Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Massachusetts Justice: Thanksgiving Day Stuffing

As in beat the stuffing out of you....

Yeah, they beat you death and lie about it.


"Webster man dies in custody after sobriety checkpoint stop" by Milton J. Valencia, Globe Staff | November 28, 2009

I know our fascist courts have signed off on the legality, but the checkpoints are so unconstitutional. It assumes guilt, folks. Checkpoints are NOT America.


A Webster man died in police custody early Thanksgiving Day, about an hour after he allegedly scuffled with officers who had stopped the car he was traveling in at a sobriety checkpoint in North Andover.

The man, 45-year-old Kenneth Howe, was in the booking room at the Andover State Police barracks when he suddenly slumped over and became unresponsive. He was brought to Lawrence General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:45 a.m.

This is ALREADY STINKING to high heaven!

Essex District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett said state and North Andover police and members of the Essex sheriff’s department were holding a sobriety checkpoint on Route 114 in North Andover Wednesday when a car carrying Howe approached, just before midnight.

A State Police trooper allegedly saw Howe, the front-seat passenger, making furtive movements. When the trooper asked him to step out of the car, Howe allegedly jumped out the window, hit the trooper, and fled.

He JUMPED out of the WINDOW of a CAR?

How STOO-PID do you think we are out here?

Blodgett said he was arrested after a short foot chase and struggle. He was charged with assault and battery on a police officer. Another passenger in the car allegedly told police that Howe had lighted a marijuana cigarette before the checkpoint and that he was trying to extinguish it.

I'm sorry, folks, but SOMETHING STINKS and it is not the alleged pot!!!

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"Tests conducted in death of man in police custody; Suspect arrested at checkpoint in North Andover" by Jeannie Nuss, Globe Correspondent | November 29, 2009

Few new details emerged yesterday in the case of a Worcester man who died in police custody Thanksgiving Day after he was arrested at a sobriety checkpoint in North Andover.

Authorities said they are awaiting the results of toxicology tests from an autopsy conducted on Kenneth Howe, 45, who was a passenger in the car stopped at the checkpoint. Police said Howe jumped out a car window and hit a trooper but was caught after a short foot chase and struggle.

He was captured on the lawn of the The Lawrence Eagle-Tribune in North Andover. Howe was charged with assault and battery on a police officer and taken to the State Police barracks in Andover. Another passenger in the vehicle allegedly told police that Howe lighted a marijuana cigarette before the checkpoint and was trying to extinguish it.

Police said they found Oxycodone on Howe, but investigators believe he had a prescription, according to Steve O’Connell, a spokesman for Essex District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett.

Well, yeah, it would say on the bottle.

Howe was pronounced dead at Lawrence General Hospital at 12:45 a.m. Thursday after he slumped over and became unresponsive at the State Police barracks. Two men who answered the door at a Worcester address listed for Howe yesterday said his family would not comment on the case. Meanwhile, a second passenger in the car stopped at the checkpoint, Michael Barbour, 29, of Worcester, was arrested on a warrant charging him with possession of a Class B substance, O’Connell said. The driver of the car was not charged. His name has not been released. One of the three men in the car allegedly told police they were in the Merrimack Valley looking to buy a boat.

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So why aren't the cops talking?

What are they hiding?

I mean, they are leak city when they want to get their message out!

Then the TRUTH slowly emerges:

"Witness suggests brutality by police; Man died in custody after checkpoint arrest; Authorities stand by account of events" by Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff | December 1, 2009

A friend of Kenneth Howe, the Worcester man who died after an alleged confrontation with police last week, has described to investigators a series of events that differs dramatically from authorities’ official version - and suggests that police brutality may have played a role in the death.

The friend, who witnessed the confrontation from outside his truck after it was stopped at a pre-Thanksgiving sobriety checkpoint in North Andover, said as many as 20 police officers - their arms flailing - surrounded Howe, according to an account of the testimony provided to the Globe yesterday by Boston lawyer Frances A. King.

King, who is representing the Howe family, attended the session at which the friend spoke to investigators from the Essex district attorney’s office on Sunday at his Worcester-area home. The witness’s name has not been released, and King declined to make him available to the Globe.

“I think this is an outrageous situation; I think the police officers acted like savage beasts,’’ King said yesterday. The driver told authorities that he watched one police officer emerge from the crowd out of breath, saying “good thing we had flashlights,’’ according to King. The scene was, the witness said, chaotic.

Howe, who was a carpenter and co-owner of a barbershop, died at 12:45 a.m. Thursday in police custody, touching off an investigation by the Essex district attorney’s office.

Oh, big whoop, an official investigation! That means another COVER-UP!

Yesterday, police stood by their description of what happened after the truck in which Howe, 45, was riding was stopped just before midnight at a regularly scheduled holiday eve sobriety checkpoint that included State Police, North Andover police, and Essex sheriff’s department. In a press release issued by the district attorney’s office, authorities said Howe was uncooperative when asked to step out of the truck and struck a state trooper as he jumped out the passenger side window.

Does that sound BELIEVABLE to you?

Have YOU ever tried to JUMP out of a window from a SITTING POSITION in a TRUCK with COPS ALL AROUND YOU?

This is a STEAMING, STINKING, COP LIE, folks!!!!

Howe tried to flee, but was caught after a brief foot chase, authorities said. A brief struggle ensued, and Howe was handcuffed and arrested for assault and battery on a police officer. Troopers at the Andover barracks noticed that he was unresponsive during booking and took him to Lawrence General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said.

Well, pot doesn't kill you and this shouldn't have either!

According to King’s account of the driver’s statement, when the car’s occupants realized they were approaching a police checkpoint, Howe moved to put out a marijuana cigarette and latch his seat belt as two state troopers neared the truck. One was at the driver’s window and another at the passenger’s window. The officers instructed the men to lower their windows, King said.

This account is MUCH MORE BELIEVABLE, folks!!! That sounds exactly like what would happen!

“She then immediately insisted that they exit the truck, and tried to drag him [Howe] out of the truck, and that’s when she yelled that he assaulted her and the chaos broke out.’’

After officers subdued Howe, they dragged him toward a police cruiser, according to King’s account of the driver’s testimony. He said Howe collapsed to the ground, and was motionless.

“That’s the last he saw of him, because the trooper told him to leave immediately,’’ King said of the driver’s account. The witness was outside the vehicle, facing Howe. He saw arm movement by the officers, but King could not say that he saw blows land on Howe’s body. Authorities are continuing to investigate the cause of Howe’s death.

Michael Barbour of Worcester, the other occupant in the truck, was arrested for possession of a Class B substance. Barbour has not returned calls for comment. King said police found OxyCodone on Howe, but she said his family indicated that he had a prescription for the medication. Steve O’Connell, spokesman for Essex District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett, said the police report on the incident is not available because it had not been completed.

PFFFFFFFFFTTTTT!!!!!

Investigators are awaiting toxicology results from the medical examiner’s office to help determine the cause of death. King said she and one of Howe’s relatives traveled to the medical examiner’s office yesterday to identify the body. King said a photograph of Howe showed that he had “fairly large bruises on the right part of his head, a bruise on the mouth area and over his left eye.’’ “We do have a dead body, so obviously something happened that night,’’ she said.

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And watch the Globe turn the VICTIM into the ACCUSED!

"Man who died after arrest had record; Assault on officer charge dropped" by Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff | December 2, 2009

He had a record, so what?

Does that mean he deserved to be beaten to death by 20 pigs?

A Worcester man who died in police custody last week after he allegedly tried to flee a police checkpoint in North Andover had prior run-ins with authorities, including an alleged assault on two officers and another flight attempt from State Police, records show.

And WHAT DISCIPLINARY PROBLEMS did the ASSAULTING OFFICERS have, Globe?! Why are you covering for fascistas, Glob? I thought you cared about human rights! Is it the pot?

Kenneth R. Howe, 45, was charged four years ago with assaulting two Worcester officers, but those charges were dismissed, then refiled, and ultimately dismissed, according to court records. In that incident, two Worcester officers reported that Howe was sitting on a sidewalk near a car they had stopped for a traffic violation. In their reports, the officers said Howe approached and began yelling at them because they had pulled over one of his friends. The officers told Howe to leave or they would arrest him, but after taking several steps away, Howe uttered profanity in their direction. When the officers went to arrest him, Howe lunged and punched one of them, then grabbed the arm of the other officer. Howe, according to a court document, claimed self-defense.

That's what the cops said, huh? To be instantly dismissed.

Frances A. King, a Boston attorney representing the Howe family, said Howe’s record, “whatever he has done, is in the past and is completely irrelevant to me.’’

Exactly! Besides, HE DIDN'T DESERVE TO DIE on Thanksgiving no matter what false charge he was accused by the cops. NEVER TALK to POLICE, readers -- EVER!!!!!! Buy yourself a piece instead.

On Monday, King said Howe’s death resulted from brutality, that as many as 20 police officers at a holiday sobriety checkpoint on Route 114, on the day before Thanksgiving, converged on him after a state trooper yelled, “He just assaulted me.’’

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King said, based on the statements of the truck’s driver, Howe was cooperative and never assaulted the officer. She added that Howe’s family all describe him as a man who did not fight. He was a carpenter and co-owned a barbershop.

Exactly! He had a job and was a businessman. He had a LOT to LIVE FOR!!! And the brutal bastards took it away from him on Thanksgiving.

“Even if everything they say is true, why is he dead?,’’ King said....

YUP!!!!

While being interviewed by investigators Sunday at his Worcester area home, the driver said the crowd of police was so thick he could not see Howe on the ground and did not see any of them actually hit Howe, despite seeing numerous arms “flailing.’’ King sat next to the driver, who has not been identified by police or King, during the interview. Court documents indicate Howe has 32 entries in his record and had been stopped multiple times for motor vehicle offenses, including one in July 2008 when a state trooper attempted to stop him after he failed to signal a turn in Worcester.

Gee, the Glob really crawled right up his ass, huh?

Of course, if it was SOME DRUNK PUBLIC OFFICIAL they would MINIMIZE the issue!

Btw, NONE of that has ANYTHING TO DO with him being BEATEN TO DEATH on THANKSGIVING!!!! Why the s***-shovel, Globe, and why no investigation of the cops?

According to the trooper, Howe sped away, driving a Chevrolet Trailblazer as fast as 80 miles per hour, and passed other cars in a no-passing zone. Howe eventually pulled over and told the trooper he was sorry and that he ran because his license was revoked. Police found a medication bottle full of marijuana in the vehicle’s glove compartment. Howe told the trooper that he had smoked “a little.’’

Howe was charged with failure to stop, negligent driving, and other violations and was sentenced to 60 days in jail and a year of probation, which ended earlier this year. Steve O’Connell - spokesman for the Essex district attorney’s office, which is investigating Howe’s death - said Howe’s record is not a factor in this case. O’Connell said investigators are awaiting a medical examiner’s toxicology report.

Yeah, but the GLOBE SPENT a WHOLE ARTICLE DRAGGING IT UP!!

Why DISCREDIT a DEAD MAN, Globe?

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Related: Drug War Making a Killing in Boston