Federal Grand Jury Indicts Yonkers Police Officer for Use of Excessive Force Against Civilian

NEW YORK, NY – Michael J. Garcia, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, today announced the indictment  (Download simoes_indictment.pdf) of Yonkers Police Department officer Wayne Simoes (pictured) for violating the civil rights of Irma Marquez by using excessive force against her, resulting in bodily injury. Simoes was arrested on June 27, 2008, on a federal criminal Complaint, and was subsequently released on bond pending trial. According to the Indictment and Complaint filed in White Plains federal court:

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On March 3, 2007, Simoes and several other police officers responded to a radio call to a restaurant in Yonkers, New York. While there, Simoes walked over to Marquez, grabbed her around the waist from behind, lifted her into the air, and threw her, face down, to the floor, before handcuffing her. Marquez was hospitalized and suffered a broken jaw as well as lacerations and contusions to her face and body as a result of Simoes’ use of force. Simoes’ conduct was captured on video tape and witnessed by other officers.

The Indictment charges Simoes with one count of violating federal civil rights laws, which make it a crime to willfully deprive a person of rights secured and protected by the Constitution of the United States, in this case the right to be free from the use of excessive force by a law enforcement officer in the course of an arrest, stop, or seizure. If convicted, Simoes faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Simoes, 38, is a resident of Yonkers, New York.

Assistant United States Attorneys Jason P.W. Halperin, Anna M. Skotko, and Benjamin H. Torrance are in charge of the prosecution.

Mr. Simoes' arraignment on the indictment, previously scheduled for tomorrow, August 20, 2008, at 8:00 am, has been adjourned until August 27, 2008.

The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

References:
YPD Officer Accused of Beating Woman Unconscious is Sued in Federal Court

U.S. Charges Yonkers Police Officer with Civil Rights Violation for Use ff Force Against Female Civilian

Comments

this one got by di fiore..she should have
been on it immediately....it is a disgrace
that the feds had to come in and do her job
what was she thinking

if the feds opened a branch office in yonkers, they'd be shorthanded.

[4nik8]

Does he get overtime for his court appearances??

Yesterday News12 showed the officer throwing the woman to the floor seven times.When the officer is found innocent you will see it once, with Karen Edmonson crying no justice,no money.Jnews headline reads the woman was beaten, when the injuries were from the impact of being thrown to the floor.The injuries sustained by Marquez were unintended by the officer as opposed to a person being beaten about the head.This case like almost all the police brutality cases are lawyers looking for money,leftist organizations trying to bring anarchy and news media producing inflammatory hyperbole headlines for a failing business.

There are no problems in Yonkers now move on.

Snooze 12 ran that video seven or eight times. And probably about 50 times in the last couple of months.

His lawyer is right about what he said was going on. And if you look carefully at the other cops in the video you can see it, even though there is no audio. The lawyer said the woman was warned several times to back away and to stop interfering as they tried to assist the one on the floor.

It also will be interesting to see if Marquez was drunk or on drugs. Those are questions the idiots at Snooze 12 should have asked. This case, despite the video, is not an easy one for the Feds to win. Simoes has a good chance of prevailing. Jury selection will be of major importance.

you may only use force as a police
officer in situations where no other
method is avaiable...with the number
of officers around, marquez did not
have to be tackled...it is irrelevant
whether the injuries are intended or
not..you are presumed to be responsible
for the consequences of your action..
particularly if you are a police officer
this does not mean that there is a pervasive
problem in the department it means this
particular officer acted improperly in
this situation

[FEDUP]

This cop is going to jail.

From what I can tell, there was no warning to the woman before her being slammed and she easily could have been restrained by the other officers in the area without Simoes resorting to slamming her to the ground.

There is no excuse for this.

Right no excuse, and guess who is going to be paying for all of this, the Homeowner.

FEDUP YOU ARE JUDGING ON A NEWS CLIP OF 6 SECONDS. WHAT HAPPENED 3 MINUTES BEFORE AND AFTER.

[NO EXCUSES]

NOT RELEVANT, HE'LL BE JUDGED ON HIS ACTIONS AND THEY ARE NOT THE ACTIONS OF A GENTLEMAN AND CERTAINLY NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY.

Jury selection will be very important is right. But Simoes probably should waive his right to a jury trial and let a Federal judge decide.

Clearly, he overreacted. But whether that adds up to the crime he is charged with is another matter entirely.

The Journal News ran a biased story again, standard for that terrible paper. Their headline says Simoes "BEAT" her. No, he did not. But the biased headline and first paragraph makes it appear worse than it was. The JN is a bad paper. No wonder they keep laying off people, combining sections, decreasing coverage, and their circulation is sinking like a stone in a pond.

Amicone better get his head out of the sand very quickly regarding the gang mentality among some of the YPD.

If not he will have cost the taxpayers millions in damages, have caused many families to suffer pain or injury and he will have a legacy for this, among other things, as truly the worst Mayor in our history.

Why isn't he out there (as Bloomberg would be or Giuliani would have been) calling for this cops suspension until the matter is finished. There is certainly enough cause to suspend him - without pay.

These concerns do not arise solely from this incident or with respect to this cop. Many in Yonkers have been mistreated, insulted, offended, bullied or abused, without cause, by some of the thugs on the YPD. Some of them are out of control, even
while they babysit the potholes.
As an Amicone supporter, I am deeply saddened by his silence and failure of leadership. One of his greatest obligations for the rest of his tenure is to fix the YPD.

Phil, that obligation is a much greater one than the Capelli or the Ridge Hill dvelopment.

Please have the courage to do something.

[NO EXCUSES]

Then why do you buy it or read it, but then like most of the uneducated trolls in Yonks, you have no clue of the real world.

I never buy the Post because I'll never give Murdoch a dime. I read it from time to time but never ever buy it.

its true, there are how many cops in the picture and the one right next to her doesnt even try to suplex her like he did. He walks clear across everyone and takes out his can of woop-ass on her when all th9ose around her just seemed to dismiss her. If she did ANYTHING wrong they would have gotten her on some type of charge they booked her with....but guess what, she was cleared of them. Symoes is open game now.

Clearly, what he did was not within reason with respect to proper police procedure.

He could have handcuffed her and restrained her without hurting her.

His actions were brutal and beyond reason. He was just acting like a tough guy which many Yonkers cops have a penchant to do, unnecessarily.

That is why Amicone should step in, perhaps do his own review of the incident, and suspend or fire him. For the Mayor to sit by quitely concerns many of us about his ability to control city employees in their misconduct.

It is scary to think that the Mayor is on the side of a bad cop against the interests of the citizens of the City.

amicone should get his head out of cappelli's ass and start looking after the needs of the city...it's long past time for the mayor to LEAD the city...what a legacy this loser is creating for himself and the taxpayers of yonkers

The Mayor will do what he always does, stick his head in the sand and pretend the problem will go away. When he sees there is no way out he'll distance himself as he has in many cases in the past.

He still has his head in the sand and it's not even thanksgiving yet!

And there is nothing like a few of these cases to make the downtown development literally go up in smoke.

To 11:54. Bad as it is, the JN is the only daily paper for Westchester. Many people read it only for the obituaries. Seriously. And many read it online because they won't pay for that slanted rag paper.

The JN wears its big liberal agenda on its sleeve. And it is biased. Reading it is like picking through a trash can for something worth saving.

[FEDUP]

For all the apologists, tell me what I am not seeing in the video that warrants this type of behavior?

Also, she was aquitted at trial over any claimed offenses! So tell me what the JN has to do with this other than the video and the fact that she was aquitted at trial?

A Yonkers lullaby
…And this little piggy went to jail.

They are starting at the wrong end of the ladder, They should start at the top and watch everyone fall into place. Get rid of the boss!!!

I LOVE THE PIGGY COMMENTS. GREAT CREATIVITY. MUST BE A PERSON WHO WANTED TO BE A COP BUT WAS TO DUMB TO PASS THE WRITTEN EXAM OR WAS SO FAT HE/SHE COULDNT DO A PUSHUP OR IS SO IRRATIONAL THAT HE/SHE COULDNT PASS A PHYSC EXAM OR WAS SUCH A NON CONTRIBUTOR TO SOCIETY THAT HE COULDNT PASS THE BACKGROUND CHECK.

amicone has made commitments to developers like cappelli anf forest city ratner - he must deliver , they gave him hefty contributions and his friends in westchester bank need customers

3:14 is one of those radical Socialist Sisters who are against development.