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'Justice Has Been Served'
Officers
face up to 20 years in prison.
Two of the officers accused of beating Frank Jude Jr. outside a party
at an officer's house in 2004 have agreed to plead guilty to federal
civil rights charges.
Frank Jude who is mixed-race was dragged out of his truck by about a
dozen off-duty police officers and viciously assaulted. Frank suffered
a concussion, a broken nose and fractured sinus cavity, cuts in both
ears, cuts and swelling to his left eye, neck, head, face, legs and
back, and a severely sprained left hand, his left eye was swollen shut
and continued to bleed for 10 days.
Community leaders in the U.S city of Milwaukee were astounded when three
of the former police officers were acquitted in April this year. An all-white
jury deliberated for more than 26 hours before returning not guilty verdicts
on all but one of the charges against Jon Bartlett, 34, Daniel Masarik,
26, and Andrew Spengler, 26.
Suspended police officer Joseph
Schabel has agreed to plead guilty to violating Frank Jude's civil rights
in the attack and to obstruction of justice, according to a criminal
complaint filed by the Department of Justice. Schabel kicked Jude in
the head during the party in October 2004 but denied it repeatedly in
sworn statements and testimony.
Jon Clausing, a former Milwaukee police officer, also agreed to plead
guilty, to conspiring with other off-duty officers to violate the civil
rights of Jude and another man, Lovell Harris, by assaulting them at
the party.
U.S. Attorney Steve Biskupic said he expects to file more charges in the
coming weeks stemming from the attack on Frank Jude Jr. though he did not
say how many more people he expects to charge or what the counts would
be, he did say that Schabel and Clausing had agreed to testify against
other officers as part of a plea deal that will keep them from facing state
charges.
In the case of the previous three defendants many of the police officers
on the force with the assailants refused to cooperate with the investigation.
Mayor Tom Barrett said, 'The lack of cooperation from the officers involved
who were on the scene that night clearly affected the outcome of this case.
Frank Jude was beaten -- beaten badly -- and because of an unspoken code
of silence, justice for him in this trial has been derailed.'
Schabel faces up to 20 years in prison and a $500,000 (€393,000) fine.
Clausing faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 (€196,500)
fine.
Police Chief Nan Hegerty said news of the charges was difficult for the
department, which will now start the process to fire Schabel.
'It's a dark day for the Milwaukee Police Department, but people need to
be held accountable for their behaviour,' said Hegerty.
LaVerne McCoy, president of the League of Martin, an organization of black
police officers in Milwaukee, said she was very pleased that federal charges
were brought in the case.
'I didn't have a whole lot of hope that they would be,' she said. 'Justice
has been served.'
Related news:Police officers go free once again:
Source:
