Posted on 02/25/2003 11:25:31 AM PST by Chancellor Palpatine
A Jefferson County grand jury declined yesterday to indict two detectives in the fatal Dec. 5 shooting of an African-American man holding a box-cutter knife with his hands cuffed behind his back.
''Every person in Kentucky, whether a citizen or police officer, has the right of self-defense,'' Commonwealth's Attorney Dave Stengel said at a news conference last night, after the grand jury's decision in the slaying of James Edward Taylor was announced.
''On that night, Mr. Taylor used a box-cutter as deadly physical force,'' Stengel said, forcing Detective Michael O'Neil to defend himself.
Stengel said that when asked by the grand jury yesterday, he recommended that it indict neither O'Neil nor his partner, Bryan Luckett.
Stengel also revealed last night that Luckett may have left O'Neil no choice but to open fire by running out of Taylor's oneroom apartment -- probably at the same time the first shot was fired.
''He just panicked,'' Stengel said of Luckett. ''This left O'Neil as the sole object of Taylor's attack. It left O'Neil's back exposed to one or two possibly hostile men.''
(Excerpt) Read more at courier-journal.com ...
I've never had a problem with a cop shooting someone trying to run someone (including himself) down, and can, as a matter of policy, excuse some collateral injuries.
I can even accept that some perps can bash themselves around and couse themselves severe injuries (even the occasional death), and can make allowances for that. However, shooting people like this goes beyond the pale - especially unloading an entire clip. Something reeks in this case.
Take a good look a most cops. Some of them are in the worst physical condition possible. Some take the job for their self-esteem but can't contain their fear under pressure, resist donuts, or clean and practice with their weapons – nightsticks and pepper spray, as well as guns.
This sounds like a story worth investigating more thoroughly.
It involves more uniformed cops and marked cars, using billy clubs and mace first before pulling out a .357 revolver, fewer detectives, fewer nomex clad swat teams, more work for precinct or district captains, fewer majors and assistant chiefs, fewer sergeants, sergeants on the street instead of the station, increased bike and horse patrols in urban areas so they get to know their beats, no take home cars.
But, he added, it is ''uncontroverted that while handcuffed, Taylor was able to pull a box-cutter with a 4to 5-inch blade out of his pocket.'' Stengel said that marks found on Taylor's body during an autopsy -- as well as witness accounts -- ''show that he was able to get his right cuff considerably up his arm.''
''This enabled him to have the boxcutter on his right front and allowed him substantial movement'' -- so much that one witness said he thought the cuffs had been taken off, Stengel said.
Stengel said Taylor refused several commands to drop the knife and continued to advance, even after being shot.
In the one-room apartment, it was only 11 feet from the foot of Taylor's chair to the farthest corner, where O'Neil retreated, Stengel said.
Don't get me wrong - he was an old perp, but apparently had been a very bad man in his youth. Probably got a second wind.
As for my right to defend myself against boxcutter weilding seniors in handcuffs by riddling them with semi 9's, I don't think it would go down quite the same.
Somehow these juries are being threatened by LEO's. They become something different when hearing LEO cases.
A suspect holding a knife is an immediate threat to every officer in the room, handcuffed or not.
In fact, cops have been killed by handcuffed suspects wielding knives.
L
Trust me, the officer will be only too willing to second-guess your actions under similar circumstances.
That's the part that the few who are defending the cop refuse to comprehend. The cop emptied his gun into a man, who's hands were cuffed behind his back. If he would have shot him once, maybe even twice, it would be a totally different story, although maybe still not acceptable.
First, they botch procedure. The man wasn't searched. Then, because they didn't properly disarm the man, a cop who appears to not have the intellect to be a cop, shoots the guy until he can shoot no more - all because the guy pulled a box cutter, while cuffed.
I almost never agree with you but you've called this one right. Advancing on a police officer, armed, and refusing orders to drop the weapon - he surely asked for it.
The police officer is not obligated to "subdue" such a clown in a way as to risk his life and the control of the situation. He subdued him in a very practical way.
My only question is "Why eleven shots?" Either it was overkill or the guy with the boxcutter was one tough, determined dude.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.