Tag: delaware

Delaware state trooper tried to turn off body camera before ‘brutal’ assault on teen: prosecutors

A Delaware state trooper who allegedly “brutally beat” a 15-year-old boy who played a “ding-dong ditch” prank has been charged with multiple felonies, NBC 10 reported.

Dempsey R. Walters, 29, was charged with second-degree assault, a felony; deprivation of civil rights, a felony; two counts of third-degree assault, misdemeanors; and two counts of official misconduct, as well as other misdemeanors.

Officials say Walters was on duty when the incident occurred but turned off his body camera during the assault, but the device still captured video with no audio.

The video shows Walters walk up to the boy, who was handcuffed and sitting in a police car, and strike him in the face.

“Please tell me what I did? Please tell me what I did?” the boy asks.

Keep reading

Police Tore Up His Protest Sign. Now They Owe Him $50,000

Last year, Delaware police prevented 54-year-old Jonathan Guessford from holding a sign warning drivers about a speed trap and wrongfully cited him for “improper hand signal” after he flipped off the officers who seized and tore up his sign. Police have now agreed to pay Guessford $50,000 as part of a settlement reached in a lawsuit alleging that police violated his civil rights.

Following several run-ins with the police, Guessford decided to “stage protests whenever he saw police officers stopping unsuspected vehicles using a radar gun,” according to legal documents. On March 11, 2022, his protest consisted of standing by the side of the road, holding a homemade sign reading, “Radar Ahead!” Guessford was soon confronted by several Delaware State Police officers, who took his sign and tore it up.

As Guessford drove away after the encounter, he flipped off the officers, leading them to eventually cite him for “improper hand signal” under a statute governing hand signals for nonmotorized vehicles like bicycles. However, body camera footage showed that officers knew that the citation was incongruous and would likely be dropped.

“Yeah, you can’t do that. That’ll get dropped,” Officer Christopher Popp said during a phone call to another officer, who replied, referring to a third officer, “I told him that’s going to get thrown out….Eventually, [Guessford is] going to do something really stupid, and then we are going to be able to really lock him up.”

Keep reading

Delaware’s Beach Towns, Known For Boozy Parties, Are Banning Marijuana Businesses

Three of Delaware’s six most prominent beach towns have now voted to ban cannabis dispensaries, while the other three are in discussions to do the same. All are located in Sussex County, the state’s Republican stronghold.

The first town, Dewey Beach, passed its ordinance in June. On August 18, Rehoboth Beach and Bethany Beach followed suit. Fenwick Island began drafting an ordinance in July. South Bethany is expected to be reviewing one of its own in September or October. Lewes is in similar discussions.

The slightly inland town of Ocean View, also part of Sussex County, introduced a proposed ordinance in July. Its town council does not meet in August and so the ban will not be voted on until at least September.

“It’s almost laughable,’’ Mark Jacobs, a member of the state’s Marijuana Control Act Oversight Committee, told WHYY. “I mean, Dewey Beach, which encourages excessive drinking, whose clubs are fined yearly for violating the state’s alcohol laws. It’s hypocritical that a town that has the well-earned reputation of being a party town is first to jump on the old, debunked reefer madness attitude that it’s somehow perfectly acceptable to get sloshed drunk, but it’s not acceptable to get a little stoned.”

In April, Delaware passed legislation that legalized cannabis for adult use and then regulated its commercial sale. But it also permits jurisdictions to ban cannabis businesses at the local level. Only jurisdictions within Sussex County, the southernmost of Delaware’s three counties, have so far taken steps to do so, with legislators warning that dispensaries would attract “unsavory” people and residents stating that cannabis use is incompatible with a beach being family-friendly.

Keep reading

Delaware judge dismisses tax charges against Hunter Biden

A federal judge in Delaware dismissed tax misdemeanor charges against first son Hunter Biden on Thursday, a pro forma move weeks after a plea agreement between the Justice Department and Biden’s attorneys blew up, new filings show.

US District Judge Maryellen Noreika granted without prejudice a motion from the office of Delaware US Attorney — and newly elevated special counsel — David Weiss to withdraw its case against the 53-year-old first son after prosecutors said last Friday he would likely have to stand trial in either Washington, DC, or Southern California.

Plea talks broke down between Hunter’s legal team and federal prosecutors following a July 26 hearing, during which Noreika pressed both parties about the scope of their agreement, including potential immunity for past crimes.

Under persistent questioning from Noreika, prosecutors said such charges could include alleged violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act — prompting Biden attorney Chris Clark to declare the deal “null and void.”

Keep reading

Dash cam footage shows Delaware cops conspiring to drum up bogus charge against motorist who flipped them off

A Delaware man is suing the state police, saying they destroyed a sign he made to warn people about their speed trap and they created a bogus reason to charge him with an infraction because he gave them the finger, Delaware Online reported.

Jonathan Guessford had launched a mini-protest by holding a hand-made sign that read, “Radar ahead.” Body cam footage shows Cpl. Stephen Douglas and Officer Nicholas Gallo approach Guessford and incorrectly tell him he could not stand on the side of the road with the sign. Gallo eventually pulled the sign from Guessford’s grasp and ripped it up.

As he was leaving, Guessford gave the officers the finger, prompting them to follow him. When they pulled him over, Master Cpl. Raiford Box arrived on the scene and told Guessford that he was going to be locked up for disorderly conduct and have his child taken away. The officers issued him a citation “under a law that governs hand signals for non-motorized vehicles like bicycles,” Delaware Online’s report stated.

New dash cam footage that was recently released shows officers conspiring to drum up a bogus charge against Guessford. Douglas was warned by Box that the hand-gesture charge was bogus, but that didn’t stop him of issuing it.

Keep reading

A Delaware city is set to give corporations the right to vote in elections

The state of Delaware is famously business-friendly. With more than 1.8 million entities registered in the First State, companies outnumber its human residents by nearly two-to-one. 

One city is now moving to raise businesses’ influence in the state even further, with a proposal to grant them the right to vote.

Seaford, a town of about 8,000 on the Nanticoke River, amended its charter in April to allow businesses — including LLCs, corporations, trusts or partnerships — the right to vote in local elections. The law would go into effect once both houses of Delaware’s state legislature approve it.

The proposal has rekindled a debate over how much power corporations should have in local government, with fierce opposition from civic interest groups who say businesses already wield too much influence over politics.

“It was very shocking to see this attempt to have artificial entities have voting rights,” said Claire Snyder-Hall, executive director of Common Cause Delaware, a watchdog group. 

“We’re seeing voter suppression all over the county, and this is the flipside,” she added. “It’s not saying the residents of Seaford can’t vote, but it’s diluting their votes by allowing nonresidents to vote.”  

Keep reading

Delaware Just Became the 22nd State To Legalize Recreational Marijuana

Delaware just became the 22nd state to legalize recreational marijuana. On Friday, Gov. John Carney, a Democrat, said he will allow two legalization bills to take effect without his signature, notwithstanding his continued concerns about the consequences of lifting Delaware’s ban on recreational use.

“After years of advocacy, collaboration, and grassroots organizing, we are thrilled to see cannabis legalization become a reality in our state,” Laura Sharer, executive director of the Delaware chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said in a press release. “This victory is a result of the tireless work of thousands of volunteers, dozens of lawmakers, and with the support of a huge majority of our Delaware community. So many have championed this righteous cause and recognized the need for sensible cannabis policy reform.”

Delaware has allowed medical use of marijuana since 2011, and in 2015 legislators decriminalized possession of an ounce or less, making it a civil offense punishable by a $100 fine. Carney supports both of those policies but has previously resisted efforts to go further. Last year he vetoed recreational legalization. The Democrat-controlled Delaware General Assembly recently approved essentially the same legislation that Carney blocked last year, this time by larger margins, making it more likely that a veto would be overridden.

Keep reading