Using coercive methods, police extracted a false confession.

It started on February 20, 1997. Two Modesto police officers yanked Michael, then a 16-year old junior, from his second period class for questioning in a gang-related shooting. School officials cooperated fully with the police and did nothing to intercede on Michael’s behalf. Michael was subjected to hours of threats from the police right at his school. What took place at the school sent Michael to jail for a year.

Officers Al Brocchini and Detective Nick Chilles arrived at the high school and took Michael down to the attendance office where they interrogated him relentlessly. They wanted information on a burglary and subsequent shooting. Michael didn’t have any information for them; he claims he wasn’t there. But police kept after him, threatening and making promises throughout the entire morning.

Michael wanted the session to end. The police told him repeatedly that he would not be prosecuted as long as he cooperated with them and provided information about other gang members who were involved in the burglary and shooting. They told him that even if he was the shooter, he would not be booked. And they said that if he didn’t tell them what they wanted to hear, he would be sent to jail.

Worn down and confused, Michael told them what they wanted to hear. He made a false confession. The police put words into his mouth. In reviewing the 169-page transcript, an expert on police interrogations called the statement "grossly" coercive.

Then, true to their word, the cops took him home. When he got there, Michael explained the false confession to his father. The father called the police and said that his son had lied. The police responded by returning and arresting Michael for lying. He was then charged with 11 counts of attempted murder and remained incarcerated for the next year.

During that time Michael recanted his confession. The police, using their coercive methods once again, were able to extract statements from two other youths who claimed that Michael was involved. Michael ultimately took a lie detector test which showed that he was not involved in the burglary and shooting.

When Michael was first arrested, he was placed in juvenile hall. Inmates cannot post bail to get released from juvenile hall. When it was later determined that he would be tried as an adult, he was transferred to the men’s jail and bail was posted at $250,000. This amount was too high for Michael’s family to pay. So Michael remained in jail. In order to do his best for his client, Michael’s attorney had to request a number of delays of court appearances and Michael remained in jail.

Finally after Michael had passed two polygraph tests and repeatedly denied that he was involved, a deputy district attorney asked the Superior Court to dismiss the charges for lack of evidence.

Michael is now free. But I cannot imagine what spending a year in an adult jail for a crime he did not commit has done to someone so young. Not only was Michael unfairly punished, police focus on the wrong boy let the real perpetrator to go free.

Modesto Police ABC Out of Control Downtown

MPD Out of Control Downtown…

Many people don’t know that the California State ABC (Alcohol Beverage Control) has been giving the City of Modesto a grant to enforce their rules in the City of Modesto for the past three years. This grant also empowers MPD officers to become pseudo ABC agents and allows them to enforce all ABC rules. Since the grant was given MPD is on the offensive harassing businesses and causing havoc with people’s livelihoods. Just in downtown Modesto MPD has busted Tresetti’s, Barking Dog, Taiwan Restaurant, Tokyo Empress, Sharkey’s Crab Shack, Fat Cat, Dewz, 1505, Minnie’s, and those are just the ones that I know of. There almost isn’t one business that they haven’t written up for one reason or another in the downtown area.

Police And Prosecutors Have The Incentive To Confiscate As Much As Possible

Not only do police and prosecutors have the power to seize anything you own on the slightest pretext, they also have the incentive. The dirty little secret of the forfeiture racket is that police, prosecutors and judges can benefit personally by stealing your property.

Brenda Grantland – America's leading asset forfeiture defense attorney – gives these examples of government greed in her book "Your House Is Under Arrest":

* Suffolk County, New York. District Attorney James M. Catterton drives around in a BMW 735I that was seized from an alleged drug dealer. He spent $3,412 from the forfeiture fund for mechanical and body work, including $75 for pin-striping.

* Warren County, New Jersey. The assistant chief prosecutor drives a confiscated yellow Corvette.

* Little Compton, Rhode Island. The seven member police force received $3.8 million from the federal forfeiture fund, and spent it on such things as a new 23-foot boat with trailer, and new Pontiac Firebirds.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg. The head of one Los Angeles police forfeiture squad claims his group personally pocketed over $60 million in seized property.

Why do our courts tolerate these outrageous legalized thefts? Because they get their cut. It's completely legal for confiscated property to be used by police, prosecutors and judges, so long as it's for official business. In 1996, a federal district court even ruled that police can personally receive 25% of the value of any confiscated home, car, or business.

Don't Be Afraid To Speak Out

The police in this country have way too much unsupervised power. It is my true belief that 95% of the US police force commits a crime and or violates someones rights on a daily basis. I speak from experience. The police have pulled me over for no reason, stole from me, searched me illegally, assaulted me and numerous other things that abuse their authority.

Think about this. Police are just like public officials except they don't have to get elected and they get to carry a gun. These people in our police force are able to pull a gun on you at there discretion and we as a society have no say so about who is hired or fired. Pretty much the only way to get rid of a crooked cop is to catch him on video tape breaking the law, and sometimes that is not even enough. Did you know that cops are trained to lie? Thats right, they are trained to tell you whatever it takes to get you to confess to a crime, whether you did it or not.

Another fun fact is that if you score too high on your IQ test, you will be banned from joining any police force. People, Im not making this stuff up! If you don't want to take my word for it, just do a Google search on "scores too high on IQ test for police" . It is ridiculous to keep someone from getting a job because that person is too smart. I wonder how dumb you really have to be to become a cop. The only reason that more of them are not revealed as being crooked is because, as I said before, they are trained to lie. They are trained to know exactly what it takes to get someone convicted of a crime. So of course they know exactly what to do to avoid being caught themselves. Not to mention, the guys that should be arresting them are the same guys that they spend their days off with at the shooting range.