Brooklyn - 2 PO's Shot - 07/09/07

[JJB531 652]

2 cops shot during traffic stop

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Posted Monday, July 9th 2007, 9:13 AM

Two New York City police officers were shot and wounded during a Brooklyn traffic stop on Monday, including one who was gravely injured, authorities said.

An intense manhunt was underway for three occupants of a stolen sport utility vehicle; the shots apparently were fired by two of them, police said, and three guns were later recovered.

"The suspects in this brazen shooting are still at large," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said at a news conference at Kings County Hospital, where the officers were taken.

A security video near the scene captured the shooting; another video showed three men, believed to be the suspects, ducking into a driveway after seeing a patrol car approach.

"One will recover and one is clinging to life. I ask all New Yorkers to pray for their recovery," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said of the officers.

Officer Russell Timoshenko, 23, was shot in the face and neck, and was in "extremely critical condition," said Kelly.

Bloomberg said that while meeting with Timoshenko’s parents, he gave them "thanks from a concerned city."

Officer Herman Yan, 26, shot in the chest and left forearm, was in stable condition. "We have every reason to believe that his life was saved by his bulletproof vest," Kelly said.

At the crime scene Monday morning, the officers’ patrol car - lights still flashing - remained in the spot where they stopped the suspects, outside the Little Red Riding Hood daycare center.

The incident occurred at 2:30 a.m. in the Crown Heights section when the two officers pulled over a black BMW SUV that had license plates belonging to another car.

Kelly said the uniformed officers approached the SUV and someone inside it started shooting, hitting Timoshenko first. Yan returned fire but was hit too, Kelly said.

Police found the SUV abandoned near the shooting scene. Inside it were two .45-caliber shell casings, Kelly said. The SUV, and the plates from the second vehicle, had been stolen from a Long Island dealership.

Police said Timoshenko, of Staten Island, joined the department in January 2006. Yan, of Brooklyn, joined three years ago.

"The terrible events are proof once again of the unfortunate truth that guns, when they fall into the hands of the wrong people, have tragic consequences," said Bloomberg.

[ace84 100]

Keep Officer Timoshenko in your prayers

[PATROL224 0]

MAY BOTH OF THESE OFFICERS MAKE A FULL RECOVERY AND THEIR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN BLUE QUICKLY BRING THE PERPS WHO DID THIS TO JUSTICE!!

[CG206 29]

Thoughts and prayers for my 2 fellow brothers and their families!

[RescueKujo 130]

thoughts and prayers to their families and Brothers and Sisters on the force.

[ems731 0]

My thoughts and prayers go out to both Officers, there families, friends and the NYPD, may they both make a full recovery.

[RescueKujo 130]

Any updates on the officers? Thanks.

[RWC130 594]

UPDATE:

PO Russell Timoshenk

Fighting for his life. "Critical" Thoughts and Prayers with him and his family.

PO Herman Yan

Discharged and at home recovering.

GOD BLESS!

[RescueKujo 130]

Thank you-Duane

[20y2 43]

Officer Timoshenko has succumbed to his injuries. Rest in Peace Brother.

[ex-commish 490]

Officer Timoshenko has succumbed to his injuries. Rest in Peace Brother.

I saw the bad news just now on Channel 7. May he rest in peace...

I hope the sc**bags who did this rot in thier cells

[RWC130 594]

RIP Police Officer Timoshenko

[x129K 1,393]

RIP.............

[helicopper 1,050]

RIP, brother!

Seems like a good time to start banging the drum to get "our" elected officials to reinstate the death penalty!

[ex-commish 490]

RIP, brother!

Seems like a good time to start banging the drum to get "our" elected officials to reinstate the death penalty!

Chris, I believe NY has the death penalty but we have yet to see anyone prosecuted under those provisions.

[JetPhoto 626]

SAD SAD SAD :angry:

R.I.P. Police Officer Timoshenko

At least he died with the "accused" in custody.

[RWC130 594]

I heard on the news that they used PO Timoshenko's handcuffs to take one of the

perps into custody in PA. That was a cool thing to do, I just wish they had used his gun.

RIP

[helicopper 1,050]

Chris, I believe NY has the death penalty but we have yet to see anyone prosecuted under those provisions.

The death penalty statute was ruled unconstitutional by the Court of Appeals or Supreme Court because of jury instructions regarding alternate sentences. Therefore, there hasn't been a capital murder prosecution in the State for several years.

So we have a broken statute that none of our pro law enforcement legislators have bothered to fix yet!!! Not to be mistaken with Texas or Florida who are most expeditious in their executions!

New York's Death Penalty Law Declared Unconstitutional: People v. Stephen LaValle

New York and the Death Penalty

New York's Death Penalty Law Declared Unconstitutional

DPIC Summary: People v. Stephen LaValle

On June 24, 2004, New York's highest court held that the state's jury instructions were unconstitutional under the state constitution and that the constitutional defect in the existing statute could only be cured by passage of a new law by the legislature. The Court of Appeals vacated the death sentence of Stephen LaValle, concluding that the jurors might impose the death penalty on a defendant whom they believed did not deserve it simply because they feared that the defendant might someday be released.

The court remanded the case to the Supreme Court of Suffolk County and instructed the trial court to impose a sentence of life imprisonment without parole or a sentence of 20 to 25 years to life.

New York's Deadlock Instruction

Pursuant to New York’s death penalty statute at the time, once a defendant was found guilty, the trial court instructed the jurors to decide whether the defendant should be sentenced to death or to life without parole. Either choice had to be unanimous. The trial court further instructed the jurors, as required by the statute, that if they failed to agree, the court would sentence the defendant to life imprisonment with parole eligibility after serving a minimum of 20 to 25 years.

This instruction is referred to as a "deadlock instruction," and it is unique among death penalty laws in other jurisdictions in that the sentence required after a deadlock is less severe than the sentences the jury is allowed to consider. No other death penalty scheme in the country requires judges to instruct jurors that, if they cannot unanimously agree between two choices, the judge will sentence defendant to a third, more lenient, choice. (See New York’s Criminal Procedure Law 400.27 (10))

Coercive Effect of Statute’s Deadlock Instruction on Juries

In New York, a defendant's future dangerousness is not a statutory aggravator that the jury is told to consider. However, the court held that the deadlock instruction might interject a fear that if jurors do not reach unanimity, the defendant would be paroled in 20 years and pose a threat to society. In light of the jurors' likely concerns over the defendant's future dangerousness, jurors who are otherwise inclined toward life without parole might be pushed toward favoring death because they see the sentencing choice as one between death and life with parole. The choice of death, the court voted, results not through "a comparison of views, and by arguments among the jurors themselves," but through fear and coercion. By interjecting future dangerousness, the deadlock instruction gives rise to an unconstitutional risk that one or more jurors will join others favoring death in order to avoid the more lenient sentence that would follow a deadlock.

The New York court considered whether the statute afforded the due process guaranteed under Article I, section 6 of the State Constitution. The court quoted the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Woodson v North Carolina, stating that because death is qualitatively different from other sentences, there is a "corresponding difference in the need for reliability in the determination that death is the appropriate punishment in a specific case." The court found that under New York's current death penalty scheme, whether a juror chooses death or life without the possibility of parole, "the choice is driven by the fear that a deadlock may result in the eventual release of the defendant." The choice is not, as it should be, the result of a reasoned understanding that it was the appropriate one.

Jury Behavior Studies Informed Court's Decision

The court considered several scientific studies of jury behavior noting that "these studies provide the best available insight into jury behavior." The court cited Bowers & Steiner, Death by Default: An Empirical Demonstration of False and Forced Choices in Capital Sentencing, 77 Tex. L. Rev. 605, 648 (1999) – a study that found that jurors tend to "grossly underestimate how long capital murderers not sentenced to death usually stay in prison."

The Bowers & Steiner study concluded that the "sooner jurors think a defendant will be released from prison, the more likely they are to vote for death and the more likely they are to see the defendant as dangerous."

A South Carolina study also cited by the court found that jurors who served in capital cases "confirm[ed] that jurors' deliberations emphasize dangerousness and that misguided fears of early release generate death sentences." Eisenberg & Wells, Deadly Confusion: Juror Instructions in Capital Cases, 79 Cornell L. Rev. 1, 4 (1993).

Absence of Any Deadlock Provision Also Unconstitutional

The U.S. Supreme Court in Jones v. United States held that "the Eighth Amendment [to the Federal Constitution] does not require that the jury be instructed as to the consequence of their failure to agree." However, the New York court declined to adopt Jones, and held that the Due Process Clause of the New York Constitution requires a higher standard of fairness than that required by the Federal Constitution. The court concluded that the absence of any instruction is no better than the current instruction, noting that the absence of an instruction could lead to death sentences that are based on speculation. The court remarked that absent any instruction, jurors might fear that the failure to reach a unanimous verdict would lead to a defendant's release, retrial, or a sentence of even lesser term.

The court concluded that a legislative solution is required stating, "[w]e have the power to eliminate an unconstitutional sentencing procedure, but we do not have the power to fill the void with a different procedure, particularly one that potentially imposes a greater sentence than the possible deadlock sentence that has been prescribed." The court has "no power to supply even an inadvertent omission of the legislature." For these reasons, under the present statute, the death penalty may not be imposed.

Two prior death sentences had previously been overturned by the New York Court of Appeals on other grounds. The LaValle ruling likely serves to invalidate the three remaining death sentences in New York and forecloses any new death sentences unless a new statute is enacted.

See more information on New York and the Death Penalty.

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The court's opinion in People v. Stephen LaValle is available on the State of New York Court of Appeals Web site: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/ctapps/index.htm.

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[SgtGumby311 0]

When are the lawmakers going to wake up and realize that if a P.O. dies in the line-of-duty. it will not be without repercussions? Why should all the taxpayers have to pay for these animals to get 3 meals and cable tv, while all the families have are pictures and memories? It boggles my mind that there are those that feel that life in prison is a more harsh punishment than the death penalty.

Condolences to the family of P.O. Timoshenko....His death will not be in vain.

[PATROL224 0]

R.I.P. PO Timoshenko. My condolences to your family and to your extended family at the NYPD. I sincerely hope that soon we can have an automatic DEATH PENALTY case for anyone who even attempts to take the life of a Law Enforcement Officer ANYWHERE!! The law makers need to step up and protect those of us who protect them and their families. Let's set an example to those who may even think about taking the life of any Law Enforcement Officer!!!

[RescueKujo 130]

RIP NYPD Officer Timoshenko

[ace84 100]

RIP By Brother.

NEW YORK (AP) -- A police officer shot in the face during a traffic stop died Saturday, and the men accused of shooting him and his partner face first-degree murder charges, officials said.

Russel Timoshenko, 23, died while on life support at Kings County Hospital from the gunshot wounds he suffered early Monday when he and his partner stopped a stolen SUV in Brooklyn, according to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

Timoshenko had been paralyzed, suffered brain swelling and was unable to breathe on his own. His partner, Herman Yan, hit in the chest and arm but saved by his bullet-resistant vest, was released from the hospital Tuesday.

Three men who had faced attempted murder charges will be arraigned Monday on first-degree murder charges, Brooklyn prosecutors said. They include two 34-year-old ex-convicts captured this week in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains and a third man accused of driving the getaway car, authorities said.

"Officer Timoshenko made the ultimate sacrifice with unflinching bravery and dedication to duty," Kelly said. "We'll never forget him, and we're more committed than ever to seeing to it that those responsible for this crime are prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

Timoshenko's parents were by his side at the time of death, and a procession of officers, including Yan, filed past the body to pay their respects, Kelly said.

Kings County Hospital doctor Robert Kurtz said the activity in the officer's brain had ceased. "And that's death in New York state," he said.

By the time Timoshenko arrived at the hospital, he had been without oxygen at least 15 minutes and there was little chance of survival. "From the second those bullets hit, he was unable to breathe and unable to move a muscle in his body," Kurtz said.

Both Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg expressed their condolences.

"While I can't know the anguish they are going through, I want Russel's parents Leonid and Tatyana to know their son was a hero," Bloomberg said in a statement. The mayor was out of town earlier Saturday, but was meeting privately with Timoshenko's family at the hospital Saturday evening.

The president of Timoshenko's union said the Belarus native, who joined the force in January 2006, would be mourned by the entire city.

"One can not help but notice that the sincere expressions of concern for Officer Timoshenko before his passing came from people of all races, colors and creeds," said Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Patrick J. Lynch. "These are the people that Russel wanted to protect. They are why he became a New York City police officer. They are the people for whom he gave his life."

Robert J. Ellis, Dexter Bostic and Lee Woods could all be sentenced to life in prison without parole if convicted of killing Timoshenko and wounding Yan, prosecutors said.

Pennsylvania state troopers captured Ellis in Pennsylvania early Thursday morning, ending an intense manhunt that spanned three days and several states. Bostic was caught near the same remote spot on Wednesday.

Investigators said the two had a friend slip them out of the city by car shortly after the shooting. After pooling their money to fill up on gas in Connecticut, they agreed to have the unidentified driver keep going until there was a half a tank, then turn back and leave them behind in the wilderness, police said.

Bostic and Ellis were riding in a stolen SUV driven by Woods, when Timoshenko and Yan, 26, pulled the vehicle over early Monday morning in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights, police said. As the officers approached either side of the vehicle, Bostic shot Timoshenko in the face with a .45-caliber pistol and Ellis fired on Yan with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun, police said.

Bostic and Ellis were held without bail at a court hearing Friday. Prosecutors said that both men had made incriminating statements about the shooting. They also said investigators had lifted Ellis's fingerprints off a Popeye's Chicken box that was found - along with the guns used in the shooting and a third firearm - in a bag ditched near the shooting scene.

But defense attorney Danielle Eaddy said Ellis was driving the car, not Woods, and insisted Ellis had not fired on the officer. The lawyer also accused police of assaulting her client after his arrest.

Police spokesman Paul Browne denied police had abused the prisoner and said forensic evidence supported charges that Woods was the driver. Wodds' attorney Patrick Michael Magaro has said there was nothing in the criminal complaint against his client to suggest Woods intended to harm the officers.

Attempts to reach defense attorneys were unsuccessful Saturday.

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[ace84 100]

http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_195174707.html

[JJB531 652]

Rest in Peace Brother.

The policeman stood and faced his God,

which must always come to pass.

He hoped his shoes were shining

just as brightly as his brass.

Step forward now, policeman.

How shall I deal with you?

Have you always turned the other cheek?

To my church have you been true?

The policeman squared his shoulders and said,

No Lord. I guess I ain’t.

Because those who carry badges

can’t always be a saint.

I’ve had to work most Sundays,

and at times my talk was rough...

And sometimes I’ve been violent

because the streets are awful tough.

But I never took a penny

that wasn’t mine to keep...

Though I worked a lot of overtime

when the bills got just too steep.

And I never passed a cry for help,

though at times I shook with fear.

And sometimes, God forgive me,

I’ve wept unmanly tears.

I know I don’t deserve a place

among the people here.

They never wanted me around

except to calm their fear.

If you’ve a place for me here, Lord,

it needn’t be so grand.

I never expected or had too much.

But if you don’t...I’ll understand.

There was silence all around the throne

where the saints had often trod,

as the policeman waited quietly

for the judgement of his God.

Step forward now, policemen.

You’ve borne your burdens well.

Come walk a beat on heaven’s streets.

You’ve done your time in hell.

[TheBuff376 8]

With the fact that these scumbags crossed state lines, used guns & drugs were involved, I would hope that the Brooklyn D.A.'s Office is working with the U.S. Attorney's Office and that they also will file Federal Charges. There is the way around the death penalty in NY, but once again that is too easy for these $$itbags..

Just a Cop

The funeral line was long,

There's an awful lot of cars,

Folks came out of the restaurants,

They came out of the bars.

The workers at the construction sites

All let their hammers drop.

Someone asked.” What is this all for?"

And they said, "Aw, just a cop."

Some chuckled at the passing cars.

Some shed a silent tear

Some people said, "It's stupid."

"All these dumb policemen here."

"How come they are not out fighting crime?"

"Or in a doughnut shop?"

"Sure is a lot of trouble,

For someone who's just a cop."

They blocked the intersections,

They blocked the interstate.

People yelled and cursed,

"Darn, it's gonna make me late!"

"This is really ridiculous!"

"They're makin' us all stop!"

"It seems they are sure wastin' time,

On someone who's just a cop."

Into the cemetery now,

The slow procession comes,

The woeful Taps are slowly played.

There's loud salutes from guns.

The graveyard workers shake their heads

"This service is a flop."

"There's lots of good words wasted,

On someone who's just a cop"

Yeah, just a cop to most folks.

Did his duty every day.

Trying to protect us,

Till they took his life away.

And when he got to heaven,

St. Peter put him at the top.

An angel asked him,

"Who was that?"

And he said, "Aw, just a cop."

The Judgment:

The officer stood and faced his God,

Which must always come to pass.

He hoped his shoes were shinning,

Just as brightly as his brass.

"Step forward now, Officer,

How shall I deal with you?

Have you always turned the other cheek?

To my church have you been true?"

The officer squared his shoulder and said,

"No, Lord, I guess I aint,

Because those of us who carry badges

I can't always be a saint.

I've had to work most Sundays,

And at times my talk was rough,

And sometimes I've been violent

Because the streets are tough.

But I never took a penny

That wasn't mine to keep..

Though I worked a lot of overtime,

when the bills got too steep.

And I never passed a cry for help

Though at times I shook with fear.

And sometimes, God forgive me,

I've wept an unmanly tear.

I know I don't deserve a place

among the people here.

They never wanted me around

except to calm their fear.

If you've a place for me here, Lord,

it needn't be so grand.

I never expected or had too much,

But if you don't...I'll understand.

There was silence all around the throne,

where the saints often trod.

As the officer waited quietly

for the judgment of his God.

"Step forward now, Officer.

You've borne your burdens well.

Come walk a beat on heaven's streets,

You've done your time in hell"

Rest in peace brother

[Goose 188]

RIP Officer Timoshenko and thank you and all POs for your selfless sacrifice.

[MFVFD179 0]

R.I.P.

[RescueKujo 130]

JJB and TheBuff,

Thank you for posting that poem.

Duane

[OnTheWheel 43]

When are the lawmakers going to wake up and realize that if a P.O. dies in the line-of-duty. it will not be without repercussions? Why should all the taxpayers have to pay for these animals to get 3 meals and cable tv, while all the families have are pictures and memories? It boggles my mind that there are those that feel that life in prison is a more harsh punishment than the death penalty.

I actually read somewhere (a while ago) that it costs more to put someone to death (due to the appeal process) then to leave them in jail for life. In that case, RAISE MY TAXES and let the frying begin!

Cost something like 30,000 for one inmate per year. Lets keep letting them file frivolous lawsuits FOR FREE, and let them lay on their a$$es and we can pay for their healthcare. Maybe they should have a $15 deductable like me then theyll stop going to the doctor for bs! Ok, off the subject, sorry.

RIP Bro!

[Goose 188]

Yeah, the appeal process associated with the death penalty is what drives the cost up from my understanding. Personally, i don't care im a big support of the death penalty and think this pussyfooting around with these bottom feeders gives them far more credit than they deserve. But, if the liberal powers that be fear the death penalty that much the least they could do is make them earn their keep...but how to do that is a different story. Hope the SOBs burn hard.

Again, RIP bro.