Lifeson is a criminal-its official

I had heard something about this but don't know he details. Waht happened?

Thank Gawd!!!! I couldn't stand to have Lerxst go to jail. I might've had to break him out.

Jim Garten wrote: He deserves to be imprisoned for that press release if nothing else

I know!! How tacky, cornball, and phony. He should write the president's speeches!

For the past year, John Cannivet said he has had to bite his tongue as he's read distorted versions of an altercation he witnessed between the lead guitarist for Rush and Collier sheriff's deputies on Dec. 31, 2003. As an employee of The Ritz-Carlton, Naples, where the fracas occurred, he hadn't been allowed to comment, even though he saw first-hand what happened in the stairwell of the hotel. But now that he no longer works for the hotel, he has this to say: Collier County sheriff's deputies went way too far. 'It was extreme police brutality,' said Cannivet, who was the assistant manager of stewarding until leaving that job in January. 'The whole time all this was going down, I'm thinking, "God, what did these people do? It must have been something really bad." It just bothered me....They (deputies) didn't have to use that force,' he said. 'When they shot Justin (with a stun gun), Justin wasn't violent at all. He was walking with the police. All he did was quit walking.' He said Justin and a deputy had words, and he saw Justin quit walking, and then the deputy pulled his Taser out. He said Justin backed away into a corner, seemingly scared. He kind of put his hands up. He kind of froze, and then they shot him (with the Taser),' Cannivet said. 'If I were to describe what it looked like after he got shot, it looked like a severe seizure. He was just out of it because he was electrocuted for a long time. If you could have seen how bad he was twitching on the ground, and screaming and crying, because it hurt so bad.' As Alex Zivojinovich saw this unfold, he charged up the stairs to help his son, Cannivet said. 'And that is when the female officer threw him (Alex) down the stairs,' he said. One of the two felony battery-on-a-law-enforcement charges that Alex Zivojinovich is facing, which could carry a five-year prison sentence, accuses him of throwing Collier sheriff's Cpl. Amy Stanford down the stairs, causing her injury. Cannivet said that just isn't so. 'I watched the female cop (Stanford) throw him (Alex) down there. She was three stairs above him, and so she had leverage. She grabbed him by the throat and he went falling backward,' Cannivet said.

(Naples news)

Latest Reaction Update:

From The Naples Daily News Editorial:

Editorial: Zivojinovich trial

Rocker-Ritz-Taser case leaves plenty for review

By The Naples Daily News
April 27, 2005

A case that came in like a lion is going out like a lamb.

Violent resisting-arrest charges against father-and-son 2003 New Year's Eve revelers came to a climax reduced to nonviolent misdemeanors and accompanied by light fines — and several reimbursements to be determined later, including one to the party site.

The fact that the pair had celebrity — dad, Alex Zivojinovich of Canada, plays in the big rock band Rush — and the fight with Collier County sheriff's deputies took place at The Ritz-Carlton, Naples, put it on the front page and kept it there.

The outcome says plenty.

First, it says deputies need to be sure and clear about what happened and what gets written into official reports. This case withered when subjected to the other side of the story, including an eyewitness who used to work for the hotel. As defense counsel pointed out, there is a difference between loud behavior at a party and a crime.

Second, it says the Sheriff's Office needs to redouble scrutiny of its policy on the use of Tasers — stun guns that pack an electrified jolt. The younger suspect, Justin Zivojinovich, was hit twice in the absence of clear evidence of him posing an immediate, violent threat to larger, trained officers.

The public is all for full protection of officers in harm's way.

Still, the public wants assurance that Tasers aren't used as self-fulfilling evidence that a suspect was out of control.

The Sheriff's Office now says it sees no need for further use-of-Taser review in the Zivojinovich case. Why not? This case, as well as a December case of a young man dying — amid word that he was using drugs beforehand in North Naples — and state and national Taser scrutiny, ought to give public safety officers plenty to troubleshoot.

Third, the prosecutor says the State Attorney's Office is pleased with the outcome because it affixes accountability with the accused. The senior Zivojinovich's post-verdict statement seems less clear, talking of "acceptance" but also "forgiveness" and "compromise."

Zivojinovich speaks of doing something, short of a rock 'n' roll concert, in appreciation for the community's support.

Others believe enough is enough. Let the Rush/New Year's saga end after Taser and prosecution lessons are exhausted.

Crimson Prince wrote: On police brutality: in the Rush in Rio documentary Geddy calls Alex extremely emotional. Maybe Alex just "lost it" and started womping on the police after the police provoked him. The allegations against Alex seem so out of character for the man IMHO.

womping ????

I've never heard it before,but I like it!