Author: mopress

As we are waiting, [Y] said a brown suburban had pulled up and [X] had
come out and went up to the brown suburban and was making the
deal. Both the brown suburban and the [description withheld by
editor] truck leave [X’s] house. We were waiting for [Y] to call
the deal but we missed the take down. Sgt. Doyle follows the
brown suburban and [A & B] follow the [description withheld by
editor] truck. The suburban goes south on Bluff Springs to
Quicksilver. [Y] had given the license plate on the
suburban. The plate comes back to an address on Vinehill.
We were thinking it was the same people from the Honeybee area.
We knew Sgt. Doyle was already following the suburban so we were going
to intercept the vehicle by going down south on on Pleasant Valley to
Quicksilver. [Y] came up on the radio and asked if we had written
the license plate down and I had written the license plate on my hand
and Michelle was running it on the computer.

I make a right on Quicksilver from S. Pleasant Valley and at the same
time Sgt. Doyle is on the radio and he said he had not made a stop on
the vehicle. I see the suburban and Sgt. Doyle is in his white unmarked
vehicle behind the suburban. I backed my car up and saw them come
to the stop sign. I told Michelle I was making the stop. I
decided to come in diagonally on them. My intention was not to
block them but to make it as safe as possible to make the stop. I
hit my emergency red and blue dash lights. Michelle was getting
out of the car and at the same time I used my spotlight and lit up the
inside of the car. I saw four people in the suburban. One
driver, one front seat passenger, one left rear passenger and one right
rear passenger. The right rear passenger got out and jumped a
privacy fence. I had yelled "[C name withheld by editor]" to the
guy that scaled the fence. I knew I had no chance of catching him
but yelled this anyway to let him know I knew who he was. I don’t
know if this other guy was [C]. I heard Michelle say, "Rocha,
Rocha stay in the car." The spot light was lighting through the
car and I immediately recognized Daniel Rocha. Rocha was in the
second row. He had scooted over near the right rear passenger
seat. He had been sitting across from the guy who fled. I
knew who he was because we had been looking for him and I knew he had a
theft from person warrant. I had spoken to [D name withheld by
editor] and the case was about Rocha taking a ladies wallet from her
possession at a McDonald’s. I knew there was a get away car
involved in the theft from person case but I don’t remember what kind
of car it was. I had no information that Rocha was associated
with the suburban that we just stopped. Michelle had gone to the
driver’s side but I was completely focused on Rocha. I don’t know
what happened to the front passenger.

I went to the rear passenger door. The stop sign is behind me and
there is a curb in between the suburban and the sidewalk. I’m
pretty sure I open the rear passenger door. I’m thinking I need
to contain him inside the vehicle because I don’t want him to fight and
run. I’m trying to keep him in the suburban. Both my hands
are empty. I usually carry a small flashlight in the cargo pocket
of my pants. I had opened the door and was leaning inside the
vehicle. He had scooted to the spot nearly behind the front
passenger seat. There is no doubt in my mind that he knew I was a
cop and no doubt in my mind that he knew I knew who he was. I
don’t remember exactly what I was telling him. I said his name a
couple of times. I think I told him he had a warrant. I
went to feel his body, initially he was relaxed and cooperating and he
was raising his hands and asking me what was going on, he was also
moving into me and toward the door. I was definitely blocking the
door. All of a sudden he tenses up and then he lunged at
me. The fight is on. He was grabbing at my chest and
body. He is using his force to try to get past me. He was
doing everything he could to get past me by muscling me. I wear a
police vest that has POLICE on the right upper chest area. There
are two velcro pockets on the front of the vest. In my right
pocket I have my taser that is Velcro’s in and in the left pocket I had
my badge pinned to the outside and a blue folding knife in it.
Rocha had his hands up near my head and upper body when he tensed up
and started fighting. The fight was happening while still inside
the vehicle. I’m trying to keep him in the vehicle and he
overpowered me and he got his legs out first. He spins out toward
the rear of the suburban as I’m still trying to hold onto him. I
saw Sgt. Doyle run up from the rear and grab Rocha’s back or right
side. Sgt. Was on the opposite side I was on. Rocha was
fighting very hard. Sgt. was trying to get control of Rocha’s
torso while I was trying to get control of body too. My back was
to the suburban and both Sgt and I were trying to get Rocha onto the
ground. It’s been my experience that if we could get him to the
ground it was to our advantage to get the person handcuffed.
Rocha and I are on the ground and we are fully engaged in a
fight. I was on my knees and I have bruises. By this time,
Sgt. Doyle was no longer engaged with Rocha. I think Sgt. Fell
and ended up to the far left of where Rocha and I were. I would
describe it as a fight and wrestling match. His arms are on the
inside of me and I could feel him grabbing at my vest and waist.
He [w]as in my upper body and arms. There was no time to get the
handcuffs out or anything else because we were fighting so hard.
I remeber thinking two of us can’t even get this guy to the ground and
we were fighting so hard with him.

Sgt. Doyle was off to the side. Rocha’s body comes off me and
lunges toward Sgt. Doyle. I’m pawing at my vest to look for my
taser I was still on my knees as I was looking for my taser. I
was looking for it to use on Rocha. Rocha’s body was off to my
left side but now he was on top of my boss. I could see Sgt.
Doyle and Rocha fighting. Sgt. Doyle had on blue jeans, dark
shirt and police raid vest. I think Sgt. Was tilted back or on
his side. I couldn’t see Sgt. Face. He was to the left of
Rocha. I was scared for my life and for my boss’ life. I
was worried about Rocha using my taser and using it on my boss and
taking his gun. I have been in a number of fights before and
never have I felt this scared and afraid. I was focued on Rocha’s
white shirt. I felt for my taser and it was gone, I couldn’t see
Rocha’s hands as he was fighting with Sgt. Doyle. Instinctively I
grabbed for my gun and shot him once. I think I shot him in the
back left shoulder. I only shot him once. Self-preservation
took over.

I yelled to Sgt. "I shot him, I shot him." Sgt. Went to Rocha and
turned him over. When I shot him, Rocha lunged forward and then
fell. Rocha was face down. Sgt. rolls Rocha over and said
something to him. Sgt. got on the radio and called for
assistance. I walked around and ripped my vest off and laid it on
the trunk of my car. I put the gun on the trunk of my car and I
don’t remember re-holstering my gun. I remember feeling for my
gun and couldn’t find it and later [Y] told me it was in the front seat
of my car. I remember seeing my gun on the driver’s seat of my
car. I don’t remember if an officer came up and took the gun from
me. They must have taken it off the trunk of the car. I
remember putting it on the trunk and just remember wanting to put it
down.

Very quickly everyone was there…..

Signed and notarized June 10, 2005

RECOMMENDATIONS of Aug. 16 Press Conference

In Response to No-Billing of Police Officer

In Daniel Rocha Killing

1) Institute a "Uniform Disciplinary Matrix" that makes officer
punishments consistent from case to case, including mandatory
termination for the most serious offenses. Per the latter, the adoption
of this recommendation would induce the termination of Julie Schroeder,
who shot an unarmed, 132-pound 18-year-old boy in the back at point
blank range after he was already face down on the ground.

2) Mandate pairing of proven (i.e. no history of excessive force,
discrimination or suspension) veterans with rookies on the East side.

3) Institute accountable, documented and independent [of the patrolling
officer(s)] handling of all patrol car video cameras and tapes, and have
all video and audio recording devices in operation during all activity,
not subject to arbitrary control by the patrolling officer.

In addition to these recommendations, we call for a public apology by
Chief Knee to the Rocha family and to the community at large for the
behavior of Julie Schroeder, and for the behavior of all of the officers
who have used excessive force.
For Immediate Release: ADVISORY
August 16, 2005
Contact: Debbie Russell, 573-6194
or Austin Dullnig, 443-5616

ACLU & Other Community Leaders Call for Termination of Julie Schroeder
in Light of Grand Jury Decision

What: The Central Texas ACLU and other community leaders will hold a
press conference urging APD Chief Stan Knee to terminate Julie Schroeder
in accordance with their recommendations asserted earlier this week (see
below). Given the recent shooting of 18-year-old Hispanic Daniel Rocha,
such respected figures as Rev. Sterling Lands, II and prominent local
organizations as PODER, LULAC, the NAACP and the American Friends
Service Committee agree with the ACLU that these recommendations would
help to ensure that no more violent injustice is perpetrated by the APD
in our potentially peaceful city.

Where: Travis County Courthouse steps, 1000 Guadalupe St. (between 10th
and 11th on Guadalupe)

When: Tuesday, August 16, 2005, 5:00pm press conference and demonstration

Who: the Central Texas ACLU, PODER, LULAC, El Concilio, Austin Area NAACP

Why: too many people of color have died as a result of excessive use of
force by the APD, and many more have been wrongfully and violently
treated. The Grand Jury process is characterized by conflict of
interest, and the ball is now in the court of the APD. By terminating
Julie Schoreder and adopting a few very specific policies and practices,
the APD could prevent such tragedies as have occurred with Sophia King,
Jesse Owens and Daniel Rocha, and begin to restore the trust of the
Austin community.

Enclosed is a memorandum sent to Ramsey Muniz
regarding his legal case. Know that we are
very encouraged about this information, and
remain optimistic. Please distribute.
==Irma L. Muniz, via Sixth Sun Mailing List

July 28, 2005

According to the court, under the sentencing
guidelines, the offensive level applicable to your
case was 37, category VI. With this in mind, the court
found that the punishment in your case was mandatory
life imprisonment. Under the guidelines (see sentencing
transcript at p. 29) it appears that this finding is
incorrect. Level 37 with 9 criminal history points is
not category 6. It is category 4. (See sentencing table).
Thus, under category 4, the punishment required by the
guidelines is not life. It is 292-365 months [24-30 years]. The court
did it wrong. While this error appears to be harmless, under the
section 841 enhancement (with 2 prior convictions), the
contrary is the true. The record does not show that the
government followed the proper section 851 procedure.
To apply the section 841 enhancement, the government must
file a section 851 "notice" before trial (selection of
the jury). Here, the court’s docket does not show such
filing. The only "notice" concerning section 851 was
given at sentencing hearing concerning the enhancement.
(See sentencing transcript, at page 3). If this is
true, the government followed the wrong procedure and
there is law to support this fact. Your sentence of
life is void because by not filing the section 851
notice (before the jury selection), the government did
not give proper jurisdiction to the court. It has no
jurisdiction over the enhanced penalty of section 841.

With the available record, it is possible to assume
that this conclusion is correct. Nevertheless, we must
be 100 percent sure that this fact is accurate. Send
this letter, the sentencing transcripts, and the court’s
docket to Jesse Gamez for corroboration.

We have a jurisdictional argument for any court, at
any time, because a jurisdictional issue is never waived
or restringed by the AedpA’s 1 year time limitation.

www.freeramsey.com For background on Ramsey Muniz, see TCRR special report: Narco Politics vs. Civil Rights.

Let’s review what happened when our state leaders met in Austin in 2005
to do the work that we elected them to do for us. After the regular
session and the added expense of two special sessions, they did not even
come close to solving the key issues facing Texas. After all was said
and done and facing the competing forces of political fallout and
constituent demands, the Texas legislature presented Texas voters with a
consolation prize of nine propositions on the November 8th ballot. Nine
propositions of which not even one is related to the key issues facing
Texas. As Texas voters, we are faced with a government that has failed us,
again.

I believe that Texas voters of all party affiliations see clearly now
the government waste produced by our state leaders wrapped in
ideological straight-jackets. The evidence lays in the sum of the accomplishments
of the past legislative session – nine propositions on the November 8th
ballot that do not address a single key issue facing Texas. I propose
that we take the opportunity to voice our discontent with our state
government leaders on November 8th by voting ‘No’ to all propositions on
the ballot. By voting ‘No’ to all propositions, we assert our right to
reject a government that does not serve the people. This is the boldest
statement every Texas voter can make this November.

–Excerpts from an email distributed by Alvarado for Texas Lt. Gov.