Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Charges dismissed against Pavlins!!!

In the McHenry County Court of Judge Condon, filling in for Judge Prather this morning, criminal charges were dismissed against Jerome Pavlin and Carla Pavlin.

Last Friday the State filed a Motion that it would ask the Court to nolle prosequi these cases.

But this morning it was more than that. The State didn’t just drop the charges. Assistant State’s Attorney Donna Kelly addressed the Court emphatically, when she added that the Motion was with prejudice. And she further added, for the benefit of Mr. and Mrs. Pavlin, that “the State does not intend to refile the charges.”

The Pavlins were in their home in March 2008 when several deputies of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department arrived to serve an arrest warrant on their adult son, who was visiting them.

One deputy broke an outside glass panel in the front door. The son was taken into custody and escorted outside the house. The deputies were asked to leave the house but they did not; once the son was out of the residence, they had no further right to be in the house. Furthermore, they indicated they might search the house.

The Pavlins had told me that their son’s house had been trashed when it was searched, and they didn’t want their fine furnishings damaged.

The Pavlins are retired people, respectable, polite and of some financial means. I met Mr. Pavlin in October 2008 after learning of their injuries. Mr. Pavlin weighs about 130 pounds, and he was 80 years of age at the time.

Mr. Pavlin was near the front door, when he was thrown to the floor face down by two deputies. Then he was handcuffed – tightly - so tightly that the cuffs broke his skin. His wrists required medical treatment and bandaging. To this date, 16 months later, the damage to his skin is still visible.

While one deputy was leaning over her husband, Mrs. Pavin approached the deputy to get his attention. She realized he had on a bulletproof vest and would not feel a tap on his back. Next thing she knew, the deputy had punched her in her chest and pushed her violently backwards, causing injury to her that has not yet healed. Mrs. Pavlin's age at the time? 65.

Whatever happened to the rule that deputies may use only such force as is necessary? How much force do you need with senior citizens?

The public in McHenry County should be outraged that this couple was treated as they were and then arrested. Both were charged with aggravated battery and resisting a peace officer.

And today, 16 months later, all charges were dropped!!!

Let’s see what happens next. Will the deputies be charged with assaulting two senior citizens? Elder abuse is a serious offense in Illinois (isn't it?).

After court, the Pavlins could not talk to me, on orders from their attorney, Mark Gummerson. Watch for future developments!

28 comments:

Unknown said...

Let's put out the names of all people involved with the Pavlin arrests... J. Bruketta, C. Jones, T. Vogel, Lambert, Sgt. G. Pyle, K. Manderknack and Capt. Sheperd. Another lawsuit!?! How much money does the Sheriff get to throw at these things?

Anonymous said...

Guilt by Association? Thier son was a thug who was arrested. The officers "protected" themselves by securing "others" in the residence. If the Pavlins were 20-30 years old, this would be a non-story. HOWEVER... after the "heat of the arrest" the officers should have known the elderly couple was no threat and and immediately released and made sure they were ok. I dont condone the officer's behavior, but how many times do you hear about another party pulling out a weapon when an arrest is going down. No one wins in this situation... have Bianchi cut'm a check for their injuries/trouble; I'm sure he's got a slush fund somewhere!

Gus said...

When the rest of the story comes out, I believe you'll find there was little, perhaps no, "heat" to the arrest. The warrant could have been served by one deputy knocking on the door, informing the party that he was under arrest and escorting him to the patrol car. He was not, and is not, a "thug." The check you mention will come out of the sheriff's department, not the State's Attorney's office.

Unknown said...

It will come out of our tax dollars!!!!

QuitWhiningAlready said...

What was the warrant for?

Unknown said...

I find it, at best troubling, and at worst - use of a badge for criminal behavior by the law enforcement officers with a sense of entitlement. Several officers, two elderly citizens, and one man who was already led away in cuffs. Unfortunately, if law enforcement officials who oversee 'abusive' behavior in their officers don't act to protect the law-abiding residents, then they condone maltreatment of everyone. This could include YOU one day. We must write letters and protest such unwarranted action. SandraB

Unknown said...

You know what the warrant was for. You were there!

Anonymous said...

I'll await the "full details" of this case. How many times have you heard a routine warrant serving or arrest and the perp freaks out and draws a weapon and things go from bad to worse?
Im not saying the cops were right, but I am not saying, based I what I've heard, that they were completely wrong.
Several years ago I got pulled over for speeding (I wasnt!) at 1:30 in the morning after working second shift. The officer approached my car very slowly, methodically, and with his hand on his gun. First thing out of his mouth was "Have you been drinking?" I was flabbergasted on how ridiculous this was... at least to me. I knew I was no threat, but the officer doesnt. How many times has an officer done the same thing and the person is a criminal and pulls out a weapon, or really has something to hide? The cops wont trust anybody at first. Ok... stepping down from my soapbox, for now...

GeneL said...

Domestic battery, a misdemeanor. They broke the front door of a third party residence and there was no resisting charge on the son who had the warrant. It took five deputies and two supervisors for this warrant.Maybe next time they'll bring the SWAT team and drive the armored vehicle thru the front wall. Nygren needs to go.

Zane said...

This incident took place in March of 2008. Why did it take so long to get to this point? I read the Daily Herald and it states that the Pavlins' attorney is Mark Gummerson. Gummerson is not talking, why? You would think he would be giving some kind of statement to the media. That's what a good lawyer would do. Especially when this incident could bring his firm so much attention. Free advertising! He got the State's Attorney to drop charges and publically say they will not be filed again. That's good lawyer work, isn't it?

QuitWhiningAlready said...

Thanks, Sir, but I was not there.
Sandra, let's not jump to conclusions. Other factors are considered for a warrant service other than the face "value" of the warrant. If someone has a FTA for traffic, with a lengthy criminal history including violence against the police, the propensity exists for that person to react differently than if it's an FTA for someone with zero criminal history.
I'll side with Madd and wait for the full details, but this most likely less cut-and-dry as it would seem at face value. Regardless of what some of your comments seem to imply, and although it sounds like it could have been handled better, I don't think this group of deputies took any satisfaction from the injuries that resulted in this, and I'm also quite sure there was a debrief that followed.

Also as a sidenote, I do not know of too many agencies that do one officer/deputy warrant services anymore. Not in 2009.

Gus said...

Sandra, you scored a bulls-eye with your comment. Letters are a good start. Phone calls are better. Personal, eye-to-eyeball visits are even better. Questions of elected official at public events are good, too. And not only to make comments, but to ask elected officials, such as the sheriff, exactly where he stands on such procedures by deputies in his own department. Thanks, Sandra!

Gus said...

QWA, I agree with your approach on warrant services. No one wants to be going to a deputy's funeral.

Training and preparation are critical for successful warrant services. And common sense.

There is a strong feeling on the part of some that the reports for the Pavlin call do not reflect what actually happened.

While a group of deputies might not "take satisfaction" from injuring a citizen, they must be held accountable if they used excessive force. Other deputies know who has a reputation for using excessive force and violating civil rights, and the department knows it.

You and I might hold a textbook debriefing, separate everyone and require each to write his report without a chance to talk to the others. Yes, each will see it from his own perspective; there will be differences. But they should never have a chance to "get their stories straight."

One officer/deputy warrant services are probably only done now in Mayberry and Wasilla.

QuitWhiningAlready said...

I do not disagree with you that if excessive force was used, discipline is in order, however Sandra's comment moves a bit out of that realm and into one of criminal intent. I have to wonder how many warrant services she's participated in. Not that you need to be on a warrant team to form an opinion, but one should at the very least have all the facts as well as both sides of the story before making a statement about the use of a badge for criminal behavior. As far as other deputies knowing who has a reputation for excessive force and civil rights violations, I would prefer not to jump to conclusions and cut them off at the knees before knowing all the details. Not to mention, objectivity of these "other" deputies is impossible with bias. Both sides have stories, and both sides deserve to be heard. That's all. I know you've spoken with the Pavlins, probably at length about what happened that day, but if all you know of their son is directly from them, you may not have the whole story. I'm not saying definitively that he's a thug or a dirtbag or anything else negative, however I do know that parents will rarely throw their own children too far under the bus, even when the truth is what it is. Anyone who loves their own child can certainly relate to that, even if only conceptually.

We'll see what happens.

Gus said...

I met the Pavlin's son at court one day. He'd be welcome in my home at any time.

Gus said...

There is an excellent comment on the Daily Herald website below the article about the Pavlin's case. Go to www.dailyherald.com

The author, in Atlanta, explains third-party arrest warrant service and that a long-time Atlanta Police sergeant is facing 18 months in federal prison for a violation like what happened at the Pavlins.

Why didn't Sheriff Nygren get on this right after it happened?

Franker said...

Here is my only concern with people making comments in reference to this article. I'm not saying that this article is incorrect however, I have read articles written by Philpott that were 180degrees opposite of what really happened. EVERYONE needs to find out the truth before they form and opinion.!

GeneL said...

QWA, deputies still do warrants by themselves. The warrant team takes the "most wanted" ones so they look like heroes and gives all the stale ones to patrol.If you can arrest someone on a call by yourself than you can handle a domestic battery warrant by yourself. Being female you would have probabily had to shoot the 80 year old,130lb. guy after you broke into his house with a misdemeanor warrant for someone who doesn't live there.

QuitWhiningAlready said...

Gus, no offense to you, but a one-time meeting, at court no less when people tend to be on their best behavior, is hardly enough to sway me. He had an outstanding warrant for domestic battery, did he not? I doubt you got a peek at his criminal record and I also find it hard to believe that you've never met anyone over the course of your lifetime who didn't shock you with a very different self once you got to know them.

But, hey, if you want to have him over for a bbq, by all means...

Like you said in the original post, "Watch for future developments". I'm sure you'll keep us all posted.

Karen30036 said...

"According to court documents, Jerome Pavlin spit in the face of one of the deputies who came to arrest his son, then struggled and pulled away when the deputy attempted to handcuff him. While that was occurring, reports state, Carla Pavlin jumped on the deputy's back".

Yeah, good story. It's so cliche I laughed out loud.

QuitWhiningAlready said...

Probably, GeneL.

QuitWhiningAlready said...

And since you brought it up, GeneL, if the "most wanted" are handled by the warrant teams, why would this misdemeanor warrant that, in Gus' opinion could have been handled by one deputy (no "heat"), been assigned to a warrant team?

I'm just sayin.

Gus said...

And the answer to that might provide a clue as to why 5-6 deputies/cops showed up in combat gear with guns drawn to serve a warrant on a single mom who had about $300 in unpaid traffic fine/court costs from a couple of years ago.

GeneL said...

QWA, This wasn't the warrant team.And Karen this wasn't a domestic. The domestic happened the day before at another location. Has anyone seen the arrest record of the domestic "victim".Why was Mr. Pavlin bleeding from both wrists. Has anyone seen the pictures of Mrs. Pavlin's back from the reported one hand push.

QuitWhiningAlready said...

I am not sure the circumstances of the warrant execution, but I'll read the reports with the NWH if I can find them online tonight. Why does it matter what the domestic victim's arrest record looks like?

Zane said...

QWA (aka Sgt Pyle)What are you talking about and where is your report!

GeneL said...

QWA, as you read the reports, notice how similar they are. The "one hand push", the "jumped on back", and if the son closed the door on a cop's arm but was not charged with anything.

Unknown said...

One does not have to be at each and every incident where warrants are served, domestic calls, traffic stops, etc., to be aware of a pattern of behavior. Last year there were complaints about many of these officers to the supervisor of the McHenry County Sheriff's Department regarding violations of civil rights. Most of us have the tendency to repeat habitual behaviors, or, patterns. Always being late is a relatively harmless pattern. Using foul language and excessive force routinely is a dangerous pattern. Remember that the code of conduct for officers is...use of force only as a last resort. I hope I never have a guest or family member at my home who has a long rap sheet. By mere association I may find myself injured and abused, and yet, have not committed a crime. Therefore, I may be incorrectly assuming that the officers acted inappropriately. BUT, the fact that the charges were dropped against the Pavlin's, the officers have a history of complaints for civil rights violations, and the ratio of officers to the perp seems unusual, I must believe that it is more likely that there was misconduct than not. No one can commit such acts without consequences of an arrest.....except those with the badge.