I.
A man was arrested for alleged criminal trespassing, public drunkenness, resisting arrest, and public intimidation in Audubon Park. The police illegally searched his car, they never asked but just jumped on it. They found some Xanax pills. The man asked for the police’s names and badge numbers.
The police grabbed the man and said he was resisting arrest. They beat the man up and handcuffed him. The man had marks on his body which he said he got while he was in the cell. The officer who had arrested and beaten him is [Officer's name omitted].
The man was given access to counsel 13 hours after his arrest. He was given water and food. The cell’s toilet was not working, but overflowing. There were 46 men in his cell. It was freezing and he had a blanket with holes in it. His attorney told him that he would have to spend 21 days in jail if he did not plead guilty.
A doctor checked the man while in the cell and said his wrist was probably broken. The man was on the phone with his attorney when they grabbed him and injured his wrist.
II.
A man was arrested for disturbing the peace, public intoxication, public intimidation and resisting arrest. He was walking on Bourbon street and arrested by [Officer's name omitted].
According to the man, the police said “There he is,” and four police officers tackled the man and beat him up. One officer punched the man’s eye and said “You know what you did.” The man had no access to counsel, but did have water and food while in the cell. The man slept on concrete all night without a blanket. There was no heat in the jail. The man pled guilty in order to get out of jail.
III.
A man was arrested in the bathroom of a bar on Bourbon street. He was charged with fighting. In fact, the man was helping his friend get up after a fall on a slippery floor.
The police came into the bathroom and beat the man up. The bouncer in the club came up with drugs to try and charge the man with drug possession. The charge never went through.
While they were sitting in a police van for an hour, the man’s friend was talking about an elderly man that was beaten on Bourbon street a few months earlier. After that discussion the police came into the van and handcuffed the man’s friend and beat him.
While in the cell the man did not have access to counsel. At 3:00 am, the man made a phone call but nobody answered. The food in the jail was terrible. Toilets did not work, there was feces and urine all over. The man had no blankets or sleeping pad. There were over twenty people to a cell. The police were verbally abusive and swore at prisoners [Officer's names omitted].
The man pled guilty to get out of jail. He paid a $300 fine. Everyone else who did not plead guilty had to stay until January or April. The man acknowledged other people inside who need help.
IV.
A man was arrested Christmas eve for public drunkedness. He was not drunk. The policeman who arrested him said he was tired of seeing him in the neighborhood. The man replied that he lived there in Algiers.
This is the third time he has been arrested for the same charge in the past year and a half, always just near his home. He has not been physically abused, just constantly harassed.
He has access to counsel while in jail, but counsel was worthless. The toilet did not flush, but the man was given a blanket. The man was told he would have to stay in jail for 21 days if he did not plead guilty and pay a fine. The man pled guilty and paid a fine of $200.
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