The recent acquittal of a fired Milwaukee cop demonstrates how hard it is to criminally sanction violent cops in this country.
On Feb. 13, 2015, a jury acquitted ex-detective and police union official Rodolfo Gomez of beating a handcuffed suspect, Deron Love, during an interrogation. Here is a link to the Milwaukee Police Department video (on the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel website) of the incident: http://www.jsonline.com/multimedia/video/?bctid=4067134257001
After some initial reluctance by the police department, this video eventually was released to Love’s attorney. Gomez ultimately was fired, then faced charges for this incident, but the jury refused to convict him. Love was prosecuted for his son’s death, and acquitted. Gomez attempted to retire on disability pay before the Milwaukee Police Department could fire him. Love has filed a lawsuit against Gomez, which is pending.
According to the Journal-Sentinel, “Love was a suspect in the death of his infant son and had already been interviewed for a couple hours by two detectives during the day shift on Aug. 14, 2013. Gomez, working the second shift, took another run at obtaining a confession.”
Under our system, criminal suspects supposedly are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law; are entitled to remain an attorney; are entitled to remain silent; and are entitled not to be punched, kneed, choked, and eye-gouged by the cops while chained to a concrete wall.
Gomez was a bad cop with a history of misconduct that included allegations of domestic violence, fighting in a bar, and framing a murder suspect by planting evidence. He also lied in a search warrant, which led to a man being shot in his home by a SWAT, resulting in a $1 million judgment against the city.
Photos: Rodolfo Gomez (l.) was fired after a checkered police career; Deron Love (r.) was acquitted of shaking his infant son to death.