Pubdate: Mon, 06 Jan 2003
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Section: Page A2
Copyright: 2003 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact:  http://www.boston.com/globe/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Author: Catherine Wilson, Associated Press

TRIAL TO BEGIN FOR 11 MIAMI OFFICERS

Accused In Coverups Of Shootings That Left Three Men Dead

MIAMI - The late 1990s in Miami was marked by high violent crime rates, 
with street gangs that stalked tourists, but prosecutors say the violence 
also included acts committed by the police.

Based on information from two retired officers who pleaded guilty to 
conspiracy in September 2001, 11 other officers were indicted on federal 
corruption charges alleging coverups in four police shootings in which 
three men were killed.

The 11 were scheduled to go on trial today on charges of planting guns, 
manipulating evidence, or covering up crimes by others. The two who pleaded 
guilty are to be the prosecution's star witnesses.

The case involved the city's worst police scandal since the 1980s, when the 
"Miami River Cops" stole cocaine from drug traffickers and sold the drug 
themselves. More than 100 officers were arrested, fired, or disciplined in 
that case.

"The history of Miami has been characterized by ugly police-community 
relations," said Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil 
Liberties Union of Florida. "There is a loss of confidence, if not outright 
hostility, by the minority community because of the great number of 
shootings of typically unarmed black young men."

Miami is not alone.

In Los Angeles, about 100 criminal cases were overturned after 
investigators heard allegations of police abuses - including evidence 
tampering, unjustified shootings, and thefts - in the police department's 
Rampart Division.

Police shootings in New York City have declined markedly but have been 
highlighted by cases such as the 1999 death of immigrant Amadou Diallo, 
shot 19 times by four white officers when he reached for his wallet.

The four Miami shootings involved the killings of three black men. A fourth 
man was wounded, and another man involved in the shooting was not harmed.

In all of the cases, prosecutors say, guns were planted to make it look as 
though the three robbery suspects, a drug suspect, and a homeess man were 
armed.

A lawyer for two of the indicted officers said the shootings were 
justified. "The justifiable use of force and deadly force laws have been in 
existence for years," said Richard Sharpstein. "All of these shootings were 
well within those parameters."

The federal trial is expected to last three to five months. No state 
charges were filed.

In the past, police killings in Miami have intensified already strained 
race relations in a city beset by political corruption and economic woes. 
The deaths of black and Hispanic men and the subsequent acquittals of 
officers triggered riots or smaller street clashes six times from 1980 to 1995.

Voters have approved a civilian oversight board for the police, and members 
are about to be appointed.

Police Chief Raul Martinez created stricter procedures for the use of 
deadly force by officers, allowing them to fire their weapons only when 
facing an imminent deadly threat, but some community leaders said he didn't 
go far enough.

Martinez resigned in November, and a former Philadelphia police 
commissioner, John Timoney, took over the department.

Brad Brown, president of the Miami-Dade County chapter of the NAACP, said 
some officers think they are above the law.
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