Taylor Prewitt is the newsletter editor for Texas Monthly. Earlier this month, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the appeal and ordered Judge Sterling to impose prison terms. But the Chicano Squad moved mountains with the little resources they had. Divers were hoping to find a wallet belonging to Torres. Divers search the Buffalo Bayou site where Joe Campos Torres' body was found floating May 8, 1977. Surviving members of Torres' family also spoke on Sunday. Instead of being taken to jail, police took Campos Torres to "The Hole," an isolated area behind a warehouse along Buffalo Bayou where Houston Police Department officers could write reports, question suspects and sleep. An all-white jury found them guilty of negligent homicidea misdemeanorand sentenced the officers. HPD offers a rewarding career, exceptional benefits and a competitive salary. Two days after Torres was arrested, his mangled body was found floating in Buffalo Bayou. When police attempted to make an arrest at a Cinco de Mayo celebration in Moody Park, attendees began throwing rocks and overturning police cars. 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We need to be honest about our history in order to learn from it, because decades later, the same thing is still happening., For decades before Torress murder, violent encounters with HPD officers had soured the relationship between the police department and the citys Black and Latino communities. The Torres case prompted the Houston Police Department to create its Internal Affairs Division in 1977. Prince Harry 'hated woke nonsense' and 'made jokes we are no longer allowed to make' before meeting Meghan, Charles felt he had to act as king rather than as a father: REBECCA ENGLISH reveals why Charles backed moves Don't just stick to the Malbec! Campos Torres was beaten by six officers for hours before they took him to the city jail. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. In 1978, the Cinco de Mayo celebrations at Moody Park erupted into riots. The case, in which the officers could have received sentences of life in prison, has been the focus of many charges of police brutality against Hispanic citizens. Its possible.. "People rose-up and started throwing rocks and bottles at the police, overturning police cars and shouting 'Justice for Joe Torres' and 'Viva Joe Torres,'" Barthe said. Host Alonzo, a self-proclaimed history nerd, often spent time in history classes in the Rio Grande Valley thumbing through her books trying to find important figures that looked like her. On April 3, a plaza, a monument, a huge portrait, and a walking trail were all unveiled and dedicated to remembering a man brutally murdered by Houston police almost 45 years ago. The former officers have admitted that they beat their handcuffed prisoner for insolence before booking him. Bring on the Shiplap? Join Facebook to connect with Terry Denson and others you may know. Torres' mother was quoted as saying, "If five Mexican killed a cop, it wouldn't be like this. Joining HPD was regarded almost as a betrayal. Bond resigned months later after only serving a year. https://www.nytimes.com/1979/10/31/archives/3-former-officers-sentenced-in-texas-each-to-serve-extra-day-for.html. A third officer, J.J. Janish, was charged with misdemeanor assault. According to the Houston Police Department, officers spotted a black Honda Accord that was reported stolen out of College Station at about 5:10 p.m. near Fairbanks North Houston and West Little York. Top 5 Sickest Stephen King Sex Scenes (NSFW), The 10 Best And Most Controversial Hustler Magazine Covers Ever (NSFW). Terry Denson, 27; Stephen Orlando, 22, and Joseph J. Janish, 22 -- said they do not plan to appeal the . After learning of Mr. Torres's death, Carless Elliott, a 20yearold rookie police officer who witnessed the incident, reported what he had seen to his superiors. Calbillo is one of several people working to get a historical marker for Joe Campos Torres. A gutted variety store at a shopping center in the 3100 block of Fulton. Reporters interview Harris County District Attorney Carol Vance, Divers search the depths of Buffalo Bayou for Torres' wallet, Protests outside the Harris County Courthouse. During the research process, Moravec found that the Chicano Squad posted a consistently higher clearance rate than other HPD units. Mr. Elliott later became a prosecution witness at both trials. The appeals court did not specify the severity of the sentences to be imposed, however, and John Wilson, a Justice Department spokesman in Washington, said that no further appeals would be forthcoming because the judge had acted within the limits of the order.. The comments below have not been moderated. Instead, the officers returned to The Hole, where they continued to beat Torres. Terry W. Denson and Stephen Orlando two of the arresting officers were charged with murder following the discovery of Torres' body. A desk sergeant ordered the six officers to take Torres to Ben Taub General Hospital for medical treatment. 3908 Avenue B, Suite 105 The state granted immunity for two others, Glenn Brinkmeyer and Lewis Kinney, in exchange for their testimony. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. Who Said It: Legendary Houston Comedian Bill Hicks or New El Paso District Attorney Bill Hicks? When they brought him to the station, according to the testimony of a police sergeant on duty, Mr. Torres needed medical treatment. Houston's independent source of The city was quickly growing into the murder capital of the United States as a slew of unsolved killings in Houstons barrios piled up. Houston makes national news all the time. Houston firemen put out fire of burning car flipped during a riot that began in nearby Moody Park. Healthy mother-of-two, 32, collapsed and died from brain bleed while she led fitness bounce class. Because the felony and misdemeanor sentences are concurrent, the three will probably serve less than a year in prison. For Alonzo, the Chicano Squad is a reminder that reform is possible, even if its difficult to sustain. 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? 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. As the story goes, the 23-year-old was beaten so severely that authorities refused to accept him into the City Jail. And though her mother instilled in her a love for the U.S., Alonzo was also aware that her identity as a Mexican American sometimes made her a target. State District Judge James Warref of Walker County sentenced them to one year probation and a $1 fine. Sentencing offenders to perform humiliating tasks like shoveling manure, he became known as the "King of Shame." On the night of May 5, 1977, Houston police officers arrested Torres at an East End bar for disorderly conduct. Note to sponsor members: The Vanderbilt Television News Archive video player requires a modern operating system and browser to work properly. Abe Weiner, owner of the Leonard's Department Store in the same shopping center which suffered looting and smoke damage, said the store burned over an hour before firemen responded to the call for help. The sergeant said he told the officers to take the prisoner to a nearby hospital; instead, they took Mr. Torres back to the 16foot embankment overlooking Buffalo Bayou near downtown Housotn, where they had beaten him. There, the officers beat Torres, bruising and bloodying him to the point that when they finally drove him to the city jail, officials there wouldnt process him, telling the officers to take him to a nearby hospital. [Victim's mother Margaret TORRES - feels happy because she wanted justice and doesn't want this to happen again.] There, they brutally beat him for several hours. Terry Denson was married to Tennie E. (Kimbrough) Denson on October 28, 1971 in Harris County, Texas. "There has never been anything to mark (Torres' death) in a positive way," Torres' nephew Richard Molina, told the Houston Chronicle in 2014. The Houston Police Department Chicano Squad, founded in 1979 after the killing of Jose Campos Torres. Terry Denson and Steven Orlando, for murder. 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. The six arresting officers instead took him, once again, to The Hole. In 2010, because HPDs increasingly diverse workforce now includes a higher number of Spanish-speaking officers, the group was disbanded. By the time Torres arrived at the jail, authorities refused to book him due to the extent of his injuries. They were ordered to take him to Ben Taub General Hospital, but instead of doing so, the officers brought him back to the banks of Buffalo Bayou and pushed him into the water. On May 5, 1977, Campos Torres, was arrested at a bar for disorderly conduct. Chief Bond introduces possible disciplinary action against the offending officers through the civil service law, KPRC reporter Don Shelby speculates on the possibility of a second assault on Torres in between the time when officers brought him to the jail and when he ended up in the bayou. Houston's Chicano community found the fine especially hard to swallow, with chants of "A Chicano's life is only worth a dollar," reverberating through the neighborhood and throughout the country's Mexican-American communities. Of the six, initially only officers Terry Denson and Steven Orlando were charged with murder. Two Houston police officers stand guard over a wrecked convenience store at 3814 Fulton. . Following a month-long trial, an all-white jury convicted Denson and Orlando on a reduced charge of negligent homicidea misdemeanor . Two days later, his body was found badly beaten floating in Buffalo Bayou. 'Our ultimate goal is humanizing our uncle at this point. Officers Terry Denson (left) and Stephen Orlando (right) were the only two officers convicted of negligent homicide, a misdemeanor, in the death of Torres, and each was fined $1 and given probation. On an overcast evening in early May 1977, 23-year-old Vietnam War veteran Jose Campos Torres was in handcuffs for drunk and disorderly conduct at a cantina in Houstons East End. 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. 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. Jerry Click/ Houston Chronicle Show More Show Less 35 of 56 Houston police officers administer first aid to Officer Tommy A. Britt, injured by a car that broke through a police line at Irvington . info@texasarchive.org 1 of 2. ", State Rep. Ben Reyes of Houston, also a Mexican-American, called the verdict "pathetic" and "the worst miscarriage of justice that I've ever seen." 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. However, Houston's police chief issued a statement saying that "the processes of justice have prevailed over demagoguery.". The other count, a misdemeanor violation of Mr. Torres's rights by intimidation, carries a maximum punishment of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. 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. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Updated: June 20, 2015. 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