Can't You Pistol Whip Anyone Anymore?

By Kevin Nelson, AlterNet. Posted March 9, 2004.

March 2- The Charlotte (FL) Sun Herald reports: A former Charlotte County Sheriff's detective convicted of pistol-whipping a teen-age marijuana peddler will be spending the next seven years behind bars.

U.S. Magistrate Anne Conway sentenced Wyatt Henderson, 44, to seven years and three months in federal prison Monday. The sentence is to be followed by two years probation. U.S. Attorney Doug Molloy said Henderson earned extra points that made his sentence more severe because he used a firearm in the commission of the crime and obstructed justice by lying to supervisors and the FBI to cover it up.

The incident occurred May 21, 2002 after undercover detectives lured Grant, then 17, to the Port Charlotte Beach Complex to sell some marijuana. As detectives in unmarked cars closed in, Grant fled in a mini-van. Henderson, who was the first to pull over the vehicle, ordered Grant to get out and lie face down. Henderson, who is 6-foot 5-inches tall and weighs some 250 pounds, drove the suspect to the ground hard. When Grant got up, he said, "Why did you have to hit me with the gun," testified former sheriff's narcotics detective Keith Bennett. Former detective Grant Davis testified that Henderson bragged, "I showed him."

After the arrest, Henderson was informed in a call from a supervisor that Grant's allegations would be investigated. "Can't you pistol-whip anybody anymore?" Henderson said, according to Davis.

March 4- The (SC) Herald reports: A local correctional officer was arrested this week and charged with trafficking crack, according to a York County Sheriff's Office report.

Terrill Ambrose Banks of 4726 Cable Road, Sharon, was arrested about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday during a narcotics investigation by the York County Multi-jurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit, the report said. He was charged with trafficking 13.8 grams of crack near the Texaco convenience store at 4086 Chester Highway in York, the report said.

March 5- The Toronto Sun reports: A Toronto Police drug cop who gave an informant cocaine in exchange for "inside information" on horse races was given a suspended sentence yesterday, along with two years of probation and 200 hours of community service. Robert Kelly, 38, a 14-year veteran with "an impeccable record for heroism," maintained the "highest standard of integrity and character" until he fell into the "dark side of life" of drugs and fixed horse races," Ontario Court Justice Ian Cowan said.

March 6- The Orlando Sentinel reports: Authorities Friday announced they are investigating two Orange County deputy sheriffs for their roles in an eight-month probe into the distribution of the date-rape drug GHB in Central Florida. News of the complaints against the two officers came only hours after agents from several agencies arrested 19 people suspected of making and selling the drug that is popular on college campuses and in nightclubs.

Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary identified the deputies as Armando Perez, 29 and Kevin Gomez, 27, both members of the sheriff's narcotics squad. They were suspended with pay during the investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the sheriff's Professional Standards Division.

March 7- New York Times reports: David Crosby, the veteran rock musician who has long spoken of overcoming the drug abuse that led to his imprisonment and liver transplant, was arrested early yesterday in a Times Square hotel after an employee found marijuana, a loaded pistol and two knives in his bag, the police said.

Mr. Crosby and the band he is currently touring with, CPR, had performed at the B. B. King Blues Club and Grill on 42nd Street on Thursday night, and in Wayne, N.J., on Friday night. He had checked out of his room at the DoubleTree Suites Hotel on Broadway, but left behind a suitcase, and an employee searching it for identification found about an ounce of marijuana, rolling papers, a hunting knife, a folding knife and a .45-caliber handgun, the police said. Mr. Crosby, 62, was arrested at 1 a.m. yesterday when he returned to pick up the bag.

In an interview last June, Mr. Crosby spoke in favor of legalizing marijuana. "They're wasting billions of dollars millions of man-hours of effort, from well-intentioned people," he said, "going after something they shouldn't be and putting people in prison for something they shouldn't be."

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