RAP SHEET

Dispatcher: 911...

Caller: Yeah, uh, I need a cop out here at Club, uh, Caporales on Northwest Sixth Avenue. We've got a machete, bats, girls fighting... we've got... it's out of hand.
D: At Caporales?
C: Yeah, Caporales.
D: There are weapons involved?
C: There is major weapons involved.
D: How many are involved? How many?
C: There's about 15 or 20 people fighting. We got machetes. We got bats. We got sticks. We got everything out here. [yelling in the background]... We need somebody out here.
D: Yep, we're getting them started there, buddy.
C: We're in the back.
D: You're in the back?
C: We're in the back...
D: Everybody still there?
C: We've got about 10 people still out here.
D: Alright. What's your name?
C: My name's Chris. I'm a security guard out here... [yelling to people on the scene:] Get inside!... [to dispatcher:] This shit is fucking ridiculous... [to someone on the scene:] Yeah, I'm on the phone with them now. [to dispatcher:] It's a Chrysler. It's leaving right now.
D: Which way's it leaving?
C: It's maroon and gray. Uh, it's going out the back. I don't know what direction's the back... It's going south...
D: Is it going southbound?
C: Yeah. It's probably going out the front now. It's probably going southbound. Southbound on Sixth Avenue.
D: Did he actually assault somebody with that knife?
C: Yeah, he was swinging it... [inaudible; loud music in the background] I'm inside the club now.
D: OK, he's going to be showing up right now.
C: Alright. Thank you.

Officer's Report: Leland, security for Caporales night club, reported there was a large group of people in the rear parking lot of the bar engaged in some sort of dispute. Leland went to investigate and saw two male Hispanics, each wielding a machete. The two subjects waved the weapons at the crowd and at Leland in a threatening manner. One of the subjects dropped the machete just before entering a vehicle. It was recovered by Leland. The other subject entered the vehicle and drove away with the weapon. No one was struck or injured by either weapon. The subjects left south on Northwest Sixth Drive in a maroon Chrysler Concorde. The vehicle could not be located and the registered owner's address was checked and it was not at home. Leland said the incident was captured on digital recording and said it would be preserved.

Docket diving

First, it was his First Amendment rights. Then it was his public reputation. After four years as a columnist at the Ames Tribune, Todd Stevens wasn't going to keep his mouth shut after he felt his former editor implied to the reading public that he was a lazy liar and lousy journalist.

When former Iowa State University Associate Athletic Director Elaine Hieber resigned in 2002, Stevens tackled the issue in his column, arguing that an earlier story in the Tribune regarding the departure was overly complimentary of Hieber's tenure and that, in fact, Hieber had made at least one disastrous hiring choice in the selection of Theresa Becker as women's basketball coach. But sports editor Susan Harman informed Stevens that the column would not run, citing concerns that it impugned the "quality of the paper's investigation and reporting on the Hieber resignation." But Stevens, raising First Amendment concerns, resigned from his freelance position and asked to write a farewell piece, which was subsequently presented in a point-counterpoint format with Harman's explanations balancing his allegations.

But that back-and-forth volley sparked a Story County lawsuit when Harman countered claims of free-speech infringement by saying Stevens had "rarely attended the events upon which he wrote columns," and that his work contained "numerous factual errors and unsubstantiated claims." Stevens cried foul, alleging that Harman's statement "implied that he fabricated information upon which his columns were based, that he was lazy, or that he was an incompetent and hence incredible writer." So Stevens sued the Tribune, charging defamation.

The district court, however, wasn't quick to clear Stevens' name. After all, defamation is defined as injuring a person's reputation by publishing statements with a "knowing or reckless disregard for the truth," and even Stevens himself admitted he'd attended only 18 percent of the more than 300 events about which he wrote. So, issuing a summary judgment instead of sending it to a jury, Judge William Pattinson ruled that, because Harman's statements were "substantially true," they could not be construed as defamation.

But the Court of Appeals last month disagreed with Pattinson's decision, saying the Story County judge hadn't read between the lines. Defamation, appeals' court Judge Daryl Hecht explained, isn't necessarily an outright untruth, but also an indirect implication of wrong doing. For instance, in Stevens' case, "a reasonable person could find that, while Harman knew journalistic standards do not require columnists to attend the events they write about, her opinion implied the opposite," Judge Hecht wrote. "We also believe a reasonable juror could find Harman intended to convey to readers the message that Stevens was professionally incompetent or otherwise incredible. Such an intended meaning could constitute libel per se... Moreover, when viewed in the light most favorable to Stevens, a reasonable fact-finder could find Harman published the statement with a knowing or reckless disregard for its truth."

So, proving that even truth can be deceiving, the Court of Appeals decided the case warranted more than a face-value examination. "It is undisputed that the implied message was directed by Harman against Stevens in his professional capacity as a journalist," Judge Hecht concluded for the panel. "The message is capable of defamatory meaning. We therefore reverse the district court's ruling in part and remand for further proceedings consistent with our opinion."

Sucks to be you

Name: Richard Leon Wilson
Place of Incident: Des Moines
Posed for this picture because: Still looking to apprehend several pockets of thieves preying on convenience stores and fast-food joints across the metro, police arrested a Huxley man last week, suspected of robbing a Dairy Queen and a Subway. With facial hair matching the suspect's description from a robbery less than an hour before, Richard Wilson was stopped on Forest Avenue and, after police found a pellet pistol replica of a semi-automatic handgun in his possession, charged with four counts of first-degree robbery. Wilson was booked into Polk County Jail on $130,000 bond.

(Alleged) drunk drivers

Name: Carlos Ortiz
Arrested: Jan. 21
First offense

Name: Alejandro Reyes Cortez
Arrested: Jan. 22
First offense

Name: Rhonda Lee Wells
Arrested: Jan. 25
Third offense

Unfinished business

According to the City of West Des Moines, the following individuals owe $100 for unpaid parking tickets issued on the noted dates:

-- Lauren Conway of Ames; Dec. 3
-- Melinda Irving of Des Moines; Nov. 28
-- Jeff Lieberman of Urbandale; Nov. 26
-- Peggy Bendixen of Des Moines; Nov. 26
-- Gregory Gienapp of Des Moines; Nov. 26
-- Joy Ellis of Des Moines; Nov. 18
-- Sarah Cochran of West Des Moines; Nov. 11
-- Jacob Koski of West Des Moines; Nov. 1
-- Angela Hodge of Des Moines; Oct. 16

On the clock

Des Moines Police - Jan. 26

11 a.m. Assault in the 3600 block of Southwest 12th Street, involving a male victim walking home from school when several "school associates" began "questioning him about a female" and proceeded to strike him behind his left ear, knocking him to the ground. Once on the ground, the suspects jumped on him and went through the victim's pockets. After a few moments, the victim was able to run to safety but returned later "to find his glasses in the middle of the street, damaged."
1:15 p.m. Burglary in the 200 block of Fourth Street, involving a victim who was in his bed asleep when he awoke to discover his apartment door was standing open, his television had been moved, and his DVD player and keyboard valued at $1,300 had been stolen.
6 p.m. Burglary in the 1500 block of Fourth Street, involving a male victim who returned from work to discover his front door forced open, his house "gone through" and the theft of a three-ton car jack.
6 p.m. Assault in the 1300 block of Fourth Street, involving a female victim returning home to discover a suspect on her porch, who approached the vehicle as she pulled in the driveway. The suspect told her he was looking for a male individual "to serve him papers concerning child support," but when the victim stated that individual did not live at her residence, the suspect "threw the papers through the car window, striking the victim on the cheek on the right side of her face." After the suspect drove away, the victim called the child support office and they stated the suspect's supervisor would contact her regarding the incident.
7:50 p.m. Assault with a weapon in the 3800 block of 36th Street, involving a victim who was "walking on the sidewalk when the suspect jumped out from behind some parked cars and cut him twice" in the right rib cage. The victim reported that the suspect said nothing during the incident and fled on foot. The victim "could not say what type of weapon had cut him."

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