Roberto Curti inquest coroner finds police "reckless, careless, dangerous and excessively forceful"

by ray jackson

the nsw state coroner, ms. mary jerram, delivered her decision on wednesday 14/11 on her findings and recommendations after the 10 day inquest into the death of roberto laudisio curti. meanwhile the queensland deputy state coroner also handed down her decision arising from a lengthy inquest into the death of antonio galeano back in 2009. the two reports are similar in several ways.

both victims were affected by narcotics and both victims were tasered by their respective police forces. the actions of the police in both states were also raised as a concern by the two coroners. for those with an interest in both reports i supply the link for the qld event, http://www.courts.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/168357/cif-gale...

i have not fully read the galeano decision so will not refer further to it until i have.

the curti decision runs for 32 pages and coroner jerram was very precise and concise with her words. she was ultra-critical of the combined actions of the police. after forcefully pointing out that police, by the very nature of their public role 'do not have a licence to act recklessly, carelessly or dangerously or with excessive force.' she continued, 'in the pursuit, tasering (particularly in drive-stun mode), tackling, spraying and restraining of roberto laudisio curti, those responsibilities were cast aside, and the actions of a number of officers were just that: reckless, careless, dangerous and excessively forceful. they were an abuse of police powers, in some instances even thuggish.

'it is of concern to me that so many of the involved police were extremely junior and inexperienced, and yet were armed with tasers.'

'probationary constable barling's wild and uncontrolled use of the drive-stun mode suggests that he had no such understanding, despite only recently having undertaken the taser course. a few of the other constables seem to have thrown themselves into a melee with an ungoverned pack mentality, like the schoolboys in 'lord of the flies', with no idea of what the problem was, or what threat or crime was supposedly to be averted or concern for the value of life.'

this description of rogue police actions by officers suffering their own form of excited delirium and fuelled by testosterone is well known to those who study police actions in arrest, restraint and, possibly, a death in custody incident. i, correctly in my opinion, described that particular incident as a blood-sport in its enactment. as long as police officers know that they are treated as a protected species by their governments, their respective ministers, commissioners and their fellow officers that is how they will act. the means is of no consequence to their end game of arrest.

when tasers in nsw were first rolled out and they were to be issued to all officers in 2008 the nsw ombudsman, bruce barbour, called for a two year moratorium on that occurring but as usual the police union objected to that being done and stated that their members needed to protect themselves as much as possible. activists like myself argued that the use of tasers would kill but our collective voices led no where. isja has campaigned for years for tasers to be withdrawn from all officers but especially probationary constables and that full and proper training in weapons use, including glocks, be performed by special squads only. such specialist squads would be called out only when the situation dictated it. this is not america or colombia. to my knowledge the police force in aotearoa (nz) are not all armed as also happens in other countries, so what is the necessity for our force to be armed to the teeth? the police are not, and should not be seen as, a para-military force.

it must be remembered that police kill many more citizens than police are killed. since 1980 over 200 aboriginal and torres strait islanders have been killed in police incidents. their losses come nowhere near that criminal figure.

the most staggering fact to my mind is whilst police are very well aware that tasers sometimes kill, still they are very quick to accept that they can and will gamble with your life. what style of training allows that to happen? the disgusting fact that the police forces of this country, and others, are more than willing to play a form of russian roulette with the lives of the public shows just how low the police ethics have sunk. commissioner scipione, what are you going to do to reign your thugs in? do you want to stop police brutality and the constant manslaughter of the public by your officers? i pose the same questions to nsw police minister, mike gallacher.

coroner jerram then named 5 officers to be referred to 'possible disciplinary action' by commissioner scipione whilst also recommending that all the police involved in the pursuit and restraint of roberto be referred to the police integrity commission. this is, to the best of my knowledge, the first time such a recommendation against nsw police has been made.

but regardless of any outcome of these two recommendations the police executive have decided once more to show their worst arrogance by metaphorically spitting in the eye of the coroner by promoting sergeant greg cooper to the rank of inspector. all same chris hurley for the killing of mulrunji doomadgee. this sends a very clear message to the legal system and the public that any condemnation of the actions of a police officer will count as nothing and that officer will be promoted. the culture always wins. cooper, explained the coroner, was incompetent, a liar on oath (as were several other officers) and totally lacked any leadership skills whatsoever. it is glaringly obvious that cooper has been raised to only show that the police protect their own.

officers lim, ralph, barling, edmondson were also named as being less than honest in their statements and their utter zealotry in the use of the taser, drive-stunning and the use of capsicum spray. we now await the actions and decisions of the pic and the commissioner with great interest but the decisions, if made, possibly would not be made public to protect the guilty.

coroner jerram goes into much detail in her attempt to source the absolute cause of death but finally she was not able to conclusively come to a finding or cause that she could be comfortable with. she found that roberto's death arose from 'undetermined causes, in the course of being restrained by members of the nsw police force.' only one of the medical experts called argued that roberto died as a result of positional asphyxia caused by the 'half ton' of police restraining him. we may never really know but the fact of the matter, in my opinion, is that the attack and torture of roberto was caused by a synergism of chemicals, electric shocks and just plain fear of what was being done to him. physically and mentally it was just too much for him to bear.

coroner jerram stated, ipso facto, on the last day of the inquest that because she could not particularise the cause of death that then led her to accept that no officer or officers could be referred to the director of public prosecutions for a possible referral to a criminal court of law. i must admit to not having much faith in the dpp in sending police to trial.

i, however, have another possible view. i have stated on many previous occasions that roberto since the first physical contact with the police was tortured during the pursuit but if that is negated then the 10 day inquest absolutely shows that he was tortured during the restraint procedures. now i know that people will scoff at this suggestion as australia is not known for torture (we do but that's another story involving supermax gaols and asylum seeker detention camps), we do not waterboard or practice other nefarious methods of extracting compliance from our citizens.

the inquest and the coroner's decision explain without equivocation that the tactics of the police with roberto was out of control and they cared not for the human rights of roberto. their one and only all-consuming action was to make roberto compliant. regardless of method or circumstance. in the draft for a national justice policy by the national congress, dated october 12, in section 4 conditions in detention, the congress looks at the human rights framework and especially the convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. there is no doubt in my mind that the psychotic treatment meted out on roberto covers all of the above.

this convention imposes more detailed obligations about the measures that must be put in place in order to give effect to the prohibition of torture. the convention view of torture is defined as:

any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession; punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed; or intimidating or coercing him or a third person; or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind;or when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other persons acting in an official capacity. (article 1).

police in their capacity as law enforcement officers are public officials. especially then-sergeant cooper whom the coroner found had done nothing to stop the junior officers from causing unnecessary pain and suffering to roberto.

the obligations in the convention, among others, include:

to take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction, (article 2)

to ensure that education and information on the prohibition of torture is included in the training of law enforcement personnel, (article 10)

to keep rules, instructions and practices for the custody and treatment of people in detention under systematic review, (article 11) and

to ensure that a person who alleges that he or she has been subject to torture has access to a prompt and impartial investigation process, (article 13).

any so-called democracy would quickly ratify this convention to show to the world that they do not support nor practice torture against their own citizens but, not australia! australia, in fact, has failed to demonstrate compliance with the obligations by not ratifying the optional protocol to the convention. now, why would that be? well, it allows australia to torture asylum seekers for a start but there is, indeed, i believe, another reason.

should the optional protocol be signed then that would situate our custodial forces, police and gaolers, in a legal hotbed and the police and gaol unions would not want their members to, perhaps, be charged under international law for such events that were shown by the death of roberto to incriminate their members in such crimes.

i believe that coroner jerram went as far as she could go under the limited circumstances and obligations under the nsw coroner's act. of course, i and others, would have preferred a different outcome entirely but under the strictures of the legal system it tends to favour the police. as the battle to get chris hurley into court showed we must fight every step of the way to force justice to be done. the qld. government backed hurley, the dpp backed hurley, the might of the police union and the police themselves backed hurley. all we had was a remarkable legal team and public pressure. not unanimous but enough. despite all that an all white jury from townsville exonerated him but it did not change police attitudes, in fact, it hardened them but we must continue to fight for a justice that is fair to all and not just the elites.

in further drawing attention to our taser! taser! taser! forum this friday 16/11 at the tom mann theatre, chalmers st. surry hills beginning at 6pm i include the horror of the tasering event by the kempsey, nsw cops who tasered a 14 year old boy at least twice after they pepper sprayed him. thankfully he did not die but the cops took that chance anyway.

we must force the government to act, with the support of the ombudsman to withdraw all tasers to only a select group of professional police and not the sick cowboys that roberto had to face.

stop police brutality in all its forms.

the following report begs the question: is there an age or condition whereby nsw police are advised that use of a taser is not allowed. one report i saw from the usa detailed a 9 year old being tasered. is that not torture?

Tasered teen's lawyer slams 'police brutality'

The ABC's 7.30 program has obtained footage of a 14-year-old boy being tasered by police in another case that raises questions about whether officers are adhering to operating procedures in their use of the devices.

Solicitor Kevin Henshaw from the Kempsey Aboriginal Legal Service says the Tasercam footage shows one of the worst cases of police brutality he has seen in his long career.

"Watching the tape, watching the child crying and screams, and the fact that police weren't really concerned, that was the most distressing part of this incident," he told 7.30.

"His treatment is akin to torture... no-one deserves to be treated like that."

The incident occurred at Crescent Head on the New South Wales mid-north coast. The region has big social problems fuelled by the toxic mix of youth, alcohol and drugs among a high Indigenous population.

The evening the boy was tasered, he was on day release from a rehab clinic. In the early evening he had been drinking with friends and confronted a man at a party in one of the houses.

Watching the tape, watching the child crying and screams, and the fact that police weren't really concerned, that was the most distressing part of this incident.

Kempsey Aboriginal Legal Service solicitor Kevin Henshaw

They tried to fight other partygoers and the police were called. The boys fled and police caught up with them near the beach. Two were detained but the 14-year-old ran into the caravan park.

"The young person was hiding under a caravan, the police approached him and told him to get out from under the caravan," Mr Henshaw said.

"The second words the police uttered were threats to capsicum spray him."

Police went ahead and sprayed him with capsicum (OC) spray, then dragged him out from under the van.

In a police statement about the incident, Senior Constable Matthew Phillips said:

"Due to the violent nature of the young person, I decided to deploy my Taser as the situation was deteriorating and I felt this was the most appropriate tactical option.

"Senior Constable Reid deployed a one-second burst of OC spray to the face of the young person. This appeared to have an immediate effect but the young person refused to get on the ground.

"I administered the Taser again which also had an immediate effect."

Mr Henshaw says the teenager was struggling with the police.

"Struggling with big police, he didn't pose a physical threat to them, and on the second time he was tasered he was on his knees, crouching, he was not posing a threat," he said.

The Tasercam footage, obtained by 7.30, shows the teenager telling the police: "I can't see, I can't see. I'm going to die... Help me, please, please Matt, help me, Matt, I'm gonna die."

The footage documents the next 15 minutes as he struggles to breathe and begs for help.

"I want to be with my mum," he said. "Matt, I want to be with my mum."

Mr Henshaw says this shows the trauma the boy was going through.

"The thing that struck greatest in my mind was the child crying out for his deceased mother, that shows how traumatised the child was," he said.

The footage then shows police telling the teenager, "You can breathe. Don't be ridiculous", before pouring water over him.

By now the boy was handcuffed and not resisting, but police continue to threaten him with tasering.

After he calls them "motherf***ers", he is told: "Keep up the language and I'll zap you again, understood? So shut your mouth.

"If you f***ing swear one more time, I am going to f***ing light you up again, understand? You're not getting the message, are you?"

If you f***ing swear one more time, I am going to f***ing light you up again, understand? You're not getting the message, are you?

Words of police officer heard on Tasercam footage

When he appeared in court in Kempsey, the boy pleaded guilty to affray. A charge of resisting arrest was dismissed.

Dysfunctional community

Those who knew the 14-year-old tell 7.30 that he was up against it from the start. When he was seven years old, his mother died, and since then he has been raised by a variety of relatives with no strong role models and little stability.

As one person put it, the boy grew up in a dysfunctional community awash with alcohol.

The boy's grandmother, who cannot be identified because of her grandson's age, lives at an Aboriginal mission inland from Kempsey. She wishes her grandson had spent more time there.

"He was angry with society, me myself, his dad, the police force, school," she told 7.30.

"I don't know what I could do for him, but deep in his heart there is a good kid, a warrior waiting to come out."

She says he started getting in trouble because of peer pressure and following the wrong crowd.

"Sometimes he would stay in a different household every night. It wouldn't surprise me if he hasn't slept under the bridge which is where some young homeless people in Kempsey stay," she said.

Jan Easson has just retired as principal of the local vocational college, which the boy attended. She says she has done her best to help him, but fears for his future.

"For a couple of years there, school was the only place where he could stabilise, but then of course you get the weekends and the holidays when all of that comes undone again," she said.

"He is getting very close to getting away from us.

"If he reaches the point where he doesn't trust in the community, he feels he has nothing to lose, he is a very bright young man, he and people like him become very dangerous individuals."

The boy's grandmother says police should be made to answer for their actions.

"They already sprayed him and then tasered him - he is only a little boy," she said.

"They could have held him down and handcuffed him the way they do it on television. I don't think he was that violent."

'Building hatred'

Mr Henshaw complained to the NSW Ombudsman about the treatment of his young client, and the case was one of those looked at in the report into how Tasers are used by the state's police.

"It has made an angry young boy even angrier," he said.

"He is a child who comes from a background where he has been exposed to violence and in many respects it is building a hatred towards the police."

Under the heading, Deficient Complaint Investigations by the NSWPF, the Ombudsman's report says:

"We were not satisfied that police officers had reasonable grounds for multiple use of a Taser on a juvenile during his arrest, and disagreed with the finding that the actions of police complied with the Taser SOPs (standard operating procedures)."

Mr Henshaw says it is hard to see how the police actions could be warranted.

"They thought the treatment was within the guidelines," he said.

"This is one of my concerns, the police investigating police and taking no action for obvious abuses of police powers and police instructions."

NSW Police would not agree to an interview on the incident, but provided 7.30 with a statement saying:

"Police were forced to use a Taser after trying unsuccessfully to physically restrain and arrest the offender."

The boy, who is now in juvenile detention in Grafton, is planning to take civil action against the state of New South Wales for unlawful arrest and assault.

The case is the latest in a series of incidents where questions have been asked about whether standard operating procedures were adhered to.

On Wednesday, two major investigations which included evidence on Tasers will be completed.

In Sydney, the NSW coroner will hand down her findings in the inquest into the death of Brazilian student Roberto Laudisio Curti.

In Brisbane, the deputy coroner will hand down her findings in the case of Antonio Galeano, who died shortly after being repeatedly tasered by police in North Queensland.

fkj

ray jackson
president
indigenous social justice association

isja01@internode.on.net
(m) 0450 651 063
(p) 02 9318 0947
address 1303/200 pitt street waterloo 2017

www.isja.org.au

we live and work on the stolen lands of the gadigal people.

sovereignty treaty social justice