Police Coverups, Conspiracies, and Cost to Taxpayers

Phoenix PD, again... (Coverup)

The Phoenix PD seems abhorrent. Here's a current coverup that I've been following. This homicide detective grossly mishandled evidence in dozens of homicide cases and then mysteriously retired. This is a long one. As far as Phoenix PD is concerned, it has more than 460 officers, past and present, on the Brady list, including one in the quoted post above. Also ongoing is a push to charge a group of police protestors as gang members which would carry up to a 30 year sentence, but I'll save that for another day.

Jennifer DiPonzio, homicide detective. This lady has been a literal poster-child for the PPD. Her photo's have been used for PPD for recruiting, general grapichs, etc. Keep in mind as/if you read this, she's married to the PPD Assitant Chief..




There is so much info in these articles that it's going to be hard to get this all out with the 4 paragraph rule. Here's what I can post, with links, in chronological order.

https://www.abc15.com/news/local-ne...ndled-evidence-impacts-dozens-of-murder-cases

PHOENIX — A former Phoenix homicide detective mishandled evidence in an unknown number of murder investigations over the course of years and it’s leading to widespread confusion and concern in dozens of ongoing cases.

Both prosecutors and defense attorneys told a judge that the extent of the evidentiary problems are not fully known. At this point, 37 murder court cases are affected, and at least 61 police investigations.

Until now, most of the information about DiPonzio has been kept confidential and sealed under protective orders because her misconduct is tied to a medical condition. (This is an important element to the story)

“The Phoenix Police Department knew about the mishandling of evidence, the errors and inconsistencies, a long, long time ago,” defense attorney Bobbi Falduto said in court. “DiPonzio went on industrial leave July 28th of 2021… We received a one-page supplement, that listed eight or ten lieutenants, sergeants, detectives from the homicide bureau, that they had gone into Det. DiPonzio’s workspace on July 9th of 2022, almost a year later, and that was when they allegedly found a hoard of evidence that she had not impounded, supplemented, turned in, whatever it was. They took the boxes and went through all of the evidence.”

https://www.abc15.com/news/local-ne...up-with-murder-detectives-mishandled-evidence

And they learned DiPonzio didn’t properly impound or document more than 50 audio-recorded interviews. But for more than a year, police officials kept information about those evidentiary problems in-house and secret from defense attorneys and the court in dozens of murder cases, according to internal records and recordings obtained by ABC15.

He continued, “Defense has asked when (the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office) first discovered the allegations of misconduct relating to DiPonzio. The state has refused to respond. The time has come for the state to unequivocally answer.”

The revelation forced police and prosecutors to admit that DiPonzio had at least 17 referrals to PSB for investigation during her career. Officials then turned over 14,000 pages of PSB files to defense attorneys that show DiPonzio had been disciplined multiple times in the past for mishandling evidence and failing to follow up on cases, records show.

Sources also told ABC15 that Phoenix is currently attempting to block defense attorneys from conducting additional defense interviews with police officials about DiPonzio’s misconduct.

https://www.abc15.com/news/local-ne...x-police-chief-know-about-detectives-mistakes

Throughout this year, and increasingly in recent months, defense attorneys have caught Phoenix police withholding, hiding, and obfuscating information about the extent of DiPonzio’s misconduct.

ABC15 also discovered Phoenix police may have violated state law in January by failing to inform the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board about her mistakes when she retired under a confidential disability claim.

Prosecutors as well as attorneys representing the city and DiPonzio have repeatedly told judges in criminal and civil cases that she’s too unwell to be interviewed or testify. (<--- foreshadowing)

https://www.abc15.com/news/local-ne...abc15-uncovers-detective-worked-multiple-jobs

But for more than a year, Maricopa County Superior Court judges have been told DiPonzio is too unwell to testify, receive subpoenas, or even be contacted about her cases.






“The Court has no information that supports she would be available any time soon or possibly ever, as a result of medical issues,” according to the order filed on December 16, 2022. Just two weeks later, an Instagram page promoting DiPonzio’s esthetician business put out its first post. The caption: “It’s time to get busy.”



In addition to the Instagram post, an ABC15 investigation obtained pictures, documents, job postings, and other social media entries that show DiPonzio has worked at least two jobs this year as judges operate under the belief she’s too medically debilitated to participate in any capacity.



[This is before her retirement, showing that there were already concerns that the assistant chief's wife, DiPonzio, was already abusing medical leave] On June 23, 2022, homicide Lt. James Hester wrote an email to human resource officials. “I’m aware she has been on (leave) for quite some time due to a (redacted) related injury,” he said. “The concern is that I’m getting rumblings that she is operating a business and traveling out of state to business conferences. Is this allowed? Can she operate a business while she is on paid industrial leave?”


https://www.abc15.com/news/local-ne...state-to-investigate-former-phoenix-detective

PHOENIX — As a direct result of ABC15’s reporting, federal and state officials are now separately investigating the situation involving a former Phoenix homicide detective whose mistakes have impacted dozens of murder cases.

Records show that the Arizona Peace Officer Standard and Training Board (AZPOST) has opened a case against Jennifer DiPonzio. According to AZPOST guidelines, “Law enforcement agencies are required to submit a Termination Notice to POST any time an officer ceases to be employed by the agency. The form requires that a box be marked if the agency 'is aware of conduct that may violate Arizona Administrative Code R13-4-109(A)(1-9).'”

Phoenix marked “no” on DiPonzio’s termination notice even though the department had opened an internal investigation file related to her mishandled evidence more than a year earlier, records show.

The Department of Justice has also conducted interviews regarding DiPonzio as part of its ongoing pattern or practice investigation into the City of Phoenix, according to sources.

https://www.abc15.com/news/local-ne...er-abc15-investigation-into-phoenix-detective

“The importance of this cannot be understated,” according to the October 27 motion filed by David Le Leivre. “Defense has specifically alleged that Diponzio went on leave to insulate herself from accountability or questioning for her misconduct.”

“It now appears that as soon as Diponzio retired and was deemed legally unavailable, she immediately began working. This information should have been disclosed to the Court many months ago,” Le Leivre argued in his motion.

DiPonzio, who's married to an assistant chief, retired on December 27, 2022, under a confidential disability claim and currently receives a taxpayer-funded pension.

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TL/DR: Homicide Detective, who is a poster child for the Phoenix PD and married to an assistant chief, retires under a confidential medical claim, leaving dozens of homicide court cases in jeopardy. Detective, who has a history of mishandling evidence and abusing paid leave, grossly mishandles evidence and abuses medical retirement, while working two separate jobs. Despite those two jobs, Superior Court judges are told that she is too unwell to testify, or even receive subpoenas, and may not be able to, EVER. PPD is caught hiding records of her conduct. Detective is on a more secretive, internal version of the Brady list. All of this would most likely have been swept under the rug had it not been for ABC15's reporting.

 

If you have the time, and are a video watcher...

 

You should either work 2 other jobs after saying that, and/or marry a big wheel in the police department, and report back. I'm interested in seeing how that plays out.

 

Pheonix.. good lord, what are you doing.

Malicious prosecution, manipulating facts, withholding exculpatory evidence from grand jury. Officer ran into traffic without looking, teen driver who hit him gets the receives the force of the State.

https://www.abc15.com/news/local-ne...-in-officers-traffic-death-set-to-sue-phoenix

PHOENIX — The woman, who multiple judges found was wrongly charged with negligent homicide for the traffic death of Officer Paul Rutherford, is set to sue the City of Phoenix for malicious prosecution.

“The Phoenix Police Department would not accept that Officer Rutherford’s decisions and actions caused his death,” according to the claim. “Instead, the Phoenix Police Department made Nubia Public Enemy Number One. It turned her into a scapegoat for Officer Rutherford’s death, stopping at nothing short of making sure she was convicted of homicide.”

Rutherford, who wasn’t wearing a safety vest, was working a traffic accident when he suddenly ran into traffic without looking both ways.

The claim also emphasizes that Phoenix Police and the Maricopa County Attorney's Office did not show the grand jury business security video that captured Rutherford suddenly dart out into traffic without looking both ways.



Phoenix PD and prosecuters remind of a Carlin quote.. "It's a big ole club, and you ain't in it."

 

Exactly who you want serving and protecting..

https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/investigations/brady-list/brady-list-officer-changed-name-to-infamous-movie-gangster#:~:text=James Beasley is now Michael,the Pascua Yaqui Police Department.

When Officer James Beasley resigned from the Phoenix Police Department, his history of misconduct didn’t follow him to his new agency.

His subsequent name change – the same as an infamous movie gangster – only further obscured his record.

James Beasley is now Michael Corleone.

While his identity change is attention-grabbing, an ABC15 investigation found his record on Maricopa County’s ‘Brady’ list was never disclosed to defendants in dozens, and likely hundreds, of cases after went to work for the Pascua Yaqui Police Department.

 

Grave Marker 672..

When an off-duty cop hits your son with his vehicle, they chuck him in a grave marked 672 and call it a day. When asked, the dept lies saying they don't have any leads on what happened to him. Eventually they tell you the "truth," which is also a lie.

Dexter Wade, buried alone in Mississippi, finally gets the funeral he was denied

JACKSON, Miss. — More than eight months after 37-year-old Dexter Wade was killed and later buried in a pauper’s field, his mother gave her only son the formal funeral that he’d been denied.

Her quest to find her son began soon after he left home on March 5 and didn’t return. For months afterward, missing persons investigators with the Jackson Police Department told her that they didn’t have any leads. Then, in late August, officers revealed that he’d been struck by a Jackson police cruiser while he was crossing a six-lane highway less than an hour after he’d left home.

The Hinds County coroner’s office told her his body had been buried in a pauper’s field in July after authorities had failed to reach his next of kin — even though, according to the family’s lawyers, an independent autopsy conducted on the family’s behalf this month found that Dexter Wade was buried with a state ID listing his home address.

In a statement last week responding to the allegation that Dexter Wade was buried with an ID listing his home address, a spokesperson for the city of Jackson said Hinds County was responsible for examining, burying and exhuming his body, which remained in county custody from the moment a coroner’s investigator arrived at the scene of the collision. The coroner’s office didn’t respond to requests for comment.

 

Well, it's Camden County. This lady cop beat a handcuffed person and only got a 2 day suspension.



Within 2 months of that incident, she was Camden County's deputy of the month. (I took this screenshot. Notice that Camden County has disabled comments. Not only on that post, but their whole FB page)




A year later, in January of 2023, the brave female cop, and former officer of the month, was indicted on charges of aggravated assault, one count of simple battery, one count of making a false statement, and three counts of violating her oath of office for the same incident that she only got a 2 day suspension for....

 

In 2016, the Kansas Governor amended the state's open record laws to include personal electronic devices of appointed officials if they conduct public business on them. Now an attorney hired by the city of Marion is refusing to turn of records of the police chief. Also, after returning the electronics, the police kept forensic copies of them.

Not to be forgotten, is that they raided a 98 year old woman's home, that paper's co-publisher, taking computers, documents and electronics. She was the co-publisher of the newspaper.

"You're going to give me a stroke"

"If I die, you're going to be sued for murder"

That lady died the very next day. RIP.

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https://www.kshb.com/news/local-new...-of-directing-witness-to-delete-text-messages

Sep 28

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A key witness in the raid on a Marion, Kansas, newspaper is accusing Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody of asking her to delete text messages.

In an interview with the KSHB 41 News I-Team earlier this month, Kari Newell said Chief Cody informed her she was the victim of a crime.

The day of Newell’s interview, Newell said she no longer had the text messages between her and Cody.

Judge Steve Leben, who served on the bench for 27 years and is now a Professor of Law at University of Missouri - Kansas City, said if Cody directed Newell to delete the text, it could cause trouble for him criminally and civilly.

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https://www.kshb.com/news/local-new...rters-amid-backlash-after-co-publishers-death

Nov 7

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Newly obtained records reveal Gideon Cody, the former police chief who launched a raid on Marion County Record newspaper, sought the arrest of two reporters and the city's vice mayor.

Cody's request was sent four days after the death of Joan Meyer, co-publisher of the newspaper, and two days after KBI took over the investigation.

"Gideon Cody has no shame," Rhodes said. "Even after Joan Meyer died as a result of this illegal raid, he was pressing forward to get an arrest warrant for Joan’s son, for Phyllis Zorn and Ruth Herbel, despite the international outcry over what happened, over the obvious violation of the First Amendment."

Steve Leben, who served as a judge for more than two decades and is now a professor of law at University of Missouri-Kansas City, said Cody never established probable cause that a crime was committed by any of the accused.

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https://www.kshb.com/news/local-new...nd-his-personal-cellphone-have-left-the-state

Nov 29th

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The attorney hired by the city of Marion has doubled down in refusing to turn over records from Gideon Cody's personal cellphone, and in doing so, confirmed the former police chief has left the state of Kansas.

In August, Cody erroneously claimed two reporters with Marion County Record and the city's vice mayor committed various crimes against a local business woman by obtaining and downloading her driving record.

The I-Team first requested Cody's text messages after the business owner at the center of Cody's investigation disclosed Cody asked her to delete the text messages he sent to her.

The business owner said Cody sent her text messages regarding the case and newly released body camera footage reveals Cody telling her not to put anything in writing.

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Video includes bodycam footage of the police chief telling the complainant not to put anything in writing.

 

It's amazing how the press is better Investigating the police than the police are at investigating the police.

How many times are things swept under the rug until the media gets a hold of it? A lot. No wonder police are hostile to cameras and transparency.

Also, a PRIME example of gypsy cops.





Coffee City, Texas police chief faces felony charges | khou.com

COFFEE CITY, Texas — The former chief of the disbanded Coffee City, TX police department was booked in the Henderson County jail Wednesday morning on charges of tampering with government records.

The Coffee City Council fired JohnJay Portillo on Sept. 12, two weeks after KHOU 11 Investigates exposed questionable hiring practices by the chief and legal troubles of his own. In a rare move, city council members also voted unanimously to disband the entire police force.

The new six felony counts in the grand jury indictment allege Portillo repeatedly lied on his Coffee City job application by failing to disclose a driving under the influence charge out of Florida and discipline he received at two previous police agencies in Harris County.

KHOU 11 Investigates discovered the town had five times the number of cops than any town its size, according to Texas Commission on Law Enforcement records. More than half of the department’s 50 officers had been suspended, demoted, terminated or dishonorably discharged from their previous law enforcement jobs, according to personnel files obtained through open records requests to other law enforcement agencies. Most of the officers were hired by Portillo.

 

More proof that Pheonix may be the biggest shithole in the country with regards to police misconduct and malicious prosecution. April Sponsel, the former Maricopa County Attorney’s Office prosecutor, who worked with Phoenix police to falsely charge protesters as gang members will lose her law license for at least two years. This lady worked with corrupt Phoenix PD to invent a gang, who she said was on par with the Bloods and Crips, then assigned people to the made-up gang in order to throw the book at them. Once again, the media does a better job at rooting out corruption than internal checks and balances do. She was suspended just a few days after ABC15's first report.

As it relates to the thread title, multiple class action lawsuits were filed for this corruption in Maricopa County that was almost covered up.



How it started...

Sep 14, 2021 - Media puts out an hour-long expose on corruption in Maricopa County (This is made of 50 in-depth reports and is viewable in the link)

https://www.abc15.com/news/local-ne...h-of-phoenix-mcao-corruption-in-protest-cases

PHOENIX — For the past year, ABC15’s Politically Charged investigation has exposed how the Phoenix Police Department and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office colluded at the highest levels to target protesters and used their power to silence, frame, and punish critics.

The Politically Charged special report is the definitive account of how police and prosecutors created a fake gang, falsely classified protesters as members, and then charged them with bogus felony crimes. Those cases are now a key focus in a sweeping Department of Justice pattern-of-practice investigation.

More than 30 officials from Phoenix PD and MCAO met to approve the strategy to pursue gang charges, including three police assistant chiefs and a county division chief.

Every active felony protest case in Phoenix was dismissed. More than a dozen officers and prosecutors were reassigned. Five officers are facing criminal investigation. Four separate outside investigations were launched. High-level executives resigned. Assistant police chiefs were demoted. Multiple class-action lawsuits were filed.


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Jun 29, 2022
Prosecutor Fired.

Maricopa Co. Attorney’s Office fires prosecutor who submitted street gang charges

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — A top prosecutor in the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office was officially fired for submitting criminal street gang charges against a group of protestors in downtown Phoenix, the office said. MCAO confirmed with Arizona’s Family that April Sponsel was served with her termination letter on Tuesday. Earlier this month, she was told her office wanted to fire her for several job violations. She had time to appeal this month, so it’s unclear if her repeal was rejected or if she ever filed.

Phoenix police officers monitoring protests on Oct. 17 believed the group was trying to block a lightrail train. Police say some of the protestors in the group were carrying weapons like an AR-15, a pistol, a stun gun, a metal club, a brick, a knife, and smoke bombs. According to court documents, when the group ignored police commands to clear the street, a police lieutenant at the scene ordered their arrests. After the protestors’ arrest, Sponsel and veteran detective Karl Martin met with several law enforcement officials to discuss the possibility of charging the protestors with “assisting a criminal street gang.”

Sponsel, who filed the indictment on Oct. 27, 2020, was accused by a retired judge investigating the handling of the charges of working too closely with the police and misrepresenting evidence to the grand jury. According to the judge, the allegations against 15 people arrested during the protests were exaggerated, misleading, and incorrect. The gang-related charges were later dropped. The judge called one of the prosecutions a “miscarriage of justice,” and found prosecutors didn’t properly vet the evidence from the police. One suspect turned out to be an innocent bystander, not even involved in the march. Former Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel dismissed all charges against the protestors on Feb. 12, 2021, “with prejudice” to prevent a refiling of charges. Sponsel was placed on administrative leave on Mar. 2, 2021.

After conducting a formal investigation into Sponsel’s conduct, MCAO officials say Sponsel showed incompetency, inefficiency, and neglect of duty in performing her job. Chief Deputy Paul Ahler noted “a disturbing pattern of excessive charging and a failure to review available evidence.” According to court documents, Ahler wrote that Sponsel’s entire approach to the street gang investigation was concerning, including her charging decisions. Ahler said Sponsel’s decision to wrongfully indict an innocent person with inaccurate evidence showed she failed to review the available evidence, which is one of the reasons for her termination.

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Dec 19, 2023
How it's going.. Corrupt prosecutor that worked too closely with corrupt police to invent crimes gets her law license suspended.

https://www.abc15.com/news/local-ne...utors-license-for-falsely-charging-protesters

PHOENIX — The former Maricopa County Attorney’s Office prosecutor who worked with Phoenix police to falsely charge protesters as gang members will lose her law license for at least two years.

“Ms. Sponsel violated duties owed to her client, to the members of the public, to the legal system, and to the profession,” according to a decision written by Presiding Disciplinary Judge Margaret Downie.

In October, the State Bar of Arizona held a seven-day trial against Sponsel.

Sponsel’s career began to unravel almost immediately after ABC15 launched its Politically Charged investigation in February 2021.


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TL/DR: 15 Police-misconduct protestors were looking at a maximum of 32 years in prison each after the corrupt police and a corrupt prosecutor conspired to have them locked up on gang charges even though there were not a gang. The state invented a criminal street gang and assigned them to it. 30 officials from Pheonix PD and MCAO met to approve the gang strategy, including 3 assistant police chiefs and a county division chief. The prosecutor failed to review evidence, then presented dubious, partial evidence to a grand jury. Due to local media reporting, the prosecutor was fired and within the past couple days, had been notified that her law license will be suspended for 2 years. 40 felony cases were dropped to this corruption. Lawsuits filed and most likely will paid out with tax payer money.

This is all because of local media reporting. No wonder why the police target journalists during protests....

 

(Adding to the mementos from another thread)

From this thread Six cops torture two black men in Mississippi :




The coin made by notorious Phoenix PD after an officer shot a Trump protestor in the nuts with a smoke canister.
Phoenix releases report on police coin that mocked protester





And recently, a mock tombstone spotted in the background of a bodycam video showing a Seattle police precinct of a 19 year old that was killed by the police, assumedly taken from a memorial of the dead teenager.
Trump flag, mock tombstone at Seattle police precinct ‘alarming and unfortunate,’ mayor says





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The new memento:




What is it? Officers and medics killed a 23 year old. They used a carotid artery choke on him before medics injected him with Ketamine. Afterwards, these cops showed up near the site of his memorial, and decided to take and post this selfie replicating a choke hold. I



If you are familiar with the case, here's an update from 4 days ago.

Ex-cop gets 14 months in jail in death of Elijah McClain, whose mom calls him 'bully with a badge'

DENVER (AP) — A judge sentenced an ex-Colorado police officer to 14 months in jail for his role in the death of Elijah McClain after hearing the young Black man’s mother on Friday call the officer a “bully with a badge” who will always have blood on his hands.

The officer, Randy Roedema, was the most senior law enforcement member to initially respond to the scene and the only one found guilty. A jury convicted him in October of criminally negligent homicide, which is a felony, and third-degree assault, which is a misdemeanor.

Before Judge Mark Warner handed down the sentence, McClain’s mother, Sheneen McClain, raged against Roedema after he expressed remorse but stopped short of apologizing.

McClain was stopped by police after a 911 caller reported that he looked suspicious. Another officer put his hands on McClain within seconds, beginning a struggle and restraint that lasted about 20 minutes before paramedics injected him with the ketamine.



The paramedics that injected this guy with freaking ketamine were also charged.

Paramedics were convicted in Elijah McClain's death. That could make other first responders pause

BRIGHTON, Colo. (AP) — Two Denver-area paramedics were convicted Friday for giving a fatal overdose of the sedative ketamine to Elijah McClain in 2019 — a jury verdict that experts said could have a chilling effect on first responders around the country.

An Aurora police officer was convicted of homicide and third degree assault earlier this year, while two other officers were acquitted.

The jury on Friday found Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec guilty of criminally negligent homicide following a weekslong trial in state district court. They could face years in prison at sentencing.

The jury also found Cichuniec guilty on one of two second-degree assault charges, which brings the possibility of an enhanced prison sentence and required that he be taken into immediate custody. Cooper was found not guilty on the assault charges and was not taken into custody.

 

video

 

The body count is now over 200.

Over 200 Bodies Found Buried Near Mississippi Jail In Predominantly Black County, Raising Questions And Calls For Investigation

A gruesome revelation in Mississippi is alarming residents of the state and raising calls for an investigation. After over 200 bodies were buried near a local jail in a predominantly Black county, questions are growing over who these people are, how they died and how they ended up in bare graves behind the jail.

The Chicago Crusader reported that the 215 people discovered buried in a pauper’s cemetery behind a jail in Hinds County make up a multiethnic group of people who were “Black, white, Hispanic and Native Americans.” These individuals lay buried in simple graves marked only with metal rods and numbers, even as some of their relatives searched for them or reported them missing. Reverend Hosea Hines, who leads Jackson’s Christ Tabernacle Church and is the head of A New Day Coalition for Equity and Black America, has called for an investigation. “It really saddens my heart to know that their relatives went that long, some over a year, not knowing if their loved ones were dead or alive and then coming to the realization that they had been buried in a pauper’s grave behind a jailhouse,” Hines said, per the Chicago Crusader.

Mississippi authorities have been under scrutiny for their burial and notification policies since it was revealed that Dexter Wade was struck and killed by a police vehicle and buried without notifying his mother, who spent months looking for her son while authorities declined to tell her that he had died. A report about the case revealed that a second Black man, Marrio Moore, had been killed in a separate incident and buried on the same day and at the same location as Wade, again without his family being notified. The cases of Wade and Moore were part of a series of reports by NBC News on failures in the death notification systems used by authorities. This report eventually led the news organization to obtain county coroner’s records for Hinds County, which led to the identification of 215 people who had been buried in the pauper’s cemetery since 2016. The news network has published the names and basic identifying information about the 215 people in hopes of allowing members of the public to find their missing relatives or loved ones.