Government
Two retired white officers and the current second in command testified Wednesday that racial divisions have persisted in the Richmond Police Department for decades, but that Chief Chris Magnus didn’t favor any racial groups over any other. But the testimony of the three defense witnesses did further expose an environment of embittered, highly paid police leaders who cliqued up and engaged in rough talk and petty gossip throughout the early days of the Magnus era, which began in 2006. Ken…
After multiple spills from the city sewer system last Thursday and Saturday, residents began noticing warning signs in the Point Isabel region that the water may be contaminated. East Bay Regional Parks workers put the signs up as a precautionary measure to advise people to avoid any contact with the water. “The amount of discharge is unknown,” said Matthew Graul, Water Resources Manager for the parks district, “and that is why we are being protective.” Recent rainstorms overwhelmed the sewer…
In their first full day presenting their defense, attorneys representing Police Chief Chris Magnus, former Deputy Chief Lori Ritter and the city of Richmond called to the stand an African American police captain who praised Magnus’ leadership and rejected claims the chief or deputy chief are racists. “I have no reason to believe (Magnus) has any animosity against any other races,” Capt. Anthony Williams testified Monday. Williams’ detailed testimony covered the gamut of accusations made against Magnus and Ritter in…
As the jury’s deliberation dragged into a second week, the pressure mounted. Always unflappable in the courtroom, prosecuting attorney Derek Butts nevertheless found himself wracked with inner anxiety. “Those two weeks were brutal,” Butts said. For more than a month in the trial of Joe Blacknell III, Butts’ scratchy monotone had never wavered. Hostile witnesses interrupted him and a spirited public defender contested him at every turn. He led the jury in an examination of grisly evidence, including autopsy photos…
The man who conducted an investigation into alleged discrimination in the Richmond Police Department testified Thursday that he was inundated with complaints from both sides of the issue in mid-2007. Ray Marshall, a Harvard-educated attorney whose firm was paid more than $300,000 by the city for his fact-finding mission, testified that bickering on both sides prolonged his work and impaired the performance of the department. Seven high-ranking African American police officials are suing Police Chief Chris Magnus, former Deputy Chief…
The Lauritzen Channel has more DDT in it than before the 1996 cleanup, and some fish are turning up with DDT levels in their tissues hundreds of times higher than their counterparts in the rest of the San Francisco Bay. It took one company less than two decades to create a chemical mess in the Lauritzen Channel that will take almost half a century to identify and clean.
As police command staff officials began peppering his hand-picked police chief with complaints of discrimination, Richmond’s most powerful executive official did all he felt he should do: Initiate an independent investigation, pass the complaints on to his Human Resources manager and issue a department-wide letter reiterating conduct policies. “I felt like I was doing exactly what I should have done,” Lindsay said in response to questions from Jonathan Matthews, the attorney for one of the seven plaintiffs in the discrimination…
The plaintiffs in the discrimination suit against Richmond Police Chief Chris Magnus, former Deputy Chief Lori Ritter and the city aren’t suing for a specific dollar amount. But Wednesday’s testimony for the first time hinted at the costs they may have incurred from allegedly discriminatory promotion processes. According to an economist’s testimony, the total amount that five of the seven plaintiffs may have lost in total lifetime earnings and pension payments by not being promoted by Magnus ranges into the…
In recent years, the Richmond Police Department has been riven with discord between sworn and civilian employees, mediation meetings undertaken in bad faith and at least one internal dispute over whether to count a dead body in Richmond as part of the city’s homicide total, according to two witnesses’ testimony Friday. Human Relations Manager Leslie Knight concluded her third day of testimony in the discrimination lawsuit filed by seven African American officers against Chief Chris Magnus, former Deputy Chief Lori…