Ronald Gene Taylor: Innocent but found Guilty by HPD Crime Lab

Ronald Gene Taylor was found guilty of rape in 1993. No semen was found by HPD Crime Lab on the sheet used as evidence, making the only evidence against him the eyewitness identification by the victim and the fact that he lived near by.

A recent test of the same sheet found that there was in fact semen on the sheet linking the rape to a sexual offender that is already serving time in a Texas prison.

Harris County District Attorney’s Office is working for Ronald Gene Taylor’s release now that this evidence has come to light.

Missouri City Police’s Hitman Husband Given New Trial

Robert Fratta, previously a Missouri police officer who had his wife killed by a hit man, has been given a new trial due to an inconsistency in the gunman’s confession – namely, whether or not he was allowed his right to an attorney before his confession. The police officer had been sentenced to death, but has now been given a trial by a federal judge.

Cops Run Reds, Its a Fact

HPD had over 100 squad cars cited for running red lights without sirens during the first year of installing red light cameras in various locations throughout Houston. Many of the citations handed out have been appealed and dismissed for police officers.  The question not asked: how many police officers have run red lights with lights and sirens on just to turn them off and slow down after passing through intersections? We’ve all seen it done, just like we’ve all seen police cars speed, tailgate, harass homeless people with their speaker systems, and other tactics of “traffic control”.  Is this what HPD is now calling “community policing”? We hope not.

Pedro Gonzales Jr: ELEVEN rib fractures

Pedro Gonzales Jr died of a punctured lung caused by a rib fracture. How many ribs were fractured? 11. How were they fractured? By the knees of two police officers. Between the comments from those who knew him and the medical professionals that have weighed in on the issue, it seems that the force needed to puncture a lung would never have been needed to subdue Mr. Gonzales.

If anyone has any additional information – either about police officers Jason W. Buckaloo and Christopher S. Jones or about this incident, please contact Houston CopWatch.

Pasadena Police Guilty of Deadly Conduct

This past March,  off duty Officer Marcus Justin Kacz of Pasadena PD became so enraged at being cut off while driving that he pursued the car and shot at the driver with at least three shots being fired. On the 26th, a jury found Kacz guilty of deadly conduct. His punishment? Probation, a fine of $400, community service, and an anger management course. A lenient punishment from a police force that is under heavy scrutiny for excessive use of force.

An Account of Repeated Police Brutality in Pasadena

The following is a series of emails Houston CopWatch has received from Robert Pierson of Pasadena, TX. These accounts include incidences of racism and classism, incidences of health violations within the Pasadena jail, and incidences of possible corruption in Pasadena’s court system.

If anyone has any information on other instances like these, please contact Houston CopWatch and we will post your stories.

-HCW

A Request from the McIntosh Family’s Legal Representation

To Whom It May Concern:

To begin with, I think your organization is wonderful and you are doing
great work.  I represent the McIntosh family in their civil suit against HPD
and officer LD Smith.  I am in the process of compiling evidence of police
brutality and fatal shootings in Houston to help make the family’s case
against HPD.  If you have any information that you think might help me, I
would sure appreciate you passing it along.  Also, if you come across any
witnesses that saw the shooting but did not come forward for fear of
retribution, I can protect their anonymity and would like to talk to them.
Thank you very much, any information would be appreciated.

Derek S. Merman, Partner

Merman & Dunk, LLP

723 Main St.  Suite 1020

Houston, Texas

77002

Tele: (713) 223-1435

Fax:  (713) 223-1438

Officer KR Barnes off the hook for killing Alex Macario Rivera in May 2007

Officer Barnes gets away with shooting Alex Macario Rivera in the back as he fled unarmed after a robbery.

Defendants affected by crime lab corruption go without legal aid

413 cases were in need of review due to crime lab inaccuracies. Most defendants have not received any legal help, and in some cases defendants have not been informed that their cases involved crime lab inaccuracies.

HOMICIDE!

Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office has determined that Pedro Gonzales Jr.’s death was a homicide.  Determining whether or not the homicide was “justified” is the next step towards justice.