Back in October of 2005, several police officers in Fresno, California responded to a call from a desperate woman; she and her little boy were being attacked by her ex-boyfriend and illegal alien, Rolando Celdon, who was high on drugs. To make a long story shorter, the officers had to chase Celdon, caught up with him and subdued him after an extensive struggle. In the process, Celdon refused to show his hands and was shot with a bean bag.
Celdon was charged with felonies and found guilty. Five years later, in 2010, the Federal Justice Department filed charges against the officers, alleging that excessive force had been used in the arrest and that Celdon's civil rights were violated. As the case is now coming to trial, Celdon who obviously served a short time in prison for his felonies, is someplace in Mexico and not available to testify.
Here is a case where those who probably saved the woman's life and that of her son, are now being hauled into court and made to defend themselves without the availability of a witness. It does not appear that Celdon filed charges against the officers, but that Justice Department officials brought the charges five years after the event upon review of case files. The charges are that one of the officers kicked Celdon, another drove his car too close to Celdon in a life-threatening manner, the bean-bag use was excessive force, and the four officers conspired to cover up their alleged misdeeds by failing to report them to their superiors.
The officers were fired, but as the result of a subsequent internal affairs investigation, they were all reinstated; an earlier standard departmental review of the incident revealed that in the rush to complete paperwork, they had not completed all of the documentation accurately, but that in general, the men had used the proper level of force for dealing with a presumably drug-crazed and violent suspect.
According to everything I have read, the officers should never have been charged. They now each face ten years in federal prison and are being denied the opportunity to have they key witness in the matter on the stand. In my opinion, it's too bad the original victim didn't have a gun and know how to use it; Celdon may well be dead and the officers would not be in a totally unjustified jam. You can obtain more information on the case at http://fromthepeapatch.com/the-constitution/four-police-officers-who-need-your-help-its-pay-back-time-from-all-of-you-whove-been-helped-by-cops/
That's MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.
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