Not surprising, though, coming from the pro-authoritarian, pro-police state Boston Globe!
"US attorney: Police role key in death probe; One officer faced prior suit; independent panel in place" by Shelley Murphy and Jeannie M. Nuss, Globe Correspondent | July 10, 2008
US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan pledged yesterday to find out whether Boston police officers used excessive force against David Woodman, a 22-year-old former Emmanuel College student who stopped breathing after his arrest during the Celtics championship celebration last month and died 11 days later in the hospital.
He died; they didn't kill him.
At the same time, a lawyer who was tapped by the police commissioner to conduct an independent review of the circumstances surrounding Woodman's death said he has recruited two high-profile security consultants to help determine whether officers followed regulations.
The Globe has also learned that one of the nine officers involved in Woodman's arrest was accused of beating a man with a flashlight during a 2003 arrest, according to a lawsuit. The case was settled for $1,000, and an internal investigation cleared the officer, according to officials.
It is unclear what caused Woodman's death on June 29. Officials said they are awaiting autopsy results. Woodman, a Brookline resident, had a preexisting heart condition but lived an active life, his parents said. His death has triggered reviews at several levels.
WHERE are those AUTOPSY results?
WTF?!?! The kid was BEATEN, wasn't he?
Donald K. Stern, who preceded Sullivan as US attorney and is now in private practice, will conduct the independent review.
Translation: He's been appointed to work on the cover up.
"The goal is not only to figure out what happened that evening with this awful tragedy but to see if there are any lessons that can be learned which might assist the Boston Police Department in handling such situations in the future," said Stern.
Yeah, the DEATH of the KID is TEACHING MOMENT!!
Ummm, sir, HAVEN'T WE HAD ENOUGH of these already?
Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis has said he welcomes any outside review.
Now you know they are lying; these guys NEVER LIKE an outside review!
Think about; the knee-jerk reactions are always to minimize and cover-up!!!
One of the officers involved in Woodman's arrest, Dowayne Lewis, 34, was accused of repeatedly beating Terry Byner with a flashlight while arresting him in February 2003, according to the suit filed by Byner.
The suit, which also named a second officer, alleges that Lewis stormed Byner "like a complete madman wielding the footlong flashlight" and struck him repeatedly on the head. Byner said a second officer, Shawn Grant, pleaded with Lewis to stop.
Grant denied most of Byner's allegations, but admitted that he saw Lewis strike Byner with a flashlight and told him to stop, according to court filings. Byner pleaded guilty to several charges as a result of the confrontation, including assault and battery on a police officer, according to court records.
William F. Sinnott, Boston's corporation counsel, said the city paid Byner $1,000 to settle the case. Boston attorney Thomas Drechsler, who represents the patrolmen's union, said it is not unusual to settle cases with small payouts that cost less than taking the case to trial.
"It certainly doesn't signify there is any merit to the case; just the opposite would be true," Drechsler said. Yesterday, Byner, 47, of Roxbury, said he settled because "it was just the principal; it wasn't the money."
WHAT?!?!
Howard Friedman, a Boston lawyer who represents the Woodmans, said the allegations in Byner's lawsuit raise concerns about Lewis. "Using a flashlight to hit someone shouldn't happen. . . . If one of the other cops had to tell you to stop, then maybe you are going too far
--MORE--"
Maybe?
SIMSBURY, Conn. - At the family's request, pizza and beer were served outdoors after David Woodman's funeral yesterday.
"Everything outside the church is what David loved," the Rev. Robert McGurn said after the service at Shepherd of the Hills Evangelical Lutheran Church, where Woodman's parents worship. "Plus, we couldn't fit this many people in there."
About 200 people filled the church's pews and spilled into a second room, to remember Woodman, 22, the Emmanuel College student who died June 29, 11 days after he was arrested during the Celtics NBA championship celebration and stopped breathing while in police custody. His death has prompted a series of ongoing investigations.
Oh, the kid was REALLY LOVED, huh? (Near tears, folks)
Woodman, who had been living in Brookline, was a complex and compassionate young man, committed to battling injustice wherever he saw it, the Rev. Dan Selbo told the young man's friends and family members during a remembrance. That passion, Selbo said, was long evident in Woodman.
In a story from his childhood, Woodman and his friends wanted a flag for their fort, Selbo said, so one boy ran across the street and grabbed a neighbor's. The problem was, Selbo said, that the child had picked a Confederate flag.
David's mother told the boy to return it. Then, Cathy Woodman sat David down and explained the history of slavery in the United States. David designed a new flag, Selbo said. He drew a black person's face, then wrote: "Free the blacks." Mourners laughed at the recollection.
That's it?
That can't be the ONLY story told, but the Globe chooses to report that -- as if young Mr. Woodman was some kind of stoo-pid racist, and by implication his hometown (western Mass, of course,which is expected from the Globe. Probably mad they had to spend $$$ to travel that far)
Notice it is a reverend, ergo, not Jewish, too. Coincidence?
Woodman was never afraid to say what he thought, said Selbo, a family friend from San Jose, Calif., where Woodman grew up. He lived intensely, the minister said, and he could not stand hypocrisy. "When you were hugged by David, you knew it," Selbo said. "When he was angry, you knew it. . . . And when your actions didn't match your words, he let you know."
Woodman advocated for the less privileged, he befriended countless homeless people, and he never hesitated to share what he had, Selbo said. "David's style was unconventional, but his love for people was unique," Selbo said. "If someone needed his last dollar, he'd give it. He told his parents it drove him crazy to sit in church. . . . He was a doer."
McGurn said one of the readings, from the New Testament Letter of James, was chosen to underscore the same point. "What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works?" the reading began. "Can faith save you?" The answer, McGurn said during his sermon, is no. Woodman knew that, he said.
For Woodman, "it was not just words, but deeds," McGurn said. "That was David's faith." McGurn also spoke of Woodman's generosity toward the homeless. But, he added, "we are not here to remember Saint David."
That is some advice the shit-rag "newspapers" could take!
"I got the nods and smiles," McGurn said, looking at the front pew of family members. Woodman's life, he said, was "scarred by sin," like everyone else's. "Certainly, by every human standard, David was a very good man," McGurn said. "But for people of faith . . . it is by God's standard that we are judged."
So the guy ENJOYED LIFE? SO WHAT?
Why are you trying to SLANDER HIM, Globe?
So he DESERVED a BEAT DOWN by the COPS because he happened to go to a bar to watch a basketball game?
He encouraged Woodman's family and friends to live by and take comfort in their faith. One picture sat before the altar yesterday: Woodman, hands clasped on his knee, a relaxed smile on his face. A bagpiper played "Amazing Grace" as people filed into the pews.
When they left, it was silent. Two young men in suits stood in a corner, arms around each other, tears streaming down one's face. Outside, rock music played, and conversations began. Woodman, friends said, was irresistible.
David Woodman, 22
Jacqui Macek, 21, who is from Rhode Island and a student at Emmanuel College, said Woodman was "hard not to like." She had been friends with him "forever," she said, "since I met him." The others standing nearby, also from Emmanuel College, agreed. They toasted their friend, clinking together bottles of beer.
--MORE--"
They didn't want to talk to you, Globe -- same as the parents, otherwise they would be quoted in this piece, no?
I wouldn't want to talk to you either, not after the way you have reported this case.
Just type in David Woodman to my blog search, readers, and see what comes up.
