(23 Aug 2011) HEADLINE: Suit to target embattled Calif. police agency
CAPTION: The legal problems facing an embattled Orange County police agency mounted Friday after an attorney filed a lawsuit claiming officers wrongly arrested his client and falsely accused him of attacking an officer in October. (Aug. 19)
(Source: AP)
(SUGGESTED VOICEOVER)
B-roll: Tight, medium and wide shots of Kelly Thomas memorial in Fullerton, shots of witness to police fight sitting at memorial.
THE FULLERTON POLICE DEPARTMENT IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IS ALREADY UNDER FIRE FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF A HOMELESS AND MENTALLY ILL MAN WHO GOT IN A VIOLENT FIGHT WITH SIX OFFICERS AT A BUS STOP LAST MONTH.
THE CONFRONTATION WAS CAUGHT ON VIDEO AND PROSECUTORS AND THE FBI ARE NOW INVESTIGATING THE DEATH OF 37-YEAR-OLD KELLY THOMAS.
MARK TURGEON WITNESSED THE FIGHT BETWEEN THOMAS AND SIX OFFICERS. HE HAS BEEN INTERVIEWED BY THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY.
SOUNDBITE: Mark Turgeon, witness to fight: "People were yelling for the cops to stop and they wouldn''t stop, they just kept going. Two more cops came and now there were six of them and they were just beating him and hitting his head against the curb over there. They hog-tied him and pulled him out into the lane and they continued to beat him until he stopped moving."
(VOICEOVER)
B-roll: Tight shot of Veth Mam, who filed new lawsuit against police and close-up of police report.
BUT NOW, THE FULLERTON POLICE DEPARTMENT FACES NEW ALLEGATIONS OF PERJURY AND EXCESSIVE FORCE IN THE ARREST OF A SECOND PERSON, A MAN NAMED VETH MAM, A FULL YEAR EARLIER.
MAM''S ARREST WAS CAPTURED ON HIS OWN CELL PHONE CAMERA OUTSIDE A BAR.
MAM SAYS HE WAS FILMING HIS FRIEND''S ARREST WHEN AN OFFICER KNOCKED HIS PHONE TO THE GROUND AND ARRESTED HIM ON TRUMPED UP CHARGES.
SOUNDBITE: Veth Mam, plaintiff: "The thing I remember is that, they grabbed me by the sleeve and they slammed the phone down and then just tossed me around. I figured, well maybe they''ll let me go right away but in this case they kept quiet. They took me to the station didn''t ask a word."
(VOICEOVER)
B-roll: Shots of police reports, tight and wide, and of Mardirossian explaining them.
BUT ATTORNEY GARO MARDIROSSIAN SAYS THE FOOTAGE SHOWS OFFICERS FABRICATED POLICE REPORTS WHEN THEY SAID MAM HAD JUMPED AN OFFICER AND PLACED HIM IN A CHOKE HOLD.
MAM WAS ACQUITTED OF ALL CHARGES LAST MONTH AFTER JURORS SAW THE VIDEO.
SOUNDBITE: Garo Mardirossian, attorney: "It was a calculated event that conspiracy by police officers to write a report to convict this man of offenses he did not commit.
MARDIROSSIAN SAYS THE OFFICER WHO ARRESTED MAM THAT NIGHT WAS ALSO INVOLVED IN THE THOMAS CASE.
THE DEPARTMENT HAS ADMITTED TO ARRESTING THE WRONG MAN AND POLICE SPOKESMAN SGT. ANDREW GOODRICH CONFIRMS THAT THE DEPARTMENT HAS LAUNCHED AN INTERNAL INVESTIGATION INTO THE VETH MAM CASE. THEY ARE NOT PREPARED TO RESPOND TO ANY SPECIFIC ALLEGATIONS IN THE LAWSUIT.
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