ADVERTISEMENT

It's really sad that have alread convicted these officers

OlecountryDawg

Pillar of the DawgVent
Jan 24, 2008
18,394
10,663
172
and I hope they can some how enjoy their time while out on bond :

I believe they have really screwed up and will pay the price :
 
and I hope they can some how enjoy their time while out on bond :

I believe they have really screwed up and will pay the price :

It will be interesting to see where this goes criminally. I think if they violated department policy they will be held civilly liable. I also think the Feds will push hard for a USC 42 Violation of due process. I am not too sure the criminal charges will stick. Criminal intent will be hard to prove.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sortal
It will be interesting for sure. Some will plead and start singing I imagine. Then it will be a matter of if they're telling the truth. But when you have a police dept that's paid out 6 million in fines for brutality over the past 5 years (and where in the law, the most anyone can get is capped at 200,000) that's going to play a part too. Obviously there's a history. Couple that with the jury who are regular citizens. What they know right now as a member of the general public, is a guy was running at 834 in the am and was basically dead at 930 and during that time, was in police custody.
 
I think overall your point is well taken. However, there are some departments that would just rather pay the money than fight the fight. I don't think the settlements are an indication of guilt (though they will be perceived that way). I don't think we know all the facts and they will come out.

My question is what would a reasonable and prudent person (cop) do? You have a guy who has been arrested for drug related crimes at least 15 times and the police are familiar with him. He is standing on the same corner (location) where he is known to sell drugs. He looks at the police and takes off running. That would be articulable suspicion for further investigation. That is unusual behavior. It's not illegal, but it raises suspicion that might warrant further investigation.

The fact that he died while in police custody is irrefutable. There will be some negligence there unless he died of natural causes (not likely). However, was there any criminal intent or gross negligence (which has been pretty much the standard for these type civil suits)? I think that the criminal case is going to be difficult to prove (this will be a jury of THEIR peers). The civil case will not be hard to prove. It appears that they probably violated department policy and common procedure in not strapping the offender down in the paddy wagon. The USC 42 violation is a toss up, but in this climate, they will probably lose that as well. It is a tougher standard being an almost callous disregard for the policy which caused the death.

Unless one of the officers is clearly guilty of abuse (always a possibility), I don't think the officers will "turn" on each other as I believe the evidence will show that this was not an intentional act to harm. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
 
I agree with you and it will be interesting to see the other evidence she said she had, that she couldn't release yet. On the one hand, the van driver stopping several times to check on him, could show he was trying. On the other hand, he also knew he was in distress. Why he didn't call the 1st time is a mystery. Same for the female officer when he wasn't responding to her. Just walked away and didn't call ambulance. And (apparently) the driver didn't record one of the stops, they got it from street cameras at buildings along the route. That doesn't help his case at all. And the fact they put out false stories of a switch blade makes it SEEM they were covering up stuff too.

Also interesting, the other guy in the van and that story, which he denies. Not to mention when press wanted to speak with him, they gave no info (like name) and told them he was still in jail and couldn't release that info. He got wind of that and came out. Said when they took him in, they questioned him for about 2 hrs, he also had nothing on him and let him go. He had never been in jail and for 2 weeks they were saying he was.

If nothing else, they mishandled just about everything.
 
ADVERTISEMENT