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Title: Skater charged with assault on officer
Source:
The Dallas Morning News
URL Source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon ... 31706dnmetskater.304e63a6.html
Published: Mar 16, 2006
Author: ROBERT THARP
Post Date: 2006-03-18 02:02:18 by Starwind
Keywords: charged, assault, officer
Views: 8183
Comments: 228
Witnesses denied she was aggressor; internal investigation continuing 09:38 PM CST on Thursday, March 16, 2006 By ROBERT THARP / The Dallas Morning News A Dallas Roller Derby skater was indicted Thursday on a felony charge of assaulting a Dallas police officer stemming from a January incident in which she and several witnesses say the officer was the aggressor and used excessive force. Reports related to the indictment charge that Michelle Metzinger, 25, was belligerent and fought with Officer Ceaphus Gordon after the officer asked to see her identification because, he said, she had been roller skating recklessly through traffic on Elm Street in Deep Ellum. Michelle Metzinger According to Officer Gordon's report, Ms. Metzinger tried to gouge his eye with her fingers when he tried to handcuff and arrest her on a charge of public intoxication. The officer then tried to force Ms. Metzinger to the sidewalk using a "straight arm bar take down," but instead, she "rolled from the police car to the ground," his report says. Ms. Metzinger continued scratching and kicking the officer on the ground, the report says. Officer Gordon described his injuries as three 1/8th-inch scratches near his right eye and scratches and bruises on his chin. He described Ms. Metzinger's injury as a "small laceration that required a stitch," although his report indicates that she spent five hours at Parkland Memorial Hospital before she was taken to jail. Kevin Clancy, Ms. Metzinger's attorney, said he was disappointed that he was not allowed to present evidence to the grand jury that would have offered a different account of what happened. Eight witnesses to the arrest have filed affidavits saying that Ms. Metzinger was not intoxicated and that she did not resist the officer. The witnesses state that after Ms. Metzinger was forced to the ground, Officer Gordon put his knee on her back or neck while he was handcuffing her, which is not described in the officer's reports. "I think it's a travesty that this poor girl was charged with this," Mr. Clancy said. "I really do think that the grand jury did not look at the evidence." A separate investigation into the incident by Dallas police internal affairs is ongoing. Mr. Clancy said Dallas police have so far not interviewed any of the witnesses. Officer Gordon has had 27 complaints filed against him in his 14-year career, most of which were ruled "unfounded" or "inconclusive." Of those inconclusive complaints, at least two involved allegations of excessive force. E-mail rtharp@dallasnews.com
Poster Comment: ------ see also: (Dallas) Police Deny Excessive Force In Bloody Arrest (black cop, white girl) 
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 41.
#35. To: All (#0)
it makes my blood boil to read how the only evidence considered was the statement by this "officer". What a liar - playing down her injuries after HE assaulted HER! Michelle's needed more than one stitch - she had a chipped tooth and is going to a chiropracter because that idiot put his weight on her neck and back during his violent arrest. Where are HIS witnesses...certainly not the other officer in the car who was using a radio and couldn't see what was happening because the police car door was conveniently shut. I don't understand why the charge went further before the police bothered to interview the witnesses...and before they had conducted their internal investigation! how can Ceaphus Gordon possibly claim she was assaulting him like he says when the photographic evidence clearly show she had only one hand free during the whole sorry incident because she was holding onto her ACD leaflets all the time even when he knocked her to the ground? This pathetic, incompetent, sorry excuse for a policeman is bringing his employers and colleagues into professional disrepute by losing his self-control. how DARE he assault a woman like that and pretend he is upholding the law - he may be employed as a policeman but he is a BULLY and a dishonourable COWARD for hiding behind his uniform. he disgusts me and if i was his mother i would be ashamed to call him my son :( ruthie (sorry for sounding so angry but this is so very UNFAIR)
ruthie. Your anger is the appropriate emotion to this lie. No need to apologize. But have faith. Grand juries are rubber stamps for the DA (and police state). When michelle’s attorneys get to present the full evidence to a jury, this case should flip in her favor. That is if the jury isn’t composed of the brain fried folks you see walking about Wal Mart.
ohh i hope you are right, i really do but why should Michelle's life be so disrupted because of his unprofessional behaviour? i don't like the stuff elsewhere about her being white and him being black etc - that's got nothing to do with justice and everything to do with ignorance as far as i'm concerned. this is about a large man using his superior weight and strength and his position as a policeman to attack and hurt a smaller woman...and then having the spineless bad grace to blame it on his victim! i hope he isn't married because i'd be worried for the safety of his wife :( how can his colleagues bear to work with somebody who stoops so low? (i'm still seething - sorry for sounding off again!) ruthie
Because police work brings with it a fraternity-like attitude that discourages his colleagues from exposing him. In the end the public suffers, as you can see.
in the case of a rogue policeman, it isn't just the public that suffers - the reputation of his colleagues and his employers is damaged. and the politicians in charge of the police are also tarnished if they take no action. for goodness sake, this is about upholding the law and standards of professional conduct. Ceaphus Gordon should be suspended while a disciplinary investigation looks into his actions. if he has acted beyond what his employers require, he should face the consequences like a man and accept the consequences. but i'm not sure that he knows about honour and professionalism - so far he has behaved like a bully and a coward...and those who cover for him deserve the same contempt :( (still seething about this - apologies!) ruthie
I hear you, but here’s the city’s dilemma. Do they suspend CG, thus admitting he performed wrongly, or roll the dice with a rubber stamp grand jury and a trial? If they suspend him, Michelle has a solid start to a civil case with a large punitive award. OTOH, if they roll the dice as they are, the grand jury will indict (it did and normally does). Now Michelle is forced to hire representation and go through all the possible mind games that the system will toss her way. IMO, what the city is hoping for is for Michelle to take a lesser plea, thereby avoiding trial and possible prison time. These are the facts of life, and they aren’t about right or wrong. The system really, really sucks.
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#37. To: ruthie (#35)
#38. To: Jethro Tull (#37)
ruthie. Your anger is the appropriate emotion to this lie. No need to apologize. But have faith. Grand juries are rubber stamps for the DA (and police state). When michelle’s attorneys get to present the full evidence to a jury, this case should flip in her favor. That is if the jury isn’t composed of the brain fried folks you see walking about Wal Mart.
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#39. To: ruthie (#38)
how can his colleagues bear to work with somebody who stoops so low?
#40. To: Jethro Tull (#39)
In the end the public suffers, as you can see.
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#41. To: ruthie, starwind, BTP Holdings, all (#40)
Replies to Comment # 41.