pain of the Hill family," Porter said. "I feel compelled to tell you no matter what sentence is imposed today, it's not going to feel fair in your eyes. I would feel the same way in your shoes."

When they learned the sentence, several of Shawn Hill 's relatives cried.

Kathleen Hill , who sobbed during her testimony, stood before the bench, her jaw quivering, to learn whether she would be separated from her children.

She never smiled and walked out of court without saying a word.

Her husband's aunt, Antoinette Harris, was disgusted. Outside the courtroom, she said men in her neighborhood have been sent away for 15 years on drug convictions, much less murder.

"There should never be another black person arrested in this county ," Harris said, noting Kathleen and Shawn's interracial marriage. "This is a black/white situation."