No Ballistics, No DNA, No Fingerprints, No Eyewitness: Somehow Jury Finds 15 Year-old Guilty
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This article continues Rochester Indymedia's ongoing coverage of the Tyquan L. Rivera trial. Rivera, 15, a local, youth of color accused and convicted of assault in the first degree and attempted murder in the second degree, was found guilty despite there being no physical evidence or eyewitness testimony against him in the shooting Rochester police officer Anthony DiPonzio last January. Rivera will be sentenced later this fall in Monroe County Supreme Court. Rochester Indymedia reporters decided to cover the proceedings from the beginning to the end after we observed a disturbing imbalance of coverage against Rivera in the corporate media’s stories about the case.
Members of the collective were present in Judge Joseph Valentino’s court every day, all day for weeks of pre-trial evidentiary hearings, jury selection, and Rivera's trial. What emerged over time from our observations was a picture of systemic racism in our county judiciary and law enforcement carried out through a determined use of police intimidation and falsification. The following article recounts many instances in which these tactics were used by local authorities against Rivera and his family, which ultimately culminated in a trial-cum grand media spectacle. Presumably, this spectacle and subsequent legal injustice was staged—complete with live television coverage in the courtroom—to instill the idea, in communities of color, that anyone involved in any sort of altercation with the police, no matter how circumstantial (save passively standing by and taking whatever brutality the police decided to dish out) would result in the loss of one's liberty and way of life.
Specifically, in this article, you'll read about the verdict, the treatment of Wanda Lise—Rivera's mother—by police, an updated time line of events on January 31st, the direction of future articles in the series, and our observations from court.
Additional Information: Oppression Continues in the Courtroom and in the Media: Tyquan Rivera's pretrial hearing | A Child in Chains: A reportback from Tyquan Rivera's pretrial hearing | Media Review of Last Month's Pretrial Hearing | Digging for Truth in the Tyquan Rivera Case | Let’s Not Retreat into Cocoons of Expedient Simplicity and Pretentiousness
Related: Demonstration Against Abuse in Erie County Jails | Rallying Against RICO | Indy TV #27: Davy V on Police Brutality and Fighting back with Video Documentary | AARM Holds Second Event on the Media and Racism | Racism and the Media Community Discussion a Success | Facts about Juvenile Injustice | Activists Against Racism Movement