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Title: Good Cop Demoted, Transferred & Worse for Exposing his Department in the Killing of a College Student
Source:
Free Thought Project/Kansas City Star
URL Source: http://thefreethoughtproject.com/go ... h-custody-demoted-transferred/
Published: Jun 12, 2015
Author: Matt Agorist
Post Date: 2015-06-15 10:42:19 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 984
Comments: 11
Kansas, MO — On May 31 of last year, 20-year-old college student Brandon Ellingson was stopped for suspicion of driving a boat while intoxicated. Ellingson would not make it out of the water alive. Trooper Anthony Piercy was the officer who stopped then young Iowa native that day. According to witnesses, Piercy handcuffed Ellingson’s wrists behind his back and then pulled an already buckled life vest, with armholes, over his head and upper torso, completely against the recommended use of the vest. As Piercy drove the dangerously restrained young man back to the office for a breathalyzer, he tumbled out of the boat and into the water. He would never come back up. An investigation by the Star showed that Piercy only had 2 days of training prior to holding this young man’s life in his hands. It also showed that the boat was travelling at over 40 mph which required patrol investigators to hold on or fall out; Ellingson was not given the option to hold on. Only days after the death of this young man, special prosecutor Amanda Grellner announced that she would not file criminal charges against Piercy, and his death was ruled an accident. This young college student, who was merely suspected of a misdemeanor, died at the hands of police and no one was held accountable. Enter Trooper Randy Henry. According to the Kansas City Star: Days after Ellingson’s death, Henry was interviewed by patrol investigators looking into the incident. At one point during the interview, a recording shows, Henry had questioned whether the highest degree of care was taken with Ellingson that day. When he mentioned a state law pertaining to that, his sentence was cut off and one investigator insisted the recorder be turned off. Earlier this month, Henry was deposed in the civil suit the Ellingson family has filed against the patrol, Piercy and top commanders. In a letter to the patrol superintendent, Col. Bret Johnson, Pleban stated: “You might want to educate yourself by requesting a copy of the transcript of Sgt. Henry’s deposition so that you can fully comprehend his status as a whistle blower.” Since Henry has begun to expose the lack of training, the resultant death of a young man, and the subsequent cover-up of that death by his department, he has since been retaliated against. Sgt. Henry was demoted to corporal and transferred from his nearly three-decades long patrol at Lake of the Ozarks to Truman Lake. “Randy Henry doesn’t have a horse in the race,” Henry’s attorney, Chet Pleban told The Star. “He’s not on one side or the other. He has testimony to give that’s material. The truth is the truth. He went to his superiors to say, ‘This is wrong. This is what happened.’ And they blew him off. So now here we are.” Since he spoke out, Henry has been forced to undergo multiple mental health evaluations at the demand of his superiors. The exams found nothing “Ultimately, the mental-health provider warned that because she found nothing wrong with Sgt. Henry, it would be unethical for her to see him a third time at the insistence of the patrol,” Pleban wrote to Johnson. “When the mental health route failed, a Professional Standards investigation surfaced.” The departemnt has been silent on the reasons behind any of the investigations. Craig Ellingson, Brandon’s father, has insisted that Piercy should be held accountable for what happened to his son. He is also outspoken about the retaliation, noting that Henry’s discipline is wrong. “It’s retaliation,” he said. “They shouldn’t be doing that.” Crossing the blue line to expose your own department is career suicide and can also be dangerous. The Free Thought Project has exposed countless cases of the proverbial good cop being ousted for merely seeking justice within their own ranks. If this cycle continues, eventually there won’t be any good cops left. Randy Henry deserves commendation for his perserverence in this matter. He’s been demoted, transferred, investigated, attacked, mentally examined, and still, he seeks justice. That is what a “good cop” does. 
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#1. To: Deckard (#0)
What a pant load. If Trooper Randy Henry has evidence of a murder, as the title of the article screams, he should take his evidence to the DA, not to his supervisors. Any sane citizen, never mind a police officer, knows this.
He doesn't have evidence of a murder. Only an opinion that details of a death are being covered up.
He is suggesting a criminal matter and those are best handled by the DA, not his police supervisor. That his attorney hasn't brought him by the hand to the prosecutor tells me all I need to know about this case, his legal representation and the alarmist screeching title of the article.
Do you have any opinions as to how he has been treated since his interview?
Below is an extensive quote from the First Amended Complaint in the civil suit, Ellingson et al v Piercy et al, setting forth the alleged statements of fact. IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI CENTRAL DIVISION CRAIG E. ELLINGSON and SHERRY L. ELLINGSON, individually and as Co-Administrators for the ESTATE OF BRANDON E. ELLINGSON, Deceased, and JENNIFER L. ELLINGSON, RONALD K. REPLOGLE, individually and in his official capacity as Superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol; J. BRET JOHNSON, individually and in his official capacity as Commander of the Field Operations Bureau of the Missouri State Highway Patrol; GREGORY D. KINDLE, individually and in his official capacity with the Missouri State Highway Patrol; DAREWIN L. CLARDY, individually and in his official capacity with the Missouri State Highway Patrol; JUSTIN MCCULLOUGH, individually and in his official capacity with the Missouri State Highwa Patrol; DAVID ECHTERNACHT, individually and in his official capacity with Troop F, Water Patrol Division, Missouri State Highway Patrol; ERIC STACKS, individually and in his official capacity with the Missouri State Highway Patrol; DONALD BARBOUR, individually and in his official capacity with Missouri State Highway Patrol; CHRIS HARRIS, individually and in his official capacity with Troop F, Water Patrol Division, Missouri State Highway Patrol; TIMOTHY FICK, individually and in his official capacity with the Missouri State Highway Patrol; SARAH L. EBERHARD, individually and in her official capacity with the Division of Drug and Crime Control, Missouri State Highway Patrol; LIEUTENANT RICK HERNDON, individually and in his official capacity with the Division of Drug and Crime Control, Missouri State Highway Patrol; M.B. JONES, individually and in his official capacity as Coroner. Case No. 14-04316-CV-NKL FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT AND JURY DEMAND -1- [...] - - - - - - - - - - GENERAL FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS 23. Prior to May 31, 2014, Brandon E. Ellingson ("Brandon") was a 20-year-old resident of Clive, Iowa, who had just finished his sophomore year at Arizona State University. 24. Brandon, along with seven of his closest friends, traveled to the Lake of Ozarks, Missouri, for a weekend trip, staying at the lake house owned by his father, Plaintiff Craig E. Ellingson. 25. On May 31, 2014, around 5:00 p.m., Brandon was operating a boat owned by Plaintiff Craig E. Ellingson, in the Gravois Arm of the Lake of Ozarks. On this boat were his seven friends, with whom he had spent the day socializing and relaxing. 26. The boat was stopped by Anthony C. Piercy ("Piercy"), a Missouri State Trooper of the Missouri State Highway Patrol. - 5 - - - - - - - - - - - 27. Piercy was primarily a "road" officer with little experience in performing the duties of a Water Patrol officer. 28. In 2013, Piercy attended training at the Missouri State Highway Patrol's water school in order to serve part time with the Water Patrol. 29. Piercy had received insufficient training, both in the classroom and on the water, including the training needed to be qualified in swimming, boat operation, equipment usage and operation, water rescue, and procedures to allow him to serve without supervision on the water. 30. Piercy stopped the Ellingson boat for possible vehicle registration and littering violations, claiming to have observed an aluminum can fall off the boat into the lake. 31. During the stop, Piercy had Brandon board Piercy's patrol boat, a 2008 Donzi Marine, to determine whether Brandon was intoxicated. 32. Brandon fully cooperated with Piercy and complied with Piercy's instructions during questioning. 33. During the course of Piercy's questioning of Brandon, one of Brandon's friends attempted to provide Brandon with a laminated card stating the rights afforded an individual stopped by law enforcement. 34. As the patrol boat drifted away from the vessel Brandon had operated, his friend jumped in the water, swam toward Piercy's boat, and tossed the rights card to Brandon in the process. The card landed on the swim deck of Piercy's patrol boat and was recovered as part of the subsequent investigation. 35. Piercy became annoyed by the friend's actions and proceeded to perform upon Brandon only a hurried version of the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test. - 6 - - - - - - - - - - - 36. Suspecting Brandon to be intoxicated, Piercy decided to take Brandon into custody and to transport Brandon to H. Toad's Bar & Grill (the "H-Toad") satellite office of the Missouri Water Patrol on suspicion of boating while intoxicated. 37. Piercy placed double-lock handcuffs on Brandon's wrists, securing Brandon's arms behind his back. 38. After handcuffing Brandon, Piercy told Brandon's friends that he was taking Brandon into custody, that he was going to be processed, and that they could pick him up in approximately one hour at a holding area near Toad Cove. 39. Piercy proceeded to take a Type III life jacket, distinguished by a vest-like design with armholes and three front buckles, out of a storage unit on his patrol boat, the front buckles already fastened closed. 40. With Brandon's arms already handcuffed behind his back, Piercy pulled the pre-buckled Type III life jacket over Brandon's head, with the bottom of life jacket ultimately sitting above Brandon's belly button and the top buckle around Brandon's chin. 41. Piercy did not secure the Type III life jacket's crotch strap, as he did not know it was part of the Type III life jacket's design. 42. Pursuant to Missouri State Highway Patrol General Order 48-03-1358, issued by Defendant Replogle on August 3, 2012, policy and procedure required Piercy to use a Type I or Type II personal floatation device to secure a handcuffed individual being transported by boat. 43. Despite at least two Type I personal floatation devices being present on his patrol vessel, and within Piercy's easy reach, Piercy did not use this equipment to secure Brandon. - 7 - - - - - - - - - - - 44. Piercy verbally inquired whether any of Brandon's friends were sober and able to operate the boat, but did not conduct any sobriety testing on any of them, in violation of Missouri State Highway Patrol policy and procedure. 45. Though his neck was fully obscured by the improperly selected and improperly secured life jacket, Brandon was able to give his friends a wink and a smile before Piercy quickly accelerated his patrol boat away. 46. While he was being transported, Brandon asked Piercy whether he was going to jail for drinking as a minor. Piercy expressly told Brandon he was going to be processed and released and that he was not going to jail. 47. Piercy was operating the vessel at a high rate of speed, with the boat reaching upwards of 46 miles per hour and low speed of 24 miles per hour, despite the rough water and heavy traffic on the lake. 48. Piercy had positioned Brandon on his right, with Brandon leaning against a flipped-up seat on the second captain's chair in the Donzi patrol boat. 49. As Piercy sped through rough waves, Brandon was involuntarily ejected from the boat into the water. 50. Piercy, in his subsequent reports, falsely stated that Brandon had jumped, hands cuffed behind his back, from the moving vessel. 51. The Type III life jacket had not been properly secured by Piercy. The life jacket separated from Brandon's body within moments of Brandon entering the water. 52. Piercy, after observing Brandon's ejection from the Donzi patrol boat, killed the boat's engines in a panic by placing the boat into reverse. During this time, Brandon attempted to keep his head above water without the ability to use his arms. - 8 - - - - - - - - - - - 53. After remembering he had to place the boat in neutral before he could restart the engine, Piercy drove the vessel near to Brandon and attempted to fish him out using the boat's dock hook, despite knowing Brandon could not use his hands to grab it due to being handcuffed behind his back. 54. At the time Piercy was attempting to use the dock hook from his Donzi boat to engage Brandon, a rented lake-touring barge named the Playin Hooky, carrying approximately 27 passengers, was in the immediate vicinity of Piercy's Donzi and Brandon's location in the water. 55. The attempt to hook Brandon failed, and after being urged and exhorted to get in the water by witnesses on the nearby Playin Hooky party boat, Piercy finally removed his gun belt, wearing a Type V personal floatation device himself, and jumped into the water as Brandon became submerged. 56. Piercy alleges being able to get an arm around Brandon while both of them were underwater and attempted to bring Brandon to the surface of the water. Piercy mistakenly believed the Type V personal floatation device he was using would auto-inflate. 57. Piercy's Type V personal floatation device was not auto-inflating but instead required pulling a ripcord for inflation to occur. 58. Piercy alleges he lost his grip on Brandon, who did not resurface. 59. Brandon died of asphyxiation due to drowning. Foam and mud were found in his bronchi. 60. Piercy was rescued by the captain of the Playin Hooky boat who, along with his passenger-customers, had witnessed Brandon in the water with the life jacket near to him. The - 9 - - - - - - - - - - - captain and his passengers had also attempted to assist in Brandon's rescue by throwing him a life ring, prior to Piercy jumping into the water, unaware Brandon was handcuffed. 61. Piercy did not activate any lights or sirens, nor in any other way give an indication or alert that Brandon was in need of assistance after Brandon was involuntarily ejected from Piercy's patrol boat. 62. Brandon's friends, unaware this was happening, drove the Ellingson boat to the H-Toad dock where they expected to pick Brandon up after his release. Upon their arrival, neither Brandon nor Piercy were present. 63. Brandon's friends then attempted to learn of Brandon's whereabouts by contacting several nearby police departments and county offices by cell phone. They left their contact information with each such agency. As they waited, the Playin Hooky party boat, which had been present at Brandon's death, docked at the H-Toad. As the occupants disembarked from the party boat, Brandon's friends heard stories of a young man drowning while in police custody. The description of the young man who drowned given by passengers of the Playin Hooky party boat resembled Brandon's description. 64. Around 8:40 p.m., Defendant Fick responded to the H-Toad location and in response to being questioned by Brandon's friends as to Brandon's location and whether he was alive, Fick advised the group that Brandon was still in custody and would remain so for having been aggressive and confrontational with the arresting officer. Fick knew this was false and that Brandon had drowned at approximately 5:24 p.m. 65. Defendant Echternacht was directly involved in the investigation of Brandon's death. Echternacht prepared a Marine Accident Investigation Report in which he stated that Brandon voluntarily left Piercy's patrol boat. - 10 - - - - - - - - - - - 66. On June 27, 2014, nearly one month after Brandon's death and after completing his investigation, Echternacht's report was submitted in its final form. 67. Based on information and belief, Echternacht would have prepared a previous report, consistent with the evidence and information developed during the investigation, which demonstrated Brandon had been involuntarily ejected from the vessel. 68. Further based upon information and belief, Echternacht's report was reviewed, edited and approved by Defendant Eberhard and Defendant Herndon. 69. Defendant Harris and Defendant Stacks were directly involved in the investigation of Brandon's death while in Piercy's custody, in which they conducted an interview of Randy Henry, a Sergeant with the Water Patrol Division, regarding information he had acquired from conversations with Piercy the night of Brandon's death. 70. Defendants Harris and Stacks expressly refused to take information from Henry regarding violations of not only Missouri State Highway Patrol policy and procedure, but of Missouri law, including but not limited to Mo. Rev. Stat. § 306.125(1) (2014), arising from Piercy's actions and inactions, and attempted to prevent Henry from making these points, going so far as to cease audio recording of the interview. 71. Based on information and belief, Defendant Barbour, Piercy's direct supervisor, also spoke with Piercy regarding how he handled Brandon's arrest and transportation. This contact came by a telephone call from Piercy shortly after he was pulled out of the water. Despite discussing the incident with Piercy, Barbour did not prepare an official report regarding this conversation. 72. As ranking and supervising officers within the Missouri State Highway Patrol, generally, and Troop F, specifically, Defendants Kindle and Clardy are responsible for ensuring - 11 - - - - - - - - - - - officers subject to their supervision and command are properly and fully trained, including but not limited to: how an individual is to be handcuffed; the type of personal floatation device to be used; the manner in which the personal floatation device is to be secured on the individual; how the individual is to be positioned during transport by patrol boat; and the operation of the patrol boat by the officer responsible for transporting the individual while on the water in a manner which exercises the highest degree of care. 73. On June 1, 2014, Defendant M.B. "Doc" Jones, the Morgan County Coroner, secured a blood sample from Brandon's body after it was recovered from the bottom of the lake. The blood was stored in a vial and transported to the Missouri State Highway Patrol to be evaluated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Laboratory. This blood was tested by the Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Laboratory. The result of the test conducted by the Missouri State Highway Patrol showed Brandon's blood alcohol content ("BAC") to be 243mg/dl (.243). These test results did not indicate the presence of cocaine. Based on information and belief, these results were shared amongst the individual Defendants and other representatives and employees of the State of Missouri in a June 2014 meeting. 74. On September 4, 2014, Defendant Jones conducted a Coroner's Inquest at the Morgan County Justice Center. At the Coroner's Inquest, Defendant Jones presented to the jury a postmortem toxicology report completed at St. Louis University. The ethyl alcohol level reflected in the St. Louis report emphasized by Defendant Jones was 268mg/dl (.268). The cocaine metabolite level reflected in the St. Louis report was .13 micrograms/ML. Despite knowing of the prior test conducted by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and the conflicting results of that test, Defendant Jones did not present the results of the test conducted by the Missouri State Highway Patrol to the jury at the Inquest. - 12 - - - - - - - - - - - Below are the captions of the various Causes of Action, COUNT I [...] COUNT II [...] COUNT III [...] COUNT IV [...] COUNT V [...] COUNT VI [...] COUNT VII [...] COUNT VIII
From what I read, the officer should have been charged with Manslaughter. A reckless act that causes death.
Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is equally true is that every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on. Robert Kennedy
No charges were brought against Piercy. http://www.kansascity.com/news/state/missouri/article2099604.html [excerpt] That once he initiated the stop of Ellingson for boating while intoxicated, he realized his boat camera wasn’t loaded with a digital storage card. The card would have recorded the entire stop and transportation of Ellingson to a patrol zone office for a breath test. [...] When Piercy, 43, testified Sept. 4 in a Morgan County coroner’s inquest, he said he discovered that the digital storage card was missing earlier in his shift when he pulled over a family for having children seated in the wrong section of their boat. He said at the inquest that he reached for Ellingson as he left the boat, not that he was able to grab one of his feet. In another conversation on May 31, he said his hand might have just grazed Ellingson’s foot. In response to questions from The Star for patrol officials and Piercy, a patrol spokesman left a message Friday. “We released all the reports,” Lt. John Hotz said. “There are not any comments I can make as far as that goes.” In a separate interview Thursday, before The Star heard the videotaped calls, the patrol’s superintendent said his agency was reviewing all policies and procedures. Col. Ronald K. Replogle said that after the May 31 death on the lake’s Gravois Arm,, highway troopers who had been working part time on the lake have not been permitted to patrol on the water by themselves. Piercy, an 18-year veteran road trooper, was beginning his second summer helping on the lake when Ellingson drowned. Piercy returned to duty less than a week afterward. Replogle offered his thoughts to Ellingson’s family. “My condolences and prayers go out to that family,” he said. “I’m a father of two sons … and I can only imagine what that family has gone through since the death of their son.” ‘Armchair quarterback all you want’ A special prosecutor assigned to review Ellingson’s drowning declined Monday to file charges against Piercy. Though Osage County Prosecutor Amanda Grellner said the incident showed negligence, it did not rise to the level of criminal recklessness. Her decision came just four days after jurors at the inquest determined that Ellingson’s death was an accident. It took the three women and three men less than eight minutes to come to that decision. The jurors heard from four people and listened to audiotape of two others. Among those who testified was Piercy. For more than an hour, he described what happened that night and answered questions. He choked up more than once during the inquest and told the jury that he wasn’t properly trained for what he encountered that day. It appears to me that the digital storage card disappeared itself. I would agree that the incident was an accident. I would find at least negligence as the cause. More properly, I believe it appears to have been reckless behavior in addition to negligence. Racing along at 46 mph with an unsecured and handcuffed passenger appears reckless to me. I don't see the hurry to test for BAC as the suspect will keep getting pickled until he runs out of unmetabolized alcohol. The department negligence seems clear enough in just putting Piercy out there in a racing boat with no apparent training. He did not know how to put on a life vest or how to inflate it. The life vest he used would not go on a handcuffed man. The right life vest was available but apparently Piercy did not know it. He should have realized that the one that could not be put on correctly was not safe and could not be effective. Just criminal negligence resulting in death is Man-2. http://www.moga.mo.gov/mostatutes/stathtml/56500000242.html Chapter 565 Offenses Against the Person August 28, 2014 Until December 31, 2016--Involuntary manslaughter, penalty. 565.024. 1. A person commits the crime of involuntary manslaughter in the first degree if he or she: (1) Recklessly causes the death of another person; or (2) While in an intoxicated condition operates a motor vehicle or vessel in this state and, when so operating, acts with criminal negligence to cause the death of any person; or (3) While in an intoxicated condition operates a motor vehicle or vessel in this state, and, when so operating, acts with criminal negligence to: (a) Cause the death of any person not a passenger in the vehicle or vessel operated by the defendant, including the death of an individual that results from the defendant's vehicle leaving a highway, as defined by section 301.010, or the highway's right-of-way; or vessel leaving the water; or (b) Cause the death of two or more persons; or (c) Cause the death of any person while he or she has a blood alcohol content of at least eighteen-hundredths of one percent by weight of alcohol in such person's blood; or (4) Operates a motor vehicle in violation of subsection 2 of section 304.022, and when so operating, acts with criminal negligence to cause the death of any person authorized to operate an emergency vehicle, as defined in section 304.022, while such person is in the performance of official duties; (5) Operates a vessel in violation of subsections 1 and 2 of section 306.132, and when so operating acts with criminal negligence to cause the death of any person authorized to operate an emergency watercraft, as defined in section 306.132, while such person is in the performance of official duties. 2. Involuntary manslaughter in the first degree under subdivision (1) or (2) of subsection 1 of this section is a class C felony. Involuntary manslaughter in the first degree under subdivision (3) of subsection 1 of this section is a class B felony. A second or subsequent violation of subdivision (3) of subsection 1 of this section is a class A felony. For any violation of subdivision (3) of subsection 1 of this section, the minimum prison term which the defendant must serve shall be eighty-five percent of his or her sentence. Any violation of subdivisions (4) and (5) of subsection 1 of this section is a class B felony. 3. A person commits the crime of involuntary manslaughter in the second degree if he acts with criminal negligence to cause the death of any person. 4. Involuntary manslaughter in the second degree is a class D felony. (L. 1983 S.B. 276, A.L. 1984 S.B. 448 § A, A.L. 1986 H.B. 1596, A.L. 1999 S.B. 328, et al., A.L. 2005 H.B. 972 merged with S.B. 37, et al., A.L. 2005 1st Ex. Sess. H.B. 2, A.L. 2006 S.B. 872, et al., A.L. 2008 H.B. 1715) *This section was amended by S.B. 491, 2014, effective 1-01-17. Due to the delayed effective date, both versions of this section are printed here.
I beg to differ. If he didn't follow policy and procedure in accordance with his handcuffing and floatation device regulations, and someone died BECAUSE he didn't follow it, that's reckless. It's pretty easy to tell he didn't follow it. A person with a floatation device correctly put on AND handcuffed behind his back, it would be impossible for the device to slip off while handcuffed. Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is equally true is that every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on. Robert Kennedy
It's pretty easy to tell he didn't follow it. A person with a floatation device correctly put on AND handcuffed behind his back, it would be impossible for the device to slip off while handcuffed. Piercy used the wrong vest. It appears that Piercy may have been unfamiliar with the vests and just did not know what he was doing. That is being charitable, as the alternative is worse. Pleading ignorance might arguably reduce what is provable about the improper vest to negligence. It's a stretch. However, he had to be aware that the vest was not on properly and would not act effectively as a safety device. It was like the equivalent of a seat belt draped over a driver. Speeding along at 46 mph or 40 kt, under the circumstances, seems plain reckless, as well as unnecessary. Even just negligence resulting in death appears to be Man-2. It seems Capt. Kindle also may have a problem. http://www.abc17news.com/news/trooper-i-feel-like-i-drowned-that-kid/29779624 Trooper: 'I feel like I drowned that kid' Questions answered following investigation into drowning of handcuffed man in custody Heather Hourigan, Reporter [excerpt] ABC 17 News obtained records showing that was Piercy's first mistake. He needed to put Ellingson in a Type I life vest. That's the type of vest that goes around a person's head, so even if they are handcuffed their head would float to the surface of the water. Piercy put Ellingson in a Type III vest. The kind that does not go around someone's head, but rather has holes for their arms. However, Piercy failed to put Ellingson's arms through the holes before handcuffing him. Something Capt. Gregory Kindle, the commander of Troop F, did not want dispatch to report. Radio: So the life jacket came off in the water?
Then he shouldn't have been assigned a boat patrol detail without a fully trained boating officer. Hopefully the pockets of his department run deep. Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is equally true is that every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on. Robert Kennedy
I fully agree.
#2. To: Vinny (#1)
#3. To: Pinguinite (#2)
Only an opinion that details of a death are being covered up.
#4. To: Vinny (#3)
(Edited)
#5. To: Deckard, Vinny, Pinguinite (#0)
Case 2:14-cv-04316-NKL Document 24 Filed 01/20/15
Plaintiffs,
v.
ANTHONY C. PIERCY, individually and in his
official capacity with the Missouri State Highway
Patrol; CAUSES OF ACTION
CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATION PURSUANT TO 42 U.S.C. § 1983 VIOLATION OF FOURTH, FIFTH, AND/OR FOURTEENTH AMENDMENTS TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
Due Process, Right to Life and Bodily Integrity/ Punishment Prior to Adjudication of Guilt (Against Defendant Piercy, individually)
1983 CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATION PURSUANT TO 42 U.S.C. VIOLATION OF FOURTH, FIFTH, AND/OR FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
Due Process, Right to Life and Bodily Integrity/ Punishment Prior to Adjudication of Guilt (Against Defendants Replogle, Johnson, Kindle, Clardy, McCullough, Echternacht, and Barbour, individually)
CIVIL CONSPIRACY PURSUANT TO 42 U.S.C. § 1983, 42 U.S.C. § 1985 AND 42 U.S.C. § 1986
(Against Defendants Piercy, Kindle, Clardy, McCullough, Echternacht, Barbour, Harris, Stacks, Fick, Eberhard, Herndon, and Jones individually)
NEGLIGENCE BROUGHT PURSUANT TO MO. REV. STAT. § 537.080
(Against Defendant Piercy, individually and in his official capacity)
NEGLIGENCE PER SE BROUGHT PURSUANT TO MO. REV. STAT. § 537.080
(Against Defendant Piercy, individually and in his official capacity)
NEGLIGENT HIRING, TRAINING AND SUPERVISION BROUGHT PURSUANT TO MO. REV. STAT. § 537.080
(Against Defendants Replogle, Johnson, Kindle, Clardy, McCullough, Echternacht, Eberhard, Herndon, and Barbour, individually and in their official capacities, Missouri State Highway Patrol, and State of Missouri)
RESPONDEAT SUPERIOR BROUGHT PURSUANT TO MO. REV. STAT. § 537.080
(Against Defendants State of Missouri and Missouri State Highway Patrol ("State Patrol")
CIVIL CONSPIRACY
(Against Defendants Piercy, Kindle, Clardy, McCullough, Echternacht, Barbour, Harris, Stacks, Fick, Eberhard, Herndon, and Jones, individually and in their official capacities)
#6. To: nolu chan (#5)
#7. To: GrandIsland (#6)
From what I read, the officer should have been charged with Manslaughter. A reckless act that causes death.
He spoke while sitting on the boat of Cpl. David Echternacht. His words were profane at times and revealed some discrepancies in what he has said since. In the six-minute call, Piercy said:
Missouri Revised Statutes
#8. To: nolu chan (#7)
Though Osage County Prosecutor Amanda Grellner said the incident showed negligence, it did not rise to the level of criminal recklessness.
#9. To: GrandIsland (#8)
I beg to differ. If he didn't follow policy and procedure in accordance with his handcuffing and floatation device regulations, and someone died BECAUSE he didn't follow it, that's reckless.
Posted: 08:32 PM CST Nov 17, 2014
Updated: 11:00 PM CST Nov 17, 2014 "That life jacket, it was an orange one. It was already strapped up and everything he just pulled it over him. He was already handcuffed and everything he just pulled it over him," said Louis Guiterrez, one of Ellingson's friends to Highway Patrol investigators.
Kindle: Yeah.
Radio: Wow.
Kindle: Yeah it went, came off over the top of his head.
Radio: Oh. Was it just one of those orange ones? That flips over the head.
Kindle: No. No. It was... we don't need to put this in the message or anything (inaudible) it was one of those real good ones that wraps around you like an e-vest (inaudible) but Tony didn't have his arms wrapped through it.
#10. To: nolu chan (#9)
Piercy used the wrong vest. It appears that Piercy may have been unfamiliar with the vests and just did not know what he was doing. That is being charitable, as the alternative is worse.
#11. To: GrandIsland (#10)
Then he shouldn't have been assigned a boat patrol detail without a fully trained boating officer. Hopefully the pockets of his department run deep.
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