Post by bistro on May 31, 2013 12:51:12 GMT -5
Sgt. Dennis Workley and a Jail Safe Enough
He lied. He made stuff up about Claude Suggs, that he was selling pot out of his home, in order to get a search warrant. He was so careless, so cavalier about it, that he didn't even give the minimum effort to make it look good, cutting and pasting from old warrants, leaving in the "cocaine" language even though this was for marijuana. Baltimore Sgt. Dennis Workley was a liar.
"It was like a SWAT team. They had the big shield and guns," Mary Johnson said. "They had weapons drawn to animals, people, babies."
[Reporter Jayne] Miller reported there were irregularities in the affidavit Workley signed to get the warrant. In one section, he said marijuana was sold from the house, Miller reported. In another section, he said the house was used to traffic cocaine.
Miller said the discrepancy suggested that Workley cut and pasted text from another case.
And some judge signed it, discrepancies and all, a detail that appears to have faded in the mist from all subsequent accounts. Workley wound up finding two $10 bags of pot, which did not make him happy, so they took a sledgehammer and destroyed the family's Christmas presents. That will teach them to not be not drug dealers. Two under for the baggies, both dismissed. Hardly worth dragging out the bazookas.
Without explanation as to how exactly the lies made it onto someone's radar, Sgt. Workley's perjury brought him prosecution for misconduct, and he was convicted.
And he was sentenced.
Workley apologized, saying in court he got lazy and cut corners in writing the warrant.
<more>
blog.simplejustice.us/2013/05/22/sgt-dennis-workley-and-a-jail-safe-enough.aspx?ref=rss
www.wbaltv.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/Sergeant-charged-with-perjury-misconduct-in-raid-case/-/10131532/13417978/-/1yv7p3/-/index.html
www.wbaltv.com/news/maryland/i-team/Police-officer-convicted-of-perjury-in-search-warrant-case/-/10640252/19525110/-/15mvl6v/-/index.html
The judge's concern, while speculative, is understandable. What it is not is acceptable. Among the primary legitimate purposes of incarceration, general deterrence is big. Huge. And it's especially huge for police, a group largely inclined to believe that no matter what they do, what laws they break, what people they harm, they will receive special treatment.
No matter how bad a cop may be, he will still get the special courtesy reserved for a cop. And only a cop.
So Workley doesn't go to jail for his crimes. Not even prison.
And still, nobody mentions the judge who signed off on the cut and paste warrant that couldn't figure out whether it was for marijuana or crack. He won't be going to jail either. Prison too.
So much for the vaulted 4th Amendment "protections."
He lied. He made stuff up about Claude Suggs, that he was selling pot out of his home, in order to get a search warrant. He was so careless, so cavalier about it, that he didn't even give the minimum effort to make it look good, cutting and pasting from old warrants, leaving in the "cocaine" language even though this was for marijuana. Baltimore Sgt. Dennis Workley was a liar.
"It was like a SWAT team. They had the big shield and guns," Mary Johnson said. "They had weapons drawn to animals, people, babies."
[Reporter Jayne] Miller reported there were irregularities in the affidavit Workley signed to get the warrant. In one section, he said marijuana was sold from the house, Miller reported. In another section, he said the house was used to traffic cocaine.
Miller said the discrepancy suggested that Workley cut and pasted text from another case.
And some judge signed it, discrepancies and all, a detail that appears to have faded in the mist from all subsequent accounts. Workley wound up finding two $10 bags of pot, which did not make him happy, so they took a sledgehammer and destroyed the family's Christmas presents. That will teach them to not be not drug dealers. Two under for the baggies, both dismissed. Hardly worth dragging out the bazookas.
Without explanation as to how exactly the lies made it onto someone's radar, Sgt. Workley's perjury brought him prosecution for misconduct, and he was convicted.
And he was sentenced.
Workley apologized, saying in court he got lazy and cut corners in writing the warrant.
<more>
blog.simplejustice.us/2013/05/22/sgt-dennis-workley-and-a-jail-safe-enough.aspx?ref=rss
www.wbaltv.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/Sergeant-charged-with-perjury-misconduct-in-raid-case/-/10131532/13417978/-/1yv7p3/-/index.html
www.wbaltv.com/news/maryland/i-team/Police-officer-convicted-of-perjury-in-search-warrant-case/-/10640252/19525110/-/15mvl6v/-/index.html
The judge's concern, while speculative, is understandable. What it is not is acceptable. Among the primary legitimate purposes of incarceration, general deterrence is big. Huge. And it's especially huge for police, a group largely inclined to believe that no matter what they do, what laws they break, what people they harm, they will receive special treatment.
No matter how bad a cop may be, he will still get the special courtesy reserved for a cop. And only a cop.
So Workley doesn't go to jail for his crimes. Not even prison.
And still, nobody mentions the judge who signed off on the cut and paste warrant that couldn't figure out whether it was for marijuana or crack. He won't be going to jail either. Prison too.
So much for the vaulted 4th Amendment "protections."
