A retired police officer from Hercules, California has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for attempting to murder his estranged wife in a 2015 drive-by shooting. John Goodner was accused of stalking and harassing his estranged wife for months leading up to his attempt to murder her. Goodner had been following the victim and
A federal jury awarded a South Lake Tahoe man $36,203 in a lawsuit alleging the use of excessive force by South Lake Tahoe police. The jury award came in on March 7, 2007, after a four-day trial. Rodney Ward was drinking alcohol with a friend on May 24, 2003. At about 10:00 p.m., he journeyed
A female police captain passed over for promotion to chief of police has prevailed in a lawsuit against the mayor and city that refused to promote her. Beverly Alexander had been with the Steele Police Department for about three years when it came time for a new police chief. Alexander, an army veteran, a former
Police officers are sworn to uphold the law. When the uniform goes on, they become arbiters and enforcers of right and wrong. But a new police crime database reveals an important and often overlooked aspect of the job: Police officers are people first, cops second. And people sometimes commit crimes. The database, compiled by Philip
Naily Nida, the widow of Michael Nida, who was allegedly shot in the back by Downey, California police officer Steven Dean Gilley, settled a wrongful death lawsuit on May 9, 2013, for $4.5 million. On October 22, 2011, Michael Nida and his wife were stopped at a gas station in Downey. While Naily pumped the
The New Jersey Supreme Court issued a ruling on July 25, 2017, in which it granted qualified immunity to a police officer accused of a police-created “exigent circumstances” search. But in the process of doing so, the Court put police officers statewide on notice that such searches are constitutionally impermissible and will not be tolerated
A lawsuit brought by the fiancé of an Ft. Lauderdale, Florida cop against a Palm Beach County detective settled for $36,000 on January 10, 2007. The case involved a series of thefts committed by Steven Hipsher while he was employed at a Home Depot in Boca Raton. Detective John Lino Navarro, Jr. of the Palm
A federal lawsuit alleging wrongful arrest and imprisonment by the LAPD settled for $320,000 on January 16, 2007. The case involved the murder of 16-year-old Martha Puebla, who was shot and killed outside her Sun Valley, California home. Puebla was murdered just 11 days after she testified against Jose Ledesma in a gang murder prosecution.
A Hopkinsville, Kentucky police officer submitted his resignation September 5, 2017 rather than be fired for several warrantless searches of a home. Officer Jason Brent responded to a home on South Campbell Street in Hopkinsville after receiving a call reporting drug activity at the home. According to WSMV.com, he knocked on the door, and when
The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously ruled on October 2, 2017 that a convicted murderer was entitled to a new trial because the original trial transcript was destroyed in a fire, and the State’s efforts to recreate it were wholly insufficient. Craig Johnson was found guilty of malice murder and other crimes relating to the stabbing
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