[CBFF] [Fwd: Cedric Benson hires new attorney]

Fri May 9 06:01:31 MDT 2008

In Wisconsin there is a cable channel called Tru TV. I am sure everyone has
it. It has many boat police/"cops" like shows. I have seen bits and pieces,
and one thing that always stands out, it how they seem to go overboard(ha)
when detaining a person, and I have always wondered if there was any
backlash to that treatment.
So now Benson has a witness, that was not on his boat.
This is going to be interesting. A Rodney King type media show?
D
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom Shannon" <tshanno at gmail.com>
To: <post at chicagobearsfanforum.com>
Sent: Friday, May 09, 2008 2:14 AM
Subject: [CBFF] [Fwd: Cedric Benson hires new attorney]


>
>
http://feeds.chicagotribune.com/~r/chicagotribune/sports/~3/286362341/cs-080508-chicago-bears-cedric-benson,0,2061869.story
>
<http://feeds.chicagotribune.com/%7Er/chicagotribune/sports/%7E3/286362341/c
s-080508-chicago-bears-cedric-benson,0,2061869.story>
>
>
www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cs-080508-chicago-bears-cedric-benson,0,206186
9.story
>
>
>   chicagotribune.com
>
>
>     Cedric Benson hires new attorney, Travis County releases booking video
>
>
>       New witness calls pepper spray 'ludicrous, no point for it'
>
> By David Haugh
>
> Tribune reporter
>
> 11:43 PM CDT, May 8, 2008
>
>
<http://ad.doubleclick.net/click%3Bh=v8/36bb/3/0/%2a/m%3B202632296%3B0-0%3B0
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7Eaopt%3D2/ff/ff/ff%3B%7Esscs%3D%3fhttp://www.nationaltrainday.com>
>
>
> Barefoot and with his wrists handcuffed behind his back, Cedric Benson
> walked slowly in front of two Travis County officers who had escorted
> him late Saturday night into the Travis County Central Booking Center.
>
> There were three other men being detained in the holding room Benson
> entered and, unlike many people in Texas and Chicago this week, they
> barely reacted to Benson's arrest on Lake Travis outside of Austin, Texas.
>
> Benson was wearing loose-fitting shorts and a white tank top, according
> to the video distributed to Comcast SportsNet by the Travis County
> Sheriff's Office.
>
> The one-minute recording doesn't show Benson's face, but one can imagine
> he also wore an expression that captured the mixture of anger, anxiety
> and embarrassment his friends say he felt.
>
> Here was one of Texas' biggest football legends being arrested on
> familiar turf in Austin for boating while intoxicated and resisting
> arrest, charges Benson continued to fight aggressively Thursday.
>
> He hired a new lawyer, Sam Bassett, an Austin attorney accustomed to
> high-profile cases such as Benson's has become.
>
> New details also emerged from a witness who wasn't on the boat and
> backed Benson's claims that police mistreated him.
>
> And Thursday night, Elizabeth Cartwright, a friend of Benson's who
> called her father to have him call 911, turned over photographs to
> Benson's lawyer that she says support his version of events.
>
> Often accused of being nonchalant in Chicago, Benson has been anything
> but laid-back in trying to clear his name.
>
> Nothing illustrated that more than hiring Bassett, a reputable local
> lawyer who already has interviewed 10 people who were on Benson's boat.
> Bassett has scheduled more interviews over the next 10 days.
>
> A Lower Colorado River Authority police report described Benson as being
> cocky, combative and smelling of alcohol, but Bassett disputed that.
>
> "I do not believe that Cedric was intoxicated when his boat was boarded
> by the LCRA officers for a safety inspection," Bassett said Thursday in
> an e-mail to the Tribune. "I also am concerned that the force used by
> the LCRA officers, particularly the use of pepper spray, was not
> necessary under the circumstances."
>
> Bassett, perhaps best known in Austin for defending a man convicted last
> year of murdering Texas student Jennifer Cave in a case that drew
> national attention, takes over for Brian Carney. Carney has been a
> friend and ally of Benson's since high school, but his office is in
> Benson's hometown of Midland, Texas—300 miles from Austin.
>
> "There is a lot of work left to be done, and I am not privy to all
> information regarding the case at this juncture," Bassett said. "Cedric
> is interested in focusing on football right now, and we will work hard
> for him while he prepares for the season."
>
> Benson faces a May 19 court date but does not have to be present in
> court as Bassett represents him that day. That is the first day of
> organized team activities at Halas Hall, an important step for a running
> back coming off ankle surgery and fighting for his NFL life in
> Chicago—even before last weekend's arrest.
>
> A witness emerged Thursday to support Benson's claim that he was
> mistreated at nearby Emerald Point Marina on Saturday night.
>
> Toby Patch claims he saw police "manhandling" Benson after taking him
> off the boat. Patch was not one of the 15 people on the boat.
>
> "As they were taking him up the dock, they stopped. He said, 'I am fine,
> I can continue walking,' and they put their legs behind his knees and
> knocked him over his knees and started hog-carrying him," Patch told
> WXAN-TV in Austin.
>
> Near the parking area, Patch says the treatment of Benson worsened.
>
> "They ended up—I don't know why—but laid him on his back, I heard him
> say, 'Please don't pepper-spray me, please don't pepper-spray me,' "
> Patch said. "It was uncalled for, it was ludicrous, no point for it."
>
> Patch's version sounded similar to the account Cartwright, who was on
> the boat, gave the Tribune on Tuesday night. She called her father,
> Jeff, to urge him to call 911 because she feared her cell-phone battery
> would run out before she could describe the incident to a dispatcher.
>
> Benson is in Chicago and has not commented since proclaiming his
> innocence Sunday night and saying police mistreated him. He is
> considering a lawsuit.
>
> dhaugh at tribune.com <mailto:dhaugh at tribune.com>
>
> Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune <http://www.chicagotribune.com/>
>
>
> -- 
> Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain.
>   - Friedrich von Schiller
>
>
>
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