HelpMichelle.org

Michelle Metzinger was wrongly arrested on the night of Friday, January 13th. The arresting officer, Ceaphus Gordon, claimed she was intoxicated; however, Michelle was with numerous friends who swear that she was not intoxicated. Officer Gordon stopped Ms. Metzinger for jaywalking. Only after he ticketed Michelle for “pedestrian in the roadway” did he decide that he was going to attempt to force her to take off her skates. He then used excessive force to attack Michelle as is seen in the pictures. Ceaphus slammed Michelle’s face onto the hood of his police car leaving a gash that required 6 stitches. Michelle was screaming for help causing a large crowd to gather. He found it necessary to cut off Michelle's circulation by putting his knee on her throat (see throat.jpg). He held his knee on her throat until she lost consciousness. Michelle was on roller-skates and was out weighed by the officer by more then 150 pounds. After the arrest he concocted a totally false account of the evenings events. Those accounts included a public intoxication charge, and that Ms. Metzinger attempted to gouge out his right eye with her left hand. As seen in this photo (handfull.jpg), her left hand contains her purse & the pamphlets she was handing out for roller derby . The public intoxication charge was dropped by the public defender without a court appearance. Michelle was also charged with assault of a peace officer. A Dallas County Judge found her NOT GUILTY of these charges on Thursday March 13th 2008! Such force was completely unnecessary. Officer Gordon has numerous complaints and internal affairs reports against him for using excessive force (see News articles). His Internal affair record has 29 complaints against him. How many do our officers receive before they are fired? Especially when almost EVERY case is deemed inconclusive? What exactly does that mean to the internal affairs detective?

Helpmichelle.org

Michelle is tired of being thumped around by the Man. Support the cause. Buy a shirt.
Questions/Comments Helpmichelle@tx.rr.com

News:   Deep Ellum takes a bloody blow to the concrete http://www.dallasobserver.com/Issues/2006-01-19/music/isthison.html
Derby scuffle officer has internal affairs history  (Click here for a PDF of the story)  http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/dwall/stories/wfaa060117_mo_rollerdervy.1320d250.html  Police to investigate officer's scuffle with skater: (Click here for a PDF of the story) http://www.wfaa.com/s/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-rollerderby_18met.ART.North.Edition2.1365f1a1.html
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How you can Help: Contact Mayor Laura Miller and urge her to continue a thorough investigation of this case. Also contact these other sources listed below.
Mayor Laura Miller Mayor Laura Miller City of Dallas 1500 Manilla Street, Room 5EN Dallas, Texas 75201-6390 Phone: (214) 670-4054 Fax: (214) 670-3409  File A Complaint http://www.dallaspolice.net/index.cfm?page_ID=1755&openid=166  Police Complaint Center http://www.policeabuse.org/  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Update: 3/17/08
TRIAL IS OVER!!! It took 3 full days of testimony but it’s OVER! The judge took NO time to deliberate. He thanked the attorneys for a great trial and ended his sentence with “and the defendant is NOT GUILTY!” OH JUSTICE PREVAILS!!
Ceaphus is STILL out there! The DPD has not reprimanded him AT ALL! he has not missed one days pay since this has started. Please help us raise awareness to this fact. Use the links above and let your mayor know how OUTRAGEOUS this mans CONTINUED actions are. Consequences determine your actions and in 29 incidents the only consequence he has received is suspension from working off duty for 10 DAYS! THAT’S IT! He received that for LYING about an arrest!! Let’s make sure this guy doesn’t get a chance to injure of EVEN KILL someone while on the job.

Update: 2/26/08
FINALLY A SPECIAL SET DATE FOR THE TRIAL!
Trial is set to begin on March 10th, 2008. Apologies for not updating in such a long time. there has been no movement in things until recently. Thank you for your continued concern and support for michelle. This country is great because we have always had the ability to stand up for ourselves even when people in authority are the abusers.

Update: 5/14/07

Update: 8/21/06
Good news, they dropped the public intoxication charge against her!!! they have not given her attorney any evidence STILL! they are going to court on the 13th or 14th of september to attempt to obtain the evidence that she is entitled. We hope to have more info on everything then.
 Update: 02/1/06  For all those concerned, Michelle is doing as well as expected and has contacted her lawyers.  When she gets more info from her lawyers, she will then contact witnesses. Please keep the pictures circulating.  Once again, when she's heard from her lawyers, we can then proceed to see if it will be beneficial  to post an accurate description of the incident. Michelle can not express her gratitude enough for  everyone who has stepped up for her defense and brought awareness to her issue.  Please let people know about this site so everyone knows the current status of Michelle's situation.

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