POLICE BRUTALITY CASES: WALTER SCOTT MURDER & MORE

[Duchess]

Jesus Christ.

Throw 'em all right into general population where they belong. So sick of shit like this.

[HairOfTheDog]

None of it makes sense.  And how did she not see the bright red door mat,  if her story is true then she must have been completely intoxicated.

Officer Amber Guyger's actions made less sense with each tweaking of the story.

The police leaking negative information on victim Botham Jean at the same time they released video of her crying was transparent and ineffective.  

The worst dirt they could dig up on the devout professional was that he smoked pot sometimes -- not exactly scandalous shit worthy of a death sentence, but they tried.



Anyway, Guyger, who was on paid administrative leave pending internal investigation and her manslaughter trial, was fired today.  Good.

Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall said in a statement the department had dismissed Office Amber Guyger after nearly five years on the job for her actions on the night of the shooting on earlier in September, and for engaging in “adverse conduct” when she was arrested for manslaughter. Police did not elaborate on what it saw as adverse conduct. The 'adverse conduct' wasn't specified.   Full piece:  https://www.reuters.com/article/us-texas...SKCN1M424Y

Botham's family and their attorney are strong; they refused to let officials depict Guyger as some damsel in distress while painting Botham as the bad guy who must have deserved to be shot while reading and eating cereal in his own home.

[Duchess]

Van Dyke's trial for murder began yesterday in Chicago.  He faces two first-degree murder counts.

They found him guilty, HotD! Guilty!  

[HairOfTheDog]

Thanks Duchess! That’s good news. I tried to reply yesterday, but there’s very poor internet access here.

Officer Van Dyke had no reasonable cause to fear for his life when he shot LaQuan the first time, much less 15 more times.

I read the jury convicted him on 16 counts of second degree murder and he’ll likely be sentenced to at least six years behind bars.

[HairOfTheDog]

Jurors told reporters that most of them thought former officer  Van Dyke was guilty when they entered deliberations but were initially split over whether to convict him of first- or second-degree murder.

In the end, after deliberating for about 7½ hours, they settled on second-degree murder, finding that Van Dyke was frightened when he unloaded his gun into Laquan McDonald, but that his fear was unreasonable.

Judge Gaughan ordered Van Dyke’s bail revoked at the request of special prosecutor Joseph McMahon, who noted that the officer faced a minimum of six years in prison.

“He now stands before this court a convicted felon,” said McMahon, the Kane County state’s attorney who was appointed to handle the prosecution because of Cook County prosecutors’ conflicts of interest.

Gaughan could set a sentencing date for Van Dyke when he returns to court Oct. 31.

Van Dyke's attorneys plan to appeal the conviction.

More:  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local...story.html

[HairOfTheDog]

Alabama

A black man shot and wounded two people at the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover on Thanksgiving. Police responded and shot dead EJ Bradford Jr.  



^ EJ , 21,  was a member of the army until he was forced to leave due to leg injury, according to his dad.  He was licensed to carry, and described as a beloved son and an all-around good guy.  Rest in peace.

EJ was the proverbial 'good guy with a gun' who was trying to help after the shots broke out.  

However, a police officer shot him in the face immediately upon arriving at the scene.  That police officer's identity has not been released, nor has the video of the killing.  The family, their attorney (Benjamin Crump), activists and members of the community are demanding more transparency.

(continued)

[HairOfTheDog]

Immediately after EJ was killed, Hoover Police issued a statement saying that EJ was the suspected shooter and was brandishing a gun, despite witness testimony to the contrary.

Police formally retracted that statement a day later and the Chief finally apologized to EJ's family yesterday (not for wrongly killing EJ, but for the false claim after the killing).

EJ was left lying and bleeding in the galleria. Some witnesses took photos and posted them. Police never contacted EJ's family to inform them that they'd killed EJ. EJ's dad, a retired police officer, finally got the confirmation when he reached out to a friend in the Hoover PD. :(

(continued)

[HairOfTheDog]

A special task force including US Marshals was established to hunt down the actual galleria shooter and made an arrest today.

They arrested Erron Brown, 20, of Bessemer, Alabama. He had taken off to Atlanta, where he was apprehended. 

Brown was charged in the shooting of Brian Xavier Wilson, 18, of Birmingham, who was wounded. He wasn't charged with shooting a 12-year-old girl who also was injured.


Court records show Brown was arrested in June 2017 in Huntsville on a charge of using a gun to rob a man, but the case was dismissed three months later after prosecutors filed notice that they didn't want to pursue the case.

Refs:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018...2134165002
https://www.al.com/news/2018/11/hoover-o...ooter.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/arrest-made...l-shooter/

[HairOfTheDog]

Follow up to posts #985 - 1022



Former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger was indicted on a murder charge by a grand jury on Friday.

Story:  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amber-guyge...tham-jean/

[HairOfTheDog]

Follow up on the Corey Jones Murder
Looks like a trial
Hope they bury this asshole
Stand Your Ground needs to be fixed, not deleted

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/edit...story.html

I was glad to read that former police officer Raja (left) was found guilty of manslaughter in Florida today.  

Back in 2015, Raja was in plain clothes and did not put on a police vest before he approached musician and building inspector Corey Jones' stranded van, which Raja had been advised to do.

Raja also failed to identify himself as a police officer when he approached Jones (right) in the wee hours and demanded that Jones (who was legally carrying a concealed weapon) 'put up his fucking hands'.  

Then, as in so many of these cases, officer Raja lied to investigators about the circumstances of the encounter before he realized it had been caught on audio because Jones was on the line with a tow truck company when Raja shot him three times. 

The jury agreed with the prosecutors -- Raja's negligence led to Corey Jones' death and anybody in Corey's position would have assumed he was about to be robbed or carjacked.

Full story and audio transcript:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...trial.html

[HairOfTheDog]

None of it makes sense.  And how did she not see the bright red door mat,  if her story is true then she must have been completely intoxicated.

I wondered if off-duty former officer Amber Guyger was high as a kite when she shot to death Botham Jean too.  

She claims she was exhausted after a long shift, mistook his apartment for her own, and shot him believing it was self-defense.

Neighbors/witnesses said they heard screaming and then gun shots.  It's also been confirmed that Guyger filed a noise complaint against Jean who lived in the apartment above her.

Anyway, Guyger was charged with manslaughter (death due to negligence) by the Dallas PD after their preliminary investigation.  

However, a Grand Jury later reviewed the early evidence and indicted her on the higher charge of murder (requires intent).  She pleaded not guilty and will go to trial later this year, unless she cops a plea before then.

(continued)

[HairOfTheDog]

Today the 911 call Guyger made after shooting Jean was released in the media.

During the call, she says 19 times that she went to the wrong apartment.  She also says "I'm so tired" and expresses concern that she's gonna lose her job and that she "is so fucked".

Unless prosecutors can prove that she intended to go to Botham's apartment and shoot the unarmed man in his own home, I hope they don't focus their case entirely on murder/intent.  

Without proof of intent, I think there's a much better chance of securing a manslaughter conviction.  I really don't want to see her acquitted.  Police officers should not be given any special consideration when they kill innocent people off-the-job. 

911 audio:


More:  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amber-guyge...tham-jean/

[BigMark]

25 years ago yesterday since Rodney King was a human pinata.

[HairOfTheDog]

Minneapolis Police Officer found Guilty of on-the-job Murder




In July 2017, ^ Justine Ruszczyk Damond (a dual American/Australian citizen living in Minneapolis) called 911 to report a possible rape in the alley behind her home.

When the two responding officers showed up, Justine was outside and one of the officers, Mohamed Noor (right), shot her dead.  

Noor was fired from the force after he was  charged with murder.  Neither his partner nor he told investigators that Justine slapped the side of the driver side window and startled them, causing Noor to perceive danger, in their initial reports.

However, Noor testified that he fired to protect them from a perceived threat, after he saw his partner's terrified reaction, and saw a woman appear at the driver's side window, raising her right arm. 

Prosecutors said the slap never happened and none of Justine Damond's DNA was found on the car, which was washed days after the incident. 

Jurors took about 11 ¹⁄₂ hours to find Noor guilty of third degree murder after hearing three weeks of testimony.  He faces a max of 15 years behind bars when he's sentenced.

Shortly after the verdict was rendered this week, the city settled a civil lawsuit filed by Justine's family.  The family was awarded $20 million.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/justine-rus...e-updates/

[Duchess]

Black cop shoots innocent white person dead = guilty.

White cop shoots innocent black person dead = not guilty.

[SIXFOOTERsez]

Black cop shoots innocent white person dead = guilty.

White cop shoots innocent black person dead = not guilty.

Yea sometimes
The white chick shot the black guy is going to fry
The Indian guy shot the black guy fried
The white cop killed Walter Scott fried

Blankets like that are getting stupid

[Duchess]

Today the 911 call Guyger made after shooting Jean was released in the media.

During the call, she says 19 times that she went to the wrong apartment.  She also says "I'm so tired" and expresses concern that she's gonna lose her job and that she "is so fucked".

Unless prosecutors can prove that she intended to go to Botham's apartment and shoot the unarmed man in his own home, I hope they don't focus their case entirely on murder/intent.  

Without proof of intent, I think there's a much better chance of securing a manslaughter conviction.  I really don't want to see her acquitted.  Police officers should not be given any special consideration when they kill innocent people off-the-job. 

911 audio:


More:  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amber-guyge...tham-jean/

Yesterday she was found guilty and today she was sentenced to 10 years. She should consider herself lucky, she could have gotten life. Jean would have turned 28 three days ago. I hope his family can feel some sense that justice has been served even with that paltry sentence. Doubtful.

[Fry Guy]

I think the cop was charged with murder for shooting an unarmed man in the back multiple times and trying to stage a self-defense scene.

I don't know if the victim was unnecessarily and illegally (IMO) shot and killed because of fear or bias against blacks by Officer Slager, or instead because Slager is untrained, incompetent, and/or highly over-reactive.

But, it's a question that bears asking in this case -- would Slager have fired 8 times at a white man or a brown woman under the exact same circumstances?
In any event, I think the murder charge is appropriate, no matter why Slager chose to use excessive and fatal force.


RIP Walter L. Scott

Oh for fuck sake. Does it also bear asking would the cop have shot a man in the back if the cop was Chinese? Phillipino? Turkish? Australian? Swiss? German? Seriously... That could go on for days. Point is, this cop is a piece of shit and he killed an innocent man in cold blood. We need to take the black and white out of daily conversation. Only then will the divide be conquered. A man with a badge and gun murdered an innocent man. End of story.

Agree.

Not a fan of cops

[HairOfTheDog]

Thanks for the update on the Amber Guyger trial Duchess.  

I think the jury was smart in this case.  They seemed to understand that Guyger was guilty of second degree murderer, as opposed to the lesser charge of manslaughter, because she purposely aimed and shot Botham Jean (rather than the gun mistakenly going off or some other negligent act directly resulting in death).  She intended to fatally shoot Jean, who was committing no crime and posing no threat to anyone.

However, there was no evidence indicating she intentionally went to Jean's apartment to kill him.  In my opinion, the Defense did a good job of demonstrating beyond reasonable doubt that she instead really thought she'd entered her own apartment and encountered a burglar (negligently missing a lot of cues to the contrary) when she shot to death Botham Jean while he was chilling in his own home eating ice cream.

Anyway, the jury found her guilty of the second degree murder charge, but they sentenced her more in line with a manslaughter conviction. The Prosecution proved to them this was a murder case, not a manslaughter case.  And, the Defense proved to them that the murder was a result of terrible judgment and mistakes made by off-duty officer Guyger rather than an evil or hate-filled act.

From what I've read, Jean's brother forgives Guyger and said he didn't even want her to do any time in jail because Jesus and Botham Jean would forgive her fatal mistakes.  But, the rest of Jean's family, while they agree with the murder conviction,  feels the sentence was too light -- 10 years, possible parole in 5 years.

[Fry Guy]

Did not read this thread in full to be honest but did they all live happily ever after?