Posted on 10/25/2014 10:02:40 AM PDT by boycott
FULL TITLE: Video shows Satsuma cop running over fleeing suspect, footage jurors will weigh to determine if 2008 act was intentional
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MOBILE, Alabama -- Sam Commins, then an officer with the Satsuma Police Department was not even on duty on July 29, 2008, when he joined in a high-speed chase that began on Interstate 65 in Baldwin County and zigzagged through northern Mobile County.
When the silver Dodge Charger driven by Hillary Bernard Baldwin finally stopped on the Interstate 165 connector in Prichard, he and passenger Jermaine Gaillard got out of the car and began to run. The dashboard camera of the officer's car caught what happened next: The patrol car turned over a grassy median and then veered to the left and ran over the unarmed Gaillard.
Gaillard later died at a hospital, and a Mobile County grand jury cleared Commins of criminal wrongdoing. The officer, who at the time had been with the department since 2003, now works for another law enforcement agency.
But next month, more than six years after the incident, a civil jury in U.S. District Court will decide whether the officer's actions constituted a federal civil rights violation. To prevail, the plaintiff must prove that Commins acted intentionally and as not merely negligent. Commins also faces a wrongful-death count, under which the plaintiff must prove that the officer was "deliberately indifferent" to the victim's life.
(Excerpt) Read more at al.com ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDdIR24qLrY
Impossible to tell whether this was intentional or not.
Impossible to tell whether this was intentional or not.
I agree.
Doesn’t look good, that’s for sure.
The officer doesn’t seem to have hit the breaks until he had gone clear over the suspect.
Looked like one of the worst reaction times ever. Completely flawed decision to run the guy down?
Affirmative action in motion?
In many states, a LEO may shoot a fleeing suspect if that officer or the situation meets certain criteria. Normally that list includes the fleeing suspect having been observed committing a felony, having the ability and/or intent to cause grievous harm, and having been ordered to stop. There may be other conditions as well.
Once these conditions have been met, lethal force is permissible. The choice of that lethal force (bullet or bumper) used by the officer should not be questioned.
How long does it take to get your foot off the gas onto the brake?
Watching the video, I don’t see evidence of braking until after the patrol car had gone completely over the suspect.
This caused me to question what was going on in the officer’s mind.
From this video it is hard to tell. It depends some on how fast the cop was going. And Jermaine ran straight across the road without first ascertaining whether there was traffic.
Assuming the cop had his eye on the runner, yes. We see what the dash cam recorded, but we really don’t know where Commin’s focus was at that instant. There’s no way to know.
There seems to be an easy defense not mentioned. When driving a vehicle, it is recommended that you have three car lengths in front of you before the next vehicle, as your vehicle cannot usually stop in time to avoid hitting that vehicle otherwise. Reaction time plus momentum.
If he did it on purpose he’s gotta be one dumb cop to do it on video.
How'd the officer miss the other one?
Based on strictly the video footage, why is this even in court...?
The perp, err I mean victim could have just stopped running...
At least he didn’t back up and go forward again to park the cruiser.
"Video from a dashboard camera shows then-Satsuma police officer Sam Commins striking and killing Jermaine Gaillard as he ran from a car following a high-speed chase that ended in Prichard, Ala., on July 29, 2008."
I think they should move the venue to Ferguson ... for a fair trial
The public will be obviously tainted now
The perp, err I mean victim could have just stopped running...
They obviously caused a police chase that endangered a lot of innocent people. If someone had to die, I would prefer it be someone responsible for putting so many innocent lives in danger.
it looks intentional....he ran clearly over the suspect....he also looked like he veered right into the victim....
That’s a good point, one that didn’t occur to me.
That plays another way too though. In your field of vision, you are not seeing what’s directly in your path. He’s following another squad car around that bend, so he was more than likely focused there. Then these two come out of that direct field of vision.
Even peripheral vision should have alerted this guy to the danger.
As you intimate, this could be explained away I guess. I would be interested in the explanation.
As I said, its hard to tell, and seemingly impossible to prove intent in a court of law.
Doesn’t look good, that’s for sure.
The officer doesn’t seem to have hit the breaks until he had gone clear over the suspect.
Looked like one of the worst reaction times ever. Completely flawed decision to run the guy down?
I agree and appreciate an objective opinion.
And I may have been wrong about the race of the officer. I thought the photo was of the officer but it was of the suspect. I don’t know the race of the officer.
That all said, I wouldn’t want to be a police. Doesn’t seem you can win either way. It could be that the officer was so pumped up from the high speed chase that he was of a different mindset. The suspects put a lot of innocent lives in danger. That would have made me mad too. Fortunately for most of us, we’re not put into those situations.
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