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S.F. cops accused of perjury and illegal searches

by Lynda Carson (tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com)
San Francisco cops are accused of perjury and illegal searches, after video footage allegedly reveals that San Francisco Police Department narcotics officers falsified police reports in order to justify searching residences without warrants or consent!

S.F. cops accused of perjury and illegal searches

By Lynda Carson -- March 6, 2011

San Francisco - On March 2, 2011, San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi announced that surveillance videos from the Henry Hotel reveals that San Francisco Police Department narcotics officers falsified police reports in order to justify searching residences without warrants or consent, at the low-income residential hotel.

According to the Public Defenders Office, the damning video footage from two separate drug arrests made at the Henry Hotel, a 132 unit, 7 story low-income and homeless resource residential hotel built in 1912, stand in direct contradiction to police reports which were signed by officers under penalty of perjury.

The operations of the plainclothes unit accused of using illegal tactics against those being targeted for alleged drug violations have been suspended, prompting an FBI investigation into the activities of the eight-officer undercover plainclothes unit. Presently there is a total of 6 cops that are accused of illegal searches and perjury.

Additionally, a third video released appears to show the cops forcing some ones door open on New Years Eve at the 69 unit low-income Hotel Royon, managed by the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, revealing that the cops did not even bother to show their badges, and the charges filed against the arrested person have since been dropped.

According to Tamara Aparton, spokeswoman for the public defenders office, there existed a bench warrant for allegedly possessing crack cocaine for the man that was arrested at the Hotel Royon, but there is no record of police checking for the bench warrant on the man, until after he was arrested. It appeared to be an illegal search.

The alleged illegal busts made recently at the Henry Hotel on Dec. 23 and Jan. 5, involved some of the same officers involved in the alleged illegal bust made at the Hotel Royon on News Year Eve, including Robert Forneris, Arthur Madrid, Raymond Kane and Raul Elias, according to the public defenders office.

Charges for the Dec. 23 incident were dropped by prosecutors last week, and a judge dismissed the Jan. 5 case last Monday, after seeing the video footage.

In a press statement, Chief Attorney Matt Gonzales of the San Francisco Public Defenders Office said the seriousness of the matter could not be overstated. "A free society cannot abide by a culture of lawlessness by police," Gonzales said. "Those officers who lie under oath to magistrates should be prosecuted for their misconduct. They are no better than the criminals they purport to be in pursuit of."

Bob Dunlap of the public defenders office added, the video confirms our longstanding suspicions. "For years our clients have reported tales of police entering their homes without warrants or consent, in direct contravention of the Fourth Amendment and in direct contradiction of the police version of events, and now we have proof both of the police violating core Constitutional rights and committing perjury to cover their tracks."

Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com


Video Footage

Hotel Royan -- December 31, 2010

Click below for video...

http://www.youtube.com/user/sfpublicdefender#p/a/u/0/DfQMdJDfJbY


Henry Hotel -- December 23, 2010

http://www.youtube.com/user/sfpublicdefender#p/a/u/2/GFwr9lJP35U


Henry Hotel -- January 5, 2011

Click below for video...

http://www.youtube.com/user/sfpublicdefender#p/a/u/1/I6G8G3EPBd4

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Dan
Mon, Mar 7, 2011 10:30AM
Lynda Carson
Sun, Mar 6, 2011 9:04PM
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