'Tard of the Week - Those Crazy Batista Boys

Tuesday, February 3, 2009
This week's 'tard are two brothers, Jose and Jason Batista, who live in a village called Haverstraw, in New York.

It seems that brother Jose has a violent relationship with the mother of his children, and the young woman in question called the police when he tried to enter her home against her wishes. She also claimed that he threatened her.

When a police officer arrived to arrest brother Jose, both brothers - get this - proceeded to beat the crap out of the officer. Brother Jose even went so far as to club the officer with his own flashlight, resulting in the officer requiring 21 stitches.

For today's IQ test, can you guess what happened when the officer's backup arrived? Ding-ding-ding! That's right, Hot Chicks and Smart Men! The Batista brothers got the crap beaten out of them by the victim's fellow officers.

The brothers are being held on charges of felony assault until a grand jury meets to determine if they should be indicted.

The Batista family is now accusing the police of brutality. A spokesman for the police has basically responded with, "Are you fucking kidding me? Fuck off, you dipshit."

Now, I'm not going to speculate about whether or not the police in this instance used excessive force. If you take the Batista brothers' account at face value, it might in fact be true, but I wasn't there, the veracity of the Batista brothers is suspect, and the police aren't really talking about it, pending investigation.

But I have to ask, in what universe is beating the crap out of the police officer sent to arrest you - with his own flashlight - an idea that will end with a positive result for you? What did these morons think was going to happen? That the backup officers would simply say, "Excuse me, young man - stop that this instant! It's most inappropriate! Stop, or I'll say 'stop' again!"

Not so much.

They got tuned up, an outcome that should of been obvious to anyone with an IQ higher than Michelle's Broccoli Cheddar soup.

'Tards.

18 comments:

John the Scientist said...

I don't care if excessive force was used by the standards of arresting a hippie demonstrator, this guy deserved what he got and more.

"Excessive" is a relative term.

Random Michelle K said...

That, ma'am, is an insult to broccoli cheddar soup.

Nathan said...

::Dons flameproof suit::

I'm going to take the position that I don't really know any more about this story than I do about the Octuplet Vending Machine in Jim's post yesterday. While I have no doubt that the initial responders had their hands full taking these two morons into custody, I don't know whether or not a moment arrived when they were just getting vengeance and had crossed a line. I totally get the concept of "heat of the moment" and cops shouldn't be expected to be above that...but.

I know there are perps who need to have the shit kicked out of them just to be taken into custody. At what point do the cops need to stop. Opinions vary, but I'd say if you get more than one or two licks in after the guy is cuffed and immobilized, you may be going too far. I've always hated that people felt there was a "side" to be on in the Rodney King case. Rodney King was scum and resisted arrest. He got hurt because he was scum and resisted arrest. The fact that he was scum and resisted arrest didn't excuse the cops for continuing to beat the shit out of him after he was subdued. The fact that he was wrong (wrong, wrong), doesn't make the cops right.

Once again, this is me commenting without really having all the facts. I can imagine scenarios where the cops are completely in the right and scenarios where they lost control and became no better than those they went to arrest. (And yes. I do believe that cops should be held to a higher standard. We give them too much power not to expect more of them.)

I also empathize with Michelle on behalf of her broccoli cheddar soup. That was a low blow, Ma'am.

Janiece said...

Nathan, no need for the flame-proof suit.

I don't know if the police crossed the line, or not. If, as brother Jose claims, they punched him in the bathroom while trying to wash the mace out of his eyes, then yes, they did. But I don't know what happened, which is why I chose not to speculate.

I don't excuse law enforcement when they beat the crap out of folks who have stopped resisting. As the daughter of a cop, I, too, hold them to a higher standard than I do the Moron Brothers. Anything less is demeaning to us, as the protected, and to them, the protectors.

My only point in writing this post is to point out that the Moron Brothers' end state should not have been a big shock, given their own behavior.

And Michelle, you have my apologies. I was going to say "the IQ of a cabbage," but then I remembered your Tasty Tuesday entry, and, well...you know the rest. Sorry.

Jim Wright said...

Octuplet Vending Machine

O.o

What did the Idiot Brothers think was going to happen?

While I agree with Nathan's comment wholeheartedly - on the other hand, shitbags like these two retards seem to think that they can assault anybody, but especially somebody in uniform, with impunity because any use of force by the officer is brutality by their logic. I'd be willing to bet - based solely on the behavior described in the article - that these two idiots were more than willing to get the shit kicked out of them, if they could then turn around a make millions off a police brutality suit. I'm not saying they planned it in advance, but I've met plenty of retards just like these two who always, always, are looking for the angle.

Eric said...

Jim, I doubt they had anything planned that far in advance. Most folks like that are reactive: you're right, they'll be happy to sue now, but at the time they had absolutely no forethought or idea what the hell they were doing. They just did what was next.

That's assuming everything is as it appears to be. In NC, at least, one may resist an illegal arrest and one has a right of self-defense against a cop using excessive force; the rule is so reasonable, I assume it's the same in fifty other states. Supposing (though I'm aware of no claim this is what happened), the first officer comes in and begins illegally using force to the point that the Batistas could lawfully resist and even use reasonable force to defend themselves--then the scenario is much different. (N.b. once again that I'm not aware of an allegation that this is the case, nor would I have any way of knowing if such an allegation were actually true.)

Of course, the practical side of this is that proving that you were lawfully resisting or that you were defending yourself is nigh-impossible. Hell, it's not unheard of in this country for cops to beat the crap out of a cuffed and incapacitated man and claim he was resisting arrest and they only did what they had to do, and to charge the poor assault victim with whatever they can make stick; imagine how bad it is if you actually landed a blow on the cop.

Eric said...

Er... by "fifty other states" I meant that Washington D.C. should be given full statehood, and I always refer to D.C. as a "state" out of a sense of solidarity with the movement to recognize D.C....

Yeah. That's it. That's totally what I meant.

Janiece said...

Don't worry, Eric - we're moving along - nothing to see here...

Jim Wright said...

I thought you were referring to Puerto Rico, or Guam...

..or maybe I didn't even notice.

Random Michelle K said...

Guam isn't a state? Get out! Next you'll be telling me some crazy bullshit like Alaska is really the 50th state.

Steve Buchheit said...

As the Chairman of Safety, I have a dog in this fight.

"Shifrin said the mother of Jose Batista's children created the confrontation by falsely telling the police that he threatened her." - Yeah, I've heard that one before. A domestic call is one of the most dangerous situations for an officer. Including situations that shouldn't be violent can suddenly turn on the officer.

"Jose Batista also was charged with... criminal contempt in connection with violating a court order of protection." I think that says most of it. Considering how difficult it is to get a restraining order in the first place (yes, it's hard), my guess is this isn't the first run in the Batista Boys have had with the local law enforcement.

Now, what the article doesn't say is where the brothers were arrested. Was it at the home of the "mother of his children" or at his own house. Considering that they moved to a different town (Spring Valley) then the jurisdiction of the officer assaulted (Haverstraw) I'm going to make a pretty good guess it was at the home of the "mother of his children."

It would also be interesting to hear who called for backup (the officer, or the woman he was responding to).

Beating someone after they're in custody is sometimes allowed (it is possible to resist arrest and attack even in handcuffs). However, given the bruises suffered by the officer, it's possible most of the brother's bruises occurred while taking them into custody and transporting them.

John the Scientist said...

Let me be clear, if they hit him after he was cuffed, unless he kicked them while cuffed, I think they ought to lose their badges. That's cowardice and bad impulse control.

What I don't mind however, is a selective delay in putting on the cuffs: "Oh look, he's still moving, hit him again before we slap the cuffs on him".

My karate instructors in High School were cops and prison guards, and I pretty much automatically side with them unless there is really, really good evidence they acted badly. those guys took a lot of shit from dirtbags and didn't give it back unless they had a real reason to.

But I know for a fact some of them used to prolong a struggle with people who were real bad actors just to get a few more licks in before the cuffs were applied, and I've got no problem, with that strategy, as long as the suspect threw the first punch.

John the Scientist said...

Janiece, you keep taunting me (not with this one, but with the science ones), I'm going to taunt you back. Here's one for you to nominate in February.

Janiece said...

John, your link appears not to work.

John the Scientist said...

Heh. My bad. Or is it that even your blog throws up at this nonsense?

:D

Janiece said...

I think it may have been my sooper-sekrit non-nonsense code.

Bleh.

momma dukes said...

as for the boys they were handcuffed when being beaten. and the 3 witnesses for the D A have revised their statements because of being threatened by the police and yes one is from the x girlfriend.

Janiece said...

Welcome, mamma dukes.

I have not been following the story, and, as previously expressed, I'm unwilling to speculate on the veracity of anyone's account.