Shadow Vigilantes

by Paul H. Robinson

  THE CROWN HEIGHTS MACCABEES

  Recall, in chapter 7, that the Hasidic Jewish community of Crown Heights, New York, facing the growing menace of local crime, formed a neighborhood watch group. The group, called the Maccabees, had an enormous impact in reducing crime rates in the area; however, crime was controversially displaced to neighboring communities, sparking ethnic unrest.

  Over the next several years, the number of Maccabees volunteers grew, but by the late 1960s, political pressure forced the group to dissolve. Rabbi Samuel Schrage, the group's founder, died in 1976 at the age of forty-three.

  Still, the Maccabees remained in some form or another for several more decades, cropping up in neighboring New York communities under various names. They remain active today, with offshoots across the city, along the East Coast, and in the United States as a whole. Back in Crown Heights, two groups, the Shmira and the Shomrim, keep separate dispatch centers on opposite sides of the area and are still active protectors of their communities.31

  THE ANIMAL LIBERATION FRONT

  The ALF, discussed in chapter 7, used violent means to damage property associated with animal exploitation, and they remain active today, even maintaining a website.

  While some members are occasionally caught for ALF-affiliated activities, many attacks are left unsolved because they're launched by small cells or lone actors. There is no centralized leadership that law enforcement can target.32 Federal authorities have designated the group as a domestic ecoterrorism group, and one of its affiliated individuals has been listed on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorist list.33 As a response to the ALF's increasingly controversial actions of the 1990s, federal legislators passed the 1992 Animal Enterprise Protection Act, lobbying by affected animal-utilizing organizations. The act criminalizes stealing from and causing damage or property loss to an “animal enterprise.”34

  Beyond the organization's illicit projects, the ALF website has become a resource for information on numerous animal-related issues; among other things, the website provides suggestions for ways to help fund vet care for pets, information about shelters that are known for good animal care and animal-oriented nonprofits looking for support, and medical theories that argue for the health benefits of giving up meat. The website is also explicit about the organization's ideology and mission: “Animal rights is the freedom for all sentient beings to live a natural life, free from human exploitation, and free from unnecessary pain and suffering.” For ALF supporters, “speciesism”—or “discrimination solely on the basis of species”—“is as illegitimate as discrimination on the basis of sex, or race, or the ability to cha-cha.”35

  OPERATION RESCUE

  Founded in Texas in the mid-1980s, Operation Rescue is a militant pro-life organization that protests abortion clinics and trains pro-life advocates to be effective fighters for the pro-life movement. While Operation Rescue doesn't explicitly support violence, some of its followers do: in 1993, Scott Roeder, a supporter of Operation Rescue, murdered abortion doctor George Tiller as Tiller left his church (see chapter 7).

  After the assassination, Scott Roeder fled but was soon arrested and charged with first-degree murder.36 While awaiting trial, Roeder expressed his frustration at Operation Rescue for denying any support or knowledge of him. He noted that he'd donated to their group in the past and that the group “better get its story straight, because my lawyer said it'd be good for me to show that I was supporting a pro-life organization.” Roeder also stated that he possessed “probably a thousand dollars’ worth of receipts” from donations.37 In March 2010 a jury convicted Roeder of first-degree murder after deliberating for thirty-seven minutes, and Roeder was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for fifty-two years.38

  More than five years after the killing, Operation Rescue still distances itself from the assassination, claiming that there was no need to kill Dr. Tiller because “in spite of the delays and a government laced with corruption, the system was working.”39 Roeder, they claim, simply did not know enough about the legal situation and thus felt compelled to act on his own.

  Today, the original Operation Rescue and its derivative organizations continue to advocate against abortion and providers of the procedure; one of those derivative organizations, Operation Save America, has expanded its agenda to include a variety of fundamentalist Christian, conservative goals.40

  OPERATION PERVERTED JUSTICE

  Xavier von Erck formed Project Perverted Justice, an organization that used online chat rooms to identify and humiliate pedophiles by publicizing their personal information or filming them. As discussed in chapter 7, the organization, as well as the Dateline NBC show To Catch a Predator with which it was affiliated, received outpourings of both criticism and support.

  Child safety advocate Marc Klaas and America's Most Wanted host John Walsh—both fathers of children murdered by predators—condone the organization's work, as do a variety of other advocates and law enforcement officials. Criticism of the organization is aimed at its anonymity, its potential to unfairly entrap an accused predator, and what are deemed its unethical tactics. “There's no way to hold them accountable if they do go over the line,” says Scott Morrow, liaison for an anti–Perverted Justice organization. Others claim that the organization's public accusations, whether real or unfounded, can irreparably ruin the lives of those accused.41

  Criticism also stems from intermittent violence that occurred in the years following the organization's founding. In 2005 Michael Anthony Mullen—outraged after hearing about Joseph Duncan III, a sexual predator in another state—murdered two convicted sex offenders in Whatcom County, Washington.42 While not associated with Project Perverted Justice, the murders fanned fears surrounding vigilante action taken against pedophiles. The following year, another incident attracted criticism. In November 2006 Louis Conradt, an assistant district attorney living in Texas, became a target of To Catch a Predator. When police officers—filmed by an NBC camera crew—forced their way into his home, Conradt killed himself with a gunshot to the head.43 A flurry of criticism followed, and in 2007 Conradt's sister, Patricia Conradt, sued NBC for its interference with police and failure to protect her brother. The $105 million lawsuit was “amicably resolved,” and the show To Catch a Predator aired for the last time in December 2007.44

  KEN McELROY

  Skidmore, Missouri, was tormented by Ken McElroy, a violent town bully, pedophile, and thief who intimidated or attacked anyone who challenged him (see chapter 8). In 1981 McElroy was shot to death in plain view of forty-some townspeople outside a bar. McElroy's killer went undiscovered.

  Three years after the shooting, attorney Richard McFadin, on behalf of McElroy's wife, filed a wrongful death suit against the county sheriff, the town mayor, and one of the accused (but unproved) killers; they settled for $17,000, but nobody admitted guilt. Thirty-five years later, the Bowenkamps—the victims of McElroy's most brazen violence—are dead, and Skidmore has gotten smaller. Nevertheless, the town has maintained its secret; McElroy's killers are still unknown.45

  BERNHARD GOETZ

  In 1984 four teenagers on a New York subway surrounded thirty-seven-year-old Bernhard Goetz, demanding money. Goetz, carrying an unlicensed gun, shot all four of them, paralyzing and mentally disabling nineteen-year-old Darrell Cabey. Despite his deliberate and unapologetic violence, Goetz was convicted only of criminal weapons possession, as discussed in chapter 3.

  The court sentenced Goetz for the single weapons count to a year in prison, with a possible release time of just sixty days.46 He ultimately served eight months in prison.47 In a civil suit brought on behalf of Cabey, the jury found Goetz guilty and awarded Cabey $43 million in damages.48 Goetz went on to become an animal rights activist and an outspoken vegetarian.

  JOE HORN

  Joe Horn of Pasadena, Texas, shot and killed two burglars he'd seen robbing his neighbor's home (chapter 9). He was cleared by a grand jury the following year, but the decision was highly controversial. The New
Black Panther Nation, a controversial black political organization, was vocally outspoken about Horn's actions, but the counterprotest staged by Horn's neighbors and supporters was enormous. “It's really simple,” said one supporter, waving an American flag. “Don't break into people's houses and you won't get shot.”49 The case drew widespread scrutiny of the Castle Doctrine, which permits Texas residents to use deadly force to protect themselves and their homes. Horn, for his part, was unapologetic. “I did what I thought was the right thing to do, and I did it,” he said at a Tea Party rally in 2009. “It's unfortunate that it turned out the way that it did, but that's just the way it is.”50

  RODNEY KING

  In March 1991 four LAPD officers beat city resident Rodney King after a high-speed car chase. A predominately white jury later acquitted the officers (chapter 9).

  The Rodney King beating sparked outrage across the nation, fueling racial tensions and anger about the treatment of minorities. The acquittal of the officers triggered the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Over the subsequent days, fifty-five people were killed, almost two thousand were injured, seven thousand people were arrested, and $1 billion was lost in property damage. The riots were eventually put down by the California Army National Guard.51

  In 1994 King, who filed a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles, was awarded $3.8 million in damages and compensation for the beating.52 Regardless, King continued to have run-ins with the law. He went on to write a book and make a movie about his life; he also made appearances on several TV shows. In 2012 he died from drowning while on drugs.53

  POLLY KLAAS

  Richard Allen Davis—previously convicted for a variety of violent crimes—abducted twelve-year-old Polly Klaas from her home in Petaluma, California, and murdered her (chapter 9). On June 18, 1996, a jury in San Jose, California, Superior Court found Davis guilty on all counts and convicted him of first-degree murder with four special circumstances (robbery, burglary, kidnapping, and a lewd act on a child) supporting imposition of the death penalty. On August 5, 1996, Judge Thomas Hastings agreed with the jury's recommendation and sentenced Davis to death. At the sentencing hearing, Davis shocked the courtroom with his antagonistic behavior. He denied attempting any lewd acts with Polly because, he claimed, the girl had told him her father, Marc Klaas, had sexually abused her. An enraged Marc Klaas lunged and shouted at Davis and was forcibly removed from the court. Judge Hastings concluded the sentencing by imposing the death penalty. “Mr. Davis, this is always a traumatic and emotional decision for a judge,” Hastings said. “You made it very easy today by your conduct.”54 Since Polly's abduction, Mark Klaas has become a strong advocate for improving child safety and increasing penalties for criminals who target children, and Polly Klaas's death prompted passage of California's three strikes law.

  Davis remains alive today, as challenges to the method of execution used by the state have prevented any executions in California since 2006. A new protocol has been approved but is still being contested in the courts.55

  SHANE TAYLOR

  In 1988 Shane Taylor was convicted for two nonviolent burglaries related to a drug addiction (chapter 9). In 1996 Taylor was convicted for possessing less than ten dollars’ worth of meth and got a twenty-five-year sentence.

  Taylor served over fifteen years of the sentence before a nonprofit organization, the Three Strikes Project, worked to secure his freedom. His case was referred to the nonprofit by the very judge who delivered the sentence. In the spring of 2013 Taylor was released, thanks to the hard work of the project's students and staff. “When the day came when I packed up my stuff and walked out that gate—wow,” recalled Taylor. Today, Taylor—reunited with his family—has a stable job on a farm in Bakersfield, California, but even now, his twenty-five-to-life sentence still haunts him. “I couldn't talk anymore,” he says. “I figured it'd be one or two years. My third strike was for $5 [sic] worth of meth.”56

  WILLIE BOSKET

  In 1978 fifteen-year-old Willie Bosket killed two people and committed other serious crimes (chapter 9). His five-year sentence sparked statewide outrage and prompted the passage of the Juvenile Offender Act.

  Bosket was released from prison but was quickly rearrested. He later bragged that between the ages of nine and fifteen he had committed over two thousand crimes. While in prison, Bosket earned a reputation as a dangerous inmate. He assaulted several guards and now serves his life sentences in a specially made cell with bars and Plexiglas. As one of New York's most dangerous inmates, he is under surveillance at all times, and the guards assigned to monitor him are forbidden to speak with him.57

  WESLEY SYKES

  Chapter 11 tells the story of Wesley Sykes—a member of the LA-based gang the Bloods—who murdered Dennis Brown and then murdered Bobby Gibson, one of the witnesses who was to testify against Sykes for the Brown murder. Recall that three of Gibson's friends had also witnessed the killing but were too scared to testify. After hearing about Gibson's assassination, the friends decided to overcome their fear. The trio went to the police and told them everything they knew.

  The courage of the witnesses to stand up against the threats worked. A jury convicted Sykes of second-degree murder, and he received a sentence of twenty-five years to life. Today, the women still maintain quiet presences in their communities. “There's no more walking around the block like they used to,” says prosecutor Stephen Murphy.58

  MICHAEL MELVIN

  After two members of the Bloods gang robbed and killed Edwin Reyes-Cruz in Newark in 2004, another gang member, Michael Melvin, was assigned to kill the witness to the killing (chapter 11). He killed the witness and three of her friends who happened to be with her at the time. There was a witness to this quadruple murder, but Melvin hunted him down and killed him too. While on the scene, Melvin also tried to kill the man's girlfriend, but before he killed her the police arrived.

  In a plea deal, Melvin pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated manslaughter, second-degree aggravated assault, and two weapons charges. He was sentenced to sixteen years in prison, but he was never punished for the quadruple homicide.59

  Chapter 4 gives a number of examples of the kinds of cases that produce perceived failures of justice that undermine the criminal justice system's moral credibility with the community, any one of which reported in the news media can spark the shadow vigilante impulse. But a reader might be concerned that the chapter 4 cases illustrating the doctrines of disillusionment might be unique outliers. Unfortunately, such gross failures of justice are all too common. In this appendix we give dozens more examples of the kinds of cases that we use as illustrations in chapter 4.

  CRIMINAL JUSTICE, THE GAME

  Vitiating Attempted Murder because There Are Not Enough Jury Oaths

  Timothy Becktel runs into an acquaintance, Stephen Kozmiuk, on February 25, 2009.1 The two men go back to Becktel's home and spend the evening drinking. At some point they begin to argue. Becktel grabs a large serrated knife from the kitchen and stabs Kozmiuk repeatedly. Kozmiuk escapes out the front door, and Becktel follows him out into the alley.

  Becktel tells responding officers that he killed Kozmiuk, but in fact he is still alive. A jury convicts him of assault with attempt to murder, and the judge sentences him to fifteen to forty years in prison. Becktel appeals. During the jury selection process, the trial court had required that all prospective jurors swear to answer “truthfully, fully and honestly.”2 However, after the jury was selected, the trial court never administered the additional oath that is usually given. Based on this omission, the court of appeals reverses the conviction, even though the appellate judge does not dispute that Becktel is guilty as charged.

  Releasing Murderers because of a Magistrate's Employment History

  In 1999 David Hughes, Charles Freeman, and Joseph Metz are running an illegal drug-dealing operation in West Virginia. They record all of the transactions in a notebook.3 Mary Friend, Metz's mother, accidentally acquires the notebook. The three men are concerned that Friend and
Metz's grandmother Maxine Stalnaker, who also knows of her grandson's illegal drug ventures, might tell police, so they decide to kill the two women and retrieve the incriminating evidence.

  After the killings Metz and Freeman dump the women's bodies. Family and friends are concerned about the mysterious disappearance of the two women and on December 3 file a missing person report.

  Years later, in May 2013, police officers get a lead that allows them to restart the investigation, which this time produces good evidence of the crimes committed by the three men.

  However, the law requires the charges against the three men to be dropped, because it is noted that the deputy who filled out the missing person report in 1999, a man named John Coffman, is the same man who, fourteen years later and now a magistrate, was tasked to issue the arrest warrants. Despite their guilt, the three murderers walk away free.4

  Court Helps Offender Hide His Complicity in Murder

  In 1979, Jean Packwood and Donald Desbiens are on a bank robbery spree, hitting at least three San Francisco area banks within a few months.5 They are worried, however, that Desbiens's girlfriend, Janette Pimentel, knows too much about their escapades. The two men shoot her to death and dump her body in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The police are suspicious of the two men but do not have sufficient evidence to arrest them.

  The FBI builds up evidence to arrest Packwood for the bank robberies, and he eventually confesses his involvement in three of the San Francisco robberies. Packwood describes the robberies in detail, including Desbiens's involvement in them and Desbiens's relationship with Pimentel. Packwood insists that Desbiens killed his girlfriend on his own. As part of a plea deal, Packwood pleads guilty to the bank robberies and agrees to cooperate in the investigation of the robberies and Pimentel's murder. In exchange, Packwood will serve only six years in prison.