Lise McComiskey was arrested at 7:50 PM on the evening of September 20, 2007 at the corner of Conti Street and David, New Orleans, LA 70119, in the very same area where she had given information to police officers just two nights earlier on the make, model and color of a vehicle involved in a drive-by shooting.
On the night of September 20, while parked and waiting for “Boy” a dog she had tracked along with his companion over a 6 square mile territory for over a year (see the story of Rocca and Boy, posted in February 2007 at http://katrinacreaturesandcrittters.blogspot.com/ )she was approached by two officers who then shone a spotlight on her and her vehicle. She was told that someone in the neighborhood reported a “slow-moving” vehicle and she complied with their request for info as she had done many many times prior during the two years of animal rescue in New Orleans having been stopped several times, including two nights earlier when she gave info on the vehicle involved in the shooting.
This time however, she was considered suspicious by the arresting officer and not allowed to get out of her vehicle or remove her hands from sight to produce the documents the police demanded, license, registration, etc. Subsequently, and even though the documents were under the passenger seat the entire time, and following numerous questions about the reason she was there (at which point lost dog posters were produced) she was detained while the officers “ran” her driver’s license number to find that she was driving legally and fully insured. Regardless, and notwithstanding the information the officers received during their computer check of Lise, she was told to exit her vehicle where she was handcuffed for failure to provide proof of everything they asked for, was told she should have had it all in her glove box, and was arrested and transported to Orleans Parish Prison where she was booked on these “criminal” charges.
Over the course of the next several hours, she was detained in a holding cell with prostitutes, crack addicts and an individual who was being held for stabbing her boyfriend, for nearly 5 hours before finally being released, without the necessity to post bail or bond, and without being fingerprinted, without ever having once heard her rights read to her by any officer of the law.However, during her incarceration period, she was knocked to the ground during an altercation between a prison officer and another inmate and she was prevented from attempting to get back on her feet by the officer’s boot firmly planted on her head after and then she was forced to view the officer kick and stomp the other inmate while he screamed profanities at the inmate, all while laying face down on the prison booking area floor, handcuffed from behind her back. Additionally, after being thrown into the holding cell, she was threatened for hours by an inmate in the same holding cell who appeared to be mentally ill and because the guards slammed the iron door shut on the cell so they wouldn’t have to listen to the screaming, any attempts to make good on the threat would have gone unheard. Ironically, two days prior to Lise’s arrest, in Gambit weekly magazine, an article entitled “Traffic Fatality” was published regarding a 58 year old man who was picked up in New Orleans by police for an outstanding and unpaid ticket in Jefferson parish and as a result was beaten to death in his holding cell…..Sheriff Marlin Gusman is quoted within the article as saying that “violent and non-violent offenders are kept separate” a fact now known by Lise to be untrue.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT for Lise and/or the organization which she was working with, Animal Rescue New Orleans, her case is IN-J-07-0178041, Division “D” and it is on the docket for November 6, 2007 before the Honorable Judge Ronald J. Sholes, Traffic Court of New Orleans, 225 Morgan Street, New Orleans, LA 70114 Judge Sholes Fax number is (504) 826-5809. PLEASE, ABOVE ALL ELSE, be respectful to Judge Sholes as Judge Sholes serves the law and is not required to hear Lise’s case in a public forum.
Judge Sholes no doubt has not even looked at his docket sheet for November 6, and there is no doubt that he has no clue who Lise McComiskey is so please be respectful of him in any letters of support. Lise’s official charges that evening were failure to provide proof of insurance, registration and license.
Thank you so much for your help, your support and your friendship.
The above was posted today by Karen Gadbois on the Carollton Avenue Yahoo group board. A poorly trained, arrogant and insensitive police force is yet another insult to all citizens of this city and region that Naginism has fostered. What planet is this???
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Carrollton-Riverbend Neighborhood Association (CRNA) 