| . |
Chula Vista is not the place to go if you are looking for equal protection of the
law. It makes a big difference to the CVPD if you're part of a political group that
includes District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and County Supervisor Greg Cox.
Greg's wife Cheryl Cox has benefited for years from the help of the Chula Vista
Police Department in covering up her wrongdoing.
On the other hand, a Democratic employee of the City of Chula Vista who took
two hours off work to spy on a Cheryl Cox fundraiser has been charged by
Bonnie Dumanis with perjury for not admitting he was doing political work on the
job.
There's a lot of political work being done on the job in Chula Vista, but you don't
hear much about the work done by Republicans in the police department.
The Chula Vista Police Department is a friend of Cheryl Cox, who was a Chula
Vista Elementary school board member before she was elected mayor. The CVPD
failed for over a year to investigate a financial crime at Castle Park Elementary
School reported in 2005. Why? The CVPD has a knee-jerk policy of covering up
wrongdoing by Cheryl Cox and Chula Vista Elementary School District.
In 2006 I pursued a public records request for months before the CVPD admitted
that it had a record of a police visit to Castle Park Elementary on April 21, 2001.
When they decided I wasn't likely to go away, I finally received a copy of the
Castle Park Elementary School call report.*
But the Chula Vista Police Department was doing a lot more than illegally hiding
public records in its efforts to support Cheryl Cox's campaign for mayor of Chula
Vista in 2006.
Between 2000 and 2006 a long string of crimes had been committed at Castle
Park Elementary. Cheryl Cox and CVESD committed bigger and bigger crimes to
prevent the exposure of earlier, smaller crimes and violations of law committed
at Castle Park Elementary in 2000 and 2001.
See "Castle Park Elementary," "Teacher Reports," and "Law Enforcement."
In 2005-2006, the most newsworthy crime being covered up by the CVPD and
the media to protect Cheryl Cox and the CVESD school board was the
embezzlement of about $20,000 from the Castle Park Elementary PTA.
Apparently fearing that this crime would eventually become public knowlege,
perhaps because it was being reported by this blog and the San Diego
Education Report website, the Chula Vista Police Department seems to have
developed a plan in November 2006 to create the appearance that it was no
longer covering up the embezzlement. Of course, by November 7, 2006, the
election was over. The cover-up was successful. Larry Cunningham crowed that
voters had seen throught the lies of his opponents. The truth is that the voters
saw almost nothing because Larry and Cheryl had spent hundreds of thousands
of tax dollars to cover up crimes and other violations of law at CVESD.
The police asked former Castle Park PTA president Kim Simmons to come in the
CVPD office, where she was interviewed and arrested. Was Simmons arrested
after a careful investigation? No, the CVPD does not carefully investigate
incidents that might embarrass Cheryl Cox and the school board. CVPD arrested
Kim Simmons simply to create the impression that they weren't covering up
Castle Park crimes, and passed on their humble efforts to District Attorney
Bonnie Dumanis.
What did Bonnie Dumanis do? Prosecute the crime? Not likely. Just as she had
refused to prosecute CVESD Assistant Superintedent Richard Werlin for
obstruction of justice, she also refused to prosecute Kim Simmons.
Why? Maybe because Kim Simmons knew too much about crimes at Castle Park
Elementary.
Kim Simmons was a close friend of transferred teacher Robin Donlan, a member
of a powerful teacher clique at Castle Park Elementary that received a great deal
of support form local papers when she and several other teachers were
transferred out of the school?
Robin Donlan and her friends created a bizarre brouhaha, in which they and the
media attacked the principal of Castle Park Elementary without ever mentioning
the crimes of which Donlan had been accused. The truth was that the principal
was attacked for daring to challenge the authority of the "family" that had
created a crime wave at the school.
In October 2004, Kim Simmons entered a Castle Park Elementary classroom, and
asked to use the school phone during class time so she could call up Robin
Donlan and ask for instructions on how to proceed with her attacks on the
principal of the school. The teacher gave permission, and took the opportunity to
explain to her students that she was "mad at the principal." (There has been a
dearth of professionalism at Castle Park Elementary since this "Castle Park
Family" teacher group took over.)
Kim Simmons, along with Gina Boyd, the president of the teacher union, and
school site council President Felicia Starr were working with transferred teacher
Robin Donlan to get rid of the first principal who had had the nerve to stand up
to the arbitrary power of the group of teachers who ruled the school.
What was Cheryl Cox's role in all this? She and all the other board members
authorized the payment of hundreds of thousands of public dollars to Stutz,
Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz law firm to represent Robin Donlan and cover up the
crimes initiated by her and Assistant Superintendent Richard Werlin and several
other CVESD officers and employees in 2000 and 2001. After fostering perjury
and other crimes, and using huge sums of public money to keep bad teachers in
power, Cheryl Cox ran for mayor on a platform of "charater" and "fiscal
responsibility."
The San Diego Union Tribune has maintained to this day a complete black-out
regarding crimes committed by Robin Donlan, Richard Werlin, Cheryl Cox and
others at CVESD. On November 17, 2006 the SDUT published a small article
about the arrest of former PTA Kim Simmons. The story immediately went into
"partially hidden" status in the Union-Tribunes archives. (If someone does a
signonsandiego search for "castle park PTA Simmons," he'll get a message back
saying "No articles found.) The article can only be found by leaving "simmons"
out of the search. If you already know about Kimberlee Simmons, the San Diego
Union Tribune doesn't want you to know more.
Of course, there has been no follow-up to the SDUT story. But there should
be--because the story created the false impression that the police were actually
intending to do something about crime at Castle Park Elementary. Nothing could
be farther from the truth.
The police waited until Cox was elected, and then they did their hoax arrest, but
Kim Simmons was never charged with anything.
When will the SD Union Tribune publish the full story, revealing Kim Simmons'
close association to Robin Donlan and the "Castle Park Five"? When will the San
Diego Union Tribune apologize for so maliciously attacking the honorable and
decent principal of Castle Park Elementary on behalf of Robin Donlan, Kim
Simmons, and the rest of their clique, after the group was found to be
responsible for yet another crime after the SDUT had written so much on its
behalf? How about it, Don Sevrens?
The SDUT November 2006 story about Simmons arrest was published to create
the impression that Bonnie Dumanis and the Chula Vista Police Department are
not covering up crimes involving Cheryl Cox and Castle Park Elementary School.
It appears that Simmons wasn't really the fall guy; she was actually the pretend
fall guy.
When will Bonnie Dumanis investigate the use of public resources for political
purposes at CVPD and the crimes committed at Chula Vista Elementary School
District, including perjury by Cheryl Cox and Robin Donlan?
*The police "call' report that was hidden for months by the CVPD revealed
Assistant Superintendent Richard Werlin's attempt to silence a teacher who had
suggested that the media might investigate what was happening at the school
in 2001. The teacher clearly knew nothing about the media in San Diego. The
San Diego Union Tribune, the Chula Vista Star-News and La Prensa still have not
reported those crimes, although all three newspapers have long known about
them. These three publications exposed their lack of journalistic ethics when
they published a deluge of letters, articles and editorials defending the teacher,
Robin Colls/Donlan who initiated the crime wave! All three papers were incensed
when Robin Colls was transferred from Castle Park Elementary. Richard Werlin,
who called the police when the teacher mentioned the media, didn't correctly
estimate the power of his Chula Vista Elementary School Board bosses, including
Cheryl Cox, to silence the media.
Werlin did go on to achieve a certain amount of notoriety for his use of the police
to silence teachers. He had second-grade teacher Jenny Mo arrested in front of
her students at his new school district in Richmond, California this year when the
teacher went to the media with a story about bullying at her school. Of course,
Werlin didn't step up and take the credit/blame for the arrest. He let the
principal sit in the hot seat. He took indefinite sick leave from his position.
In 1997 about $2000 went missing from PTA accounts. The district claimed that
it couldn't figure out who was responsible.
law. It makes a big difference to the CVPD if you're part of a political group that
includes District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and County Supervisor Greg Cox.
Greg's wife Cheryl Cox has benefited for years from the help of the Chula Vista
Police Department in covering up her wrongdoing.
On the other hand, a Democratic employee of the City of Chula Vista who took
two hours off work to spy on a Cheryl Cox fundraiser has been charged by
Bonnie Dumanis with perjury for not admitting he was doing political work on the
job.
There's a lot of political work being done on the job in Chula Vista, but you don't
hear much about the work done by Republicans in the police department.
The Chula Vista Police Department is a friend of Cheryl Cox, who was a Chula
Vista Elementary school board member before she was elected mayor. The CVPD
failed for over a year to investigate a financial crime at Castle Park Elementary
School reported in 2005. Why? The CVPD has a knee-jerk policy of covering up
wrongdoing by Cheryl Cox and Chula Vista Elementary School District.
In 2006 I pursued a public records request for months before the CVPD admitted
that it had a record of a police visit to Castle Park Elementary on April 21, 2001.
When they decided I wasn't likely to go away, I finally received a copy of the
Castle Park Elementary School call report.*
But the Chula Vista Police Department was doing a lot more than illegally hiding
public records in its efforts to support Cheryl Cox's campaign for mayor of Chula
Vista in 2006.
Between 2000 and 2006 a long string of crimes had been committed at Castle
Park Elementary. Cheryl Cox and CVESD committed bigger and bigger crimes to
prevent the exposure of earlier, smaller crimes and violations of law committed
at Castle Park Elementary in 2000 and 2001.
See "Castle Park Elementary," "Teacher Reports," and "Law Enforcement."
In 2005-2006, the most newsworthy crime being covered up by the CVPD and
the media to protect Cheryl Cox and the CVESD school board was the
embezzlement of about $20,000 from the Castle Park Elementary PTA.
Apparently fearing that this crime would eventually become public knowlege,
perhaps because it was being reported by this blog and the San Diego
Education Report website, the Chula Vista Police Department seems to have
developed a plan in November 2006 to create the appearance that it was no
longer covering up the embezzlement. Of course, by November 7, 2006, the
election was over. The cover-up was successful. Larry Cunningham crowed that
voters had seen throught the lies of his opponents. The truth is that the voters
saw almost nothing because Larry and Cheryl had spent hundreds of thousands
of tax dollars to cover up crimes and other violations of law at CVESD.
The police asked former Castle Park PTA president Kim Simmons to come in the
CVPD office, where she was interviewed and arrested. Was Simmons arrested
after a careful investigation? No, the CVPD does not carefully investigate
incidents that might embarrass Cheryl Cox and the school board. CVPD arrested
Kim Simmons simply to create the impression that they weren't covering up
Castle Park crimes, and passed on their humble efforts to District Attorney
Bonnie Dumanis.
What did Bonnie Dumanis do? Prosecute the crime? Not likely. Just as she had
refused to prosecute CVESD Assistant Superintedent Richard Werlin for
obstruction of justice, she also refused to prosecute Kim Simmons.
Why? Maybe because Kim Simmons knew too much about crimes at Castle Park
Elementary.
Kim Simmons was a close friend of transferred teacher Robin Donlan, a member
of a powerful teacher clique at Castle Park Elementary that received a great deal
of support form local papers when she and several other teachers were
transferred out of the school?
Robin Donlan and her friends created a bizarre brouhaha, in which they and the
media attacked the principal of Castle Park Elementary without ever mentioning
the crimes of which Donlan had been accused. The truth was that the principal
was attacked for daring to challenge the authority of the "family" that had
created a crime wave at the school.
In October 2004, Kim Simmons entered a Castle Park Elementary classroom, and
asked to use the school phone during class time so she could call up Robin
Donlan and ask for instructions on how to proceed with her attacks on the
principal of the school. The teacher gave permission, and took the opportunity to
explain to her students that she was "mad at the principal." (There has been a
dearth of professionalism at Castle Park Elementary since this "Castle Park
Family" teacher group took over.)
Kim Simmons, along with Gina Boyd, the president of the teacher union, and
school site council President Felicia Starr were working with transferred teacher
Robin Donlan to get rid of the first principal who had had the nerve to stand up
to the arbitrary power of the group of teachers who ruled the school.
What was Cheryl Cox's role in all this? She and all the other board members
authorized the payment of hundreds of thousands of public dollars to Stutz,
Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz law firm to represent Robin Donlan and cover up the
crimes initiated by her and Assistant Superintendent Richard Werlin and several
other CVESD officers and employees in 2000 and 2001. After fostering perjury
and other crimes, and using huge sums of public money to keep bad teachers in
power, Cheryl Cox ran for mayor on a platform of "charater" and "fiscal
responsibility."
The San Diego Union Tribune has maintained to this day a complete black-out
regarding crimes committed by Robin Donlan, Richard Werlin, Cheryl Cox and
others at CVESD. On November 17, 2006 the SDUT published a small article
about the arrest of former PTA Kim Simmons. The story immediately went into
"partially hidden" status in the Union-Tribunes archives. (If someone does a
signonsandiego search for "castle park PTA Simmons," he'll get a message back
saying "No articles found.) The article can only be found by leaving "simmons"
out of the search. If you already know about Kimberlee Simmons, the San Diego
Union Tribune doesn't want you to know more.
Of course, there has been no follow-up to the SDUT story. But there should
be--because the story created the false impression that the police were actually
intending to do something about crime at Castle Park Elementary. Nothing could
be farther from the truth.
The police waited until Cox was elected, and then they did their hoax arrest, but
Kim Simmons was never charged with anything.
When will the SD Union Tribune publish the full story, revealing Kim Simmons'
close association to Robin Donlan and the "Castle Park Five"? When will the San
Diego Union Tribune apologize for so maliciously attacking the honorable and
decent principal of Castle Park Elementary on behalf of Robin Donlan, Kim
Simmons, and the rest of their clique, after the group was found to be
responsible for yet another crime after the SDUT had written so much on its
behalf? How about it, Don Sevrens?
The SDUT November 2006 story about Simmons arrest was published to create
the impression that Bonnie Dumanis and the Chula Vista Police Department are
not covering up crimes involving Cheryl Cox and Castle Park Elementary School.
It appears that Simmons wasn't really the fall guy; she was actually the pretend
fall guy.
When will Bonnie Dumanis investigate the use of public resources for political
purposes at CVPD and the crimes committed at Chula Vista Elementary School
District, including perjury by Cheryl Cox and Robin Donlan?
*The police "call' report that was hidden for months by the CVPD revealed
Assistant Superintendent Richard Werlin's attempt to silence a teacher who had
suggested that the media might investigate what was happening at the school
in 2001. The teacher clearly knew nothing about the media in San Diego. The
San Diego Union Tribune, the Chula Vista Star-News and La Prensa still have not
reported those crimes, although all three newspapers have long known about
them. These three publications exposed their lack of journalistic ethics when
they published a deluge of letters, articles and editorials defending the teacher,
Robin Colls/Donlan who initiated the crime wave! All three papers were incensed
when Robin Colls was transferred from Castle Park Elementary. Richard Werlin,
who called the police when the teacher mentioned the media, didn't correctly
estimate the power of his Chula Vista Elementary School Board bosses, including
Cheryl Cox, to silence the media.
Werlin did go on to achieve a certain amount of notoriety for his use of the police
to silence teachers. He had second-grade teacher Jenny Mo arrested in front of
her students at his new school district in Richmond, California this year when the
teacher went to the media with a story about bullying at her school. Of course,
Werlin didn't step up and take the credit/blame for the arrest. He let the
principal sit in the hot seat. He took indefinite sick leave from his position.
In 1997 about $2000 went missing from PTA accounts. The district claimed that
it couldn't figure out who was responsible.
Chula Vista Police Department (CVPD) Hoax on Behalf
of Cheryl Cox and other CVESD board members
of Cheryl Cox and other CVESD board members
| BLOGS |
| CVESD's Cheryl Cox Jason Moore case |
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Nonprofits easy
targets for
thievery
Little or no oversight
leaves school, sports
groups at risk
By Leonel Sanchez and
Brent Schrotenboer
August 26, 2007
"CHULA VISTA: The former
president of the Parent
Teacher Association at
Castle Park Elementary
was arrested in November
on suspicion of stealing up
to $20,000. No criminal
charges were filed. Castle
Park's PTA disbanded."
targets for
thievery
Little or no oversight
leaves school, sports
groups at risk
By Leonel Sanchez and
Brent Schrotenboer
August 26, 2007
"CHULA VISTA: The former
president of the Parent
Teacher Association at
Castle Park Elementary
was arrested in November
on suspicion of stealing up
to $20,000. No criminal
charges were filed. Castle
Park's PTA disbanded."
| Perjury involving atty. Deborah K. Garvin, Sheriff's deputy Michael Carlson |
| Home Why This Website SDCOE CVESD CTA CVE Stutz Artiano Shinoff Silence is Golden Schools and Violence Office Admin Hearings Larkins OAH Hearing |
CVPD won't reveal
its rules about
strangulation of
people who are
having a pool party
Man arrested at July party
seeks justice
By Tanya Sierra
San Diego Union-Tribune
January 3, 2009
...A lawyer for 34-year-old
Justin Ladou filed a $5
million claim against the
city Monday, accusing the
officer of violating Ladou's
civil rights. On Dec. 10, the
lawyer, Richard deSaulles,
filed a related lawsuit in
San Diego Superior Court
against the city for refusing
to turn over police
documents that outline
department policies on the
use of force and other
protocol. The documents
the city released were
heavily redacted.
...Chancellor testified that
he pulled Ladou by the
arm, then used a choke
hold on him, breaking his
own thumb in the process.
Ladou then fell
unconscious, he said.
[Blogger's note: The
officer broke his own
thumb? He must have
been REALLY riled up.]
...The District Attorney's
Office later dropped the
charges against Ladou.
Chula Vista police Capt.
Leonard Miranda said
police officials have a right
to redact information to
ensure officer safety.
The civil rights claim
alleges...Chancellor
entered private property to
arrest Ladou for being
drunk in public...
DeSaulles also alleges the
city was negligent when it
hired Chancellor, a former
Southwestern College
police officer, because he
has a history of stalking,
according to a 2003
Superior Court case in
which a former girlfriend
requested a restraining
order...
In a Dec. 4 letter to
deSaulles, Chula Vista
Deputy City Attorney
Chance Hawkins said the
documents were redacted
because the public's right
to the information doesn't
outweigh police
confidentiality.
Attorney Terry Francke, of
the public-access
advocacy group
Californians Aware, said
the public has a right to
know when police are
allowed to use force.
“I think most people would
agree that if the Police
Department believes it's
lawful to put a potentially
lethal strangulation tool to
use, then everyone should
know what the rules are,”
Francke said. “Obviously,
it's going to be used in self-
defense if there's a very
violent altercation. But
when do the police get to
choke you because you're
sassing them back?”
When Ladou was choked,
he was recovering from a
recent surgery, deSaulles
said. In addition, police
took no measures to make
sure Ladou's children, 8
and 12, were in proper
care after he was arrested.
A neighbor took them in.
...Chula Vista police
officers have been
accused before of using
excessive force. In July, the
city agreed to pay
$400,000 to settle a
federal lawsuit stemming
from a 2006 case in which
police beat Christian
Morales, who was a high
school student at the time.
Morales claimed police
mistook him for a trailer
thief and beat him
unconscious in front of his
home.
its rules about
strangulation of
people who are
having a pool party
Man arrested at July party
seeks justice
By Tanya Sierra
San Diego Union-Tribune
January 3, 2009
...A lawyer for 34-year-old
Justin Ladou filed a $5
million claim against the
city Monday, accusing the
officer of violating Ladou's
civil rights. On Dec. 10, the
lawyer, Richard deSaulles,
filed a related lawsuit in
San Diego Superior Court
against the city for refusing
to turn over police
documents that outline
department policies on the
use of force and other
protocol. The documents
the city released were
heavily redacted.
...Chancellor testified that
he pulled Ladou by the
arm, then used a choke
hold on him, breaking his
own thumb in the process.
Ladou then fell
unconscious, he said.
[Blogger's note: The
officer broke his own
thumb? He must have
been REALLY riled up.]
...The District Attorney's
Office later dropped the
charges against Ladou.
Chula Vista police Capt.
Leonard Miranda said
police officials have a right
to redact information to
ensure officer safety.
The civil rights claim
alleges...Chancellor
entered private property to
arrest Ladou for being
drunk in public...
DeSaulles also alleges the
city was negligent when it
hired Chancellor, a former
Southwestern College
police officer, because he
has a history of stalking,
according to a 2003
Superior Court case in
which a former girlfriend
requested a restraining
order...
In a Dec. 4 letter to
deSaulles, Chula Vista
Deputy City Attorney
Chance Hawkins said the
documents were redacted
because the public's right
to the information doesn't
outweigh police
confidentiality.
Attorney Terry Francke, of
the public-access
advocacy group
Californians Aware, said
the public has a right to
know when police are
allowed to use force.
“I think most people would
agree that if the Police
Department believes it's
lawful to put a potentially
lethal strangulation tool to
use, then everyone should
know what the rules are,”
Francke said. “Obviously,
it's going to be used in self-
defense if there's a very
violent altercation. But
when do the police get to
choke you because you're
sassing them back?”
When Ladou was choked,
he was recovering from a
recent surgery, deSaulles
said. In addition, police
took no measures to make
sure Ladou's children, 8
and 12, were in proper
care after he was arrested.
A neighbor took them in.
...Chula Vista police
officers have been
accused before of using
excessive force. In July, the
city agreed to pay
$400,000 to settle a
federal lawsuit stemming
from a 2006 case in which
police beat Christian
Morales, who was a high
school student at the time.
Morales claimed police
mistook him for a trailer
thief and beat him
unconscious in front of his
home.
| San Diego Education Report |
| SDER |
San Diego
Education Report
Education Report
| SDER |
| SDER |
| SDER |
| San Diego Education Report |
| SDER |
San Diego
Education Report
Education Report
| SDER |
| SDER |
| SDER |
Cheryl Cox blog posts (CVESD Report)
Cheryl Cox blog posts (SDER blog)
Cheryl Cox Games
Cheryl Cox Biography
Cheryl Cox perjury
CVPD hoax for Cheryl Cox
Cheryl Cox Blackmail
Cox and Steve Castaneda
CVESD
Cheryl Cox blog posts (SDER blog)
Cheryl Cox Games
Cheryl Cox Biography
Cheryl Cox perjury
CVPD hoax for Cheryl Cox
Cheryl Cox Blackmail
Cox and Steve Castaneda
CVESD
Did this school district also
want a crime covered up?
Gym mat death: Scene pics
point to foul play, expert
says
By Victor Blackwell and Devon Sayers
CNN
October 8, 2013
Valdosta, Georgia (CNN) -- For the local
sheriff's department, the death of
17-year-old Kendrick Johnson is a
closed book: A tragedy, but an accident.
State medical examiners concluded that
Johnson suffocated in January after
getting stuck in a rolled-up gym mat
while reaching for a sneaker. That's a
finding his family has never accepted,
and one challenged by the findings of a
second autopsy they commissioned.
Now, death scene imagery obtained
exclusively by CNN has led a former FBI
agent to question how the three-sport
athlete died.
"I don't believe this was an accident. I
think this young man met with foul play,"
said Harold Copus, now an Atlanta
private investigator.
And Johnson's father, Kenneth
Johnson, said he believes authorities
aren't leveling with his family.
"They know something happened in that
gym, and they don't want it to come
out," he said.
A 15-minute video and nearly 700
photos taken by sheriff's investigators in
Lowndes County documented the
horrific scene. Johnson's body, clad in
jeans and and layered orange and white
T-shirts, was found wedged into a
rolled-up wrestling mat in January. His
face was bloated with pooled blood,
some of which had poured out of his
body, soaking his dreadlocks and
spilling onto the floor.
There were more streaks of blood on a
nearby wall -- but it wasn't Johnson's,
according to investigators. Meanwhile,
Copus said there appeared to be no
blood on a sneaker that the teen
supposedly was attempting to reach,
located inches beneath him.
A pair of orange-and-black gym shoes
found a few yards from the body had a
substance that looked like blood on
them, but investigators told CNN the
stains weren't blood -- and so the shoes
weren't collected as potential evidence.
The same went for a hooded sweatshirt
found a few feet away from the teen.
Copus said he can't explain how
investigators handled items found
around the gym.
"If you're running a crime scene, then
you're going to say 'That's potential
evidence. Obviously, we're going to
check this out and find out who does it
belong to,' " he said.
Lowndes County Sheriff Chris Prine
refused to discuss the case with CNN,
saying, "Our case is closed." But in
June, an independent pathologist who
conducted a second autopsy for the
Johnson family found the teen suffered
a blow to the right side of his neck that
was "consistent with inflicted injury."
In May, sheriff's Lt. Stryde Jones told
CNN that investigators tested the
bloodstains on the nearby wall, "and it
was not the blood of Kendrick Johnson."
Investigators haven't determined whose
blood it was, "but it doesn't appear to be
involved in our crime in any way," he
said.
"In the opinion of our crime scene
personnel, after looking at it closely, the
blood appeared as if it'd been there for
an extended period of time. It didn't
appear to be very fresh," Jones said.
But Copus said it's difficult to believe
that old bloodstains weren't cleaned up.
"There is no way that they would allow
whoever was supposed to clean this
gym to leave that blood on that wall," he
said.
In September, the Justice Department
said it wouldn't open a civil rights
investigation into Johnson's death. But
federal prosecutors in south Georgia
are reviewing the imagery to determine
whether a separate investigation is
necessary, the U.S. attorney's office in
Macon told CNN.
For Johnson's father, the evidence is
clear.
"Someone murdered him," he said.
"They should be in jail."
want a crime covered up?
Gym mat death: Scene pics
point to foul play, expert
says
By Victor Blackwell and Devon Sayers
CNN
October 8, 2013
Valdosta, Georgia (CNN) -- For the local
sheriff's department, the death of
17-year-old Kendrick Johnson is a
closed book: A tragedy, but an accident.
State medical examiners concluded that
Johnson suffocated in January after
getting stuck in a rolled-up gym mat
while reaching for a sneaker. That's a
finding his family has never accepted,
and one challenged by the findings of a
second autopsy they commissioned.
Now, death scene imagery obtained
exclusively by CNN has led a former FBI
agent to question how the three-sport
athlete died.
"I don't believe this was an accident. I
think this young man met with foul play,"
said Harold Copus, now an Atlanta
private investigator.
And Johnson's father, Kenneth
Johnson, said he believes authorities
aren't leveling with his family.
"They know something happened in that
gym, and they don't want it to come
out," he said.
A 15-minute video and nearly 700
photos taken by sheriff's investigators in
Lowndes County documented the
horrific scene. Johnson's body, clad in
jeans and and layered orange and white
T-shirts, was found wedged into a
rolled-up wrestling mat in January. His
face was bloated with pooled blood,
some of which had poured out of his
body, soaking his dreadlocks and
spilling onto the floor.
There were more streaks of blood on a
nearby wall -- but it wasn't Johnson's,
according to investigators. Meanwhile,
Copus said there appeared to be no
blood on a sneaker that the teen
supposedly was attempting to reach,
located inches beneath him.
A pair of orange-and-black gym shoes
found a few yards from the body had a
substance that looked like blood on
them, but investigators told CNN the
stains weren't blood -- and so the shoes
weren't collected as potential evidence.
The same went for a hooded sweatshirt
found a few feet away from the teen.
Copus said he can't explain how
investigators handled items found
around the gym.
"If you're running a crime scene, then
you're going to say 'That's potential
evidence. Obviously, we're going to
check this out and find out who does it
belong to,' " he said.
Lowndes County Sheriff Chris Prine
refused to discuss the case with CNN,
saying, "Our case is closed." But in
June, an independent pathologist who
conducted a second autopsy for the
Johnson family found the teen suffered
a blow to the right side of his neck that
was "consistent with inflicted injury."
In May, sheriff's Lt. Stryde Jones told
CNN that investigators tested the
bloodstains on the nearby wall, "and it
was not the blood of Kendrick Johnson."
Investigators haven't determined whose
blood it was, "but it doesn't appear to be
involved in our crime in any way," he
said.
"In the opinion of our crime scene
personnel, after looking at it closely, the
blood appeared as if it'd been there for
an extended period of time. It didn't
appear to be very fresh," Jones said.
But Copus said it's difficult to believe
that old bloodstains weren't cleaned up.
"There is no way that they would allow
whoever was supposed to clean this
gym to leave that blood on that wall," he
said.
In September, the Justice Department
said it wouldn't open a civil rights
investigation into Johnson's death. But
federal prosecutors in south Georgia
are reviewing the imagery to determine
whether a separate investigation is
necessary, the U.S. attorney's office in
Macon told CNN.
For Johnson's father, the evidence is
clear.
"Someone murdered him," he said.
"They should be in jail."
CVPD does NO investigation of
Southwestern College Police Chief
who fired bullet at head level in
police headquarters, narrowly
missing an employee
Southwestern College Police Chief
who fired bullet at head level in
police headquarters, narrowly
missing an employee