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Judge rejects claims of racial profiling
By Kevin O ;Hanlon, Associated Press Writer, 3/29/2004
LINCOLN, Neb. -- A federal judge on Monday rejected claims that a Nebraska State trooper used racial profiling in stopping three black men on Interstate 80 in 2002.
U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf of Lincoln adopted an earlier recommendation by Magistrate David Piester that said while Trooper Rob Pelster has a history of stopping a disproportionate number of minorities, it was not
roven that he used racial profiling.
"While this testimony may prove that Pelster was unsophisticated, and quite frightened about being called a racist, it certainly does not have any tendency to
prove that he stopped, searched, or arrested the defendants, or a
nyone else, because of their race or ethnicity," Kopf wrote.
The case stems from a Dec. 4, 2002, incident in which Pelster stopped a Dodge Caravan on the interstate in Hamilton County.
Pelster said the van ;s driver, Leonard Hare, 45, of New Haven, Conn., made an improper lane change after following another vehicle too closely.
The van contained two passengers, Donald P. Fox, 43, of New Rochelle, N.Y., and Christopher W. Edwards, 29, of Orlando, Fla.
When one of the men refused to let Pelster search the van, a patrol drug dog was summoned. The dog indicated drug odors were present and troopers later found more than 400 pounds of marijuana in the vehicle.
The men were indicted on charges of possess
ing marijuana with the intent to deliver and face up to 40 years in prison, if convicted.
During a hearing last year, a lawyer for one of the three men said Pelster asked minority drivers for
per
mission to search their cars nearly four times as often as whites.
Attorney Arthur Lan
gvardt said Pelster asked about one out of seven minority motorists he stopped for permission to search their cars, compared to just one of 27 whites.
Defense lawyers submitted statistics that said nearly 30 percent of the motorists Pelster stopped in a 10-month period on I-80 were minorities.
By comparison, about 9 percent of all motorists stopped statewide by the patrol in 2002 were minorities. About 10 percent stopped by the patrol in the 12-county area in central Nebraska where Pelster used to be stationed were minorities. He is now stationed in Omaha.
Defense lawyers also said that Pelster had been warned by his supervisors several times that he seemed to be stopping an inordinate number
of minority drivers.
"Here, the defendants ; statistics were fundamentally meaningless because their numerical analysis did not concentrate on similarly situated troopers as compared to Pe
lster
, and the defendants had no evidence that Pelster spoke or acted like a racist," Kopf said. "Pelster ;s pers
onnel file and ratings fall entirely short of proving that he was a `rogue police officer."
Pelster said troopers are trained to look after making a traffic stop for signs that the driver or its occupants might be smuggling drugs. Those indicators include having little or no luggage, nervousness by the driver or occupants, or if the vehicle is rented or has license plates from a state where many drugs originate, such as Arizona or California.
Pelster said race does not enter into the equation.
Pelster, under cross-examination, said he sometimes avoids stopping minority motorists for traffic violations -- a practice he called "de-policing" -- to avoid bei
ng perceived as racist.
Earlier, three other minority motorists detained by Pelster in unrelated incidents testified that they believed he stopped them solely because of their race.
Judge rejects claims of racial profiling
By Kevin O ;Hanlon, Associated Press Writer, 3/29/2004
LINCOLN, Neb. -- A federal judge on Monday rejected claims that a Nebraska State trooper used racial profiling in stopping three black men on Interstate 80 in 2002.
U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf of Lincoln adopted an earlier recommendation by Magistrate David Piester that said while Trooper Rob Pelster has a history of stopping a disproportionate number of minorities, it was not
roven that he used racial profiling.
"While this testimony may prove that Pelster was unsophisticated, and quite frightened about being called a racist, it certainly does not have any tendency to
prove that he stopped, searched, or arrested the defendants, or a
nyone else, because of their race or ethnicity," Kopf wrote.
The case stems from a Dec. 4, 2002, incident in which Pelster stopped a Dodge Caravan on the interstate in Hamilton County.
Pelster said the van ;s driver, Leonard Hare, 45, of New Haven, Conn., made an improper lane change after following another vehicle too closely.
The van contained two passengers, Donald P. Fox, 43, of New Rochelle, N.Y., and Christopher W. Edwards, 29, of Orlando, Fla.
When one of the men refused to let Pelster search the van, a patrol drug dog was summoned. The dog indicated drug odors were present and troopers later found more than 400 pounds of marijuana in the vehicle.
The men were indicted on charges of possess
ing marijuana with the intent to deliver and face up to 40 years in prison, if convicted.
During a hearing last year, a lawyer for one of the three men said Pelster asked minority drivers for
per
mission to search their cars nearly four times as often as whites.
Attorney Arthur Lan
gvardt said Pelster asked about one out of seven minority motorists he stopped for permission to search their cars, compared to just one of 27 whites.
Defense lawyers submitted statistics that said nearly 30 percent of the motorists Pelster stopped in a 10-month period on I-80 were minorities.
By comparison, about 9 percent of all motorists stopped statewide by the patrol in 2002 were minorities. About 10 percent stopped by the patrol in the 12-county area in central Nebraska where Pelster used to be stationed were minorities. He is now stationed in Omaha.
Defense lawyers also said that Pelster had been warned by his supervisors several times that he seemed to be stopping an inordinate number
of minority drivers.
"Here, the defendants ; statistics were fundamentally meaningless because their numerical analysis did not concentrate on similarly situated troopers as compared to Pe
lster
, and the defendants had no evidence that Pelster spoke or acted like a racist," Kopf said. "Pelster ;s pers
onnel file and ratings fall entirely short of proving that he was a `rogue police officer."
Pelster said troopers are trained to look after making a traffic stop for signs that the driver or its occupants might be smuggling drugs. Those indicators include having little or no luggage, nervousness by the driver or occupants, or if the vehicle is rented or has license plates from a state where many drugs originate, such as Arizona or California.
Pelster said race does not enter into the equation.
Pelster, under cross-examination, said he sometimes avoids stopping minority motorists for traffic violations -- a practice he called "de-policing" -- to avoid bei
ng perceived as racist.
Earlier, three other minority motorists detained by Pelster in unrelated incidents testified that they believed he stopped them solely because of their race.