Six LASD Officials Found Guilty of Obstruction of Justice

Six Los Angeles Sheriff's Department (LASD) officers were found guilty today in federal court on six counts of conspiracy and obstruction of justice. The six were accused of obstructing an ongoing investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) into corruption and civil rights violations in the Los Angeles County Jail, which is run by LASD.

LASD officers were accused of going out of their way to hide FBI informant Anthony Brown from federal handlers, going as far as moving him around the Men's Central Jail and changing his name. Brown communicated to his handlers incidences of excessive force inside the jail, as well as the names of officers involved. In August 2011, during a cell search, deputies found the mobile phone Brown used to communicate with the FBI.

The six found guilty are among 18 LASD officials charged by the U.S. Attorney's office as a part of five criminal cases, and there is a possibility that more will be indicted. From the Los Angeles Times:

Attorneys repeatedly invoked former sheriff Lee Baca and then-undersheriff Paul Tanaka, alleging that they had been the driving force behind actions taken by the defendants after the department learned of the federal investigation.

Tuesday's verdict could have a bearing on prosecutors' decisions on whether to bring charges against higher-ranking members of the department -- they have acknowledged in court that Tanaka, as well as a current captain of the department, remain subjects in the still-open grand jury investigation. Tanaka is currently a candidate for sheriff, heading toward a November runoff.

Reason TV spoke with the the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, who has been monitoring the jail for decades, after the charges were filed:

Comments

[MegaloMonocle]

Of all the crime committed by the LASD, the one they go to jail for is failing to respect the authoritay of the feds.

The six were accused of obstructing an ongoing investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

I don't know quite what to do with that.

[sarcasmic]

Yep. They're not in trouble for abusing little people. They're in trouble for failure to obey.

[juris imprudent]

It is authoritah, all the way down.

[wef]

So is this just really a turf war between thug-state gangs?

[rickl7069]

For people in power, it is ALWAYS about obedience. If a cop decides to pull you over for speeding and you refuse they will take it to the point of killing you - not because you were speeding, but because you would not obey. Obey your masters.

[Rich]

I don't know quite what to do with that.

Really. Doesn't the FBI obstruct its own investigations?

[Sevo]

I had hopes that meant 'school district'.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

Heh. That would have been something.

[Brandon]

Attorneys repeatedly invoked former sheriff Lee Baca and then-undersheriff Paul Tanaka, alleging that they had been the driving force behind actions taken by the defendants after the department learned of the federal investigation.

I notice that neither Baca nor Tanaka has been arrested yet.

[gaoxiaen]

Don't hold your breath. Buy a catcher's cup.

[Paul.]

You don't get arrested at that level. You become "embattled" and then maybe you have to retire with you full pension, and then you get a talk show.

[Warrren]

LOL.

[Ken Shultz]

The ACLU sued to remove him from office, which I don't think happens very often.

...and then he resigned before his term expired!

Generally speaking, you don't resign from a position like that until after they've agreed not to charge you. If he resigned without getting that kind of assurance, then he really gave a big bargaining chip away.

[Paul.]

I wanna engage in some kind of ongoing criminal enterprise, then resign in lieu of charges.

[OneOut]

Get a job with the IRS or probably any other alphabet agency.

[What's that smell?]

Along the lines of abusive authority...please post at will

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion.....p=trending

[gaoxiaen]

They have to delouse the kids, but they're not building ovens yet.

[Christophe]

This is so over the top that I'm not willing to believe it without at least some corroboration from other sources.

No one would call themselves "brown shirts" on purpose.

[Otis B. Driftwood]

I'm with Christophe on this one. Fox has become about as reliable as Reditt.

[Warrren]

The thing is government is so bad, so vicious, stupid, and incompetent it's totally possible and likely that this story is true.

[Hyperion]

In other news, Ann Coulter soccer bigotry catching on. Liberal's only sport:

Soccer only for liberals

[Timon 19]

That's an 8-point gap. That's not really that big.

This is assuming the poll is even remotely scientifically sound.

[Hyperion]

Yeah, but the rednecks on that site are eating it up. Soccer is all of the sudden the latest greatest threat to the empire of Murika. Soccer is gonna kill your grandma, burn her recipe for apple pie and turn Murika into Europe.

Damn it's hard to keep saying that progtards are worse than SoCons if they keep this shit up.

[Virginian]

Eh, to be fair, there are a shit ton of people I know who hate sports, except they love soccer. For them it's some kind of retarded signaling that they're one of the enlightened.

[Timon 19]

Derp is as derp does.

All I know is there are a shitload of progtards who cannot stand soccer and complain loudly about it at every turn. It can't be that much fewer than the SoCons.

[Paul.]

Socons just bluster in editorials. Progtards are affecting my real life.

[Audrey the Liberal]

Socons just bluster in editorials. Progtards are affecting my real life."
You must be a heterosexual male to say something like that.

[Suicidy]

Progtards need lots of attrition.

[Otis B. Driftwood]

I pulled this little gem from the comments:

Obama actually won the ten most educated states.
It was Mitt who won the ten least educated. Even Fox News had to report that.

The states with the highest education levels are the blue ones. We all know that.

Look at the electoral map. Mitt won Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Arkansas, etc. He won the "Deliverance" states and not much else. Are we going to pretend that means nothing?

[Dweebston]

How are we defining "most educated"? Because if the homes of some of the most best-educated urbanites happen to be located in cities densely-populated by the urban welfare crowd, it doesn't tell us altogether much about the academic makeup of BHO's voters. It just tells us that the highly-educated tend to congregate in large cities. Pardon me if I'm not exactly floored by that revelation.

[Paul.]

How are we defining "most educated"?

The same way we always do: # of degreed pedicab drivers with art-history/french literature double majors and $100k of student loan debt. That's just how fucking smart they are.

[Otis B. Driftwood]

This actually makes more sense:

The states with the highest education indoctrination levels are the blue ones. We all know that.

[Dweebston]

Furthermore, the highly-educated are, as a class, better insulated from the travesties of social engineering and economic socialism. Is some tenured professor out on his ass if the minimum wage rises two bucks? Hardly. But I'm certain he'll rally behind the effort, because signaling his progressive bona fides is vital to his profession. Is the Democrat party apparatchik liable to suffer if the corporate income tax rises or some loophole closes? Of course not. She's not in business, she's isolated from competition, she graduated with her law degree and a minor in social psychology and went straight to work for the party machine. She doesn't know the first thing about running a business. Knowing anything would, in fact, be detrimental to her career as a party hack. But my, is she ever so well-educated.

[Otis B. Driftwood]

But I'm certain he'll rally behind the effort, because signaling his progressive bona fides is vital to his profession.

And because he'd be ostracized by the academic community if he disagrees with the hive.

[OneOut]

"Are we going to pretend that means nothing?"

Since a large portion of the Democrat base is unable to even conjugate the "be" verb I'm comfortable saying it doesn't mean what he is trying to imply it means.

[Radioactive]

2 b or not 2 b? does I passes?

[MSimon]

What b verb?

[Suicidy]

Then why are progtards so......well, tardish? Seriously, they seem pretty fucking stupid, even the ones tag went to university.

[Otis B. Driftwood]

In reading the comments on that story, I realized that I disagree ideologically with conservatives as much as progressives; however, I loathe progressives on a much deeper level. I suppose that it's because conservatives are pretty honest about their intolerance and statism while progressives are fucking deceitful, conniving cocksuckers.

[adifferentken]

I prefer conservatives because they keep doing the same thing, so once you have your coping strategies in place it's easier to go on about your life.

With liberals you never know what they are going to %$#@! up next.

[Paul.]

With liberals you never know what they are going to %$#@! up next.

Not true.

I know for a fact the next thing progressives are going to $@#$! up is my freedom.

[Warrren]

It's okay you're allowed to use the word "mess" here if you like.

[adifferentken]

That does seem to be a given, with every new 'solution' failing to fix whatever problem it was aimed at and creating a few new ones to boot.

I wonder if there is any way to breed the 'we must DO SOMETHING!!!' impulse out of the gene pool.

There must be a way to fix this problem...oh shit, now I'm doing it...

[Radioactive]

Not true...borrowing from Shakespeare..."the first thing we do is kill all the (insert group id)"

[widget]

The LA county sheriff is democratically elected, I'll have you know. The victor is always endorsed and financed by every action group from the NAACP to the NRA, from the Sister Servants of Mary to Atheists United. All bases are covered. I might exaggerate, but just a tad.

[Dweebston]

It's almost like the candidate who serves everyone's issues serves nobody's.

[widget]

No. The police are adept at political organizing. Very adept. Like you playing a pick-up, make-it-take-it, one-on-one basketball game with Kobe Byrant.

That and hyphens. I am terrible writer, are these hyphens correct?

[Warrren]

Ye-es.

[Paul.]

I declare them correct.

And I've had my grammar corrected by Tim fucking Cavanaugh.

[Dweebston]

TheTim Cavanaugh? Or just a Tim Cavanaugh? 'Cuz one of those is pretty impressive.

[Warrren]

Apparently it's The Fucking Cavanaugh

[Radioactive]

are you actually fucking this Cavanaugh or merely describing him?

[Paul.]

The Tim Cavanaugh. Corrected me on the use of 'fewer' vs 'less'.

I didn't make that mistake twice.

[cavalier973]

OT: Dice-Shaming

[Warrren]

Nice. I love a good looking die.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I don't see any dice. Dice are cubes with numbers on them.

And how can dice save you from petrification, unless the mob will stuff your body in concrete if you get any more gambling debts?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

And five turns of what? Of a screwdriver?

[Warrren]

It's a nerd thing, you wouldn't understand.

Saving check your privilege!

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Roll a d6

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a31W1W-EKlg

[Agammamon]

Picture's bullshit - who's playing 2nd edition anymore?

[Warrren]

1st ed. all the way!

[Warrren]

Vocal fry girl still on Jeopardy. Just lose already!

[Warrren]

Bitch lost! No more of that shit!

[Paul.]

She lost on Jeopardy?

[Warrren]

With the money he has now he could update that video....baby.

[Winston]

So in honour of Canada Day here is an article from a guy who to the same school as me: http://www.theguardian.com/com.....insecurity

[Notorious G.K.C.]

The New York Times on October 25, 1993: "The Religious Freedom Restoration Act reasserts a broadly accepted American concept of giving wide latitude to religious practices that many might regard as odd or unconventional. The bill deserves passage"

The New York Times on July 1, 2014: "The Supreme Court's deeply dismaying decision on Monday in the Hobby Lobby case swept aside accepted principles of corporate law and religious liberty. . . .it was a radical departure from the court's history of resisting claims for religious exemptions from neutral laws of general applicability."

(Instapundit, citing James Taranto, citing the NYT)

http://bit.ly/1lxNTSb

[Winston]

Someone should did up some NYT editorials attacking socialism.

[Winston]

Oh and a brother of a classmate of mine worked for Adam Vaughan. And as far as I can tell Vaughan wants more free shit for the Cities. Cytotoxic has a sad.

[LarryA]

going as far as moving him around the Men's Central Jail and changing his name.

Isn't that the way they always do it in TV?

[RishJoMo]

They must have stepped on some very big toes.

http://www.WentAnon.tk

[rickl7069]

As someone who has spent time in several county jails, the fact is that this abuse goes on everywhere. My testimony was once used to fire a prison warden and three guards for beating someone - but, it really doesn't matter because they are replaced with guards that will just do the same thing.
When there are so many people being locked up for so many stupid things and many of them are actually good people, the police must by necessity begin to see them as less than people in order to sleep at night. Add to that the fact that people who like violence seek this type of position, what teenage boy wouldn't like kicking in doors and making people do what they want. Add to that the closed atmosphere. Add to that the fact that very few abused inmates can do anything about it - generally no one will listen to them without a video tape; no one believes a criminal. etc, etc....
Jails need to be opened, reporters should be able to pretty much come and go, as much as safety allows. Very few inmates are actually violent, the police are, in general, more violent than most of those they claim to protect us from.
With statistics like the ones showing that recidivism is reduced by keeping families together, I could go on and on about the changes that should be made, but how do we get the public to care? They should care since most of these people will be their neighbors.