NEW YORK, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- In a decision that has shocked many politicians, civil rights activists and New York City residents alike, a federal appeals court on Thursday overturned the convictions of three police officers in the 1997 Abner Louima torture case.
A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that there was insufficient evidence to sustain obstruction-of-justice convictions against Charles Schwarz, Thomas Wiese and Thomas Bruder. Wiese 38, and Bruder, 35, had been accused of lying to cover up Schwarz's role.
Schwarz, 36, was serving 15 years behind bars in Oklahoma when Thursday's ruling was released. Wiese and Bruder were both convicted of obstruction of justice and sentenced to five year in prison, but they remain free on bail pending an appeal.
The court also ruled unanimously Schwarz's lawyers did not defend him adequately and the jury was tainted by news reports when it convicted him of violating Louima's civil rights by holding him down during an assault in a police station bathroom.
Federal prosecutors did not indicate whether they would retry the case against the three former police officers.
Justin Volpe, 37, who is serving a 30-year sentence for torturing Louima, a Haitian immigrant, was not affected by the ruling.
Louima testified he was beaten and taken to a 70th Precinct in Brooklyn in 1997 after he chastised police for beating a fellow Haitian outside a Flatbush nightclub.
At the police station, he said he was dragged to the men's room, where former Officer Justin Volpe sexually tortured him with a broken-broom handle stick in his rectum and then shoved the stick in his mouth.
Volpe said in his plea bargain that he attacked Louima to pay him back because he believed Louima punched him outside the Brooklyn nightclub. Louima said Volpe threatened to kill him if he ever talked about the attack. He was hospitalized for two months following the assault for a ruptured colon and bladder.
"Abner is a victim, and he wants to live his life with his family in privacy and he will have no comment in relation to this," Sanford Rubenstein, Louima's lawyer, told reporters in New York. "He will cooperate with the federal authorities and I would hope and urge the press to allow him to live as a private citizen."
Civil rights leaders and Louima supporters expressed outrage over the ruling.
At a news conference at the National Action Network in Harlem, the Rev. Al Sharpton promised more civil disobedience and protests to get a new prosecutor to commit to another trial against the former police officers.
He said it was "impossible for Volpe to act alone."
"I want the guilty prosecuted, and it they are guilty, convicted and punished," Sharpton said. "But, what I do not understand from (Amadou) Diallo to Bush to this, how it seems that the criminal justice system cannot find police guilty, even when one of the policemen said a crime occurred."
What is on trial here is whether the courts can ever bring themselves to bring the police to justice when it is a clear an unquestioned crime has occurred," Sharpton added
After suing the city for $155 million, Louima settled the lawsuit with the city for $8.7 million and is currently living in Florida. It was the largest settlement in New York City history in a police brutality case.
Louima said the officers "conspired to create a blue wall of silence and lied to obstruct justice" and that the Police Benevolent Association "condoned an environment in which police officers believed they would be insulated from prosecution."
Meanwhile, Mayor Michael Bloomberg released a statement Thursday that said, "Today's decision by the Second Circuit Court of appeals is a reminder that we need to do everything we can to prevent such incidents and also to improve the relationship between police and members of every community they protect."
Bloomberg also urged residents to remain calm, despite the court's controversial decision.
"Throughout our history, courts have made controversial decisions, but we must respect the legal process as it is a cornerstone of our democracy," the mayor said. "This case will take its course and eventually conclude but our efforts at healing these wounds and repairing the broken trust can never heal."
(Reported by Alex Cukan)
