DIRTBAGS GOT AWAY WITH MURDER!!! (long) [Archive]

hillie16

05-14-2002, 09:54 AM

If anyone remembers, in March last year a fellow officer in my area was ambushed and executed by the head drug dealer in the area......verdict came back from the jury Friday

They gave a guilty verdict of third degree murder on one of the guys, other was aquitted. The difference between 1st and 3rd degree in PA is "Malice and intent" for 1st degree. If shooting a person in the head, then walking up to him, putting the gun against his head and pulling the trigger again isn't malice and intent...I don't know what is.

And people complain about speeding tickets, as if we don't hate the system TOO!!!

The jury all wanted to find the one guilty of first degree, and one of 3rd degree, except one who wanted to aquital for both...they finally compromised because they were tired of deliberating....tired!!!!??? Jimmy can never wake up, and they let these dirtbags off easy cuz they were tired!!!!!!

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Police chief: 'Your life is worth 20 to 40 years'

By J.D. Prose and Bill Vidonic, Times Staff May 12, 2002

Aliquippa Police Chief Ralph Pallante said the verdicts for Jamie Brown and Acey Taylor III set a price on a police officer's life.

"The message goes out to police all across the United States," Pallante said, his eyes filling with tears. "Your life is worth 20 to 40 years."

A jury on Friday convicted Brown, 24, of third-degree homicide, which carries a prison sentence of 20 to 40 years. Taylor was found innocent of homicide and conspiracy charges and released.

Despite the verdict, Beaver County police will not abandon their responsibilities, Beaver County District Attorney Dale Fouse vowed.

"The law-enforcement community in Beaver County will continue to protect this community," Fouse said.

Yet there was no mistaking that the verdict was a bitter pill to swallow.

"It's a verdict we strongly disagree with," Fouse said.

At the Aliquippa police station on Franklin Avenue, the feeling among officers Friday afternoon was disappointment.

"It makes you wonder about the job you do; is it worth it?" said officer John Martin, who testified in the trial that Brown confronted him several weeks before the Naim shooting about a drug-related police investigation.

"We're disappointed. We all know (the verdict) wasn't right," said Sgt. Steve Roberts.

Scheduled to work the 3-to-11 p.m. shift Friday, Roberts spoke as he prepared to patrol Linmar Terrace for the night. A police substation sits across the street from where Naim was murdered.

Roberts just shrugged when he was asked about his attitude on patrolling the housing complex on the day the verdicts were delivered.

"Ain't going to give up," he said. "I ain't going to give up on it."

Pallante said patrols will continue in Linmar and other parts of the city as they always have.

"We've got a job to do, and we're going to do it," Pallante said.

hillie16

05-14-2002, 09:54 AM

Taylor's family celebrates jury's verdict of acquittal; Brown's family calls ruling a miscarriage of justice

By Bill Vidonic and J.D. Prose, Times Staff May 12, 2002

BEAVER - Savoring his first taste of freedom in 13 months and eager to move on with his life, Acey Taylor III is spending the weekend in Washington, D.C., with his family.

"I'm sorry I had to go through all this, because I was innocent," Taylor, 18, said as he walked out of the Beaver County Jail on Friday, nearly an hour after a jury cleared him of homicide and conspiracy charges in the killing of Aliquippa police officer James Naim.

In what the defense labeled "a compromise verdict," the same jury convicted Jamie Brown, 24, of Aliquippa of third-degree homicide for the March 15, 2001, execution-style shooting of Naim. Brown was cleared of the more-serious charge of first-degree homicide.

The verdict set off a firestorm of emotions, ranging from a jubilant Taylor family to an angered Brown family to a stricken Naim family.

"My brother is innocent, and I told you he didn't do it," Titanisia Dew said of Taylor as she clutched a pink rose and raised her hands to the sky.

"Jesus rules," said Harrietta Lawson, Taylor's mother.

Brown's defense attorney, Erika Kreisman, said: "I'm thrilled that this man is not facing the death penalty and he's not facing life in prison. But Jamie Brown didn't do this crime. He's innocent, so he shouldn't have been convicted."

According to police, Taylor identified Brown as the gunman but said he did not take part in the shooting. Brown's name never reached the jury, however, because statements from one defendant cannot be used against a co-defendant in trial. In testimony by state police Cpl. Ray Melder, Brown's name was stricken from Taylor's statement to police and replaced with "the other guy."

Kreisman said the verdict appeared to be a compromise between jurors who wanted to convict Brown of first-degree homicide and others who thought Brown was innocent.

Beaver County Judge John D. McBride will sentence Brown on May 29. A third-degree homicide conviction carries a penalty of 20 to 40 years in prison.

Paul Naim, older brother of the slain police officer, said Saturday that the family was still trying to deal with the flood of emotions brought on by the verdict.

"The jury didn't believe (Brown's alibi)," Paul Naim said, "so how could they do what they did? From a legal standpoint, the verdict is inconsistent."

For a first-degree homicide conviction, a jury must rule that the defendant had specific intent to kill. Third-degree homicide means the defendant had intent to injure but the victim dies.

Dr. James Smith, a forensic pathologist, testified during the eight-day trial that a gunman first shot Naim in the head from several feet away. That shot likely killed Naim, Smith said. The gunman then pressed the gun to the back of Naim's left ear and pulled the trigger again.

Darnell Hines, 20, of Aliquippa, the main witness for the prosecution, said Brown and Taylor lay in wait for Naim as he made his rounds in Linmar Terrace. Hines said Brown stepped from the shadows and fired several shots as Naim ran for his life.

According to Hines' testimony, once Naim was struck by a bullet and lay on the ground, Taylor said, "That (expletive) ain't dead yet. Shoot him again," and Brown fired the second shot.

Hines was arrested just hours after the shooting. Linmar residents said they saw him running from the direction of the crime scene. Charged with homicide and conspiracy, Hines said nothing to state police until April 10, when he named Brown and Taylor.

During the trial, defense attorneys painted Hines as a man who changed his story several times, eventually blaming Brown and Taylor in order to save his own life. A corrections officer at the Beaver County Jail testified that Hines said he was being coached by police to say that he saw the shooting when he only heard the gunshots.

Hines also said police beat him and pointed guns at his face as they questioned him after his arrest. State Trooper Don Neill said Hines' face was bruised when he first saw Hines a couple of hours after the shooting. Neill said state police are continuing to investigate Hines' claims.

Other witnesses said Brown had threatened several times to kill a police officer because he felt he was being harassed and was under investigation for reported drug activities.

Brown's parents testified that he was at his Highland Avenue home watching a movie at the time of the shooting.

"With all the circumstances, I can't believe how they could not find first-degree murder," Aliquippa Police Chief Ralph Pallante said. "But that's our system, and we have to live with it. Our department will go on. Our heart goes out to the Naim family."

On Saturday, two of the jurors contacted by The Times said members of the panel agreed not to talk about the trial or the deliberations that led to the verdicts.

Kreisman said she has at least 13 appeal points, including one that she was not allowed to introduce evidence that suggested Anthony Tusweet Smith, 23, of Aliquippa was Naim's killer.

Smith was initially questioned by state police but never charged in the killing. Smith was sentenced in March to 10 to 20 years for shooting Kyle Goosby, 23, of Rochester, who testified in the Naim trial about Brown's threats to kill police.

McBride ruled earlier that statements about Smith's reported involvement in the shooting were hearsay. Kreisman admitted that she does not know if Smith was involved.

Kreisman also said she was not allowed to introduce reports indicating that just before he was killed, Naim was fearful that he was going to be ambushed and that Aliquippa police would be involved. In February 2001, Naim told The Times that Aliquippa police had heard of a "hit list" naming several police officers.

State police have repeatedly said they have no evidence to show that police corruption was involved in Naim's shooting. However, a state grand jury for the Naim shooting also has been looking at police corruption and drug activity in Beaver County.

Members of the Brown and Taylor families said Jamie Brown was set up by police in a rush to judgment.

"I know Jamie's innocent," Lawson said. "They know who did this. More will come out of this. The truth will be revealed."

The tension was apparent Friday in the minutes before a jury delivered its verdicts after four days of deliberations. Inside the courtroom, the defendants' families sat in rows on one side while relatives of Naim sat on the other. Fifteen deputy sheriffs stood guard in the room.

Wearing a cream-colored sweater, Taylor appeared relaxed as he smiled and talked with his attorney, John Petrush Jr. Brown, dressed in a dark suit, sat quietly next to Kreisman, who stared at the jurors as they entered the room.

As the jury foreman handed the verdicts to the court clerk, Paul Naim sighed and whispered, "Do the right thing." He clasped the left hand of his mother, Mary Ann, and the right hand of his daughter, Theresa.

McBride then issued a warning about any potential outbursts in the courtroom and reviewed the verdicts.

The jury foreman read Brown's verdict first. His relatives sprang from their seats when the innocent verdict was read on the first-degree homicide charge. Then they began crying and hugging each other when Brown was found guilty of the third-degree charge.

After Taylor was acquitted on all charges, his relatives thrust their arms skyward. Taylor put his hand to his mouth.

"Oh, my God," said one woman sitting with the Naims. Paul Naim silently rested his head in his hand.

Gallina Naim, James' widow, was whisked from the courtroom after the verdicts were read.

Delois Baldwin, Brown's grandmother, was furious that her grandson had been found guilty on the third-degree charge. With her voice rising in pitch and volume, Baldwin stalked through the courthouse hallway, her arms raised, shouting, "God is not pleased, because he knows he's innocent."

"My comment is, God knows what happened," she later said. "The jurors who brought that guilty verdict in, I hope they will be able to live with it."

Brown's wife, Melissa, sobbed as she was led from the building and then collapsed outside. She was taken from the scene in an ambulance.

"We've got to live with what the jury has to say," said Steve Naim, brother of James Naim. "I'm feeling angry."

Nobody was saying much in Linmar Terrace, site of the murder, after the verdicts were announced. Residents either refused to discuss the verdict or said they had no opinion on it.

Taylor will spend the weekend getting reacquainted with his mother, whom he has not seen in several years.

Before the verdict, Lawson said she had some regrets that she did not have a bigger role in her son's life.

"If he had been with me, things would have been different," she said.

Taylor said he plans to finish his high school education, which was interrupted by his arrest, and then hopes to become a plumber or an electrician.

His father, Acey Taylor Jr., said of his son's ordeal, "I'm relieved. I'm thankful it's over."

The verdicts

A jury made up of Erie County residents deliberated for more than 22 hours over four days on the fate of Jamie Brown, 24, and Acey Taylor III, 18, both of Aliquippa. The panel comprised eight women and four men, including one Asian woman.

The charges, and the jury's decisions:

Jamie Brown

First-degree homicide - innocent.

Third-degree homicide - guilty.

Criminal conspiracy to commit homicide - innocent.

Acey Taylor III

First-degree homicide - innocent.

Third-degree homicide - innocent.

Criminal conspiracy to commit homicide - innocent.

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