BY AMY HUSK AND PACO SÁNCHEZ

BRONX, New York - On September 11, the trial of police officer Francis Livoti opened here. The Bronx cop is charged with "criminally negligent homicide" in the chokehold death of 29-year-old Anthony Baez. The charges were brought and are being prosecuted by the Bronx District Attorney.

Baez was playing football with his three brothers in front of the family's home in the Bronx at 1:30 in the morning on December 22, 1994, when their football bounced off one of the two police cars parked on the deserted street. Livoti ordered the brothers to stop playing and then put David Baez under arrest. When Anthony protested and demanded to know what the charges were, Livoti arrested him.

In the course of the arrest, the police officer choked Anthony Baez to death.

All the cops who have testified deny that Livoti used the illegal chokehold and claim that Baez died of an asthma attack. This lie was exposed in the first days of the trial. Several medical experts described Baez's asthma condition, as well as the severe damage and internal bleeding around his neck found during the autopsy.

The witnesses included the doctor who tried to revive him in the emergency room, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy, a specialist in asthma, and a specialist in chokeholds and deaths under police custody. Their testimony pointed to a unanimous and unambiguous conclusion: Anthony Baez died of asphyxiation, not asthma.

The 46th police precinct that Livoti belongs to has a reputation for brutality, including murders by cops. One of the people attending the trial is Margarita Rosario. Her son, Anthony Rosario, and nephew, Hilton Vega, were shot 22 times in the back and sides by cops from the 46th precinct in January 1995. The cops have not yet been brought to trial in that case. In another incident reported in the September 20 New York Daily News, 41-year-old Jorge Tirse was beaten to death at the 46th precinct after being arrested for driving with a suspended license.

Livoti himself has a long history of brutality complaints, including a 1989 incident where he choked a young Black man and beat him with a flashlight. In 1990 he punched Manuel Bordoy several times, breaking his jaw. Assault charges were filed against Livoti in 1993 after he choked a 16-year-old who had been arrested for driving his go-cart on the street.

While all these incidents have been reported in the press, the judge in the case denied a motion by the prosecution to present them as evidence.

Every day the Baez family has been joined in the courtroom by activists against police brutality, family members of other victims, and other youth and workers. "Coming here is very important," said Margarita Rosario. "We can learn from this trial and be better prepared to fight later."

Doris Peebles, who works at the courthouse, went inside the courtroom the first day. "I came because I thought this was resolved and it's not," she said. "He [Livoti] shouldn't walk. We have to keep fighting the system."

Cops and supporters of Livoti have also filled their half of the courtroom everyday, as well as leaders of the Patrolman's Benevolent Association, which provided the lawyer, Marshall Trager, to defend Livoti.

Livoti has chosen to waive his right to a jury trial. The New York Post defended the cop's choice in a September 16 editorial, saying that in the Bronx "the population has difficulty showing more support for the police than it does for its large criminal population." The Post editors also complained that Livoti would not get "a fair hearing" from a jury in the Bronx "because of the intensity of the anti-police bias infecting members of the jury pool."

As the trial was going on another young man was killed by New York cops, this time in Harlem. In the early morning hours of September 19, 20-year-old Joseph Stevens was shot in the neck by a cop in plain clothes on 127th street. At a news conference later that day, department chief Louis Anemone defended the killing, saying he wished there were more cops on the force like the one who shot Stevens.

"All united is the only way to fight police brutality, not the family alone," said Patricia Baez, sister of Anthony Baez. The family has been working with Richie Perez of the National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights to mobilize support in the courtroom. They have been issuing daily bulletins summarizing the day's testimony and encouraging groups to "adopt a day in court." The Congress can be reached at (212) 614-5355 or in the internet rperez@boricuanet.org

Amy Husk is a member of United Transportation Union Local 1445 in New Jersey.  
 
 
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