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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMan charged with breaking a trooper’s fist with his face
http://thinksquad.tumblr.com/post/103207592381/laliberty-man-charged-with-breaking-a-troopers
A motorist was viciously beaten, tasered, and maced repeatedly, then charged with 24 separate crimes and maliciously prosecuted for every one of them. He was beaten four (4) times over the course of 11-hours, and not once had he acted maliciously. The incident stemmed from his driving while on an unusually high dosage of legally-prescribed bipolar medication and a subsequent fender bender. Dash-cam footage revealed the extraordinary exaggerations made about the case 2 years after it took place.
The Traffic Stop
Around 8:20 p.m. on March 8th, 2010, police received a 9-1-1 call regarding a car that had failed to stop after a minor traffic collision. The accident resulted in no injuries and no damage, but one of the drivers did not stop to exchange information. Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) dispatched troopers to investigate this alleged hit-and-run.
A car driven by Robert Leone, 31 at the time, matched the basic description of the car in question. Mr. Leone was driving just across the Pennsylvania border from his home in Vestal, NY. He had just finished star gazing at the Kopernick Observatory and Science Center and decided to go for a ride in the country while listening to his favorite music. He had consumed no alcohol or illegal substances, but it seems that his decision-making abilities may have been affected by his legally-prescribed medication used to treat his bipolar disorder.
PSP attempted to pull over Mr. Leone, who was traveling at a speed significantly UNDER the posted speed limit 10 to 30 mph under. Leone stated at first he did not think the trooper was trying to stop him as he believed that he had done nothing wrong prior to the encounter. Police dash-cam video clearly showed Mr. Leone driving very slowly and in a very controlled manner. The only vehicles ever seen crossing the center line or driving erratically were the state police cars that were involved in this low speed following contrary to sworn statements later given by the troopers.
The five marked cruisers following Mr. Leone could have easily boxed in Mr. Leone at low speed and caused him to stop. Instead, the troopers deployed stop-sticks and rammed his vehicle. A PIT maneuver was used to smash Leone into a rock wall, while still at low speed.
Once his car was immobilized, the senior trooper on scene, Corporal Roger Stipcak, stood on top of Mr. Leones hood and ordered him out of his car while aiming a taser at him. Mr. Leone COULD NOT comply with the troopers order because a state police car was intentionally blocking Leones driver-side door.
Mr. Leone was then tasered through his open sunroof and forcibly dragged to the ground through the passenger-side door and beaten by fellow troopers. The senior trooper who was standing on the hood of Leones car was then seen jumping directly onto Leones back from the hood of the car.
Youve got a long f***ing night ahead, the officer menaced. Do ya hear me?? Do ya f***ing hear me?!
This was but the first threat of many Mr. Leone was going to receive over the next 11 hours. It was also the mildest. At no time was Leone videoed resisting or attempting to strike the officers.
After his first beating he was handcuffed and questioned. At that point Leone was arrested and placed in the back of a patrol car. Without advising Mr. Leone of his constitutional rights he was questioned a second time and responded with respectful answers of yes sir, and no sir.
During the questioning, the trooper accused Leone of intentionally spitting in the troopers face and used that alleged behavior as a reason to beat Mr. Leone who was still handcuffed. The trooper then hog-tied the victim.
Who do you think youre messing with? one officer challenged. Were the Pennsylvania State Police its not just some chumps.
After analyzing the audio portion of the dash-cam it appears that the trooper fabricated the spitting incident in order to justify the beating, even though spitting does not allow an officer to beat a prisoner.
An ambulance had initially been called to transport Mr. Leone, who had suffered multiple injuries. Instead, the trooper who had broken his hand while punching Leone received medical attention, and Mr. Leone who was handcuffed and hog-tied was transported to the hospital in the back of a patrol car.
Beaten Again in the Hospital
Robert Leone was still hog-tied when he was brought into the Towanda Hospital; a fact documented in his medical records. Mr. Leone attempted to quietly tell the attending nurse what happened to him and begged her for help.
Unfortunately for him, one of the troopers overheard his plea. The exam room was ordered cleared of all medical personnel and a third round of beatings and taserings occurred while Mr. Leone was handcuffed to his gurney.
Police alleged that Leone reached at an officer all the justification they needed for beating him with batons and using tasers multiple times.
The trooper later admitted at Leones trial that he was never hit by the defendant. But that did not stop Mr. Leone from being found guilty of assault for what took place in that room.
Mr Leone was discharged from the Towanda General Hospital in worse condition than he had arrived in.
Beaten Again at Police Barracks
After his treatment at the hospital, Mr. Leone was taken to the PSP Barracks Towanda for processing. While at the barracks, an arraignment was set up with an on-call judge who was located remotely and used a video-feed to connect with the police.
Mr. Leone was instructed not to look into the video camera during this arraignment and to only answer questions that he was asked. As soon as the video link was established, Mr. Leone looked directly into the camera and begged the judge for help. The trooper immediately disconnected the video link, claiming that a malfunction had occurred. With no cameras recording, Mr. Leone was severely beaten for a third time.
Beaten Again During Transport
While at the barracks, Leone stated that troopers told him that they could make it look like he committed suicide while in custody or they could throw him off of a bridge and state that somehow he got the rear door of the patrol car open and then jumped off of the bridge himself.
The prisoner was so sure the troopers were going to kill him that night, he tried to shuffle away when he was being escorted to the patrol car for transportation to the county jail, even though he was handcuffed and his feet were shackled.
His pathetic escape attempt gave police an opportunity to beat him once again, and this time douse him with pepper spray. His injuries were so severe at that point that he wasunconscious when he was delivered to the hospital for his second evaluation.
According to the hospital report, all of the injuries on Mr. Leones body were on his back and none were frontal, indicating that his injuries were not caused while being subdued because of any aggressive behavior. Apparently, the hospital staff themselves were so fearful of these troopers that they released Mr. Leone back into police custody only 26 minutes later without treatment and while Mr. Leone was still semi-conscious. Mr Leones vital signs at this point showed him to be in serious physical distress.
Arrival in Jail
Mr. Leone was transported via patrol car in a semi-conscious state to the Bradford County Correctional Facility. He was received in such poor condition that the jail called their on-call staff physician to the jail to evaluate Mr. Leone.
They put him on the phone and he starts screaming that he has been beaten within an inch of his life, Roberts mother, Joan Leone told WBNG. They tried to kill him through the night. He has been threatened that they are going to kill him and make it look like a suicide or an accident.
Numerous pictures of Leones injuries were taken by the prison staff in order to defend the prison should it later be accused of mishandling the already-ravaged prisoner. (Subsequently, when the photographs were requested, the prison claimed that these pictures do not exist.)
A prison guard [name withheld] who befriended Leone told him that the jail administrators were lying because the guard saw the pictures for himself. The picture featured in this article is a copy of the actual booking photo taken by the prison.
Mr. Leone laid in a jail cell for days without proper treatment and probably should have died from his injuries. The prison would not release any information to Mr. Leones family about his condition for over 5 days. His family was not allowed to speak to him in person or on the phone nor would the prison allow any other visitors or legal counsel to visit him.
Since Robert Leone could not pay his outrageous $250,000.00 bail, he remained incarcerated for six months until his trial. While he languished in jail, he was denied any additional medical treatment particularly for his head injuries even though he had excellent private heath insurance to pay for it if necessary.
The corruption in PA is so widespread that theyre going to keep him in for four years. Because they have no intention of letting him out because hes going to be speaking about whats happened to him,Joan Leone said.
Railroaded With Charges
Robert Leones traumatic physical experience was followed by being charged with twenty-four (24) separate crimes: aggravated assault; driving while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance; escape; simple assault; reckless endangering another person; resisting arrest; fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer; disorderly conduct; failure to stop at the scene of an accident; harassment; failure to provide the proper information following an accident; and failure to notify the authorities after an accident had occurred.
To go with his black eye and brutal beating,Mr. Leone was literally charged with breaking a troopers fist with his face aggravated assault on a police officer. The 2 dozen charges included four serious felonies for which he could feasibly be spending the rest of his natural life in prison.
It appears that the cover-up of Leones beatings became so important that the Bradford County District Attorney personally took up the task of prosecuting the case. Despite having dash-cam video evidence in his possession the same dash-cam video of which I made a documentary DA Daniel Barrett attempted to prosecute all 24 counts against Robert Leone.
There's more: http://www.policestateusa.com/2014/robert-leone/
RedCappedBandit
(5,514 posts)who wasn't a bad apple to put an end to this attempted fucking murder.
Good think they're really just outliers though and this doesn't happen often.. right???
Jamastiene
(38,187 posts)They swear up and down it is just a few bad apples.
LiberalElite
(14,691 posts)99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)...how many cops were involved in this horrid criminal behavior, and NOT ONE OF THEM
came forward to tell the truth about what happened.
As I've posted elsewhere, I'll begin to believe there are good cops when they
stop covering up this shit, and start turning in the baddest apples.
I'm still waiting.
ncjustice80
(948 posts)I hate pigs. They need to rip down tje national leo memorial in DC and replace it with a monument to police brutality victims.
paper boy
(52 posts)So I guess we better give them some more surplus armored personnel carriers and machine guns.
True Blue Door
(2,969 posts)Just because the internet selects for outrageous behavior doesn't mean it's commonplace.
That's called a selection bias.
Police are people. Treat them like scum, and you'll simply perpetrate a self-fulfilling prophecy.
RedCappedBandit
(5,514 posts)that failed to do anything about a blatant attempted murder.
This is consistently the case when it comes to police brutality. Not every officer may be an active participant, but you can be damn sure almost everyone is going to try to cover it up, justify, or excuse it.
You're absolutely right they're people. That's exactly why they need to be held to a higher standard. Too often people act like they're above reproach simply because they have a tough job.
True Blue Door
(2,969 posts)We need police, their job is hard, and they use both facts to get away with horrors.
Lancero
(3,017 posts)I mean, look at the poor cop who busted his hand while trying to beat a man to death.
We need police, I can agree on that. Sadly, we don't have police - We just have monsters wearing finely tailored people-suits.
True Blue Door
(2,969 posts)To say what you just said, you have to believe that there are no violent criminals who don't wear badges.
The fact is, most of them don't. Most criminals don't wear suits or badges. You are very privileged if you are able to believe otherwise.
Lancero
(3,017 posts)Why did no officers speak out, or try to prevent what happened?
I'd be saying diffrient if a police officer attempted to prevent this savage beating, but none of them did.
True Blue Door
(2,969 posts)But the context changes when you talk about police in general.
Feral Child
(2,086 posts)Aren't you the fair and balanced one?
yurbud
(39,405 posts)and eventually, that's what the job will start to attract.
I don't think this stuff is true of all cops, but it's enough that people should be concerned, and if they are black, they should be taping every interaction with cops.
Central Scruitinizer
(57 posts)Is not treating them like scum.
When the cops proceed to beat and taze you for "resisting arrest" THEY are the scum.
Feral Child
(2,086 posts)The first Apologist arrives and tries to deflect discussion into a side issue.
I'm not concerned with the reason this article was printed. What concerns me is that the article appears to be valid and that this victim, who already suffers fom a recognized mental illness, now also suffers from PTSD and whatever lingering effects of trauma that severe inevitably leaves.
You're more about agenda than compassion and that certainly labels you.
daleanime
(17,796 posts)when I would have had trouble believing this, sadly that time is long gone.
7962
(11,841 posts)VScott
(774 posts)makes me wonder why there aren't more Eric Freins out there.
MohRokTah
(15,429 posts)Until they can police themselves, I cannot trust a word any of them say.
The Wizard
(12,552 posts)1monster
(11,012 posts)all brutality and leathal force cases; hopefully one that has not been corrupted too.
MohRokTah
(15,429 posts)Every last one of them are murderous bastards that must be shunned.
valerief
(53,235 posts)mopinko
(70,295 posts)just what?
Logical
(22,457 posts)MohRokTah
(15,429 posts)They don't police their own, how can they police the rest of us?
Criminals all, they just have the power of the state and badges to keep from being prosecuted as the criminals they are.
RedCappedBandit
(5,514 posts)I concede that there may be individual cops who, incidentally, have my respect. But that's not because they're cops.. it's in spite of that fact. Would likely lose respect for those individuals if I knew what they were up to on a daily basis with their interactions with the public.
Dustlawyer
(10,499 posts)walkingman
(7,686 posts)olegramps
(8,200 posts)They are cancerous vermin and a plague. I can't help from wondering just what type of scum wants to be associated with these jackals.
Gothmog
(145,794 posts)These charges do not really surprise me
Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)The Wizard
(12,552 posts)EEO
(1,620 posts)bluesbassman
(19,385 posts)Absolutely a fucking outrage.
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)angrychair
(8,750 posts)rafeh1
(385 posts)F4lconF16
(3,747 posts)Sadly, I don't anymore. I've pretty much accepted that I will never trust a police officer's testimony again.
0rganism
(23,984 posts)Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)Lucky Luciano
(11,267 posts)Judi Lynn
(160,656 posts)liberaltrucker
(9,130 posts)The Gestapo had nicer uniforms.
/Fucking pigs
DisgustipatedinCA
(12,530 posts)I'll leave it there.
Brigid
(17,621 posts)This is completely insane.
sakabatou
(42,198 posts)TxDemChem
(1,918 posts)All involved should be fired, sued and be brought up on charges.
helpmetohelpyou
(589 posts)Veilex
(1,555 posts)Ed Suspicious
(8,879 posts)live with themselves knowing they caused somebody do much pain? I just can't fathom how stuff like this happens.
NBachers
(17,170 posts)roof open and some music playing."
The poor guy had no idea of the brutal torture hell that would rain down upon him during his innocent night out.
DeSwiss
(27,137 posts)Mnemosyne
(21,363 posts)ReRe
(10,597 posts)And are those State Cops still loosed on the people of Pennsylvania? I was so maddened while reading and listening to the video, I don't remember any of the trooper's names being mentioned.
Robert Leone looks allot like one of my boys. Let me tell you, if Robert Leone was my son, I would either be in prison right now or dead as a doornail. The mug shot tears my heart out.
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)Ilsa
(61,710 posts)the police brutality trial, just other media picking up the story. Can anyone determine the if there's been a trial yet?
old man 76
(228 posts)A lot of the good conservative people feel police are the great protectors of society. That notion prevails until they are on the receiving end of the law. Funny how quick that notion changes.
RedCappedBandit
(5,514 posts)Their lack of empathy prevents them from understanding that social problems are social problems until they're directly impacted in some way.
cali
(114,904 posts)and adderall which is the medication found, should never be used to treat bi-polar disorder. It can cause terrible mania.
not saying it wasn't legally prescribed.
I went and read better articles about this. I hope Mr. Leone prevails. Still don't like the article in the op.
RedCappedBandit
(5,514 posts)I didn't particularly like the one in the OP either. Would like to share something a bit more credible.
bread_and_roses
(6,335 posts)For one thing, the incident in which one of the troopers broke his hand - which one must assume from the story resulted from punching the man in the face, since it says that man was charged with breaking troopers hand with his face - occurs before the hospitalization which gave a report that "all the injuries were on his back." For another, I find it near impossible to believe that all the staff at the hospital behaved in such an unethical manner without objection - or calling someone, or going to the press, or filing some kind of report - in both instances.
I am not defending the police. We know from stories practically every day that they routinely violate rights, fabricate evidence, lie, commit abuses - crimes - of every sort up to and including what would be called torture and murder did anyone else do it. They are out of control and I simply would not believe a word they said without objective proof. That incidences like those of Abner Louima and Eric Garner happen and then just disappear into the background - and nothing changes - tells us everything we need to know about the police and the power structure in this country. And I think it quite possible that some version of the above account occurred.
I could be wrong - goddess knows, what we know for sure goes on is unbelievable - but I just don't find the account above believable as written.
MrScorpio
(73,631 posts)But people like this exist and they suck.
Hard lessons learned.
bread_and_roses
(6,335 posts)I am quite aware that not only do "people like this exist" but - to me more importantly - systems exist that not only enable but encourage such behaviors. And on a larger scale, I maintain that anyone who has "power over" will inevitably abuse that power. Nor is there the political will or sufficient public awareness (most people are not news junkies like so many of us here) to enact the necessary changes to at the least put effective accountability measures in place.
And in no way did anything I wrote indicate some sort of naivete about or any sort of defense of the culture and behavior of the police. Although irrelevant to my critique, I also live only a few miles from the location of this story - and have no illusions that our police forces are any better than anywhere else. It was not that many years ago that there was a huge scandal about the State Police in this part of the world fabricating evidence. Among other instances that have been reported and that I know of anecdotally.
But that does not mean that we should suspend all critical thinking or analysis. I do not find this particular account credible as written.
go west young man
(4,856 posts)after the 12:45 mark to what is going on in the back of that cop car.
#t=1079maced666
(771 posts)Oldie but a goodie. Whenever you need to do some police bashing, over the last 5 years at least, you can count on seeing this posted.
And around and around we go, same stories, same responses condemning all police.
MrScorpio
(73,631 posts)bread_and_roses
(6,335 posts)Whatever the merits of this particular account, no one has to look very far to find examples of egregious violations of individuals' rights, their own codes of conduct, and out and out crimes committed by the police.
No one "needs" to do any "police bashing." All one has to do is read and post the news practically daily.
otohara
(24,135 posts)how can that be?
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,352 posts)Rex
(65,616 posts)Nice try but total fail.
Savannahmann
(3,891 posts)Then let's talk about what's going on just this week shall we?
Former Deputy indicted in the death of his wife. It seems the investigating officer modified, changed, and amended the witness statements to support the conclusion of suicide. So a cop, lied to cover up a murder committed by another cop? Wow, what are the chances that two bad apples would both be involved in the same case? I mean, talk about astronomical right?
A police officer pulled over a school bus. Why you might ask? Well his son was on board and had forgotten his lunch. So the cop pulled the bus over to give his child the lunch. Why this is being investigated? Well the school bus was outside of the jurisdiction of the officer. Like that is the biggest problem with this story.
While the department was running a campaign to end Domestic Violence, one would assume it would include training to the officers for how to recognize and prevent it. An officer apparently threw a beating on his wife.
A officer was convicted of using a stun gun on a suspect who was handcuffed.
I could go on, and on, and on. These are not a years worth of events, nor even a months. This is a fraction of the events reported on one day, one day, on this site.
There are more, a dozen a week, sometimes more, rarely less, every single week. Event after event. Incident after incident. Lies, brutality, obfuscation, entitled mentality. The police departments would rather eat a raw turd than tell you the truth about how corrupt the cops are.
Video recordings are making more likely that the cops will be caught, but those events are still only a fraction, not even a significant fraction of the misconduct and wrong doing that is happening every single day.
So am I just bashing the police? Look at that site. 196 pages. Each with at least fifty links. Police shoot bankrobbers, and the hostage. Oh well, they have a tough job. The cops fired three hundred rounds. At what point does it become ludacris overkill? Or is excessive force only a problem if the victim survives?
The cops are not your friends. They are at least as dangerous, and in my opinion far more criminal than the people they arrest.
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)Well, at least it wasn't racism.
cntrygrl
(356 posts)the city police in a town in Indiana attacked me while I was leaving a bar to walk to my car. They threw me in to the back seat of the patrol car, one officer got in with me, cuffed me and began beating me with his bully club. All the while telling me "so you are a lesbo? I'll show you what we think of your kind. I ram this (bully club) up your ass and show you," Luckily he didn't carry out his threat and when they booked me in the city jail the report said I was DUI and resisted arrest. During the 60s gays were treated much worse in NY. I witnessed it myself. Give some people a badge and they think they are god. It makes me so sick. I'm in my mid-60s now and thankfully my wife and I are not being harassed but we always watch our backs and here in FL we carry protection where ever we go. It's frightening. I wish Mr Leone luck but it doesn't sound like he will have a fair chance. Can't someone help him? Who can we contact? I would like to know.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention, MrScorpio!
PatSeg
(47,711 posts)If I saw this in a movie, I'd think it was over-the-top.
hedgehog
(36,286 posts)trigger/excuse there was for this behavior? Was it all solely based on the fact that he didn't stop for the police cars, and was therefore defying their authority?
Edited to add - I don't think the victim did anything wrong, just wondering how he became the chosen target even before he was stopped.
heaven05
(18,124 posts)are out of control. There is something going on with all this out of bounds police behavior, nationwide. It seems there has been some kind of message nationwide, to fuck up as many people as possible.
Lint Head
(15,064 posts)know what a police state is. This is the modern version. The new model for brutal power in the name of service to the people. If it's just a few bad apples then why do the "good apples" just stand around and let it happen? Are cops too cowardly to defend a citizen against unconstitutional beatings or outright assault and battery by one of their own? I know some policemen who would have and have personally and privately told me they can hardly wait to be put in that situation. As to have a video of them protecting a citizen against this travesty.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)red dog 1
(27,903 posts)Unbelievable!
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)stevenleser
(32,886 posts)DUI case.