Thursday, August 28, 2008

Botched Investigation Allows Dozens To Walk Away From Pea Shake Busts

Botched warrants is being offered as the reason criminal charges are being dismissed against dozens charged in last year's pea shake houses initiated to fend off criticism that Mayor Bart Peterson was turning a blind eye to the illegal gambling houses in mostly-black neighborhoods. WRTV's Jack Reinhart reports on this outrage:

Charges against dozens accused of involvement in "pea shake" gambling in Indianapolis have been dropped because of errors in the warrants used to arrest
them last year, the Marion County prosecutor's office said.

The suspects were arrested during several police raids on what authorities said were illegal gambling operations in 2007. Since then, more than one judge has ruled the warrants that police used to enter buildings, gather evidence and make arrests had technical flaws, 6News' Jack Rinehart reported.

Details about those flaws weren't available. The prosecutor's office didn't say exactly how many people had charges dismissed, but it said the number could be more than 50.

Despite the dropped charges, the raids succeeded in closing the operations, and police officers will try to ensure they remain closed, said Indianapolis Deputy Police Chief John Conley.

"Any attempts by those people ... to reopen and go back to doing what they were doing before, they're going to find themselves in jail again," Conley said.


There you have it, folks. It's been going on for decades, but nobody is held to account. Our only hope is that the federal government, as rumored, is stepping in and going after corrupt law enforcement officials responsible for these criminal activities. We all thought those arrests last year were all for show during the mayoral election. Now you know the truth.

11 comments:

Vox Populi said...

So the Republican prosecutor's office screwed up the search warrants. Great job, Carl.

7th CD guy said...

"as rumored", those indictments are coming soon. 3 top ranking police officers and 1 elected official are involved. Not as high as the Chief, but very close to the top.

Bart Lies said...

Hollabird named names:

http://ruthholladay.com/index.php?blog=1&title=huge_impd_probe_underway&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

Investigating Bill - the brother of Leon, who's already been pinched. Hmmm.

Frank No More said...

You're on to something there VOX! Keep digging!

mackenzie197 said...

Vox, you need to cut Brizzi some slack. Considering the number of times his office charges people who shouldn't be charged, only to dismiss the charges a day before trial, I don't think we should criticize his office when he actually does the right thing and dismisses the case.

I do love the comment by the cop who claims that the dismissed prosecution was still good because it shut down the pea shake houses? Does he really believe the public will buy that lie?

Bill said...

"you need to cut Brizzi some slack. Considering the number of times his office charges people who shouldn't be charged, only to dismiss the charges a day before trial."
-Mack
You have got to be kidding me. So it's okay to bring frivolous charges as long as they are dismissed, probably 6 months and thousands in legal fees later?

mackenzie197 said...

Bill, I was being sarcastic about Brizzi's office.

I think the practices of Brizzi's office are highly unethical. Does a prosecutor have an ethical duty to dismiss a case when he has no chance of a successful prosecution? I think so. Is it okay for a prosecutor to leave charges pending against someone, forcing the defendant to expend thousands of dollars in legal fees, having their reputation ruined, only to have the prosecution dropped at the last minute because the prosecutor never had a case to begin with? I don't think so.

Brizzi's office operates under the assumption that it's okay to punish a person, pre-conviction, by leaving charges pending against that person as long as legally possible. That unfairly ruins a lot of innocent people's lives.

Brizzi knows that, cloaked with immunity, he will never have to face a civil lawsuit over the unethical practices. And good luck getting the disciplinary commission to do anything. The Commission under Lundberg and Justice Shepherd has become a vehicle for them to go after people they don't like, often on completely bogus charges, while ignoring the clear misconduct of their friends. Unless Brizzi's on their enemies list, his misconduct would be ignored.

artfuggins said...

"rumored" investigation by the feds....this blog reported a day or two ago that it was a fact...which is it..rumor or fact??

varangianguard said...

The following is a fictional story.

Indignation! Demands for action! Crime rampant!

Citizens relieved to find arrests made at alleged criminal enterprises.

Time passes.

OMG! Look at this. The warrants (we wrote up) have some errors. Gosh. Kicks pebble in front of MSM. I guess that means that all those people are going to get a free pass, drat it all.

(Behind Closed Doors). What a bunch of maroons! They actually fell for it - again! I love my job.

Gary R. Welsh said...

art, wilson, whoever you are, this blog reported that WTHR's Steve Jefferson reported there was a grand jury investigating IMPD officers. He didn't say what they were investigating. Another blogger is saying that grand jury is tied to the pea shakes. If your goal in life is to try to discredit this blog because it hurts your own corrupt being, then you better find another life.

7th CD guy said...

therea a guy who used to comment on this blog a lot, but has sense disappeared. He was questioned by the feds because he was seen talking to one of the police officers being investigated.
He was told to, and signed a "non-disclosure statement". Things got real quiet from him.
There will be some arrests of IMPD officers, it's coming soon