I also got this one.
On Thu, Jan 09, 2020 at 09:19:46PM +0000, jim bell wrote: > [I am resending this, because while I received a confirmation from the CP > list a few seconds after I sent it, nevertheless after nearly 40 minutes > after this, I have not yet received the posting as would have been sent by > the list.] > On Thursday, January 9, 2020, 12:40:40 PM PST, jim bell > <[email protected]> wrote: > > My Assassination Politics https://cryptome.org/ap.htm proposal has been > extensively mistreated and unfairly opposed by people, even early on the > Cypherpunks list, based on very false and especially incomplete analyses. > Specifically, people write as if you can consider AP 'good' based only on it, > rather than in comparison with what it will certainly replace. And yes, many > people have had the opportunity, for about 25 years now, to do these > comparisons. They have utterly failed to do that. Economists have a term > called "opportunity cost", the costs of NOT choosing a particular course of > action. Making a decision requires an analysis of not merely choosing, but > also choosing NOT, to do something. > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opportunity_cost > I just read the following, from Reddit. It is a seemingly small, but > virtually perfect, example of what happens when you DON'T choose to implement > my Assassination Politics system. > https://www.reddit.com/r/Libertarian/comments/em8clw/brooklyn_public_defender_scott_hechinger_lays_out/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share > > I will quote all of this below, the relevant message, in case it disappears. > But I will say that in an AP world this kind of event could not occur. Why > do I say that? In an AP world, this crooked detective wouldn't expect to be > protected by an equally-crooked judge. In an AP world, this crooked > detective would be 'donated to death', very quickly, and there would be > nothing at all that anybody could do to stop this. And if a crooked judge > tried to help him get away with this amazing perjury, that judge too would be > 'donated to death', just as quickly. And anyone who supported him, or them. > Mostly, the deterrent value of AP would make such actions unthinkable, and > impossible in practice. > One reason that my AP idea should be considered so good is that it must be > judged in comparison with the existing world, all the bad things like this. > Anybody who criticizes AP needs to explain why it would somehow be worse than > today's amazing world. > When I do a Google-search for things like ' "Assassination Politics" "bell" ' > I occasionally read comments about how 'Bell has not recanted', or 'Bell > still believes in his AP idea'. As if, they are somehow shocked to discover > that I really still support my AP idea. Why should I recant? Why should I > abandon my discovery/invention? Does our world still have injustice, in the > way this current Reddit item describes? Does our world still have > militaries, taxation to fund them, wars, and nuclear weapons? Does anybody > (else) have a credible idea to solve these problems? > I will recant AP when, and only when, the world figures out a way to solve > ALL of its problems that AP would otherwise solve. Which will NEVER occur. > Jim Bell > > > ----------------------------- From that cite shown above: > ----------------------------- > "I represented the man who this ex-NYPD detective lied into a violent felony > indictment. Michael Bergman completely fabricated a fake crime out of spite. > If convicted, would’ve faced minimum 3.5 years in prison. Max 15. Today, the > liar only got probation. > > "I remember first meeting Mr. Barbosa. In interview cells attached to the > cage behind the arraignment courtroom in Brooklyn criminal court. Like > everyone I represent I don’t get to choose. I just happened to be working > that day, & a file with his name & charges was handed to me. > > "The charges were serious. Detective Bergman claimed that after stopping Mr. > Barbosa’s car, he accelerated backwards at a high rate of speed, then turned > the car toward the Detective. Was right in between headlines. And slammed on > gas. Bergman dove out of the way to save his life. > > "Mr. Barbosa was in a world of trouble. Charged w/ attempted assault in first > degree. A Class C violent felony. A brazen act of violence. I wondered what > he was thinking. What motivated this? I walked thru the door into the jail > directly behind the “In God We Trust” sign in court. > > I called his name & he walked in. Tired. Not feeling well. Shaking his head. > I told him his charges. And he forcefully denied it. “Didn’t happen. These > cops have been harassing me for months. I was parked. They pulled up. I drove > off. That was it.” I pressed him more. > > “Why on earth would they make something like this up?” I asked. Cops lie all > the time. To justify bad stops & frisks, excessive use of force. Sometimes > they plant evidence. Big lies. Small lies. Here: there was no motivation. He > wasn’t injured. They didn’t find anything on him. > > “I honesty don’t know. They don’t like me, but saying I did this?” He trailed > off. Put head down. He was really upset. I was having a hard time still > believing him. “So you just pulled out? Didn’t accidentally almost hit him?” > He shook his head no. “I’ll look for video,” I said. > > A reaction to the idea of video surveillance can sometimes be a tell. If not > so enthusiastic, it’s likely the video won’t be helpful. But he jumped up: > > “There’s video?!” > > “I don’t know. I’ll definitely be looking for it.” > > “Please, please do. Otherwise it’s my word vs. his.” > > Mr. Barbosa knew the reality then: Police can generally say whatever they > want. And they know that generally, no matter what, prosecutors, judges, & in > the rare case that makes it that far, juries, will believe them over the > accused. He was in a serious predicament. Life & death. > > Based on this allegation, Mr. Barbosa was remanded to Rikers Island by > parole. While he sat on Rikers, Det. Bergman made the decision to take his > lie a step further. He could’ve stopped w/ the lie in paperwork. Just let it > go. Instead he decided to testify before the grand jury. > > Under oath, he told the grand jury a story out of an action movie. How he had > to leap out of the way to save his life. How he scratched his arm on the > pavement. How he thought he was going to die. The grand jury believed him & > voted to indict Barbosa. Thankfully, there was video. > > I happen to be blessed to work in a public defender office w/ more resources > than most. We have a team of investigators, who spend all day everyday in the > field. Witness interviews. Taking measurements. Visiting crime scenes. > Tracking down video surveillance. They’re incredible. > > Just to stress the point. Most defender offices in the country don’t have any > investigators. A large number of offices don’t have funding to meet their > clients at first appearances but have to wait days, sometimes weeks. By then > video taped over. Evidence gone. Memories faded. > > Just to stress the point about lack of access to counsel further: There are > large swaths of the country that don’t even have defender offices at all. > Judges appoint private attorneys, who get paid relative pennies for it, let > alone enough to encourage them to investigate. A sham. > > Ok. Back to the nightmare that now-ex NYPD Detective Michael Bergman > maliciously inflicted on my client, Pedro Barbosa. And the video that saved > his life. > > I remember when Julia knocked on my door. “I got video surveillance in the > Barbosa case. They lied. It’s clear.” She talked the owner of a car mechanic > shop to let her copy it. She handed me a DVD. Popped it into my computer & > watched. “Holy sh*t!” “I know, right!?” she said. > > Here is the video the investigator Julia found that exposed Det. Bergman’s > lie. Mr. Barbosa parallel parks. Unmarked car pulls up. He drives off. No > accelerating back. No aiming car at Bergman (driver’s side). No diving out of > way. A complete fabrication. > > Here is another version of the video that exposed ex-NYPD detective Michael > Bergman’s perjury. > > @nowthisnews published it with a play by play rundown. > > Armed with the video, I filed a motion to dismiss the charges comparing > Bergman’s testimony with what actually happened (with time stamps) & > submitted the motion along with a copy of the video surveillance. I got a > call from the prosecutor less than a day later. He was stunned. > > “I watched the video. Um.” He had a hard time finding words. “Well. We’re > obviously going to dismiss.” I was so relieved. I’m so used to prosecutors > giving cops every imaginable benefit of the doubt, I thought there was a > chance they’d find a way to see something I couldn’t. > > Then prosecutor asks me: “Why do you think he did this?” I told him I had no > idea. But reminded him that police lie all the time. This one happened to be > obvious bc it was on video. But cops lying unfortunately is an epidemic in > forces around the country. I felt like a teacher. > > The prosecutor also told me that the Brooklyn DA’s new “Police Accountability > Unit” would be considering prosecuting. I said that was fine, but more > pressing: his office should be investigating every case the detective ever > worked on. “That’s out of my control, but I agree.” > > I’ve never seen anyone smile more broadly than when I told Mr. Barbosa we > found video, it totally exonerated him, & the prosecution was dismissing. He > literally bounced. “I told you!” “I know.” “What happens now?” I soon found > out. From the Daily News: > > Det. Bergman, accused of lying under oath to imprison an innocent man for up > to 15 years, was released w/o bail. No outcry of course from @nypost, police > & prosecutors who, as I type, are peddling their own lies to kill new bail > reforms so they can jail more Black & Brown people. > > I later found out, this time from @nypost, that Bergman had pled guilty. The > Post of course didn’t disparage Bergman as a “criminal,” “thug,” “goon,” > “felon,” or “con” like they do Black people charged w/ far less. But they did > call Mr. Barbosa “the perp.” > > Bergman was fired. A near impossibility. Prosecutors asked the judge to > sentence him to a year in jail. Brooklyn DA made this statement: “The justice > system must be able to rely on the integrity & credibility of our police to > keep our communities safe & ensure equal justice.” > > Today I heard the news. The Judge took the rare step—at least in cases of > people I represent—of undercutting the prosecution request for jail time & > sentencing Michael Bergman to probation. As far as I know, this judge only > sentences cops to probation. No matter what. Examples —> > > The same judge also sentenced the 2 NYPD officers who had sex w/ a teen in > exchange for her freedom to probation. Pointed out that cop's conduct was > mitigated bc the teenager also committed a crime by allegedly offering sex > for her freedom. > > The same judge gave probation to this ex-NYPD cop who shot a man in the mouth > twice out of jealousy & then placed a knife next to his body to cover up his > crime. > > Akai Gurley (left) was killed by Officer Laing while walking in the stairwell > of a building. Laing received probation. > > 2 months later, same judge sentenced Marcell Dockery (right), a teen who set > fire to a mattress accidentally killing a responding officer, to 19 years to > life. > > Michael Bergman did one of the worst things a human being could ever do to > another: give false testimony that would put them in jail wrongfully. He did > so brazenly and maliciously. He lied in sworn testimony before a grand jury. > > If investigators in my office had not found video that proved his lie, Mr. > Barbosa faced a mandatory minimum of 3.5 years and a maximum of 15 years in > prison. Police lying is an epidemic not just in the NYPD, but in police > forces around the country. > > Police lie because they know they’ll rarely if ever be held to account. It is > a good thing Bergman was fired and prosecuted. But probation? I just hope > that this punishment sends the necessary message of zero tolerance to all on > the force. I fear it won’t. > -Scott Hechinger[end of long quote from Reddit: > https://www.reddit.com/r/Libertarian/comments/em8clw/brooklyn_public_defender_scott_hechinger_lays_out/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share > ] >
