Posted on 05/23/2005 8:10:00 PM PDT by SmithL
Louisville -- A jury Monday rejected a claim by the estate of a 50-year-old black man who was handcuffed and fatally shot by a police detective.
The verdict followed a two-week trial stemming from the 2002 death of James Taylor. Taylor's estate sued Detective Michael O'Neil, who is white, contending Taylor was wrongfully killed.
The shooting sparked outrage among Louisville's black population. Taylor was the sixth black man killed by police in four years.
O'Neil's attorney, Steve Snyder, said Monday that the Jefferson County jury heard from experts who testified that O'Neil acted according to training.
Aubrey Williams, the attorney for Taylor's estate, said he planned to appeal.
"There was absolutely no justification that two able-bodied professionals should be unable to subdue a handcuffed man, hands cuffed behind his back, and then shoot him in the back two times in addition to all the shots that entered his body," Williams said.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
How many white men killed by police in four years?
And just how do they intend to appeal a not-guilty?
Appeal = Federal civil rights case.
There's got to be more to this story. Did he pull the cuffs under his feet and get his hands in front? I'd at least ask for another partner.
The first story said his hands were cuffed behind him so I was curious. I live near Pittsburgh, PA and every police shooting is the same way. One officer I met approached a stolen car with 3 criminals passed out at a light. He woke them and the driver took off with the officers hand slammed in the rear door. He jumped on the trunk to find a stolen .45 pointed at him. He pulled his gun and shot all 3, killing 2 and wounding the driver. He fell off the trunk and was dragged for over a mile at up to 80 mph before the flesh was stripped from his hand and he came loose. A coroners jury, 3 black and 3 white voted 5-1 to try him for homocide. Fortunately our coroner Cyril Wecht quashed that in the face of the threats of riots by none other than the naacp and local gangs.
That would certainly start the adrenaline flowing right there.
A wild ride from start to finish. The miscreants were hard workers too. They had done a home invasion robbery and a violent robbery earlier in the evening.
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