Police Charged After Violent Arrest Taped
By MARY FOSTER, Associated Press Writer
20 minutes ago

NEW ORLEANS - Two New Orleans police officers repeatedly punched a 64-year-old man accused of public intoxication, and another city officer assaulted an Associated Press Television News producer as a cameraman taped the confrontations.



After being questioned, the three officers were arrested late Sunday and charged with battery. They were then released and ordered to appear in court at a later date, Capt. Marlon Defillo said.

"We have great concern with what we saw this morning," Defillo said after he and about a dozen other high-ranking police department officials watched the APTN footage Sunday. "It's a troubling tape, no doubt about it. ... This department will take immediate action."

The assaults come as the department, long plagued by allegations of brutality and corruption, struggles with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the resignation last month of Police Superintendent Eddie Compass.

The APTN tape shows an officer hitting the man at least four times in the head Saturday night as he stood outside a bar near Bourbon Street. The suspect, Robert Davis, appeared to resist, twisting and flailing as he was dragged to the ground by four officers. Another of the four officers then kneed Davis and punched him twice. Davis was face-down on the sidewalk with blood streaming down his arm and into the gutter.

Meanwhile, a fifth officer ordered APTN producer Rich Matthews and the cameraman to stop recording. When Matthews held up his credentials and explained he was working, the officer grabbed the producer, leaned him backward over a car, jabbed him in the stomach and unleashed a profanity-laced tirade.

"I've been here for six weeks trying to keep ... alive. ... Go home!" shouted the officer, who later identified himself as S.M. Smith.

Police said Davis, 64, of New Orleans, was booked on public intoxication, resisting arrest, battery on a police officer and public intimidation. He was treated at a hospital and released into police custody.

A mug shot of Davis, provided by a jailer, showed him with his right eye swollen shut, an apparent abrasion on the left side of his neck and a cut on his right temple.

"The incidents taped by our cameraman are extremely troubling," said Mike Silverman, AP's managing editor. "We are heartened that the police department is taking them seriously and promising a thorough investigation."

Davis, who is black, was subdued at the intersection of Conti and Bourbon streets. Three of the officers appeared to be white, and the other is light skinned. The officer who hit Matthews is white. Defillo said race was not an issue.

Three of the five officers — including Smith — are New Orleans officers, and two others appeared to be federal officers. Numerous agencies have sent police to help with patrols in the aftermath of Katrina.

Under normal circumstances, it takes unusually offensive behavior to trigger an arrest on Bourbon Street. But New Orleans police have been working under stressful conditions since the hurricane.

Officers slept in their cars and worked 24-hour shifts after the storm. Three-quarters lost their homes and their families are scattered across the country.

"Our police officers are working under some very trying times," Defillo said. "So it's a difficult time, but it doesn't excuse what our jobs are supposed to be."

Many officers deserted their posts in the days after Katrina, and some were accused of joining in the looting that broke out. At least two committed suicide.

Conditions have improved — officers now have beds on a cruise ship — but they don't have private rooms and are still working five, 12-hour days.

Compass, the police superintendent, resigned Sept. 27. Despite more than 10 years of reform efforts dating to before he took office, police were dogged by allegations of brutality and corruption.

On Friday, state authorities said they were investigating allegations that New Orleans police broke into a dealership and made off with nearly 200 cars — including 41 new Cadillacs — as the storm closed in.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- A retired teacher injured during a videotaped beating by New Orleans police says he feels no anger toward the department.

"I hold no animosity against anyone. I want to thank the new police chief for his quick action. I really do," 64-year-old Robert Davis said Tuesday.

Justice Department officials said Tuesday they will review the results of an FBI investigation to determine whether federal civil rights charges are appropriate.

New Orleans Police Department's Office of Internal Affairs is also part of the investigation.

Davis is African-American; the three officers allegedly involved in the French Quarter beating last Saturday are white.

A second investigation related to the incident was opened by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which said Tuesday it is investigating whether one of its agents manhandled two witnesses to the beating.

An Associated Press photographer captured the beating on tape. It shows Davis covered in blood, handcuffed with his arms behind his back. Several times, officers used their feet to prevent him from turning from his stomach onto his back. (Watch raw footage of the beating -- 1:26)

Davis was taken from the scene by ambulance about 10 minutes after the beating.

"We can expect a short investigation, probably a couple of days," said FBI spokesman Rich Kilo.

The FBI said the investigators were sent to assist state and local law enforcement authorities who have already brought state battery charges against the officers.

Two FBI agents were actually at the scene as the beating ended, said FBI officials Tuesday.

The agents, who were not identified, had just finished a meal when they happened on the beating, FBI headquarters officials said.

"When they showed up, the individual was cuffed," said FBI spokesman Stephen Kodak, referring to Davis. "They have no idea what happened before they showed up."

On Monday, the officers allegedly involved in the beating -- Lance Schilling, Robert Evangelist and S.M. Smith -- pleaded not guilty to the charges of battery and were released on bond. (Full story)

A trial has been set for January, and the officers have been suspended without pay.

Davis' attorney: Attackers were rotten apples, not racists
Davis was in New Orleans to check on property he owns in the flooded 9th Ward the night of his beating, he told CNN Tuesday.

He was walking in the French Quarter when he became concerned about the curfew and asked a police officer about it.

Davis said they were interrupted by another police officer walking by.

"He interrupted our conversation. I told him that was very unprofessional," Davis said. "I proceeded to walk on across the street, at which time he punched me, I guess, and from there I don't remember much other than a lady in the crowd, I guess just a bystander, who kept hollering, 'He didn't do anything'."

Joseph Bruno, the attorney for Davis, said his client does not believe the assault was racially motivated.

"I know there is a big temptation to go there, but my client firmly believes that is not what is involved here," Bruno said in an interview.

Instead, Bruno said, Davis believes he was assaulted by "a couple of rotten apples that need to be dealt with."

Davis suffered fractures in his cheek and near his eye. He said Tuesday that his back still hurt and that he might have to have surgery on his eye.

Bruno said they would likely file a civil suit, but under the "best" scenario his client could "break even" because of the limited nature of punitive damages under Louisiana law.

Davis also faces charges: public intoxication, battery on a police officer and resisting arrest. He is scheduled to appear in court this week and denies he was drunk. (Video: Davis denies drinking - 5:22)

"I haven't drank in 25 years," Davis told CNN. "That's the amazing part."

Bruno said he would ask for the charges to be dropped. He told CNN his client was not asked to submit to a sobriety test.

The other probe
In the customs agency incident under investigation, the two witnesses to the beating incident, Calvin Briles and Mike Monaghan, said they were handcuffed, manhandled and shoved around by a man in a U.S. Customs vest. Both men are relief workers and students at the University of South Florida.

Briles described to the Bradenton, Florida Herald how he was thrown against a car with his face pressed against its hood after saying, "I want to tell somebody" about the beating.

Both men said they were handcuffed while authorities checked to see if there were outstanding warrants against them.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents helped with crowd control after the beating incident. ICE spokesman Marc Raimondi stressed that there is no allegation linking the customs agent to the beating itself.

CNN's Dan Simon, Alina Cho, Terry Frieden, Rod Griola, Chris Strathmann, Jeanne Meserve and Susan Candiotti contributed to this report

Thoughts? Opinions? I saw the aftermath video and it's pretty brutal.

There really ought to be better screening for cops. Corrupt fucks in authority positions are just the worst.