Exactly forty five years ago today, man first set foot on the moon (or at least made a good show of it, for all of you conspiracy theorists), with Neil Armstrong alighting on the lunar surface:

"That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind". 

Mankind had set foot on the lunar surface in one of the best efforts of all time for a government agency.

 

Exactly five years ago today in Ludington very early one Monday morning, a small group of police officers and deputies of Mason County landed quite a bit of hurt on one of our community's citizens.  A young man whose mother was stopped for defective taillights about twenty minutes after midnight, was harassed by two Ludington police officers, repeatedly given unlawful orders by the same, and assaulted by one for trying to record the encounter who then tried to force him to leave through unlawful authority. 

 

That's when two Mason County deputies showed up and walked purposefully towards the young man and threatened immediate arrest to the young man if he didn't leave, even though they had no idea of what they would be arresting him for.  This was not a lunar mission, but a mission into lunacy on behalf of the law officers.  The young man continued to walk away, while still recording, and some evil instinct by the three law officers had them rush at the man, make a giant leap towards him (and one small step back for humanity) then took him down onto the hard pavement of Ludington Avenue with leg sweeps. 

 

Depositions by all parties involved seem to indicate that there was no reason for the attack an arrest.  There was no resistance beyond passive resistance at best made by the man who was gang tackled, swept down to the pavement, and tasered five times.  But all this was also caught on dash cam video of the LPD.  Hard to say it happened otherwise.

 

To add insult to injury, the police take the young man to the hospital to make sure he has the opportunity to receive medical attention for the battery he received on the street.  The police treated him as if he was a rechargeable battery then.  But when he was chained to the hospital gurney, and he non-aggressively refused to have his knee treated, as is his right, he was tasered once again by both an LPD officer and MCSO deputy. 

 

But did these police officers pay for their serious crimes?  Did the hospital personnel who witnessed this torture committed in their facility come forth and say something either that night, or later, about the inappropriateness of the hostile act?

 

Nope.  What happened was that the man was taken to jail, locked up for a time, arraigned on five charges of assault-- not assault ON him by the officers, but BY him on the aggressive law-breaking officers -- forced by our prosecutor to a plea deal where he had to take the rap for one of the assaults, or go to trial with five potential felonies hanging over his head, where the other side had four police officers ready to falsify the events of that night to save their own skin. 

 

The beleaguered youth was able to fight back in federal court.  He eventually seen the official record (his I-phone coverage that he recorded was erased by the officials that took it from him before sitting him in jail), was able to get to the truth by deposing the officers and the hospital officials who all failed to do their jobs.  Eventually, he won arbitration and received a hefty sum from the county and city where he lived all his life, and whose police force declared war on him, and overturned his life by attacking him and tasering him about eight times in one night.  For doing absolutely nothing wrong.

 

What can we learn from his ordeal, and the ordeal of his mother who had to see her son be massacred in front of her eyes and who was roughly arrested herself afterwards?  Plenty, and yet our officials haven't learned anything from the event other than it pays to try and keep such action by our public officials as hush-hush as possible, and ways to do that better.  

 

Not one City of Ludington or County of Mason official has made any qualified, public apology to this family for the brutal, inhumane beating this kid got five years ago.  The victims of the assault that night are good law-abiding people that own and operate a downtown business.  People need to know that their officials are looking out for them; we pay their salary.  Everyone who has any potential oversight to what the officers did that night should be made to and shamed when they don't.

 

This includes all members of LPD and the MCSO, but also includes all public attorneys, members of the governing bodies of both, and all executive officers (Ludington mayor, City Manager, County Administrator).   Some kudos should go to the LPD for not having either officer involved still on their staff and for not spoiling the existing dash cam footage, but the county sheriff's office has not only retained and honored the two deputies involved that night, but hired the LPD officer who joined in the assault. 

 

Oscar Davila, Derek Wilson and Matthew Warmuskerken (and all other sheriff deputies) can still ply their brand of justice on the public at any traffic stop, or at any other time.  Have they learned anything?  Probably not, so they should be held to shame by us at every opportunity for filing incendiary prejudicial police reports that led to the persecution and prosecution of the young man in this drama.  Our sheriff and county officials will only tell us how great they are; they are not, they deserve their own prosecution, their own jail time, unlike their victim.

 

And what about the prosecutor who had access to all the police reports, dash cam footage, and statements by the victims of police brutality five years ago?  Mason County Prosecutor Paul Spaniola (below) looked at that data and essentially joined in vicariously with the takedown, the beating, and the tasering of the young man, by prosecuting when the record even then showed the police acted very inappropriately in the street and in the hospital. 

 

 

He has since noticed that the county and city had to spend a tidy sum of taxpayer dollars to look at the unequivocal record that shows police brutality of the worst sort, and they defended it in a losing cause for the thuggish police forces on display the date of July 20, 2009.  Has he realized that what he had done was wrong?  Has he tried to extend justice towards this young man in any way?  Has he tried to see that the officers had their day in curt to defend their wanton assault that went contrary to good police work?

 

No, but he has since decided that he is going to run for 51st Circuit Court Judge, a position where the public needs to have a person who will be fair to everyone, regardless of whether they wear a badge or not, regardless of ignoring facts that might implicate his friends and fellow public officials in law enforcement or absolve of guilt someone who wasn't so entitled. 

 

If there is one thing that we can learn and apply from this act of aggression that happened exactly five years ago is that Paul Spaniola has no real qualifications to be a judge with power over anyone.  He wants to run on his experience in his field.  Properly reviewed, this is effectively his biggest weakness.  His experience shows that his impartiality is fatally compromised.

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In the "experience" article above Spaniola stresses openness:  "Spaniola said proceedings need to take place in the courtroom whenever possible.

“It’s got to be open, it’s got to be transparent,” Spaniola said. He said he thinks technology can be used to make things more open..."

 

This is the same prosecutor I took to court for not responding to a FOIA request to his office (and won), the same prosecutor who told an investigative agency slanderous lies about myself, and has ever since played games with getting me information, acting against the county's directives on fulfilling FOIA requests by stating unlawful charges and not properly responding.  Paul Spaniola has a well established history of working against transparency and against performing his public duties ethically.

I'm not sure he doesn't have the experience but I'm darned sure he doesn't have the backbone and moral judgement to reside over cases brought before him. His go-along attitiude with the police and sherriff departments show his willingness to persecute the citizens he is supposed to represent so he can buddy up to other Government officials.

 “The MSP will forever be grateful for his dedication to upholding the law and for seeing that the individual responsible for killing a law enforcement officer was prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Funny, but when MSP Trooper James Luttrull sped well above the speed limit through the Scottville area for a non-emergency call, eavesdropped (a misdemeanor) for several minutes outside a private residence, and then shot a retired teacher without warning (as caught on audio) or reason, Spaniola didn't do squat for either crime and infraction, and has kept all the evidence sequestered from the public. 

For a judge, the people expect that the law is to be applied equally, regardless of the defendant's or victim's status.   Spaniola has only bad experience in that aspect, and as you stated, no backbone or sound moral judgment to guide him as a judge.

I am not sure the Trooper has to give a man a warning when he has a gun pointed at him.  I am not sure exactly how it works, but I do know your made up theory doesn't make any sense.  Tommy you are so ridiculous, when did the Tpr "speed through Scottville WELL over the speed limit?"  If you are referring to the Marble call, wasn't it a 911 hangup several times?  I also thought it was a possible domestic...?  What was Marbles alcohol level?  I am sure that research would make way to much sense, so why would you do it.  Obviously the trooper did nothing wrong, wouldn't the family be filing a huge lawsuit against the state?  I guess if they believed in all your wacky ideas, they would file a lawsuit no matter what.  

Johnny, the 9-1-1 operator did not relate any sort of imminent emergency at the residence or any hint of 'domestic disturbance', I have the audio of that contact, there is nothing that would cause any reasonable individual to speed at 70 mph through Custer and Scottville on snow-filled streets risking his life and others for a confused person making a 9-1-1 call. 

 

I have tried to get as much of the material from this as I could, but I have been quoted exorbitant fees without explanation of why the fees are placed.  I spent $100 on a CD for the dashcam footage that night-- there is no reason why it should have been that high.  This is how the MSP operates, when they don't want to share their information.  I can't afford highly edited $500 videos of Nancy Marble being interrogated and likely intimidated by the same people who came into her house and shot her husband.

 

You say "Obviously the trooper did nothing wrong, wouldn't the family be filing a huge lawsuit against the state?"  His speeding is part of the record, his eavesdropping is part of the record, his shooting first and saying "Drop the gun!" repeatedly in the seconds after he shot Marble.   And why not ask: 

The prosecutor's report contains the autopsy findings that the bullet from Trooper Luttrull initially hit Marble on the index finger and thumb (and the gun) of his hand holding the gun and deflected into his chest.  How does this 70 year old man manage to keep ahold of his gun after that deflection-- when they started telling him to drop it? 

Can you also explain why Spaniola (p. 3) says for the record that from the audio he listened to:  "A few seconds later Nancy screams for a second time, and either Trooper Luttrull or Trooper Hammerle yells “drop” twice. Instantaneously one gunshot is heard." 

The audio is very clear on what happened first, the scream, the trooper's gunshot, then nearly two seconds later "Drop, drop the gun."   Perhaps Paul Spaniola is just hard of hearing, but I think the rest of the report is about as reliable. 

X, methinks you are a lot more factual and accurate in your reporting on this matter than anyone else is admitting to, esp. the MSP! The only "wacky" on this thread is the usual suspect...lol. That landing on the moon in 1969 was probably the most watched tv news that ever was at that date. Everyone in the USA celebrated this extraordinary accomplishment with pride and enthusiasm, along with more fireworks. 

Paul Spaniola and Johnny have several characteristics in common as regards to overlooking the facts of the matter and shamelessly kowtowing to other officials.  Unfortunately, I missed the live coverage of the moon walk since it was past my bedtime when it finally happened.

The moon-landing was astonishing and incomparable, to say the least. We finally accomplished what JFK said would happen some 8 years later. We made HISTORY! And the USSR was sadly embarrassed and ashamed at that period. This was a strong signal to the entire World, that we, the USA, would NOT be undermined nor intimidated by Any other Country! We were World Leaders in every sense of the word, and not to be outdone by anyone! Sadly, today, that just aint the case anymore. We have ourselves a Harvard man that is a Constitutional expert, in breaking the Constitution into fragmented pieces, and making a Sham of our entire History, for the past, and also the future! 

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