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Attorneys at a New York City public defenders’ office participated in an online video that advocated the killing of police officers, featuring the lyrics “time to start killing these coppers,” a city investigation disclosed on Thursday.

The video “Hands Up,” which shows singers pointing guns at someone portraying a police officer, was released shortly before the deadly ambush on Dec. 20 of two New York City officers by a gunman angry over police killings of unarmed black men.

Two attorneys with the Bronx Defenders, a city-funded legal service organization, appear in the anti-police video, some of which was filmed at the Bronx office, according to the New York City Department of Investigation report.

The Bronx Defenders posted a message on its website saying it “abhors the use of violence against the police.”

“The Bronx Defenders never approved the music video ‘Hands Up,’ and never saw it before it went online,” it said. “We deeply regret any involvement with this video. Credits at the end of the video cite the Bronx Defenders as its sponsor.

“Advocating the killing of police officers is unacceptable and offensive,” Mark Peters, commissioner of the Department of Investigation, said in a statement.

“These attorneys have abysmally failed to meet their obligations to their clients, to the courts and to the city as a whole,” he said.

The not-for-profit Bronx Defenders has city contracts of about $20 million for criminal and family defense services, and represents some 35,000 people a year, Peters said.

The findings will be sent to the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice and the city’s Corporation Counsel for possible further action, Peters said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement called the findings “deeply disturbing.”

“Any endorsement of violence against police officers is completely unacceptable and will absolutely not be tolerated,” he said.

A deep rift has formed between the mayor and some police over what they see as his failure to support the department during a wave of anti-police protests. Some say he contributed to an anti-police climate.

The mayor demanded the Bronx Defenders take immediate action in response to the findings and said if it does not, the city will do so.

The report also said the Bronx Defenders’ executive director, Robin Steinberg, failed to discipline staff members after learning about the video and made misleading statements to officials about their involvement.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/201...g-police-city-finds/

Last edited by Bestworking
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Originally Posted by jtdavis:

Lawyers were stupid enough to do something like that? I bet they are public defenders, no one would pay good money to someone that dumb.

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Who do you think pays them? Do you think they work for free? Some lawyers may do pro bono work, but not public defenders. We're paying for the Boston bomber's lawyers.

 http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2013/...al-public-defenders/

 

 

Public defenders are attorneys employed by the government to represent people who are accused of a crime but cannot afford to hire a lawyer. These clients, called indigent defendants, are legally entitled to counsel and are appointed an attorney by the court system. Public defenders are employed on the county or local level, the state level and the federal level, so the courts may provide defendants with one no matter what type of offense they are charged with.

Last edited by Bestworking
Originally Posted by jtdavis:

In Lauderdale county, a public defender was assigned to an individual, he went to court, did not get a decision, the public defender wanted him to pay $500 to go to court again. The public defenders cost was added to his probation fees.

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Then he/she must have had some money and really didn't need a public defender. As insane as it was, amy bishop, the ----- that killed the professors in Huntsville, and had earlier murdered her brother, got a public defender. They had plenty of assets and I still don't know how 1. she managed to get a lawyer provided for her, and 2. her husband wasn't charged/tried/jailed as her accessory, and 3. she's not on death row.

Last edited by Bestworking

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