AltWeeklies Wire
What We've Learned From the Fatal Police Shooting of Aaron Campbellnew

The Jan. 29 shooting of an unarmed African-American man was the reason Jackson came to Maranatha Church of God. And it’s why hundreds of angry Portlanders had already rallied downtown to protest years of alleged police abuses and failed leadership.
Willamette Week |
James Pitkin |
02-24-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Man Says Epilepsy Caused Him to Grab Woman on Trainnew
A police report states that Lenny Fitzgerald Sorenson scared a female TRAX passenger with creepy glances, followed her when she moved, and finally grabbed her wrist and wouldn’t let go until other riders intervened, leaving the woman with a bruise. Sorenson’s wrists ended up in police handcuffs.
Salt Lake City Weekly |
Jesse Fruhwirth |
02-23-2010 |
Crime & Justice
A Detroit Neighborhood Fights for its Life, and an Ex-Cop Leads the Waynew

Earlier that day, James "Jack Rabbit" Jackson — a retired cop — parked his car in front of a dealer's house and pointed a video camera at him in a blatant effort to disrupt his business. It drove the guy away. Now he was coming back for Jackson and Jackson was waiting for him.
Metro Times |
Detroitblogger John |
02-23-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Andrew Thomas and Joe Arpaio's Court Tower "Cover-Up" is Pure Fictionnew
Andrew Thomas would surely tell you that he and his closest ally, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, had become convinced that a project had fallen prey to misspending, graft, even outright corruption. Grand jury time!
Phoenix New Times |
Sarah Fenske |
02-23-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: Andrew Thomas, Joe Arpaio
The Oldest Person on Death Row in the U.S. Dies of Natural Causesnew
For the phrase "natural causes" to have been in the same headline as the name Viva Leroy Nash is purely ironic. Nash, who died Feb. 12, at age 94 — he was the oldest person on death row in the United States — escaped legal execution by the state of Arizona for more than a quarter of a century.
Phoenix New Times |
Paul Rubin |
02-23-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Spotty Detective Work and Careless Prosecution May Have Put the Wrong Men Behind Barsnew
Last February, a jury found Tyler Gassman and two friends guilty of robbing drug dealers in April 2008 — despite the men’s insistent pleas that they were innocent. Their conviction was the final stroke in a long and, at times, bizarre case.
The Inlander |
Jacob H. Fries |
02-18-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Taser Deaths Lead to Founding of National Memorial, Regional Coalitionnew
The parents of a young man killed in April by a Taser-wielding Fort Worth police officer are hoping that, finally, something good may have come from his death. North Texas opponents of the controversial weapons have also begun a national memorial, with crosses in a church yard for every one of the 471 people who have died after being tasered.
Fort Worth Weekly |
Peter Gorman |
02-17-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Don Cameron Trains Cops in How to Use Force, Then Defends Themnew

Long ago, Don Cameron set upon a path that would make him a Rosetta Stone for understanding what happens when someone gets his ass kicked by a cop. For most of us, that's a brutish prospect. But to hear Cameron tell it, done correctly, it's justified.
SF Weekly |
Matt Smith |
02-17-2010 |
Crime & Justice
What Happens When the Person Who Gives Voice to Victims Becomes a Victim?new

As Connecticut's victim advocate, Michelle Cruz routinely handles cases involving threats of domestic violence. But the issue became intensely personal last September when she began getting vulgar, threatening, anonymous text messages on her cell phone.
New Haven Advocate |
Gregory B. Hladky |
02-09-2010 |
Crime & Justice
An Obsessive Patrol Cop Tried to Nail the Wrong Guy in the Baseline Killer Casenew
Phoenix police had arrested Mark Goudeau on September 6, 2006 (his 42nd birthday), on charges of sexually assaulting two sisters at a park near 31st Avenue and Baseline Road. The attacks on the sisters, one of whom was six months pregnant, had occurred one year earlier.
Phoenix New Times |
Paul Rubin |
02-09-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Where Running a Light and Killing Someone Does Not Automatically Mean You're in Troublenew
Steve Morrison probably never knew what hit him that April afternoon in 2008. After the swimming-pool company owner eased off the brakes of his green Saturn and headed south down Hillcroft across Westpark, a Nissan Frontier driven by a 28-year-old Salvadoran immigrant slammed into him.
Houston Press |
John Nova Lomax |
02-09-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Will the Parole Board See Past Lonnie Morris' Crime?new
At 59, having spent more than three decades in prison, Lonnie Morris could be the model of a rehabilitated inmate. Bespectacled, freckle-faced, and gap-toothed, he looked about as dangerous as a retired history professor.
SF Weekly |
Ashley Harrell |
01-27-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: Jeanne Woodford, Lonnie Morris
A Cadre of Karate Instructors Wind Up Dead or Facing Prison Timenew
Twenty gallons of gasoline were poured into a 400-square-foot room. The pungent liquid soaked the floor, desk, and computer inside the small office. It was about 12:30 a.m. on the cool Sunday morning of June 14, and the room was dark.
Phoenix New Times |
Ray Stern |
01-26-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Dalia Dippolito May Have Tried to Kill Him, But Michael Dippolito Is No Saintnew
When a relationship ended, "Delilah" headed back to Florida and married a new man. She soon reconnected with her old fling, though, and lately she had been asking for some strange favors. "She asked if I knew someone who can kill her husband for her," the man said.
New Times Broward-Palm Beach |
Lisa Rab |
01-26-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: Dalia Dippolito, Michael Dippolito
One Man's Murderous Romp Through Polite Societynew
Rodney Alcala, the UCLA fine-arts grad, former Los Angeles Times typesetter, amateur photographer and film student of Roman Polanski's is believed to have used his charm and access to entrap and murder seven women and girls, and to rape several others.
L.A. Weekly |
Christine Pelisek |
01-22-2010 |
Crime & Justice