Word: louima
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Suppose that on one fateful night in August 1997, New York City cop Justin Volpe had contented himself with pummeling Abner Louima with his nightstick instead of ramming a broom handle into Louima's rectum and then waving it in front of his face. Suppose that after that vicious assault, Volpe had not pranced around the precinct house with the blood-and-feces-stained stick, inviting other cops to examine it. And suppose the victim had not made the headline-grabbing (though phony) allegation that his tormentors had exulted, "This is Giuliani time!"--a reference to the city's tough...
When the blue wall of silence broke, it was all over for New York City police officer Justin Volpe. The witnesses for the prosecution had badges, and they had stories to tell: Volpe leading Haitian immigrant Abner Louima into a bathroom, Volpe boasting about having sodomized Louima with a stick, Volpe brandishing said stick, Volpe returning bloodstained gloves to a fellow officer in the NYPD. And so Volpe's lawyer, local star Marvin Kornberg, never even presented a defense, and the disgraced cop is pleading guilty to all charges. He faces 25 years to life -- and will probably get more...
...trial won't end with Volpe's guilty plea -- there are four officers left to go. Two stand accused of beating Louima before Volpe took over, one of covering up afterward, and one, Charles Schwarz, of holding Louima down while Volpe went to work. Which is where Volpe, the "Devil in a Blue Suit" of demonstrators' placards, may reenter the negotiations. "We may now hear from Volpe as to what Schwarz did or didn't do during the incident," says Cohen. "That's the only thing he has to offer prosecutors." Once the blue wall falls, anyone can get crushed...
Cochran is currently on the team of lawyers representing Haitian immigrant Abner Louima in a law suit against the New York City Police Department...
Along with Louima, O.J. Simpson, and Geronimo Pratt, Cochran has also represented basketball player Latrell Sprewell and truck driver Reginald Denny, whose beating during the 1992 Los Angeles Riots became a symbol of the historic incident...