Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 10 March 2000 — Page 7

FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2000

THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

Officers convicted in cover-up of Louima torture

By TOM HAYS

,, Associated Press Writer

As he was led out of the court- cinct lavatory during the assault,

room, Schwarz could be heard Volpe, serving 30 years after loudly cursing. Wiese and Bruder, pleading guilty to attacking

NEW YORK —Ten days ^fter who are $till free on $ 100,000 bail, Louima, was subpoenaed from ,lfhe widely debated acquittal in the both wept. Wiese later cradled his prison to tell his story under oath police shooting of an unarmed mother after she apparently col- for the first time. He testified that v Black man, three white officers lapsed in a hallway outside the Wiese was present, but made no , were convicted Monday of acover- courtroom. move to join the assault or try to

up in the 1997 torture of a Haitian “You tell the truth and this is stop it.

immigrant in the bathroom of a whathappens,"Bmderranted.“I , ll “I never saw Schwarz in the Brooklyn police station be fine; nobody’s stronger than bathroom at any time,” Volpe told ( A jury deliberated four days me.” the jury, adding that he could not before finding ex-patrolman Attorneys for all three men said serve his time “with a clear conCharles Schwarz, 34, and officers they would appeal. Schwarz attor- science... knowing that another man , Thomas Wiese, 36, and Thomas ney Ron Fischetti also said he asked is paying for the crime that I com-

Bruder,33,guiltyoflyingtoinves- that Schwarz be placed on a sui- milted.”

i( tigators to conceal Schwarz’s role cide watch in jail,

in one of the most notorious cases “We all should be put on suicide Wiese’sownversion.giventode- ( of police brutality in city history, watch,” said Schwarz’s wife, tectives shortly after the incident.

That differed sharply from

The penalty on the obstruction of Andra. “We’re all in shock,

^justice charge is up to five years in

_ prison.

Wiese said he entered the bath-

Louima was not in the court- room to find Volpe standing over room for the verdict. Louima, stick in hand, and then

Schwarz already was in custody “What Abner Louima wants dragged the victim to safety by his

* facing a possible life sentence for more than anything else is for what feet.

^ his 1999 conviction on violating happened to him to never happen Volpe said he mistakenly Abner Louima’s civil rights by toanyoneelse’schildren,”Sanford thought Louima had punched him 14 holding down the handcuffed pris- Rubenstein, an attorney represent- during a disturbance outside a Hai- . onerasfellowOfficer Justin Volpe ing the Louima family, said out- tian nightclub, and became “frus- ^ sodomized him with a broken-off side the courthouse. The family trated and angry” when the arrested ^>room handle. In the second case, has filed a $155 million lawsuit suspect cursed him repeatedly. prosecutors sought to show police against the city. Schwarz repeated his claim he . hid behind a so-called “blue wall Said Assistant U.S. Attorney was never in the bathroom. He said '! of si lence” after the Aug. 9,1997, Alan Vinegrad: “Justice was done he would not expect other cops to ' assault. in that courtroom today.” Refer- lie to protect him, particularly The verdict, coming in the wake ring to Schwarz’s decision to take Wiese, his patrol partner, of an Albany jury’s acquittal of the stand in his own defense, he The former officer said he had four officers who killed Amadou added, “I thought essentially his only accompanied Louima from

, Diallo in a hail of 41 bullets, trig- testimony was a lie.

the patrol car to the front desk of

, gered an emotional outburst by the At trial, Vinegrad accused the. the precinct. At the time of the ^ defendants and their supporters, three defendants of telling “lie af- assault, he claimed to be outside , ^ Binder’s lawyer, Stuart London, ter lie” to save Schwarz. He of- conducting a routine search of his

>1 suggested the outcome of the Diallo fered phone records as evidence patrol car.

r case and the flood of protests- and that the cops, who rarely spoke As in the first trial, Louima tespublic debate that followed may prior to the incident, had scores of tified that he could identify his ^ have put pressure on the anony- conversations in the weeks after- secondassailantonlyas“thedrivef”

mous jury in the Brooklyn case, ward.

( which was composed of six Blacks, , five whites and one Hispanic

1 “It’s hard to ignore the post- first defense witness, and Schwarz

) l Diallo, anti-police climate that re . sides in this city,” London said.

who transported him to the station.

The trial’s dramatic highlights Officials say Schwarz drove the were provided by Volpe, as the patrol car.

as the last. Both contended that Schwarz was never in the 70th Pre-

o -I

International News

'-Baunako hosts talks on i 1 the commission for enhate&tLY STuoSc I^^Legne.theSf’ BAMAKO, Mali (PANA) —putsch leader, Lt. Col. Johnny Paul Various actors in Sierra LebneV Koroma, as we las those from the apolitical scene were meeting in Revolutionary United Front.

i'Bamako to discuss ways of con•j! solidating peace in their country. The talks, being held on the i initiative of Malian President Al■V pha Oumar Konare, the current

Also taking part were the ECOWAS executive secretary, Lansana Kouyate, the U.N. secretary general’s representative in Sierra Leone, Leone Oluyemi

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lege Preparatory Initiatives a special oroiect oflnUkuta University ■fet-:

ECOWAS chairman, are pan of Adeniji.andareprerentativeofthe consultations on issues related with secretary general.

peace, security and stability in the West African sub-region. The meeting was attended by representatives of the government.

The meeting is part of the fol-low-up in the implementation of the Sierra Leonean peace accord, signed in July 1999 in Lome, Togo.

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