Homeless Abuse Update

By April Silvaggio  

MARCH 26, 2010 3:13 p.m. (3)

A former Greenville police officer has waived his right to have evidence presented before a federal grand jury and is scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate William M. Catoe Tuesday at 11 a.m. to enter a guilty plea to a federal civil rights violation, the acting U.S. attorney said.

Matthew Scott Jowers is accused of using excessive force in connection with his role as a police officer. In documents filed by acting U.S. Attorney Kevin McDonald with the court says Jowers did grab, push and improperly restrain an individual.

The Greenville Journal reported last month that a decision involving an investigation that began in September into misconduct allegations against at least four former Greenville police officers by the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI had reached a point where a break in the case was imminent.
It was then that McDonald, a veteran federal prosecutor who was tapped to replace former U.S. Attorney Walt Wilkins until President Barack Obama’s new appointee, Columbia defense attorney Bill Nettles, could be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, described the investigation as “unique” and said it covered new ground for South Carolina.

“I’m not aware of one like this here before,” McDonald said at the time.

But McDonald did say the investigation here was similar to a case in Gastonia, N.C. nearly two decades ago where police officers were prosecuted by the federal government for beating, kicking, spray painting and dousing homeless people with urine, hot coffee and warm cooking oil.

What happened there began to unravel one night in October 1990 under a railroad trestle when a 20-year-old homeless man named Norman Ben Hannah heard laughing and saw a police car drive off after being doused in the face with warm cooking oil.

The story put the city on the NBC Nightly News.

The incident set in motion a federal investigation that resulted in three officers pleading guilty to assault charges and civil rights violations in connection with abuse and harassment of homeless people and indictments against four other officers on similar charges.

Of those four,  one was acquitted.

In January 1993, the two officers who were depicted in court as ring leaders of the abuse and harassment were sentenced to federal prison. Four other officers were given sentences that included paying fines, serving probation, time at work release centers and on house arrest and community service in homeless shelters.

Prosecutors during the sentencing hearing told how one of the officers coined the phrase “ride on Space Mountain” to describe the beatings. The assaults began, prosecutors said, while the officers were working together on the Gastonia Police Department’s Eagle Team, a unit that included some of the agency’s most ambitious and decorated officers.
Some of the officers had gone as far as having “Space Mountain” T-shirts printed to celebrated being exonerated in a 1989 departmental probe of abuse.

Indictments alleged the officers at night would prowl the streets of the North Carolina town, located about 20 miles east of Charlotte, communicating via CB radios and notifying each other when they would spy a homeless person sleeping.

After work, the officers often met to share escapades, laugh and boast.

The story gained national attention in 1991 when an officer was fired after being convicted on a state assault charge stemming from Hannah’s dousing. And immediately, the glare of the media spotlight began to rock Gastonia’s 220-officer force.

But the full antics of the Eagle Team officers who referred to themselves as the “Space Mountain Boys” didn’t go public until the federal indictments were handed down the summer of 1992.

Hannah didn’t live to see it. He died of a gunshot wound in what was eventually ruled a suicide.
The city ended up paying $98,250 to his estate and six other street people who had joined together to file a civil suit over the harassment.

Neil Donovan, executive director for the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington, D.C., said his organization is watching the situation in Greenville closely as it lobbies the federal government to make criminalizing the homeless a hate crime.

McDonald said the investigation is ongoing and additional charges against other defendants could be forthcoming.
Jowers, who is represented by Greenville defense lawyer Beattie Ashmore, worked at the city police department for about three years, his attorney said.
Ashmore said the charge against his client is a misdemeanor, which carries up to a year in prison upon conviction.
Ashmore confirmed that Jowers signed a plea agreement Friday morning after the charges were filed, and said his client would have no comment prior to his upcoming appearance in federal court.

The Greenville Police Department issued a statement late this afternoon saying it has been informed that an officer is facing a charge in the U.S. District Court of South Carolina.

In the statement, Chief Terri Wilfong said the department continues to work toward restoring the trust and confidence of the community during “this difficult time.”

“As in this case, when an officer is accused of wrongdoing, it must be investigated thoroughly and expeditiously so that everyone has confidence in the law enforcement agency that serves the city, county or state in which they live,” the statement said. “As chief, I want to reassure the members of this community that the men and women that comprise this agency are dedicated to treating everyone with respect, dignity and equality and integrity with this agency is not negotiable.”

Comments

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amanda  - im a menice to society   |2012-08-24 17:27:55 i committing suicide tonight been abused far to long Reply

Clint Reep  - Gastonia PD destroyed evidence in my case   |2012-11-26 16:44:54 As a former cop I can attest that Gastonia PD has and seemingly always will conceal evidence that proves someone innocent. The tactics of Gastonia PD and the Gaston DA's office clearly leave much to be desired for truly innocent people. Reply

Tomorri conard  - My brother was Norman Ben Hannah   |2013-01-23 00:44:35 He was murdered he did not commit suicide. It was a cover up and it's a shame that it was allowed Reply

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