Mishandling Of Officers' DUI Resulting In Death Further Splits IMPD And Straub

The tensions between IMPD and Public Safety Director Frank Straub creeped up a notch today after Marion Co. Prosecutor Carl Brizzi announced he is dropping all alcohol-related charges against Officer David Bisard, whose police cruiser crashed into two motorcyclists, killing one person and leaving two others seriously injured. Brizzi says the blood draw taken from Bisard as evidence more than two hours after the accident was inadmissible because it was drawn by a lab technician who is not certified under Indiana law to do such work for criminal cases. Further complicating the case was the lack of probable cause for testing Bisard because police said they detected no signs of him being intoxicated when they arrived at the accident scene and began investigating the accident. Both failures led Straub to remove an officer in charge of fatal accidents involving alcohol from his position, and to ask the FBI to investigate IMPD's handling of the case.

Brizzi's decision to drop the alcohol-related charges against Bisard came after prosecutor's lost a defense motion before Judge Grant Hawkins to take away Bisard's license to drive because of the lack of a probable cause showing for suspending his license, which is determined under a statute different than the statute for determining probable cause of intoxication. Because there was no probable cause shown for administering a blood alcohol test and Bisard had not refused the testing, he was not subject to automatic revocation of his driver's license. An appellate court decision interpreting the statute in question supported Hawkins' ruling today. Bisard still faces felony reckless homicide and criminal recklessness charges. Brizzi, who has been under pressure to resign for a variety of recent transgressions and his ties to alleged Ponzi scheme operator Tim Durham, says his office did not learn of the defect in the drawing of Bisard's blood sample until this week.

Straub suggested to reporters today Bisard could face additional federal charges as a result of an FBI investigation, although it is not clear what federal laws he violated. It may just be more hyperbole on Straub's part, who seems to enjoy all of the media attention and the opportunity to exert more control over the police department. I understand people's frustration that police failed to detect any signs of Bisard being intoxicated but perhaps there is another explanation. He wasn't drunk. We now know the person who drew his blood for testing was not even qualified to be doing this type of work. Who knows at this point if we won't learn of other mistakes that produced an inaccurate blood alcohol test. Everyone at IMPD thought Bisard was one of their best officers until all this incident. Now everyone seems to be presuming his guilt before he's given a chance to prove his innocence. Let's just step back and give the guy the benefit of the doubt until all of the facts are gathered.

While our prosecutor was grand-standing in front of the cameras today about the police handling of this alleged DUI case, he should explain to the public why he has chosen to enter into a plea agreement with another accused drunk driver, Curt Carlson, who drove drunk and killed the driver of another car. Brizzi's office is reportedly offering a plea deal to let Carlson off on misdemeanor charges. Brizzi's office claims it lacks the evidence to prove he was driving while intoxicated when he struck a 30-year-old mother, Eboni Dodson.

$50 Million Budget Shortfall Just Didn't Fall Out Of The Sky

Fred McCarthy is as insightful as always concerning his observations on his blog, Indy Tax Dollars, about the recent admission by city officials acknowledging the city is facing drastic reductions in next year's budget due to a sharp drop in tax collections. McCarthy notes the "wall" in any news reports from connecting the massive subsidies Indianapolis pays to support our billionaire sports team owners with "the dire financial straits of the city of Indianapolis." McCarthy writes with a nice touch of sarcasm:

This morning’s paper (8/17/10) gives another excellent example of the wall. (Maybe we should start putting the word in caps - or at least in quotation marks!) The big question seems to be whether, or how much, police and fire department budgets should be cut.


In an article discussing an estimated drop in income tax revenues of $50 million and a shortfall of $32 million in property tax revenues for the coming year, there are quotations from the city controller, the public safety director, two City-County Council members, and various unnamed "officials" and "city leaders." Things are really looking bad.

We suspect, though, that - with the possible exception of the pubic safety director - all of the above named (or unnamed) were among the strong supporters of the $35 million giveaway to the local basketball team a few days ago. Those dollars are not mentioned.

Do they really expect us to believe that municipal fiscal disaster has reared its ugly head in just those few days? Did it really occur to nobody downtown that there just might be a more rational use of those 35 million taxpayer dollars?

We assume some might respond that the funds shoveled at sports franchises are dedicated and can not be used for other purposes. Quite correct. But they are dedicated by state legislative action because the so-called leaders of this city demand it be done that way.


We dare say that a bill in the legislature reversing the procedure, returning state tax revenues to the state and local taxes to the city for legitimate governmental expenses, would pass comfortably.

Probably the strongest opposition would come from the Indianapolis delegation.

With editorial help from the media, of course.

Well said, Fred.

What Kind Of Progess Is Being Made In Afghanistan, Rep. Carson?

U.S. Rep. Andre Carson gloated to the Indianapolis Star this past week about his recent trip to Afghanistan and his personal meeting with Gen. David Petraeus, the leader of U.S. efforts there, during his trip. "Carson said his visit encouraged him about the progress being made, the Star reported. "I think we will see a number of troops leave the region next year," he said. "How many is still unclear." The Star added, "He spent the night in a hooch, described as a mini, mini-trailer." "A sign on the door warned occupants to dive under the bed in case of a rocket attack."

I guess progress is in the eye of the beholder. This past Sunday, a young Afghan couple were stoned death for falling in love with each other and defying their parents dictates about who they could marry. Because the woman had been told to marry another man and refused, she and the man she loved violated a fundamental tenet of Sharia law. Councils made up of Islamic clerics are afforded considerable power to decide punishment in such cases. Stonings, amputations and lashing are common punishments meted out for violating Sharia law.

Constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley discussed on his blog the untenable position the U.S. government under President Barack Hussein Obama's leadership and Afghanistan's elected government is taking in accepting a role in governing for the Taliban, the religious fanatics who harbored Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda terrorist followers and suppressed the rights of women and minorites when they were in power, who we supposedly went to war against a decade ago and, in so doing, sacrificed countless numbers of American soldiers lives. Turley writes:

It seems that we are just trying to secure some semblance of peace to offer political cover for a pullout. So, with thousands of dead and wounded in our ranks, we could be declaring victory by leaving a country in at least partial Taliban control, where the most basic rights and protections to women and religious minorities are savagely denied. If we are just waiting for politically plausible moment to declare some pyrrhic victory, our continued sacrifice of lives and treasure in that country is grossly immoral. I have long been a critic of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, though I believe that the invasion of Afghanistan was justified in light of their protection of Osama Bin Laden. However, remaining in that country to try to build a new nation was folly in my view in light of the hundreds of years of strife and the extreme form of Islam followed by many residents. I am particularly disturbed by our soldiers fighting to protect officials who are opposed to the most basic rights of women. It is a bizarre scene to have our female soldiers dying so that government-supported clerics can continue to impose Shariah-based restrictions on their ability to be educated or even marry.

Turley hits the nail on the head. We have accomplished absolutely nothing after ten years of fighting this costly war. We never caputred bin Laden, and the Taliban are still a force of influence in the country. For Rep. Carson to call this progress is either a reflection of his ignorance of what is actually taking place in Afghanistan or his approval of the Islamic tradition of treating women and non-Muslims as second class citizens and imposing barbaric medieval punishments against those who fail to subscribe to the dictates of Islamic law.

Sadly, things aren't much better in Iraq. Last year, Muslim fanatics rounded up hundreds of gays and tortured and executed them because of Islam's harsh view towards homosexuality. Honor killings commonly take place in Iraq despite the massive presence of U.S. troops there.

Three Arrests Made In Northwest Side Shooting

An investigation into a shooting two weeks ago during an evening barbecue on the City's northwest side that left two dead and a total of six persons shot has led to the arrest of three individuals, who have been preliminarily charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Those arrested include: Damion Martin, 30, preliminary charge: Conspiracy to Commit Murder; Antwan Williams, 21, preliminary charge: Attempt Murder and Aggravated Battery; and Devin Staten,27, preliminary charge: Conspiracy to Commit Murder. Police sources complained that Public Safety Director Frank Straub hampered their investigation when he rushed to tell the media in the first days into the investigation that police were sure they had identified the shooter and that an arrest was imminent. Homicide investigators saw witnesses clam up and worried about the destruction of other critical evidence after Straub blabbed to the media. Police got a break in the case according to Fox 59 News' Russ McQuaid in the last few days when some people began talking to police after the shooting victims were laid to rest.

UPDATE: A Star report today on the arrests gives a strong argument for locking people up for longer prison sentences:

Martin has been arrested more than 30 times, records show. Martin, who lives in the 1500 block of West 25th Street, has served time in prison on convictions for marijuana possession, battery, resisting law enforcement, carrying a handgun near a school, carrying a handgun without a license and cocaine possession.


Department of Correction records show Martin was released from prison June 27, about five weeks before the shooting on 32nd Street.

Police records show Martin was arrested about nine hours after the shooting after a fight with Jenae Jones, 36. Both were at the site where the car that police think was used in the shooting was found, in the 1300 block of Roache Street.


The police report says, "Relatives of the homicide victims were on the scene, at which time an argument ensued between Damion Martin and Jenae Jones."

The Star story also indicates Williams had a prior arrest for cocaine possession.

Decision Day For Blagojevich: GUILTY ON ONLY ONE COUNT!

It's decision day for the twelve-person federal jury deliberating the fate of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his brother, Robert, in a federal public corruption trial in Chicago. Jurors have signaled to the Judge Zagel they have reached a split verdict after 14 days of deliberating, and they are now completing the final jury verdict forms. The Chicago Tribune's Eric Zorn twitters that a note to the judge indicates some convictions against one or both of the defendants. He thinks the jury is hung on at least 11 of the 24 counts. We'll soon see. Developing . . .

UPDATE: All parties have now gathered in the courtroom for the reading of the verdict as of 4:00 p.m. CST. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has joined his federal prosecutor team in the courtroom.

UPDATE II: Blagojevich has been found guility on Count 24 of the indictment for lying to federal investigators only . The jury could not reach a verdict on 23 other counts according to a live feed from WGN. Judge Zagel is declaring a mistrial on all of the other counts on which the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict. This is a big blow to the government's case against the former governor. Federal prosecutors immediately told Judge Zagel they intend to retry Blagojevich and his brother on the remaining counts.

Check out this video below. Blagojevich's attorney, Sam Adam, Sr., goes off on Patrick Fitzgerald calling him "nuts."


UPDATE III: The government can take some solace in news reports today that all jurors with the exception of one agreed Blagojevich was guilty of trying to sell Obama's Senate seat. It looks like the jurors are giving the government a roadmap on how to proceed in the next trial in presenting its case against the former governor. The Sun-Times gives this perspective from jurors today:

After 14 days in the jury room, the six men and six women finally acknowledged Monday they would be able to reach a unanimous verdict on only one of the 24 counts.


While some votes were split 7-5, 6-6 or 9-3, the most explosive of the charges -- that Blagojevich tried to sell Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat -- came down to a single holdout vote, jurors said.

That one holdout -- a woman whom her colleagues declined to single out -- felt she had not gotten the "clear-cut evidence" she needed to convict, Sarnello said.

"Say it was a murder trial -- she wanted the video," Sarnello said. "She wanted to hear [Blagojevich] say, 'I'll give you this for that.' . . . For some people, it was clear. Some people heard that. But for some, it wasn't clear.''

Matsumoto said jurors were overwhelmed by the number of counts and the amount of evidence in the case. While the secret recordings were "damning," he said, it wasn't enough for all the jurors.

"The lack of a smoking gun was one of the major flaws,'' the foreman said.

Sarnello said jurors were also frustrated by a lack of order in the government's case.

"It confused some people, just the way they presented it," said Sarnello, a student from Itasca. Prosecutors "didn't really follow a timeline at all."

So in the jury room, jurors created their own timelines on large sheets of paper, charting out each of the years from 2001 to the ex-governor's 2008 arrest.

They postponed discussing a list of 11 wire fraud counts, reasoning that these charges were related to other topics they were already talking about. Instead, they focused on the most explosive Senate seat charges.

Matsumoto, a Vietnam veteran and retired videotape librarian who voted the Blagojevich brothers guilty on all counts, said by day 14, the jury was "exhausted."

"The deliberations were constant from the time we went into the jury room until [Tuesday]," Matsumoto said. "I kind of enjoyed it, the trial part. But as soon as we started deliberations, it was very troubling, and very hectic and exhausting."

Asian Carp Invade The Wabash River

This video uploaded to YouTube by Brendan Kearns illustrates just how invasive a species of fish known as Asian carp can be. As the videotape illustrates, they can also pose a danger to boaters when the large fish leap as high as 10 feet out of the water.

Massa Launches First TV Ad In Prosecutor's Race

Mark Massa, the Republican candidate for prosecutor in Marion County, has launched the first TV ad in his race against Democrat Terry Curry. It's an introductory biograpical ad that touts his experience as a federal and state prosecutor and is well done.

Eitel Joins South Bend Silver Hawks

My nephew, Derek Eitel, received some good news last night. Derek, a right-handed pitcher from Rose-Hulman, was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in June and sent to the major league baseball team's farm team in Missoula, Montana to play. Last night, he learned he has been advanced to the South Bend Silver Hawks, a Class A minor league team affiliated with the Diamonbacks. He has already flown to South Bend and will play in his first game in Lansing, Michigan on Thursday. The Silver Hawks are owned by former Indiana governor Joe Kernan, who was my neighbor for a number of years while he served as Lt. Governor under the late Gov. Frank O'Bannon, and a group of local investors from South Bend. Good luck, Derek. His parents and family are all very proud of him. His younger twin brothers, Lucas and Logan, are members of the Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball team. Derek is the first Rose-Hulman athlete to be drafted to play a professional sport.

Star Catches On To Budget Shortfall Facing Indianapolis

The Star finally has a story about just how much in fewer revenues the City of Indianapolis expects to collect next year as a result of the deep economic recession. Before it's all done and said, I'm anticipating the City will wind up with close to $100 million in fewer revenues next year than it had to spend in this year's $1.22 billion budget. City Controller David Reynolds tells the Star's Francesca Jarosz about the $50 million drop in income tax revenues anticipated, as well as about $32 million less in property tax collections. I further anticipate a drop in federal grant monies Washington has rained down on state and local governments the past two years from unprecedented borrowing at the federal level that has left our nation in financial ruin. City leaders thnk 5% cuts across the board will suffice, including Public Safety for the first time. Dream on.

Indianapolis' public safety agencies may have to cut up to 5 percent of their budgets next year, but city officials insisted that will not mean fewer police or firefighters on the streets.


In the past two years, the city has requested 5 percent cuts of most other city departments, but sworn agencies such as police, fire and sheriff were exempted and received budget increases for pay raises.

Not this year. The city is facing its most grim financial forecast since Mayor Greg Ballard took office in 2008, and all departments are expected to share in that pain.


"Revenues are sufficiently down (enough) that we've been looking at those operations to see if we can find efficiencies," said city Controller David Reynolds. "At some point when your revenue gets stretched, you've got to be able to look at all opportunities."

Officials said the proposed cuts could eliminate one of two police recruit classes, reduce training, slash equipment costs and provide no union pay increases for police officers next year. But the city said it would not lay off police officers or firefighters and would continue to fill vacancies.

Widespread unemployment means the city will bring in $50 million less in income tax revenue in 2011 than it did this year.

A drop in assessed values for about 40 percent of county properties is expected to cause property taxes to dwindle by 18 percent in the wake of this year's $27 million drop. That will create a projected property tax shortfall of $32 million next year.

Along with the cuts, city leaders plan to tap a $17 million rainy day fund to help close the gap. The 2011 plan is expected to be less than this year's $1.22 billion budget.

I got news for you folks. There has never been a rainy day fund. Only by budget gimmickry has the Ballard administration been able to claim the existence of a pot of $17 million sitting out there. Public Safety is being asked to trim $16.3 million according to Jarosz' story.

"I don't know we'll get to the 5 percent," said Frank Straub, the city's public safety director. "(But) we have an obligation to be respectful of the budget process and to participate in reductions to the point where it doesn't affect public safety operations."


To do that, Straub is looking for ways to trim fixed costs such as building leases by moving police districts into spaces with cheaper rent. He's also attempting to streamline. The city plans to merge two Westside fire stations into a new facility, and more fire station consolidations could follow.

Police forces likely won't be increased next year. So far, Straub is planning one police recruit class for 2011 instead of two.


And under the proposed new police union contract, officers would get about 7 percent -- or $19 million -- in raises over the next four years, with the potential for the city to renegotiate after two years if revenues remain low. That's compared with $40 million in raises under the previous four-year contract.

Straub might want to start by making cuts in his own office, which is being packed with high paid political hacks, useless assistant directors and transfers in from the police department who are being given big pay raises so he can build his own secret police force. Pat Andrews tells Jarosz the City should rethink its take-home car policy for police. I've suggested a proposal for several years now to bring in millions annually to cover policing costs. Stop letting police officers hire themselves out to private security companies dressed in uniform and equipped with their police cruisers and other policing gear without providing any compensation for the use of those services to the City. Other major cities collect millions in fees from private security companies that use uniformed police officers for private security work while they are off duty.

As the City ponders these cuts, here's some food for thought. Mayor Ballard started his administration with a $90 million a year windfall from the higher income tax former Mayor Bart Peterson and his Democratic council enacted in 2007, which Ballard opposed, for the express purpose of funding public safety and paying off nearly a half billion dollars in unfunded public safety pension debt. Part of that money was to be spent hiring 100 new police officers. Ballard never used the money to hire those additional police officers. He used some federal stimulus money to temporarily pay the salaries of 50 new police officers in this year's budget. Further, the state picked up the City's unfunded pension liability, which allowed it to forego a bond issue that would have cost the City $25 to $30 million annually. The 2011 budget will be the first time Ballard has been forced to make any tough budget decisions. We'll see soon enough if he fairs the test any better than Peterson did.
 
On the subject of Frank Straub, Fox 59 News' Russ McQuaid picked up on an issue I raised a little more than a week ago about how Straub had compromised the shooting investigation in a northwest side city neighborhood that left six shot and two persons dead by shooting off his mouth. Straub boldly told local news media that police had identified the shooter and would be making an arrest within one, two or three days. It's now been 2 weeks and the shooter or shooters have still not been arrested. McQuaid said police sources told him Straub's remarks resulted in witnesses not wanting to talk and perhaps led to the destruction of evidence before it could be gathered by police.
 
Straub also has egg on his face for naming controversial radio talk show host Abdul Hakim Shabazz to a newly-formed public safety advisory board. His "friend", as Straub calls him, recently advocated the use of police brutality against juvenile offenders. "This is going to sound really bad, and maybe it’s just the anger talking, but as far as I’m concerned after Saturday night, if an officer has to use excessive force to keep young people like the ones who did the shooting under control then so be it," Shabazz said. "That is not my problem and I frankly don’t care." In a blog post from a couple of years ago, Shabazz made this comment: "Frankly, I’m getting a little tired of reading or watching another story about violence in this community." "And while I’m all for crime prevention, I’m falling back into my old belief that what this town needs are a couple good police beatings."


This is not the first time Shabazz, who admits he's an Illinois resident and not a resident of the City of Indianapolis has been the center of controversy. Shabazz became the target of a police investigation after it was learned he had anonymously published a blog, IndyUndercover, during the 2007 mayoral election that used police-related issues to attack Mayor Bart Peterson, giving the impression the blog was actually being anonymously written by city police. The blog endangered the life of a confidential police informant, a young pregnant woman, in an arson investigation when it identified her on the blog. When police attempted to execute a search warrant on Shabazz to determine who leaked the informant's identity, he ran and blogged that he was being targeted by the Peterson administration because he was preparing an investigative report on child molestation allegations against a prominent local Democratic businessman without mentioning the issue of the outing of the confidential police informant. Shabazz' alleged investigative report went nowhere, and he promptly deleted the IndyUndercover blog from the Internet.