Open verdict returned in de Menezes trial

A British jury issued an open verdict at the trial of a Brazilian killed by London police in 2005.

The jury’s decision found that officers acted unlawfully in killing Jean Charles de Menezes as he sat aboard a subway train. Scotland Yard tried to argue that their officers acted in self-defense when they confused de Menezes with failed suicide bomber Hussain Osman. Yet the jury rejected that in a verdict which was the strongest permitted by the coroner.

(For those unfamiliar with common law, a jury under an “open verdict” establishes that a violent crime occurred yet refuses to disclose the cause).

The verdict serves as a heavy blow against London’s police which faced an uphill battle during the trial. For instance, prosecutors accused the police of manipulating de Menezes’ photo to make him appear more like Osman. The claims of the cop who said to have warned de Menezes before shooting him were contradicted by several eyewitnesses including other officers.

The acting head of Scotland Yard reacted to the verdict by admitting that the police “made a most terrible mistake” yet emphasized the "unique situation" faced by officers.

The family of de Menezes was mostly unhappy with the verdict, especially after the trial’s coroner denied the jury from permitting a verdict of unlawful killing:

The family of Jean Charles de Menezes declared the inquest into his death a "whitewash"…

A family statement, released through the Justice4Jean campaign group, said: "After three months of evidence, 100 witnesses and millions of pounds, the coroner, Sir Michael Wright, has presided over a complete whitewash. He has failed on every count of the purpose of an inquest investigation"…

Maria Otone de Menezes, Jean Charles's mother, thanked the jury and said that she had been "reborn" by the verdict. Her reaction to the decision was read out during a press conference held by De Menezes's family.

Image- AP (“Patricia da Silva Armani, centre, cousin of Jean Charles de Menezes who was shot by police in London in 2005 listens to an interpreter, left, with Asad Rehman from the Justice for Jean Campaign in front of a picture of her cousin at a press conference in London, Friday, Dec. 12, 2008.”)
Sources- The Latin Americanist, dictionary.com, BBC News, Guardian UK, earthtimes.org, Reuters

Trial: De Menezes shooter “exaggerated”

The London policeman who fatally shot Jean Charles de Menezes was accused of "grossly exaggerating" his evidence.

During testimony in the inquest over de Menezes’ murder, the “police marksman” claimed that he shouted "armed police” at the Brazilian before opening fire. Yet other eyewitness testimony (including that of other policemen) contradicts the shooter, identified by the code C12.

De Menezes (image) immigrated to the U.K. from Brazil in 2002. Three years later, he was killed at a London Underground station by officers who mistook him for a suicide bomber.

The inquest into de Menezes’ death has been wrought with emotion; “I am responsible for the death of an innocent man” said C12 who broke down last week. Monday’s activities were tense as C12 denied acting irresponsibly:

Michael Mansfield QC, for the Menezes family, alleged C12 "embellished" his account to explain why he was so certain the innocent Brazilian posed a deadly threat.

The barrister put it to C12: "I am going to make it plain that what you did when it came to making a statement the following day was to grossly exaggerate what you saw in order to, as it were, convince people that he had been a terrorist about to explode a bomb, in your mind. Is there any possibility you did that?"

The officer replied: "Absolutely none whatsoever."

Image- Telegraph
Sources- BBC News, Telegraph, Times Online, Press Association, Guardian UK

Daily Headlines: May 27, 2008

* Venezuela: Newly-elected London mayor Boris Johnson will not renew an energy deal with Venezuelan oil firm PDVSA which was used to lower fuel costs for London buses and pay for a discount-fare program.

* Honduras: The office of controversial Arizonan Sheriff Joe Arpaio denied allegations that it misused tens of thousands of dollars to pay for a program with Honduran law enforcement officials.

* Puerto Rico: Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton spent their weekend in Puerto Rico courting support in anticipation for this Sunday’s Democratic presidential primary on the island.

* Peru: Despite an admitted lack of direct proof a former general testified that he had “absolute conviction” that ex-president Alberto Fujimori masterminded a pair of massacres in the 1990s.

Sources- Bloomberg, International Herald Tribune, The Latin Americanist, MSNBC

Image- BBC News (Former London mayor Ken Livingstone and Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez meeting in 2006.)

Courts rule on Dow pesticide and De Menezes cases

Courts in the U.S. and Britain arrived at their respective verdicts in two cases we’ve covered this year.

First, a Los Angeles court ruled that Dow Chemicals and Dole Fruit were both liable in a claim brought up by former Nicaraguan plantation workers. The plaintiffs said that they became sterile after having worked with a now-banned pesticide in the 1970s. In addition to the guilty verdict, the jury awarded six who were “substantially harmed” $3.3 million.

Meanwhile, a London court found the city’s Metropolitan Police guilty of breaking health and safety laws in the 2005 murder of Jean Charles de Menezes. De Menezes was a Brazilian electrician slain by officers who mistook him for a suspected terrorist. The verdict was met by an increased public outcry for Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair to resign and indignation from some of de Menezes’ family:

"I think true justice would be for them to go to prison, at least for some time so that they could think about what they did," Maria Beatriz Figueiredo told The Associated Press on Friday at her home in the remote village of Gonzaga in southeastern Brazil…

"They can't just go out into the middle of the street shooting someone in the middle of all those people," she said. "It cannot be right. And the real terrorist is still alive, it is revolting."

Image- Wired – Listening Post

Sources- BBC News, AFP, The Latin Americanist, CNN, Guardian UK, Canadian Press

De Menezes photo “manipulated” says Brit prosecutor

London police digitally altered a photograph comparing slain Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes to an alleged terrorist, declared British prosecutors yesterday.

Attorneys representing the Metropolitan Police in a civil trial introduced the image to illustrate the difficulties in distinguishing de Menezes to bombing suspect Hussein Osman. Yet prosecutor Clare Montgomery claimed the photo (image) was modified to make de Menezes look whiter and have a similar face shape to Osman:

Giving evidence as a witness, forensics consultant Michael George told jurors that the picture of de Menezes used by the police seemed to have been brightened and lost definition compared to the original.

De Menezes was shot and killed in cold blood by London officers two weeks after suicide bombings killed 56 people in the city’s public transit system in July 2005. Prosecutors have argued that a “catalog of police failures” such as a “noisy and chaotic” atmosphere at Scotland Yard led to de Menezes' death and endangered public safety.

As we mentioned last May, relatives of de Menezes have called for justice to be served despite the lack of criminal proceedings against the officers involved in de Menezes’ murder.

Sources- BBC News, Reuters UK, Guardian UK, International Herald Tribune, The Latin Americanist, AFP

Image- Sydney Morning Herald

No punishment for 11 cops involved in de Menezes murder

Relatives of a Brazilian immigrant killed by London police are upset at the decision by British authorities to not charge eleven of the police officers involved in the shooting. "It is a travesty of justice and another slap in the face for our family," said a cousin of Jean Charles de Menezes, though four “senior officers” may still be disciplined.

Two weeks after the July 2005 bombings in London, de Menezes was shot seven times in the head as he rode in the subway by officers who thought he was a suicide bomber. His death sparked outrage throughout Brazil and Scotland Yard has even been accused of running a posthumous “smear campaign” against de Menezes.

Image- Londonist (Side-by-side image of wanted suicide bomber Hussain Osman (left), and Jean Charles de Menezes (right))

Links- The Australian, Edmonton Sun, Channel 4, BBC News, Wikipedia, The Independent