Court officer acquitted of assault

Chrisg67

Chrisg67

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Sorry if this is repost

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2007/03/court_officer_acquitted_of_ass.html

By LORI STABILE
[email protected]

PALMER - Glendon D. Barrow, a top Springfield court officer, smiled and said he felt "awesome" after a jury found him innocent in district court today of charges including assault with a dangerous weapon, stemming from what a prosecutor described as a road rage incident in August.

Barrow, 52, who has been on unpaid leave from his job as the assistant chief court officer for the Massachusetts Trial Courts in Springfield, said he is looking forward to returning to work. He has been on leave since shortly after the Aug. 20 Springfield incident, and is usually assigned to juvenile court.

The jury found Barrow innocent of assault with a dangerous weapon (handgun), assault and battery, and larceny under $250. The two-day trial was held before Worcester Judge David Ricciardone, who was specially assigned to the case.

"I think justice was done," said Barrow's lawyer Mickey E. Harris, adding that the incident was blown out of proportion.

Barrow was riding in his son's Ford Taurus when a Mazda pick-up truck operated by Kevin T. Craven, 17, of Ludlow passed them on the right and drenched Barrow.

Barrow's son Karris pursued Craven up Parker Street, onto Stocker Street and Boston Road, where the Barrow car got in front of Craven's truck. There, Barrow flashed his badge and showed his gun, but didn't pull his gun on Craven, Harris said. Barrow asked Craven what he wanted to do, call his parents or the police.

"I will concede, and you heard it, he was upset. He had just been drenched, but he was restrained," Harris said. "Why would Mr. Barrow care if Mr. Craven called his parents or not? Because he has a teenage son himself."

When Barrow addressed the court, he said Craven bumped his son's car twice as he was passing them, splashing him with sand and rocks. Craven ran to a Mobil station. Barrow followed, and said he told him that Craven should be glad "it was me and not someone else" because "elements on the streets that would have put some bullets in him." Barrow said he showed the gun again in the store to illustrate it is a deadly weapon, saying he never touched Craven.

Harris said Barrow removed a bag of video games from Craven's truck for "safekeeping" and had no intention of stealing them.

Assistant District Attorney Marie A. Angers said the case was about road rage, and called Barrow's actions "unreasonable, unnecessary and against the law."

Angers argued Barrow did not have the right to stop Craven's vehicle, yell at him, and pull out a gun and badge.

"Court was not in session. He was an average citizen, just like everyone else, who took matters into his own hands," Angers said.
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I know the kid Kevin that was brought to court, and he is not the brightest kid on earth, believe me. but i dont think the officer needed to flash his firearm [thinking]
 
Someday the guy will show his gun to the wrong person who will either beat his ass or kill him. He should have been found guilty no question. He is an ordinary citizen who threatened a kid with his gun.
 
I hope that the reported story is totally INCORRECT.

Otherwise, justice was NOT served. But that wouldn't surprise me either. Even though they pulled a judge in from another district/county, justice certainly is not blind.

- A Court Officer's badge is totally meaningless outside the courthouse.
- Flashing a gun is a no-no for anyone, officer or otherwise . . . you either keep it concealed or you pull it if in danger and have justification, no other option is acceptable in MA!
- Taking the video games "for safe keeping" sounds bogus as hell.
- Chasing someone down and cutting them off is unacceptable.
 
I agree with everything you've all posted and, actually, I'm glad to see that you all see this case as something whacky.

If it unfolded the way it was described above, then I'm disappointed that this guy's going to get his normal life back as if this never happened. If I get tempted to engage in road rage I take that as a blatant clue to chill out and back off. Imagine how easy this guy's life would have been if he just never reacted to the road rage in the first place.

FYI: CHECK OUT THE COMMENTS TO THE ARTICLE ON MASSLIVE.COM:

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2007/03/court_officer_acquitted_of_ass.html


.
 
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So, a court officer pulls a ganstah class stunt.

A man who has seen every last abuse of our legal system, knows exactly how every last sleazy tactic gets successfully to perpetrated, and has the phone number of every greasy landshark in the county willing to make it work, manages to sleaze his way out of getting the justice he deserves.

This is not a surprise to me.
 
n1zfg said:
So, a court officer pulls a ganstah class stunt.

A man who has seen every last abuse of our legal system, knows exactly how every last sleazy tactic gets successfully to perpetrated, and has the phone number of every greasy landshark in the county willing to make it work, manages to sleaze his way out of getting the justice he deserves.

This is not a surprise to me.
Click to expand...

Sadly, that is what I was thinking as well.
 
n1zfg said:
So, a court officer pulls a ganstah class stunt.

A man who has seen every last abuse of our legal system, knows exactly how every last sleazy tactic gets successfully to perpetrated, and has the phone number of every greasy landshark in the county willing to make it work, manages to sleaze his way out of getting the justice he deserves.

This is not a surprise to me.
Click to expand...

Indeed, Spot on,

Ish.
 
George D said:
Sadly, that is what I was thinking as well.
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I THOUGHT that, but wouldn't say it. I've embarrassed myself too many times by flying off the handle over inaccurate reporting.

The case wasn't thrown out or dismissed, the jury found him not guilty. They have far more facts than anyone here. That doesn't mean you aren't correct, though.
 
This article is over 2 years old.... why is it relevant today? Just curious, maybe I missed something....
 
Chrisg67 said:
sorry, it was just brought to my attention...thought it was worth mentioning for the gun part of things [hmmm]
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nothing to say sorry about, i was just wondering if something else had happened in the case recently or something.
 
Court Case

JohnM said:
nothing to say sorry about, i was just wondering if something else had happened in the case recently or something.
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He should have beat the living shit out of this kid. a**h***s like this get other people killed w/their reckless driving.
 
Well, old case or not, some unanswered items may exist that we don't know about.

Up here, a "court officer" is usually a Deputy Sheriff (and therefore, a real LEO). I'm assuming in MA they aren't, based on Len;s comments, and my recollection of my friend that's a bailiff in the court system in Springfield. Add the "police or parents" bit, and it's pretty clear he wasn't a real cop.

If it was a deputy, then there's justification for the stop. If not, then there's no felony here, so, there's likely no reason to have done that. Now we have brandishing, threatening with a weapon, theft and up here he would have reckless endangerment added for good measure.

Definitely a firing candidate.
 
ravencon said:
Teen age punk meets arrogant state hack. No good outcome was possible.
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Well, it was possible, but the odds of a meteorite hit right at that moment do seem remote... [laugh]

Did I miss something in the "drenching"? Passing on the right is a Busch league move to be sure, but worthy of a shake down?

Oh well, obviously (hopefully?) something is very much missing from this story...
 
Above the law as usual!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hate cops!!!!!!!!!!! Seems like you guys have a large problem with law inforcement people beating the system!
 
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