Skip to main content

tv   America Tonight  Al Jazeera  June 8, 2014 10:00pm-11:01pm EDT

10:00 pm
right >> i'm trying to go to school and get a nice job >> you're only 22, you can turn this around... >> and some just don't >> he actually told people in the halfway house, that he was amazed that they had given him parole >> the system with joe burlinger only on al jazeera america on "america tonight" the weekend edition - candid camera and the cops. >> go away. give me this. >> everywhere you look someone has got a camera rolling. can the police stop you? if you turn the cameras on them. >> people send a message that they are not backing down, they'll do what they can to arrest us, to prevent us reporting the truth. also - flawed friendsics and a deliberate -- forensics and a deliberate miscarriage of justice. what goes through your name when
10:01 pm
you hear the name annie dukin. >> it brings disappointment and a lot of good hard work by a lot window. a case of evidence tampering inside the crime lab and the risks in the justice system. and the sound of music. [ ♪ music ] ja and the voice of pro -- and the voice of protest around big ben, how sup, song and an assistance of community brought old friends and new together, even across a bitter divide. good evening, thanks for joining us, i'm joie chen. it was an fbi take down in the shadow of the golden gate bridge raising questions about cops and
10:02 pm
citizen camera men, and a role they are playing in law enforcement. passers buy noticed agents as they grabbed a fumive, the koulent of a 3-day long -- fugitive, the subject of a 3-day long mann hunt. it's hard to go anywhere these days without being captured on camera. as mooted found, many of those ordinary citizens are finding themselves on the wrong side of the law. this is the front line in a new battle over the first amendment. on one side citizens demanding police reform. on the other officers adapt to the digital age, where everyone photographer. friend. >> a florida han was caught in the battle. >> he was in the store. they dragged him outside.
10:03 pm
>> reporter: this man is a freelance dj in the miami area. on st. patrick's day he was spinning records at a smoke shot when an officer showed up to arrest a friends on misdemeanour traffic charges. >> i was over here. they threw him on the ground. i pulled out the iphone. >> reporter: concerned the officer used excessive force, yest radda started to record. he was in kust later. arrested? >> no, just me with the camera. >> reporter: in the officers report the officer said he felt threatened by estrada. and gave mands to back away -- commands to back away. >> the officer gave one warning. i listened. i acknowledged him and wept inside.
10:04 pm
>> reporter: you can see in the video that estrada backs into the store and continues filming. when more officers arrive they take him into custody. >> what did i do wrong? >> i need your information. >> reporter: the original officer confronts estrada. >> the guy is armed. three times my size. >> reporter: when estrada asks why he's being arrested the word. >> you're going be rested. >> for what? >> for, force... >> the answer in charging documents. obstruction of justice and giving a false name. >> officer was afraid. he was afraid of the camera, that's why he was elected. >> reporter: do you feel standing here that you were impeding the officer from doing his job? >> no, i had a case and my
10:05 pm
camera, my happened were up. there was no reason for me to show him threat. >> from baltimore. >> i had my rights. i'm allowed to fip . speech. >> you lost it. >> reporter: to new york. >> put the phone away. >> why? >> i'm telling you. >> sir... >> put the phone away. >> so celine as california. [ gun fire ] >> go away. >> reporter: similar country. >> this is an every day occurrence. people are harassed and emailing me. every day it happiness. carlos miller is a journalist turned activist and his mission document cases while people are arrested. >> tell me what happened? >> according to miller he's been arrested three files for
10:06 pm
photographing the police and all three times he was acquitted. >> they sent the message that they are not backing down, they'll do what they can to rest us and reporting the truth. everywhere we go there's cameras. they have a problem us turning the cameras on them. >> he runs a blog photography is not a crime. he shows police abuse from every corner of america. >> we want the cops in a frame of mind that we are everywhere. when they beat up. they they will reported. >> some say you are instigating. >> i am sure they say that. i'm not instigating. instigating what - the holding of a camera, our rights. when does stopping up for the first amendment equal instigating. with problems documented across the country, there was an incident so bad it forced the police department to implement polic
10:07 pm
policies, and they are a model for police departments across the nation. it happened may 30th , 2011. a week that sometimes cull mipates with violence. officers tried to stop a man speeding down a crowded street. the picture ignored orders, it was captured in a video. he swerved past officers and slammed into a barricade. once the car stopped officers surrounded the vehicle and fired more than 100 shots, fatally wounding the man in the car and injuring four bistanders. police followed the photographer back to his truck, where police pointed a gun and smashed his phone. it thrust them into the spotlight. they had negative publicity.
10:08 pm
we didn't have a policy. everyone shrugged their shoulder saying we can confizz caught the camera, i didn't give him prime ministers to videotape me. miami police met with the state's attorneys office to draft a policy dealing with citizen camera. >> it's simple. anyone in a public place cap videotape you. you can't snatch the camera. there's a way of approaching the officer before you stick it in his face and video tape him pulling out the i'm allowed to public. >> three years later and the spotlight is on the miami police department. the department spent more than a million dollars bringing in officers, setting up barricades and command centers up and down ocean drive. carlos following officers, making arrests.
10:09 pm
you are okay with that. >> he'll find himself bored. all the officers have been reminded that there'll be videotape by carlos miller and citizens in general. there's no officer out there with an excuse for getting upset is. >> meanwhile kathy up. >> we'll walk around and take pictures of everything. not just the police, but all the people on the streets. taking pictures of anything that is happening. miller and his crew witnessed numerous arrests with cameras in limits. >> right there. what is he arrested for? it's a public record. >> are you his attorney? brother. >> you're right, it is public record. once i finish the record you'll be able to get a copy of it.
10:10 pm
question? >> no, i cannot. >> i don't know his name. >> it's a little better from previous years, i didn't end up in handcuffs, over the years numerous people have been arrested. here you can tell they were a little tense, they did not appreciate it. there was too many cameras for them to take real action. around 200 people were arrested during urban beach week and many were probably recorded in this new age of cameras everywhere. >> police work changed, technology. there's more accountability and professionalism. there'll be a lapse in catching up with the times, we think we policy. >> reporter: is this good for society, everyone under a camera all the time. >> it's a fact. whether it's good or bad, there's no going back. we live in this society. big brother has been watching
10:11 pm
for a long time. now little brother is watching big brother. >> and coming up next - another case of crime, punishment and the actions of law enforcement caught on camera. >> what i see is a police force with fear. and i'm also seeing a collective with fear. and that is problematic. police shootings in celinas, and a community feeling the officers sworn to serve and protect it. >> i find it immoral to destroy something like this >> an epic fight to preserve a way of life. >> we ask for strength as we take on one of the most powerful forces on the globe >> a battle for the very soul of this state, but is time running out? >> it's a wholesale effort to buy government... fault lines
10:12 pm
al jazeera america's >> ground breaking... >> we have to get out of here... award winning investigative documentary series wisconsin's mining standoff on al jazeera america
10:13 pm
i think that al jazeera helps connect people in a way they haven't been connected before. it's a new approach to journalism. this is an opportunity for americans to learn something. we need to know what's going on around the world. we need to know what's going on in our back yard and i think al jazeera does just that. s
10:14 pm
the city of celinas california made news because of a stripping of fatal police -- spring of fatal police shootings fold by protest. it's a long history require of relations between an impoverish the latino farming community and underfunded police department dating back to john stein back. michael oku has our report. . >> ip grew up -- i grew up here. seeing bodies laying around is see. >> this 38-year-old lived in celinas her entire life. a recent spade of police shootings put this latino community on edge. the most recent happened two weeks ago outside the bakery. >> sometimes you fear gangs and men. in this case it was more like police and what happens to our people when we see them like
10:15 pm
that. we don't trust them, and get angry. the event was caught on a cell phone and went viral. the man at the center wielded 2-foot garden shears, angling towards a busy intersection before officers opened fire at pointblank range. they shot him and threw them over. shocked onlookers can be heard rebuking officers. the community was reeling from a police shooting in march, and another just 11 days before the shooting. as news of the latest incident spread, they pushed to the scene. >> why was it important for you to be here, usually you hear a way. >> when they told me it was another police and they are person from the community, i really - it broke my hart. >> reporter: che says the body was uncovered for hours. spurred into action, the next
10:16 pm
day she returned to the same protest. >> we stood at the front. we had a sign hung for justice. we want justice. >> that little protest grew to hundreds of people. all of the shootings involved latino victims. right there, with hostilities rising, yet another shooting. >> what you heard in the crowd was the police did it again. the police killed somebodiless. >> that's the first i -- somebody else. >> that's the first i heard that. . >> reporter: it would surprise you to hear there were people in the community hearing the word "it happened again", meaning police have taken down another one of huhs. >> yes -- one of us. >> yes, this is the first i have heard of that exertion. >> reporter: police chief has fielded a lot of questions and
10:17 pm
battling misconceptions. he insists the man killed at the process, a strawberry picker, was shot by an unknown assailant before the police got there. an officer who grew up in that area gave mr garcia c.p.r. somebody in the crowd thought it was a good idea to throw a bottle. the officer was knocked out and dragged to safety by his brother. mr garcia ultimately died. the incident on video, chief mcmillan says it began when a woman called 911 reporting that a man with knarden shears attempted to break into his home, exposed himself and attacked her dog. >> two police officers arrived. they confronted the map.
10:18 pm
they spoke in english and spanish. one deployed his teaser it failed. the officers were concerned that there was app ongoing threat. the man was moving towards a populated area and refused to comply. as people saw in the video the officers closed in on him. in the last of that video he turns to confront an officer, on the side walk and they open fire on him. >> reporter: mcmillan's department released this video, that the man lunged at officers before he was shot. >> reporter: there's between 120 and 140 police officers in this department. what personnel, would you say, are lat een -- percentage, would you say are latino? >> we have 40 certified spanish
10:19 pm
speakers. we don't have another police officers of any kind on my force, but culturally competent is invaluable and i could use a lot more of them. there's no question about that. >> so people look at the police as folks looking out for their security and safety. >> for me growing up in that enemy. here. >> yes. >> in the same lace that you grew up in. >> yes. >> reporter: what are your concerns for them? >> they might get shot and killed. it's hard. we try to keep them safe to they won't be out there or profiled that they might get shot because
10:20 pm
they look a certain way or they're on the wrong side of town or they have a hoodie or short hair or the colour of their skin. >> reporter: professor from the institution of international studies said there has been tensions between workers and the business establishment. an agricultural mecca with a history of inequality. the valley is where chavez led a salad bowl strike of farm workers, and the birthplace of writer john stein back who wrote several of his novels here. >> celinas is the salad bowl the majority of those that work the field for our salads, for the greens in this country are extremely underpaid. >> reporter: he says in some ways the same can be said of the police. this is
10:21 pm
a police force that is totally underbudgeted. celinas has less than one plif per 1,000 population. i feel like carmel in the same county has 3.5 officers per thousand operation. >> what i see is a police force with fear. >> are you concerned there could be more violence. >> yes. >> what should happen? >> i think that the people that were part of the shooting - should somehow be held responsible for their actions. >> reporter: you think the police officers should go to gaol? >> well, i feel if - if the evidence shows that they really did what they did, it should go by any other criminal.
10:22 pm
process. >> now the climate is emotional. it is not rational. i'm not taking away from anybody's anger, frustration, odistrust. we have to deal. the facts of this investigation mr be assembled into -- will be assembled and sent to the monter adistrict office and they can decide if the officers were justified or not. the conversation in the community - how do we rebuild. >> the city is trying. thursday, this event brought community members together with city officials initials, including the mayor. >> we are looking for answers on both sides. i don't think we high police with the intent of them wanting to shoot someone. the good news is coming together of the community, for an answer
10:23 pm
for a solution for the future. community. >> we have to come together. we fight each other. we come together. after a break here, flawed friendsics, and a deliberate miscarriage of justice. >> you don't get to cheat and win. i think that is really at the core of this. that those convictions shouldn't sustained because they were based in $flawness a case of evidence dampering in the crime lab and the risks it points to in our justice system. if i told you that a free ten-second test
10:24 pm
could mean less waiting for things like security backups and file downloads you'd take that test, right? well, what are you waiting for? you could literally be done with the test by now.
10:25 pm
now you could have done it twice. this is awkward. check your speed. see how fast your internet can be. switch now and add voice and tv for $34.90. comcast business built for business. trwith secure wifie for your business. it also comes with public wifi for your customers. not so with internet from the phone company. i would email the phone company to inquire as to why they have shortchanged these customers. but that would require wifi. switch to comcast business internet and get two wifi networks included. comcast business built for business. >> weekday mornings on al jazeera america
10:26 pm
>> we do have breaking news this morning... >> start your day with in depth coverage from around the world. first hand reporting from across the country and real news keeping you up to date. the big stories of the day, from around the world... >> these people need help, this is were the worst of the attack took place... >> and throughout the morning, get a global perspective on the news... >> the life of doha... >> this is the international news hour... >> an informed look on the night's events, a smarter start to your day. mornings on al jazeera america our criminal justice system is supposed to protect the innocent and punish the guilty. in massachusetts nearly 40,000 defendants had their cases tainted by a chemist whose work in a crime lab turned the question of guilt or innocence on its head. in the ongoing series crime and punishment lori jane gliha examines the cases of annie
10:27 pm
dukin and how her practices put criminals on the streets. >> reporter: despite her quiet voice and slight stature, the woman in this massachusetts court room caused one of the biggest scandals in the state's criminal justice historiry. she's dukin, a former state chemist, helping police by analysing evidence. >> what goes through your mind? >> a lot of good hard work was thrown out the window because of her activities. >> reporter: her job required her to identify and weigh samples like heroin and cocaine. for 10 years she did her job with a lot of praise and little oversight, affecting the cases of approximately 40,000 people. it eventually came to light that the star chemist not only lied about her credentials, she
10:28 pm
tampered with the drugs. she handled drug samples without supervision, formed initials of others and contaminated samples. sometimes she eye palled them, guessing what duration they might be, instead of them. >> attorneyy ted cruz remembers the day he was told his cases were tainted. >> i knew we had a problem. we have drug cases with violent criminals. we have a right to be worried, i have an obligation to make sure the convictions are good, solid evidence and to make sure the stuff does not taint our convictions. all these files here are dukin case, the whole filing cabinet. >> reporter: every one is a person or a file. >> yes. >> reporter: tom c said he
10:29 pm
assigned extra staff to investigate every case dating back to 2003. deft's attorneys fielded calls from clients wondering if dukin cases. >> it was almost overwhelming. ann is a defend are, saying duke jip's evidence forced many of her clients to plead guilty. we are faced with mandatory sentences in drug cases for larger amounts of drugs, increasingly bigger sentences. there are people who plead guilty to cut their losses when it may not be so guilty. michelle says dukin tampered with her case. and her future. how old are are? >> i'm 19. this is a few days before i was arrested.
10:30 pm
as you can see, i'm high on heroin, and it's disgusting to look at. she was a drug addict. when detectives send the drugs to the lab dukin tested them. the drugs weighed enough to bump the charge to a felony tracking charge. it carries a 10-year sentence. >> reporter: do you think annie dukin hampered with your drugs. >> yes, i do. >> reporter: what do you believe she did. >> i believe that she added weight to it. our guy said it was under. >> reporter: devlin feared a trial on the possibility of years behind bars, and she pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. dukin. >> i said
10:31 pm
oh, my god, the next day i got a call from my lawyer. he said it was 19 and that it would out. >> reporter: devlin wanted the plea reversed and won. this is what team see when they do a backgrounded search. >> we, for background and jobs. >> reporter: even though this says dismissed you think it will stop someone hiring you. >> this is awful. >> reporter: what do you think peep will say - you chose to do the drugs and put yourself in the situation, how can you blame someone like annie duke jip when you were there. >> there was times i break the
10:32 pm
law and doing drugs. for these charges i wasn't. i shouldn't have got the crime. i didn't have the weight on me. if they wanted to be fair, it wasn't fair. >> reporter: fairness is what the aclu says it is fighting for. people have a strong mistrust of the criminal justice system and the police. people feel it is not fair. >> reporter: as it stands unless the prosecution decides to reprosecute, anyone convicted must hire a lawyer if they would like to open the case. the amount clu sass the process is unfair, putting a defendants. >> dukin went to gaol, but they let the convictions stand. that's not american or the way the system works. you don't get to cheat or win. that is at the core of this, that those convictions shouldn't stand because they were based in
10:33 pm
front. the aclu's carl williams asked the massachusetts supreme court to vacate all drug convictions based on testimony. >> i think it is fair to say that the 40,000 cases should be dismissed. really it should be on the other food. prosecutors be in the same situation at the beginning. if they can prove the case take it, prove it. if they can't, let it go away. if it happened you think there'll be people getting off the hook? >> there's a way you can say it. will it be fair? i think it will be. >> it's a terrible idea. >> what is a better idea. >> better idea is doing what we are doing. individually putting in the pap staking hours of going through the fools and keeping convictions how realistic is it to go back through each anyways and get things done in a timely
10:34 pm
manner and cost effective way. >> cost effective is an interesting phrase. what is the cost of a homicide or another crime. because of annie dukin scandal this man was released and later accused of killing a man. >> the allegations and murder indictments say he shot charles ef jps three times in the chest with a firearm. he should have been in gaol. >> the fast majority of the individuals in the duke jun cases are guilty of the crimes, and were convicted of, and in some instances that they pled guilty to. >> michelle def lip was a drug addict. today she cleansed up her life. >> once he was born, everything changed.
10:35 pm
i see the world differently. ip am not selfish like before. my life is all about him. >> reporter: with the birth of her son patrick, she is hopeful to find a fresh start and leave memories of her old life and annie dukin in the past. and looking ahead here on "america tonight" - fuming - a threat that could blow. concentration. >> reporter: how bad of a leak is that? >> that's a high concentration, 70,000 parts per million, 7% gas, over the explosion threshold which is 5%. if you have a truck. >> reporter: which could be a line. >> that could be dangerous. it's not common or normal. that's something the gas companies care about
10:36 pm
and work hard to fix. that is an example of something that could go wrong. >> some of the historic cities in america. what lays beneath may be a danger to the unsuspecting. ageing pipes, leaking, exposing risks is there a way for communities and gas companies to protect us. sara hoy on problems in the pipeline. see that report monday, here on "america tonight". still to come - d-day, one of the most memorable days, what it means to the men and women who civiled it. their stories from bedford
10:37 pm
>> now inroducing, the new al jazeea america mobile news app. get our exclusive in depth, reporting when you want it. a global perspective wherever you are. the major headlines in context. mashable says... you'll never miss the latest news >> they will continue looking for suvivors... >> the potential for energy production is huge... >> no noise, no clutter, just real reporting. the new al jazeera america mobile app, available for your apple and android mobile device. download it now
10:38 pm
>> start with one issue ad guests on all sides of the debate. and a host willing to ask the tough questions and you'll get...
10:39 pm
the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5pm et / 2pm pt only on al jazeera america
10:40 pm
10:41 pm
10:42 pm
10:43 pm
10:44 pm
10:45 pm
10:46 pm
>> on techknow. we're heading to cutting edge cal tech campus >> here's a look at just a few of the students shaping the future of science >> see the latest research, discoveries and breakthroughs inside some of the worlds most advanced labs. >> how do you scale somethig you learned from a jelly fish? >> techknow every saturday go where science meets humanity. this is some of the best driving i've ever done, even though i can't see. techknow. we're here in the vortex.
10:47 pm
only on al jazeera america.
10:48 pm
>> this, is what we do. >> al jazeera america.
10:49 pm
finally tonight for years the united states has been tightening its border with mexico amid calls for more security, tougher border patrols. in a remote area of west texas a community is fighting for less border control. "america tonight"'s lori jane gliha travelled to a town in texas to see why so many are willing to break the law to fight for a community they say needs both sides of the border to survive. [ ♪ music ] >> we are not like the rest of the borders. we don't have the same problems they have. they have legitimate problems and reasons for closing. it's a totally different situation [ singing ] >> reporter:. >> reporter: in the tiny border town of texas, the total
10:50 pm
population is fewer than 200 people. it's never difficult to draw a crowd to the porch of the local saloon. [ singing ] >> today the gathering of neighbours is about more than music. they are preparing for a musical protest in a fight to reopen a border crossing closedar september 11th -- chased after september 11th. the small town talked deep within the desert. it's a 4-hour drive from texas. the area is so remote. we have been driving for hours and only see a car once in a while. it's an isolated area along the texas-mexican border. for miles all you see is desert shrub. the terrain let's you see an uppop u lawyer route.
10:51 pm
the number of immigrants is the lowest of any other border patrol sector. [ singing ] >> reporter: when i asked i found a group of musicians preparing for civil disobedience. [ clapping ]. >> we call this a feeta protestor, which is a - you know, a mild mannered way of border. >> what are you protesting? >> the fact that the border is closed. >> these people remember when the border with mexico was open and free.
10:52 pm
>> it was a big thing with tourism to go over there. people made mun ji had a living. there must have been 60 to 70 people there, and now maybe 1.5 families there, left. >> friend and families would cross the river between the towns for working food and fun. no border patrol agents would block the way. >> it's accessible. when you see people interact... >> how do you see people get to the other side? >> you get in the boat. they'd champ you a fee, a buck or two bucksment you'd tip the guy. no passport needed? >> no. >> things changed after september 11th. border control tightened. agents tripled and life changed
10:53 pm
in the villages too. the informal crossings closed. communities on each side of the bovereder were cut -- border were cut off with each other and threatened with gaol time. now it takes 4 hours to drive through the closest legal crossing. these musicians are hoping to change that. >> all you have to do is have the conversation and help us change it back. >> what is your plan, how do you want your voice to impact. >> it's to get your voice out. if you go up and down the bored, residents, politicians are not happy with the way it is. the status quo. what all the changes brought about. the honest people don't have a way to make a living. they have to go away and it's sad. >> reporter: that hap thens this mexican -- happens in this mexican village.
10:54 pm
i was tan to the community -- taken to the community, nestled mented. >> people go over there and have a meal and get away from the busy world. how do you say it's waste deep on a duck. >> reporter: the crossing to the mexican town was closed in 2002. cutting off american tourism. experience. >> this is the classic experience. you take the boat. you pay $5. >> you ride a donkey. beer. >> yes. >> we road to the center on a burrow. unpaid roads are lined with a few bars and restaurants. the town is so sleweded it's off the power grid.
10:55 pm
the main restaurant uses solar reframe raters. here borders ruined the town. there's no people, nothing. a coast town. it was sad. lillian's father spent 30 years. he depended on tourism to make a living. lilia remembers the day when people stopped coming and her mother shut the shop. >> she worked so much. that's how hard it was. i can feel it. the village started to vanish. like most here, lilia left to find other work. reprieve. >> they built this knowing that the crossing would be real. >> this was part of the whole
10:56 pm
plan. locals and officials persuaded the department. they argued that it increases security because it gives locals a legal option to cross. the community came back to life, back to the town that is home. >> reporter: do you remember what went through your head? >> i started telling my mum. calling every family member that i had a contact with. god opened a door, i believe this god. he opened the door for her, from the up to. the porch musicians and her neighbour hope a door will open for them too. it's time for the fiesta
10:57 pm
protestor. under the watchful eyes of border agents towns people test the waters, crossing to the other side, illegally uniting with families and friends. >> this girl lives in texas, because the crossing she hasn't seen her sister in a few years. it's been a year since she hugged her mum. >> without this open, how far do you have to travel? >> four hours. >> she doesn't want to be arrested, so she september her border into the water to send flours. gradually the borer was invisible border. >> reporter: how was it reporting through the river? throughout the day, hundred of
10:58 pm
people de-foyed the law, including tex cas like mike david sop and his band, who crossed to the mexican side to play and sing. although border patrol agents made no rests, they told us they'll continue to enforce the war. for a few hours the valley and river became a community, giving hope to the community who raised their voices in protest that the border in this town may one day be reopened for good. that's it for us here on "america tonight".
10:59 pm
don't forget monday night. pipework - sara hoy has a report on monday on the aging pipes below ground. if you would like to extent on any stories you saw tonight, log on to the website. aljazeera.com/americatooftenlt you cap meet the team and tell us what you'd like to see. goodnight, we'll have more of "america tonight" tomorrow.
11:00 pm
>> i'm ali velshi, the news has become this thing where you talk to experts about people, and al jazeera has really tried to talk to people, about their stories. we are not meant to be your first choice for entertainment. we are ment to be your first choice for the news. >> thanks for joining us. this the al jazeera america. i'm thomas drayton in new york. let's get you caught up on the top stories this hour. men dressed as police attacked pakistan's biggest airport with machine guns and a rocket launcher. >> told me to telethe cops it was a revolution. >> in las vegas, two police officers are gunned down while eating their lunch. a rare embrace. brought together