Breaking NEWS: Abner Louima case-No Justice ...No Peace!!!!!

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3 Louima Cop Convictions Overturned
Federal Appeals Court Overturns the Convictions of 3 Police Officers in Abner Louima Torture Case

The Associated Press

NEW YORK Feb. 28 A federal appeals court overturned the convictions of three police officers in the Abner Louima torture case Thursday, finding insufficient evidence they obstructed justice.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the convictions of Charles Schwarz, Thomas Wiese and Thomas Bruder. The ruling does not affect the conviction of the chief attacker, Justin Volpe.

Prosecutors said Louima was tortured in a police station bathroom in 1997 following his arrest in a melee outside a Brooklyn nightclub. They said a handcuffed Louima was pinned down and Volpe sodomized him with a broken broomstick.

Volpe pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 years.

The appeals court said the conviction of Schwarz, who allegedly held down Louima as he was being attacked, for civil rights violations must be thrown out. It said he must get a new trial because he was denied effective assistance of counsel and because the jury was improperly exposed to prejudicial information during deliberations.

The court also held that convictions against Schwarz, Wiese and Bruder at a second trial for conspiracy to obstruct justice must be thrown out for insufficient evidence. They had been accused of conspiring to hide Schwarz's alleged role.

Sanford Rubenstein, a lawyer for Louima, said that if there is a new trial for Schwarz, "we look to the federal government to retry the case and we will be supportive of their efforts as we have in the past."

Louima suffered severe internal injuries in the attack, including a ruptured bladder and colon, and spent two months in the hospital.

Louima filed a civil suit against the city and the police union, which was settled in July after months of hard-fought negotiations. The city and union agreed to pay Louima and his lawyers $8.7 million to settle the suit. The settlement was the largest ever in a police brutality case in New York.

In their appeal, lawyers for Schwarz had argued that his attorney in both trials had a conflict of interest as he also represented the police union, thereby hindering him from deflecting blame to another officer.

The Louima case and other high-profile incidents including the 1999 death of an unarmed West African immigrant, Amadou Diallo, in a hail of 41 bullet fired by four white officers ignited protests accusing police of singling out minorities for abuse, often through racial-profiling.

Telephone calls to lawyers for Schwarz and Bruder were not immediately returned.

Joseph Tacopina, attorney for Wiese, said he had not seen the opinion, but ""Justice has been served. It was clearly the right decision. Hopefully now Thomas Wiese, Thomas Bruder and Charles Schwarz can resume their normal lives with this and even possibly return to the force."

Zachary Carter, the former U.S. attorney who prosecuted the Louima case, also said he had not read the decision and declined to comment.