 in the press Jordan Miles civil and criminal cases go on
"Case could not be settled pending grand jury investigation and possible indictments of defendants," wrote mediator Thomas L. Cooper in a one-page report on talks between Mr. Miles on one hand, and the city of Pittsburgh and its officers Michael Saldutte, David Sisak and Richard Ewing. He did not elaborate on the Feb. 10 mediation session. The failure of mediation means that discovery will ensue, said J. Kerrington Lewis, who represents Mr. Miles, now a freshman at Penn State Beaver. Mr. Lewis said he has requested, but not yet received, materials from the city including the report of its Office of Municipal Investigations, which handles allegations against city employees. City Solicitor Daniel Regan said OMI has not, to his knowledge, closed its probe of the incident. Criminal and civil cases could conceivably "proceed parallel," Mr. Lewis said, and if so the officers would have to decide whether to testify in civil court while facing charges. Mr. Miles was a student at Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts High School more than a year ago when, he has said, three officers chased and beat him in Homewood. Officers have indicated in an affidavit that he carried a heavy object that they thought was a gun but turned out to be a bottle of Mountain Dew. Police accountability groups have taken up his cause, urging U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton to file criminal charges against the officers. Neither Mr. Hickton's office nor representatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation believed to be investigating the case could be reached Monday. "The city has no knowledge of the status of the federal investigation," said Mr. Regan. The city has complied with federal subpoenas, he said. "The longer this goes on, the more upsetting it is to the family," said Nigel Parry, an organizer for the Justice for Jordan Miles Campaign. "Most of all, the community wants to see police accountability." The civil case is assigned to U.S. District President Judge Gary L. Lancaster. Separately, a federal appeal by a man stopped in 2006 by Officer Sisak has failed, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court late Friday. James S. Stringer claimed in a 2008 lawsuit that Officer Sisak stopped his vehicle and charged him with registration violations because he was black. Judge Lancaster dismissed the case, and the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently agreed with him that Mr. Stringer failed to show any evidence of a civil rights violation. 
more from this section  • Pittsburgh's Mellon Green finally unoccupied, Bill Vidonic, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Thursday, February 9th, 2012  • The revolution will be televised, streamed and uploaded, Amanda Lin Costa, European Journalism Centre, Thursday, January 26th, 2012 • Living our Lives project: Nigel Parry, Patrick Young, LivingOurLives.net, Friday, January 13th, 2012 • 'It's All Political': Eviction and Arrests of Global Revolution Livestreamers Part of Pattern of Crackdowns on Alternative Living, Kristen Gwynne, AlterNet, Wednesday, January 4th, 2012 • Occupy Livestream Operators Will Be Homeless After They Get Out of Jail, Adam Martin, The Atlantic Wire, Wednesday, January 4th, 2012 • Off the grid: Occupy Pittsburgh gets charged up the natural way, Darlene White Natale, Point Park News Service, Sunday, November 6th, 2011 • #OccupyPGH Day 1: Interview with Global Revolution's Nigel Parry, Eric Byler, Coffee Party, Saturday, October 15th, 2011 • Facts and myths in the WikiLeaks/Guardian saga, Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com, Friday, September 2nd, 2011 |
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