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Report: Benson's friend had dad call 911 over police treatment

A woman who was a passenger in Cedric Benson's boat when he was pepper-sprayed and arrested Saturday night said the Chicago Bears running back did not seem intoxicated and did not resist arrest, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Elizabeth Cartwright, 22, a senior at the University of Texas and a friend of Benson, said she called her father and asked him to call police about the way Benson was treated by officers of the Lower Colorado River Authority, which patrols Lake Travis, a man-made lake northwest of Austin, Texas.

"I called my dad and told him, 'Call 911, my black friend is getting beaten up by police on Lake Travis,'" Cartwright recalled, according to the Tribune. "It's more what I heard than what I saw. I have never heard or seen Cedric that scared."

According to the police report, Benson had bloodshot eyes, a "strong" alcohol odor and slurred speech when his boat was stopped by authorities on Saturday.

Benson has denied he was intoxicated or that he resisted law enforcement and will fight the charges against him.

He met with Bears coach Lovie Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo on Tuesday, but the Bears did not comment on the meeting or their invesetigation of the incident, the Daily Herald of Arlington Heights, Ill. reported.

Cartwright said she is willing to present her account of events as evidence. She also said her fiance took photographs of the incident that help back up her claims.

According to the Tribune, Cartwright said she had had one drink and Benson had consumed two when the party of about 15 people decided to head back to shore at about 9:30 p.m. on Saturday to get dinner. About that time, a patrol boat approached to conduct a random check, she said.

According to Cartwright, it was the sixth time that a patrol had stopped Benson's boat on Lake Travis in as many outings this year.

Cartwright said after the boat passed the safety checkup, Benson was asked to board the LCRA craft for a sobriety test. As an officer led Benson to the LCRA boat for the test, the second officer left behind on Benson's boat assured his mother, Jackie Benson, that her son would be fine, Cartwright said, according to the report.

"I know Cedric and I don't think he was drunk," Cartwright said, according to the Tribune.

A few minutes later, Cartwright said she heard Benson begin to scream after the officer pepper-sprayed him, according to the report. By the time Benson was in handcuffs, he was screaming, "Please stop, Mom, make them please stop," she said.

According to the report, Cartwright's father, Jeff, called 911 at his daughter's insistence. Unaware she was calling about Benson, he told the dispatcher that police "were beating up a black kid on Lake Travis."

A Travis County spokesman wouldn't confirm or deny Tuesday night that a 911 call had been placed regarding the incident, according to the Tribune.

Benson and Cartwright's accounts differ from the police account of the incident.

According to the police report, Sgt. Leonard Snyder, who sprayed and arrested Benson, said he believed Benson was intoxicated because he was "combative," "cocky," "insulting" and used "profanity," but at other times was "crying" and "cooperative."

After failing sobriety tests applied by Snyder, who works with the Lower Colorado River Authority, Snyder wrote that Benson refused to come ashore for additional tests and "stood up from the position where I had him seated and suggested I could not tell him what to do."

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.

GSPODS wrote:Heard of a Terry Stop?

Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968), was a decision by the United States Supreme Court which held that the Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures was not violated when a police officer stopped a suspect on the street and searched him without probable cause to arrest.

The Court held that police may briefly detain a person if they have a reasonable suspicion that the person has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime. For their own protection, police may perform a quick surface search of the person's outer clothing for weapons if they have reasonable suspicion that the person stopped is armed. This reasonable suspicion must be based on “specific and articulable facts” and not merely upon an officer's hunch. This permitted police action has subsequently been referred to in short as a “stop and frisk”, or simply a “Terry stop”. The Terry standard was later extended to temporary detentions of persons in vehicles, known as traffic stops.

The rationale behind the Supreme Court decision revolves around the understanding that, as the opinion notes, “the exclusionary rule has its limitations”. The meaning of the rule is to protect persons from unreasonable searches and seizures aimed at gathering evidence, not searches and seizures for other purposes (like prevention of crime or personal protection of police officers).

Terry set the precedent for Michigan v. Long, 463 U.S. 1032 (1983). In an opinion citing Terry written by Justice O'Connor, the Supreme Court ruled that car compartments could be constitutionally searched if an officer had reasonable suspicion.

The scope of Terry was extended in the 2004 Supreme Court case Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada, 542 U.S. 177 (2004), which held that a state law requiring the suspect to identify himself during a Terry stop did not violate the Fourth Amendment prohibitions of unreasonable searches and seizures or the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.

RayNAustin wrote:

GSPODS wrote:Heard of a Terry Stop?

Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968), was a decision by the United States Supreme Court which held that the Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures was not violated when a police officer stopped a suspect on the street and searched him without probable cause to arrest.

The Court held that police may briefly detain a person if they have a reasonable suspicion that the person has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime. For their own protection, police may perform a quick surface search of the person's outer clothing for weapons if they have reasonable suspicion that the person stopped is armed. This reasonable suspicion must be based on “specific and articulable facts” and not merely upon an officer's hunch. This permitted police action has subsequently been referred to in short as a “stop and frisk”, or simply a “Terry stop”. The Terry standard was later extended to temporary detentions of persons in vehicles, known as traffic stops.

The rationale behind the Supreme Court decision revolves around the understanding that, as the opinion notes, “the exclusionary rule has its limitations”. The meaning of the rule is to protect persons from unreasonable searches and seizures aimed at gathering evidence, not searches and seizures for other purposes (like prevention of crime or personal protection of police officers).

Terry set the precedent for Michigan v. Long, 463 U.S. 1032 (1983). In an opinion citing Terry written by Justice O'Connor, the Supreme Court ruled that car compartments could be constitutionally searched if an officer had reasonable suspicion.

The scope of Terry was extended in the 2004 Supreme Court case Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada, 542 U.S. 177 (2004), which held that a state law requiring the suspect to identify himself during a Terry stop did not violate the Fourth Amendment prohibitions of unreasonable searches and seizures or the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.

The last place I'd look for integrity and justice is the court system.

NY courts just decided that police were reasonable when they filled an unarmed man with 50 bullet holes.

Welcome to Nazi Germany......now let me zee your papers

Report: Benson hires new attorney; witness says arrest 'ludicrous'

Chicago Bears running back Cedric Benson has hired a prominent defense attorney to help him fight charges of drunken boating and resisting arrest in Texas.

"I do not believe that Cedric was intoxicated when his boat was boarded by the [Lower Colorado River Authority] officers for a safety inspection," Benson's new lawyer, Sam Bassett, said Thursday in an e-mail, the Chicago Tribune reported. "I also am concerned that the force used by the LCRA officers, particularly the use of pepper spray, was not necessary under the circumstances."

Benson was arrested Saturday after LCRA officers patrolling Lake Travis, near Austin, stopped Benson's boat for a safety check.

According to the police report, Benson had bloodshot eyes, a "strong" alcohol odor and slurred speech when his boat was stopped. Benson has denied he was intoxicated or that he resisted law enforcement and will fight the charges against him.

On Thursday, another witness to the arrest supported claims by Benson and a friend that Benson was mistreated by police.

Tony Patch, who was not a passenger on Benson's boat, told WXAN-TV in Austin that he saw LCRA police "manhandling" Benson.

"As they were taking him up the dock, they stopped. He said, 'I am fine, I can continue walking,' and they put their legs behind his knees and knocked him over his knees and started hog-carrying him," Patch said, according to the report.

"They ended up -- I don't know why -- but laid him on his back, I heard him say, 'Please don't pepper-spray me, please don't pepper-spray me,'" Patch said, according to the report. "It was uncalled for, it was ludicrous, no point for it."

Earlier this week, Elizabeth Cartwright, a passenger on Benson's boat, said she did not believe Benson was intoxicated when he was arrested and that he did not resist officers, according to the Tribune. Cartwright, a University of Texas student and friend from Benson's days at Texas, called her father and asked him to dial 911.

Cartwright said that she had been a passenger on Benson's boat about six times this year -- and that every time, LCRA officers had approached Benson's boat for a random safety check, according to the report. Earlier this week, LCRA officials said they had stepped up patrols in the area where Benson's boat was stopped in response to a recent increase in fatal boating accidents involving alcohol.

According to the police report, Sgt. Leonard Snyder, who sprayed and arrested Benson, said he believed Benson was intoxicated because he was "combative," "cocky," "insulting" and used "profanity," but at other times was "crying" and "cooperative."

After failing sobriety tests applied by Snyder, who works with the Lower Colorado River Authority, Snyder wrote that Benson refused to come ashore for additional tests and "stood up from the position where I had him seated and suggested I could not tell him what to do."

Bassett gained national attention in his defense of Colton Pitonyak, who was convicted last year in the gruesome murder of University of Texas student Jennifer Cave.

"There is a lot of work left to be done, and I am not privy to all information regarding the case at this juncture," Bassett said, according to the Tribune. "Cedric is interested in focusing on football right now, and we will work hard for him while he prepares for the season."

Benson is in Chicago and has not commented since Sunday night, when he said he was innocent and had been mistreated by police. Benson faces a May 19 court date -- the first day of Bears "organized team activities" -- but he does not have to be present in court.

Benson had previously been represented in the case by Brian Carney, a friend and supporter from Benson's home town of Midland, Texas. Midland is about 300 miles from Austin.

BearSkins wrote:http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/chi-cedric-benson-arrested-060608,1,4499063.story

Benson gets arrested again, this time for drunk-driving. Can a trade to the Cowboys be far away....?

BearSkins wrote:http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/chi-cedric-benson-arrested-060608,1,4499063.story

Benson gets arrested again, this time for drunk-driving. Can a trade to the Cowboys be far away....?