A desk sergeant ordered the six officers to take Torres to Ben Taub General Hospital for medical treatment. Attorneys for the three defendants pointed out that the new sentences, because they exceed one year, would render the former officers eligible for parole, which would not be the case had their sentences remained at precisely one year. On the one-year anniversary of Torres' death, the simmering social unrest erupted into riots. That sort of exchange previously would have been unimaginable. The arresting officers took him to a place dubbed 'the hole,' an area behind a warehouse along the Buffalo Bayou, and beat him before taking Torres to the city jail. The department wanted to rebuild its reputation fast. It is the headquarters for the Texas prison system. Judge Sterling, who issued the sentences today without comment, was appointed to the Federal bench by President Ford in 1976. 'My mother was never the same after Jose was killed,' his sister Janie Torres, who was 10 at the time her brother's death, said. Aided by the research of producer and Austin-based journalist Eva Ruth Moravec, Alonzo guides listeners through interviews with Chicano activists, former police officers, scholars, and Torress family members. Houstonians should take pride in knowing that a once-troubled department is now a model for the nation. Sunday's formal apology comes after Finner and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner met privately with Torres' family over Memorial Day weekend, but wanted to make a public showingABC 13 reported. The conflicts could have kept escalating were it not for Houston's new police chief, Harry Caldwell, who was hired a few months after the riot. Torres' mother was quoted as saying, "If five Mexican killed a cop, it wouldn't be like this. But as Alonzo points out: the squads role wasnt to patrol these neighborhoods, it was to solve the crimes that were plaguing them. Watch: Astros SP Luis Garcia debuts new windup after rule changes, Oops! Im not an immigration officer. The convicted former officers are Terry W. Denson, 27, and Stephen Orlando, 22. By Associated Press and Peter Belfiore For Dailymail.Com, Published: 17:01 GMT, 28 June 2021 | Updated: 08:56 GMT, 29 June 2021, Houston's police chief has publicly apologized to the family of a man killed by six officers more than four decades ago, calling it a 'straight-up murder.'. A convenience store/drive-in grocery at 3814 Fulton is vandalized by riotersin the 1978 Moody Park riots. The other count, a misdemeanor violation of Mr. Torres's rights by intimidation, carries a maximum punishment of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. A desk sergeant ordered the six officers to take Torres to Ben Taub General Hospital for medical treatment. Houston Police Chief B. G. "Pappy" Bond holds a press conference in his office. The judge sentenced them to one year of probation and fined them each $1. October 7, 1977 Two former Houston policemen on trial for beating and drowning a Mexican-American prisoner in their custody last May were convicted by a jury today of misdemeanor charges that. He said looters from the riot at Moody Park knocked out windows and forced the clerk to flee through the back of the store as the crowd looted. Terry Denson in Texas. Mimi Swartz is a staff writer based in Houston. New Higher Salaries! Carless Elliott, the only rookie cop at the scene that night, later recalled in court the words of one of his fellow officers, the last words Torres must have heard before his body plunged into those dark waters: Lets see if this wetback can swim.. Denson testified that Torres had said he could swim and had jumped into the water. The Justice Department brought civil rights charges against the three after Mr. Denson and Mr. Orlando were acquitted of murder charges in state court. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. This has destroyed all of us. After adjustments, if you continue to experience problems, please contact us. View the profiles of people named Terry Denson. In the case of [Torres], theres racism, theres extreme brutality.. CBS Evening News for Wednesday, Feb 08, 1978 WHERE ARE THEY NOW:A look at prominent figures in the Rodney King riots, "What happened was when the police came in to arrest some people, and actually took somebody, people said 'No,'" then-rookie cop Harold Barthe told Houston Public Media in 2008. The case and its verdict outraged the local Mexican American community, sparking protests outside the Harris County Courthouse and police headquarters. City officials vowed to memorialize Torres in some way, The worst thing for her, she said was that, 'No matter how many apologies we get, it can never change the fact because Joe, at the end, never got justice.'. If I didnt tell you that this story took place forty years ago, you might think it had just happened, Alonzo told me. Terry Denson and Steven Orlando, for murder. Outraged Mexican-American spokesman immediately called on the U.S. Justice Department to prosecute the case in federal court as a civil rights violation, for which the officers could receive up to life in prison. Hector J. Garcia of Houston, chairman of the Coalition for Responsible Law Enforcement, whose group has been meeting with police officials since last April, said violent police incidents here show no sign of abating. Two former Houston policemen on trial for beating and drowning a Mexican-American prisoner in their custody last May were convicted by a jury today of misdemeanor charges that will cost each no more than a year in jail and a $2,000 fine. Witnesses on the other side of the bayou couldnt make out what was happening in the darkness, but they heard a scuffle, then a splash. HPD is now hiring for our upcoming classes. Officials at the jail refused to book Torres due to his injuries, and told the officers to bring him to a hospital. The Government appealed, arguing that probation was not permissible in cases where the possible penalty was life in prison, as it is in Federal civil rights cases in which the victim has died. Torres's body was found two days later. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. View Terry Denson results in Texas (TX) including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. Host Alonzo, a self-proclaimed history nerd, often spent time in history classes in the Rio Grande Valley thumbing through her books trying to find important figures that looked like her. "Let's see if the wetback can swim." With those words, Officer. The officers then took Torres to the city jail, where jailers refused to process him due to his injuries. Two additional officers at the scene, Glenn Brinkmeyer and Lewis Kinney, were suspended from duty but granted immunity by the state in exchange for their testimony. Complaints against members of the Houston Police Department may be initiated in person to a supervisor at any police substation throughout the City of Houston, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All six officers were found guilty of violating Torres' civil rights, and given a ten-year suspended sentence. When police attempted to make an arrest at a Cinco de Mayo celebration in Moody Park, attendees began throwing rocks and overturning police cars. Historian Dwight David Watson, who is interviewed in Chicano Squad, wrote a book on twentieth-century HPD history in which he traces its ties to the Ku Klux Klan in the twenties and the years of racist incidents and attempts at reform that followed. Officers Terry Denson and Stephen Orlando were convicted of negligent homicide, a misdemeanor, and were fined $1 and sentenced to probation. The Torres case prompted the Houston Police Department to create its Internal Affairs Division in 1977. Phone 615-322-2927. Last month, members of Congress visited our city to learn about HPD's successful community programs. Houston police take man into custody during Moody Park riot that broke out following a Cinco de Mayo celebration in the park. Torres was 23 on the night of May 5, 1977, when he was arrested for disorderly conduct at a bar, according to reports from the Houston Chronicle at the time. The officers were eventually sentenced to nine months in prison, but tensions simmered for a year until they boiled over on the anniversary of Campos Torres' death. At least 22 persons were arrested at a city park after violence broke out in the chiefly Mexican-American neighborhood following a disturbance which led to vandalism and bottle throwing among the estimated mob of 1,500 persons. info@texasarchive.org A number of people have since been tried. There, they brutally beat him for several hours. The pain is a lot deeper than what you could have ever imagined. The case and its verdict outraged the local Mexican-American community, sparking protests outside the Harris County Courthouse and police headquarters. In Chicano Squad, an eleven-episode podcast released in January by Vox Media, host and actress Cristela Alonzo follows Houstons attempts to grapple with the aftermath of Torress death, which included the creation of the first all-Latino homicide squad in the country. Reuben Bonilla of Corpus Christi, who heads the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) in Texas, called the verdict "the most deplorable and unconscionable in recent memory," and said he fears Hispanic-American violence unless the Justic Department acts promptly to bring a federal case against the officers. Chip Gaines Bought Larry McMurtrys Historic Texas Bookstore. Five months after Torress murder, an all-white jury found Denson and Orlando guilty of negligent homicidea misdemeanor. A new podcast explores the history of the Chicano Squad as part of a Houston police department effort to repair its broken relationship with the Latino community. REPORTER: Dennis Murphy (KHOU-TV) Artist: Harris Milam. 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