LAPD Whistle-blower
Prison Sentence Overturned; Court’s Decision Fails to
Remedy Abuse of Protective Orders The
9th circuit federal appeals court overturned the
sentence of Los Angeles Police Department whistle-blower
Bob
Mullally this week. Mullally was facing a 6-month
prison sentence for contempt of court after leaking
documents to the media that exposed brutal domestic
violence felonies committed by LAPD officers. The Court
of Appeals directed that Mullally be re-sentenced, and
recommended that he be given probation instead of a
prison sentence. In doing so, the 9th Circuit upheld
Mullally’s violation of the protective order, but found
that the sentence should be overturned because the
language in the order was vague, and because the
convicting judge erroneously stated that Mullally was
motivated by ego. Mullally’s efforts, along with
pressure from the National Center for Women &
Policing and the Feminist Majority Foundation, led to a
major investigation into and reform of the LAPD’s
disciplinary procedures for officers who commit domestic
violence. Katherine Spillar, Executive Vice President of
the Feminist Majority Foundation, was pleased with the
court’s refusal to endorse a prison sentence for
Mullally, but disheartened to see that the court was
unwilling to take a stronger stance against the use of
protective orders to conceal felonies. “From day one,
I’ve said that it’s a tragedy that Bob Mullally is the
one being punished here, when none of the criminal
officers he exposed were ever prosecuted, or even
arrested.”
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Media Resources: Los Angeles Times,
10/30/02 |
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