The trials drew national attention, and HPDs newly minted internal affairs unit was overwhelmed with complaints. Leave them blank to get signed up. Officers Terry Denson and Steven Orlando were indicted for murder on June 28. Three buildings in the shopping center were gutted by the fire. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. City Employees Are Heading for the Exits. That sort of exchange previously would have been unimaginable. Phone 615-322-2927. Killings, planted evidence and a federal discrimination lawsuit all provided the fuel that Torres' death set ablaze at an event known as the Moody Park Riot. Following a month-long trial, an all-white jury convicted Denson and Orlando on a reduced charge of negligent homicidea misdemeanor . Bring on the Shiplap? In just a few short years, relationships between HPD and Houston's Hispanic community had improved to such a degree that Caldwell even commended a local police critic during a LULAC convention, who in turn praised the chief for his efforts. EXCLUSIVE: Lanzarote sticks to its guns and insists it WILL limit tourists and move away from relying on Jeremy Clarkson DENIES he has been sacked as Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? In the wake of Torres's death, frustrated residents of Houston's barrios staged rallies and protests around the city. Torres subsequently drowned. But the Chicano Squad moved mountains with the little resources they had. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Margaret Torres, mother of Joe Campos Torres, speaks to a crowd gathered at the Houston police station Oct. 8, 1977 to protest the verdict handed down by a Huntsville jury in the the murder trial of former Houston policemen Terry Denson and Stephen Orlando. Torres, an American citizen and a former serviceman, was wearing combat boots at the time of the fatal plunge. Today, Campos Torres' family is working to erect an official marker to commemorate his death and the riots. West Texans Are Learning What It Means to Live in Bear Country, The Top 50 Texas BBQ Joints: 2021 Edition, Jimmy Carters Peanut-and-Egg Taco Made Quite the Impression on San Antonians, The Campaign to Sabotage Texass Public Schools. Chicano Squad members recognized at City Hall, Houston, 2019. six responding Houston Police Department officers, one year of probation and fined them each $1. The three former officers are to be sentenced late next month. According to Houston police, they got a call about a missing 3-year-old girl at about 5:30 a.m. Sunday. Torres drowned after he had been arrested by Houston police officers for creating a disturbance in an East End bar. An all-white jury found them guilty of negligent homicidea misdemeanorand sentenced the officers. By 1977, the year Torres was killed, HPD had hired just 161 Hispanic officers to serve a community with more than 200,000 Latino residents. Family members and friends of his are working to win approval of historical markers at Moody Park to commemorate Torres' death and the community's reaction. The comments below have not been moderated. Articles about the drowning of Joe Campos Torres appeared in the Houston Chronicle on May 15, 1977. 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His drowned body was found three days later on May 8, 1977 - exactly 40 years ago today. REPORTER: Walter Cronkite, (Houston, Texas) Background of case involving alleged beating of Joe Campos Torres, which resulted in his drowning, by officers Terry Wayne Denson, Stephen Orlando and Joseph Janish given. On June 28, a Harris County grand jury indicted two of the officers, Terry Denson and Steven Orlando, for murder and a third, J. J. Janisch, for misdemeanor assault. His body was found on May 8Mother's Day. The city was quickly growing into the murder capital of the United States as a slew of unsolved killings in Houstons barrios piled up. Torres, a 23-year-old Mexican American and Vietnam War veteran, drowned . The violence May 7 left five police officers and two newsmen injured, and several stores in the area burned or looted. This is a carousel. Carless Elliott, the only rookie cop at the scene that night, later recalled in court the words of one of his fellow officers, the last words Torres must have heard before his body plunged into those dark waters: Lets see if this wetback can swim.. The arresting officers took him to a place dubbed 'the hole,' an area behind a warehouse along the Buffalo Bayou, and beat him before taking Torres to the city jail. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Terry W. Denson. The state granted immunity for two others, Glenn Brinkmeyer and Lewis Kinney, in exchange for their testimony. 3908 Avenue B, Suite 105 Jose "Joe" Campos Torres, shown in a photo held by his sister Janie Torres in 1998, was arrested after a 1977 Cinco de Mayo disturbance. "All those cops, they just got a slap on the wrist, and you know what? Terry Denson in Texas. Films shown; previous state trial of 2 officers and demands of local Mex.-Americans for Justice Department probe noted. When they brought him to the station, according to the testimony of a police sergeant on duty, Mr. Torres needed medical treatment. Attorneys for the three defendants said they would probably appeal the verdict. Protesters met at Commerce and San Jacinto near the site where the body of Joe Campos Torres was found May 8. The three former officers, Terry W. Denson, 29 years old, Joseph J. Janish, 25 and Stephen Orlando, 24, were found guilty in Judge Sterling's court last year of responsibility for the death by drowning of Joe Campos Torres, 23, a laborer. This was a test, and they had only a few months to prove themselves. According to sworn testimony, the officers then spreadeagled the prisoner against a patrol car, and Mr. Denson, after some discussion of what to do with the prisoner, said, Let's see if this wetback can swim. The prosecutors contended that Mr. Denson then pushed Mr. Torres into the bayou. Material supplied by VTNA may be used for educational analysis or research only. Note to sponsor members: The Vanderbilt Television News Archive video player requires a modern operating system and browser to work properly. 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Assistant District Attorney Ted Poe talks about coordination between the District Attorney's Office and the grand jury. Chip Gaines Bought Larry McMurtrys Historic Texas Bookstore. On January 15, according to a $100,000 damage suit filed by Robert and Alice Gleason, N. W. Holloway and his partner J. T. Olin were among several other cops who stormed into their Pasadena trailer. She blends vividly reported details of decades-old events with personal anecdotes of similar struggles. Houston, and its police department, had to respond. Federal prosecutors termed the verdict a compromise, noting that the defendants were not found guilty of additional charges that they had conspired to obstruct justice by withholding information about the incident from Federal investigators. 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The Department of Justice is supposed to fill that leadership role at a national level. Chief Troy Finner issued the apology on Sunday to the family of Joe Campos Torres, a Mexican-American Vietnam War veteran, who was beaten to death and his body dumped in the Buffalo Bayou by Houston police officers in 1977. 'I am the chief of police, but I am a son of Houston, and what people need to understand is if you cannot see and feel 44 years of pain and suffering of this family, you're not human,' Finner said. Reporters interview Harris County District Attorney Carol Vance, Divers search the depths of Buffalo Bayou for Torres' wallet, Protests outside the Harris County Courthouse. 1977 - Joe Campos Torres -- his death triggered an outcry from the Mexican-American community about police brutality in Houston. Instead of being transferred to Ben Taub Hospital for treatment, Torres was taken to a site along Buffalo Bayou near Commerce, where he either jumped or was pushed into the bayou. They're dead, Michael C. Ramsey, one of the defense lawyers, said of the Justice Department's appeal effort, which he termed frivolous. Mr. Ramsey said he considered today's sentences a victory for the additional reason that the three defendants would no longer have to face the five years probation originally imposed by the Judge. Anyone can read what you share. 3 EXPOLICE OFFICERS CONVICTED IN HOUSTON, https://www.nytimes.com/1978/02/09/archives/3-expolice-officers-convicted-in-houston-found-guilty-in-civil.html. Mr. Elliott later became a prosecution witness at both trials. City officials vowed to memorialize Torres in some way, The worst thing for her, she said was that, 'No matter how many apologies we get, it can never change the fact because Joe, at the end, never got justice.'. Forrest Wilder writes about politics and the outdoors. "Let's see if the wetback can swim." With those words, Officer. The department wanted to rebuild its reputation fast. Torres was 23 on the night of May 5, 1977, when he was arrested for disorderly conduct at a bar, according to reports from the Houston Chronicle at the time. Chief Bond comments on the function of the Civilian Review Board. Bond resigned months later after only serving a year. Houston's independent source of It is the headquarters for the Texas prison system. Rishi Sunak is urgently reviewing his private exchanges with Matt Hancock after bombshell leak of ex-Health 'Drinks cold in fridge at DH!' Two Houston police officers stand guard over a wrecked convenience store at 3814 Fulton. 1977, Houston Police officer Terry Denson yelled, "Let's see if this wetback can swim!" Denson, along with five other white policemen (Louis Kinney, Glen Brinkmeyer, Joseph Janish, Stephen Orlando, and Carless Elliot) had arrested Torres after responding to a complaint of a drunken His body was found on May 8Mother's Day. Though he served in that role for less than three years, Caldwell instituted key reforms that still exist today, such as HPD's first internal affairs department, HPD's first formal manual and the first liaisons to minority communities. State District Judge James Warref of Walker County sentenced them to one year probation and a $1 fine. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. While Bond says that he "cannot create a police review board," the Houston Police Department established the Internal Affairs Division soon after Torres' death to investigate police misconduct. This has destroyed all of us. Hernandez, Raymond Gonzalez, and Jose Selvera Jr. On top of their translating work in the field, the squad was also tasked with investigating 52 cases that experienced detectives on the force hadnt been able to crack. Houston Police Chief Troy Finner apologized to the family of Joe Campos Torres for his death in 1977 in Houston police custody, calling it 'straight-up murder', Torres, a US Army Vietnam veteran, was 23 when he was arrested on May 5, 1977 for disorderly conduct at a bar, and beaten. HOUSTON, Feb. 8 Three former Houston police officers were found guilty in Federal District Court here today of beating a MeicanAmerican prisoner last May and then pushing him into a downtown bayou, where he drowned. Above is the abstract of the item that you're interested in viewing from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive's collection. Garcia said there had been progress in that Chief Harry Caldwell has required officers to register the extra weapons they carry with them, has banned the use of "long rifles" such as deer rifles, and has forbidden officers to shoot at fleeing suspects who aren't threatening their safety or that of others. Adrian Garcia, former HPD officer and current Harris County commissioner, said some of his friends stopped talking to him when he joined the force, calling him a sellout. You were a victim [of a crime], so Im going to treat you as a victim. Films shown; previous state trial of 2 officers and demands of local Mex.-Americans for Justice Department probe noted. In 1978, the Cinco de Mayo celebrations at Moody Park erupted into riots. By John M. Crewdson; Special to The New York Times. Denson testified that Torres had said he could swim and had jumped into the water. Defense attorney Mike Ramsey and his client, Steven Orlando, follow. Terry W Denson of Harris County, Texas was born c. 1950. HOUSTON, Oct. 30 Federal District Judge Ross N. Sterling, acting under orders from a Federal appeals court to impose prison terms on three former Houston police officers he had sentenced to probation for their roles in the death of a young MexicanAmerican man, today handed the three what amounted to an extra day in orison. Houston police officers give first aid to officer Tommy A. Britt who was injured by a car that broke through a police line at Irvington and Fulton during a riot that began in nearby Moody Park. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. On May 5, 1977, Campos Torres, was arrested at a bar for disorderly conduct. Many segments are silent and would have been voiced over by the anchorperson during a live broadcast. Officers Terry Denson and Stephen Orlando were convicted of negligent homicide, a misdemeanor, and were fined $1 and sentenced to probation. With limited resources and no prior detective training, they faced scrutiny from all sides. And as Mosqueda recalls, many non-Latino officers were happy to throw around the word wetbackthe same pejorative hurled at Torres before his death. | Testimony indicated that Oralando, who drove the patrol car in which Torres was transported, had encouraged Denson by "this would be a good time" to see if "the wetback" could swim. In 1977, Joe Campos Torres had been arrested at a Houston bar for disorderly conduct. Three buildings in the shopping center were gutted by the fire. He said looters from the riot at Moody Park knocked out windows and forced the clerk to flee through the back of the store as the crowd looted. Rather than taking him directly to the nearby jail, six responding Houston Police Department officers took a detour to a secluded spot near Buffalo Bayou that they called The Hole. Five of the officers were charged in the death, with two convicted of negligent homicide, and the other three convicted of violating Torres' civil rights. After adjustments, if you continue to experience problems, please contact us. Torres subsequently drowned. His body was found by a boater three days later. Mimi Swartz is a staff writer based in Houston. Instead, they brought him back to the Hole. The three former officers, Terry W. Denson, 29 years old, Joseph J. Janish, 25 and Stephen Orlando, 24, were found guilty in Judge Sterling's court last year of responsibility for the death by. and help keep the future of the Houston Press, Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our, HPD Investigating Victims' Crime Advocate Andy Kahan, A Murder in Montrose: the Paul Broussard Legacy. Given the departments broken relationship with the Latino community, making headway on the cases would be extremely difficult, especially because of the officer recruitment problem. Forty years ago Torres was killed by police in an incident that sparked massive riots across Houston. Two observers watch as Margaret Torres throws a wreath into Buffalo Bayou in memory of her son, Joe Campos Torres. Terry Denson was married to Tennie E. (Kimbrough) Denson on October 28, 1971 in Harris County, Texas. Torres was allegedly beaten and then drowned by Houston police. Updated: June 20, 2015. In their barrios, things werent much better. As news of the atrocity spread, Torress name became a rallying cry that united the citys Latino community in its search for justice. 512-485-3073 Their convictions were for criminally negligent homicide, a first-degree misdemeanor. This edited footage from Houston's KPRC-TV follows the grand jury investigation into the death of Jos Campos Torres, a 23-year-old Mexican American and Vietnam War veteran. 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