Page 21 - Florida Sentinel 10-18-19

National
Former Cop Who Killed Black Woman In Her Home Charged With Murder
A former police officer who resigned Monday after fatally shooting a black woman in her home was booked in jail for murder, according to the Fort Worth Police Depart- ment. Aaron Dean, who is white, fatally shot 28-year- old Atatiana Jefferson early Saturday morning as she played video games with her nephew.
Dean was originally held on $200,000 bond. The Tar- rant County Jail confirmed that he has since bonded out. The Fort Worth Police De- partment said that officers responded at about 2:25 a.m. Saturday after a neighbor called a non-emergency line to report that Jefferson's home's front door had been left open. The department added that officers saw someone near a window in- side the home and that one of them fired after "perceiving a threat."
The video released by po- lice shows two officers searching the home from the outside with flashlights be- fore one shouts, "Put your hands up, show me your hands." One shot is then fired through a window. The offi- cer does not identify himself as police.
The family of Atatiana Jefferson is relieved that Aaron Dean has been ar- rested & charged with mur- der," family attorney Lee Merritt wrote on Twitter. "We need to see this through to a vigorous prosecution &
ATATIANA JEFFERSON
appropriate sentencing. The City of Fort Worth has much work to do to reform a brutal culture of policing."
At a news conference Monday afternoon, police chief Edwin Kraus an- nounced that Dean had re- signed and apologized for Jefferson's death. Kraus said he intended to fire the officer Monday for violations of the department's use of force and de-escalation poli-
AARON DEAN
cies.
"Nobody looked at that
video and said there's any doubt this officer acted inap- propriately," Kraus said. "I get it. We're trying to train our officers better, we're try- ing to shore up our policies, trying to ensure they act and react the way the citizens in- tend them to - that they act and react with a servant's heart, instead of a warrior's heart."
Baltimore’s Top Prosecutor Marilyn Mosby Moves To Throw Out Nearly 800 Cases Involving Tainted Cops
In the wake of a massive po- lice scandal, Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby is asking the courts to toss out nearly 800 criminal cases linked to Baltimore cops her office believes cannot be trusted.
Prosecutors are hoping to wipe out 790 convictions linked to 25 police officers, in- cluding eight convicted in Bal- timore’s Gun Trace Task Force scandal. As the Baltimore Sun reports, the DA began asking courts last week to move for- ward with erasing the tainted cases.
Mosby’s action follows the trial of eight former officers serving on the Gun Trace Task Force, in which Baltimore cops admitted to stealing money from citizens, planting evidence, lying on paperwork, and milking the city for over- time pay for hours they hadn’t actually worked, the Sun re- ports. Two of the crooked cops were convicted of racketeering at the trial, six pled guilty. While the scope of the trial fo- cused on only eight cops, other Baltimore officers were impli- cated during the trial.
There’s no difference be-
tween the eight officers con- victed, and the other cops named during the trial, Mosby told the Sun, adding that her office had no choice but to clear the compromised cases.
“When you have sworn po- lice officers involved in egre- gious and long-standing criminal activity such as plant- ing guns and drugs, stealing drugs and money, selling drugs, making illegal arrests, and bringing false charges, our legal and ethical obliga- tion in the pursuit of justice leaves us no other recourse but to ‘right the wrongs’ of un- just convictions associated with corrupt police officers,” Mosby wrote the Sun in an email.
At least 10 of the 25 tainted cops have resigned. Three re- main with Baltimore Police, a department spokesperson confirmed.
The vacated convictions are just one component of the work the city faces in cleaning up after the crooked cops’ mess: an avalanche of lawsuits tied to their cases is expected to cost the city tens of millions of dollars.
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