(Updated with police report) After making his first appearance in court since his arrest in East Haven, Father James Manship decried an “abuse of power” perpetrated by the East Haven police department.
Manship was arrested on Feb. 19 while videotaping police officers in My Country Store, a Latino-owned convenience mart in East Haven.
Click here to read the police report.
Standing before Judge Philip A. Scarpellino in New Haven Superior Court Wednesday morning, the priest pleaded not guilty to charges of disorderly conduct and interfering with a police officer. The priest leads a parish in the heart of New Haven’s Latino immigrant community. He contends that at the time of his arrest, he was bearing witness to police harassment of Latinos in East Haven, which he said has been ongoing since June 2008.
Following his brief appearance in court, Manship was joined by over a dozen supporters for a press conference on the snow-covered New Haven Green. The group painted Manship’s arrest as part of a larger problem of racial profiling in East Haven. Three Latino owners of East Haven businesses testified to experiencing police harassment, saying that East Haven police officers pull over Latino drivers without cause, threaten them, and tell them to leave town.
East Haven police deny the allegations.
Maria Chacon, owner of two East Haven businesses, called for an apology from the East Haven police and a meeting with the East Haven Mayor April Capone Almon and Police Chief Len Gallo. The mayor and chief had not returned phone calls requesting comment as of press time.
“Not guilty”
Manship was called before Judge Scarpellino shortly before 11 a.m. Wednesday. The priest is being represented by members of Yale Law School’s Criminal Defense Project.
Manship spoke only once during the proceedings. “Not guilty,” he said.
Second-year law student Basha Rubin made a motion to preserve evidence, asking the judge to require the East Haven police to preserve any footage on Manship’s confiscated video camera, any typed, handwritten or electronic, communications pertaining to the arrest, including cell-phone calls, radio communication, text messages, and emails.
“That’s a little broad,” protested the state’s attorney, Joseph LaMotta.
But the judge approved the motion. “I’m ordering the police to keep everything they now have in existence.”
A court date was set for March 27 at 10 a.m. Manship’s lawyers elected to have the case heard by a jury rather than a judge alone.
Arrest Report: Manship Had “An Unknown Shiny Object”
At the time of his arrest, Manship was videotaping East Haven police in the process of removing license plates from a wall at the rear of My County Store. Wilfred Matute, the owner of the store, said that the plates were simply decorative. Matute said that he was told by police that his possession of the plates was illegal and that they would have to be removed.
Father Manship’s arrest report, providing more details about police activity in the store on the evening of Feb. 19, was released on Wednesday morning, 13 days after the priest was placed in custody.
Reached by phone, Hugh Keefe, a high-powered criminal defense attorney who’s representing the East Haven Police Department, summarized the report as follows:
According to the Officer David Cari, Keefe said, Officer Dennis Spaulding had approached Father Manship when he entered the store, advising him to keep his distance from the police. Spaulding had reportedly given Manship a similar warning earlier in the week.
Manship allegedly walked toward the police with an “unknown shiny object cupped in his hands.” Manship stopped and “fully extended his hands” towards the officers. Officer Cari reported that he felt unsafe. He asked Manship if he was holding a video camera, asked him to reveal what was in his hands. Manship reportedly didn’t answer.
Cari reported that he approached Manship and put a hand on his arm. The priest concealed the camera and “moved in an aggressive manner” shouting repeatedly “I’m a priest and you cannot touch me!” Cari reported that Manship tried to pass the camera to someone else, and fought with the police, who promptly arrested him.
“When you have something in your hand and the police ask you a simple question, common sense dictates that you answer that question,” attorney Keefe said.
“I wasn’t there, but it sounds like [Officer Dennis] Spaulding was investigating a legitimate case,” Keefe said, explaining that many of the 78 license plates on the wall looked current and had price tags on them, as though they were for sale. Store owner Matute has said that the price tags were from when he had purchased them. “It would have been a dereliction of duty if [Spaulding] hadn’t seized the plates.”
“What the hell are license plates doing in a retail store with price stickers on them?” Keefe asked. Keefe said that Officer Spaulding’s report states, “it appeared that the plates on the wall were for re-sale.”
“He had the absolute right to investigate,” Keefe said.
Yale Law Professor Chris Lasch, who’s representing Manship, said that it was “unusual” in his experience that a arrest report would be released after lawyers had had a chance to look at it. “There are certainly inferences that can be drawn,” from the nearly two-week delay, Lasch said. He declined to elaborate.
Apology Demanded
Following his morning court appearance, Manship held a press conference on the New Haven green. Flanked by over a dozen supporters, including several Latino residents of East Haven, Manship decried “racial profiling” and an “abuse of power” perpetrated by the East Haven police department.
“People are living in fear,” said Father Manship. “It’s immoral and unjust and it must be remedied.”
Invoking the memory of the Amistad slaves and the establishment of the Knights of Columbus, Manship said, “As a catholic priest, I stand in solidarity with all who are vulnerable and defenseless.”
Pedro Gutierrez (at right in photo below), owner of Guti’z Bakery on Main Street in East Haven, said that he noticed the presence of East Haven police at his store immediately after opening his business in January. At first, he said, he thought that the police were watching out for his business and protecting his customers. Then the police began stopping his Latino customers and harassing them. “They essentially intercepted my clients based on the color of their skin,” Gutierrez said, through a translator.
“We have seen much injustice,” said Luis Rodriguez (pictured, center), owner of Los Amigos Grocery. Rodriguez said that his family is “terrorized” and that his pregnant wife had to visit the hospital after being confronted and yelled at by Officer Dennis Spaulding.
Rodriguez said that Officer Spaulding has shouted things like “I don’t like you Spanish here,” and “Get out of here.”
“We have been here over ten years and paid taxes,” said Marcia Chacon, owner (with her husband, Wilfred Matute) of My Country Store and Kathy’s Hair Salon.
The activities of the East Haven police have “created an atmosphere of fear in our community,” Chacon said. “My family, my children, are afraid to walk down the streets of East Haven.”
“We demand an apology from the chief of police,” Chacon said. “We demand an investigation of the misconduct of certain officers. We would like a meeting with the mayor and with the police commission. We are, after all, people who want to work and who contribute to the economy of this country.”
“The police in East Haven are not prepared for a changing demographic reality,” said Sister Mary Ellen Burns, an attorney and advocate for immigrants. Burns said that the East Haven police have insufficient training to work with the seven Latino businesses and 2,000 Latino residents of East Haven.
Father Manship said that he had been working with the Latino community of East Haven to document police abuses, in preparation for a meeting with the mayor and the police chief. Manship said that complaints against the police had not been made prior to his arrest because “people are terrorized” and because of a lack of resources to contest police charges.
“These are folks who are just managing to stay on top of things,” Manship said. “A lot of folks can’t miss a day of work to be in court.”
Nardo Marin, owner of La Bamba restaurant in East Haven, walked down Elm Street after the meeting. He said that Officer Dennis Spaulding had been parked outside his business the night before. “He’s still there, hunting Latinos.”