by Karen Saari
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The Reckless and
Callous Mistreatment of Youth by the Criminal Injustice
System by Karen Saari |
Every day in my research I find terrible stories about how the criminal injustice system mistreats our youth. Two particularly distressing stories have come to light recently. In one, a 17-year old boy was exploited by the police as a drug informant. In the end, he was tortured and killed by a drug gang. In another, a 16-year old boy was coerced by police into making a false confession and ended up spending a year in an adult jail for a crime he did not commit. Chad MacDonald, Jr.
The first is the story of Chad MacDonald Jr., a 17-year old who was recently killed by drug dealers as retribution for being a police informant.It all started on January 6 when Chad was pulled over for a traffic stop by Brea police in southern California. Officers found a half ounce of methamphetamine in his truck. Chad was taken to the Brea police station and questioned for several hours. When his mother (Chad’s father died when he was an infant) arrived, she found that Chad had been crying for a long time; his face was badly swollen with tears.Police told his mother that she could not take him home unless she signed a waiver allowing Chad to become an informant for the police. If she didn’t, Chad would face serious jail time. They told Mrs. Mac Donald that the drug charges would be dropped in exchange for Chad’s work as an informant. The mother agreed to sign the waiver and in so doing doing agreed to something she could not fully understand.
Chad worked with the police in at least two drug arrests. But soon, Ms. MacDonald realized that Chad was being pressured by the police to participate in larger and larger drug buys. Concerned that Chad was becoming involved in something quite dangerous, Ms. MacDonald called the district attorney’s office in an effort to end the arrangement. But the police pressure did not stop; they continued to pressure Chad to participate in bigger buys in exchange for dropping all charges. To hammer this home, the DA’s office filed charges against Chad for possessing and transporting methamphetamine.
Chad, feeling under tremendous pressure, set off to score a really big buy so the charges would be dropped. On his own initiative, Chad went to make a drug buy at a house in a nearby town that was well-known for drug and gang activity.
It appears that when the gang later learned that Chad was an informant, they kidnapped Chad and his girlfriend; both were both tortured and strangled. The girlfriend somehow survived and was found in Angeles National Forest. Chad was found dead in an alley in south Los Angeles.
Thoughtless, aggressive cops exploited Chad to beef up their arrest statistics. The police and the district attorney’s office treated Chad in a reckless manner which directly led to his death and endangered the lives of others. They showed no concern for the danger they were putting Chad in and are now busy covering up their actions.
Somnguen Michael Amphavannasouk
The second is the case of Somnguen Michael Amphavannasouk. Using coercive methods, police extracted a false confession. As a result, Michael, still a juvenile, ended up spending a year in an adult jail charged with a crime he did not commit.It started on February 20, 1997. Two Modesto police officers yanked Michael, then a 16-year old junior, from his second period class for questioning in a gang-related shooting. School officials cooperated fully with the police and did nothing to intercede on Michael’s behalf. Michael was subjected to hours of threats from the police right at his school. What took place at the school sent Michael to jail for a year.Officers Al Brocchini and Detective Nick Chilles arrived at the high school and took Michael down to the attendance office where they interrogated him relentlessly. They wanted information on a burglary and subsequent shooting. Michael didn’t have any information for them; he claims he wasn’t there. But police kept after him, threatening and making promises throughout the entire morning.
Michael wanted the session to end. The police told him repeatedly that he would not be prosecuted as long as he cooperated with them and provided information about other gang members who were involved in the burglary and shooting. They told him that even if he was the shooter, he would not be booked. And they said that if he didn’t tell them what they wanted to hear, he would be sent to jail.
Worn down and confused, Michael told them what they wanted to hear. He made a false confession. The police put words into his mouth. In reviewing the 169-page transcript, an expert on police interrogations called the statement "grossly" coercive.
Then, true to their word, the cops took him home. When he got there, Michael explained the false confession to his father. The father called the police and said that his son had lied. The police responded by returning and arresting Michael for lying. He was then charged with 11 counts of attempted murder and remained incarcerated for the next year.
During that time Michael recanted his confession. The police, using their coercive methods once again, were able to extract statements from two other youths who claimed that Michael was involved. Michael ultimately took a lie detector test which showed that he was not involved in the burglary and shooting.
When Michael was first arrested, he was placed in juvenile hall. Inmates cannot post bail to get released from juvenile hall. When it was later determined that he would be tried as an adult, he was transferred to the men’s jail and bail was posted at $250,000. This amount was too high for Michael’s family to pay. So Michael remained in jail. In order to do his best for his client, Michael’s attorney had to request a number of delays of court appearances and Michael remained in jail.
Finally after Michael had passed two polygraph tests and repeatedly denied that he was involved, a deputy district attorney asked the Superior Court to dismiss the charges for lack of evidence.
Michael is now free. But I cannot imagine what spending a year in an adult jail for a crime he did not commit has done to someone so young. Not only was Michael unfairly punished, police focus on the wrong boy let the real perpetrator to go free.
For more on mistreatment of youth by the Criminal Injustice System click here.
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