Is this Murder? Kelly Thomas Killed by Fullerton, CA Police Officers

[HairOfTheDog]

I'm a little worried they will get away with this because they are LEO's.

Rodney King would probably agree with you.

It's certainly not a given that these cops will be convicted. Fullerton is a pretty conservative area.

Opening statements went as expected today.

The prosecution told the jury about all of Kelly's injuries, his cries for help, the fact that he was unarmed, the fact that he and Ramos had met many times before, the fact that Kelly in no way threatened or exuded violence towards the officers...

The defense is putting the victim on trial. The defense attorney brought up Kelly's past encounters with LE, the fact that Ramos had never gotten violent with Kelly in their past exchanges, and then said that the six officers were in a losing battle with a violent Kelly Thomas that night.

As idiotic as that last statement sounds, the defense attorney went on to top it. He actually contended that the cops hadn't used enough force against Kelly Thomas that night; that the cops hadn't used enough force against the homeless man who got himself killed due to all the bad decisions in his life.



Kelly's dad, Ron Thomas ^, is a former OC Sheriff's Deputy and has fought for two years to get the officers who killed his son brought to trial. He was in the courtroom for opening statements today.

Ref:
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me...z2mNDVsVFJ