Posted on 09/21/2014 6:09:29 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
All of the most recent protests in Ferguson over the slaying of Michael Brown seem recent since the protestors have all asked for the same thing: That is to slap the cuffs on Darren Wilson, the officer who gunned down Brown on August 9. The reasons given for Wilson's freedom by some are that the prosecutors and cops almost never arrest and charge other cops with misconduct, the St. Louis County Prosecutor is a bigot, and there's no smoking gun piece of evidence to base an arrest on.
These are all powerful blocks to clamping the cuffs on Wilson. But they aren't the prime reasons. The single biggest barrier to arrest and prosecuting police officers in the use of deadly force in the shootings of unarmed civilians -- even those who have committed no crimes or are even suspected of crimes at the time of the shooting, as is the case with Brown -- is the ancient self-shielding uttered by the officer of the magic words, "I feared for my life or the life of others."
These words are codified in law in many states. Missouri is one of them. It's called the Missouri Defense of Justification Statute. It flatly says that an officer can use deadly force when "he or she reasonably believes" it's necessary to protect life. The operative words are "reasonably believes." Translated, that means that there is no written code, rule, or guideline for what exactly reasonable belief is or means. It's purely a judgment call by the officer at the moment he or she draws his or her pistol and opens fire....
(Excerpt) Read more at huffingtonpost.com ...
“Zimmerman says he has to move all the time and be very careful where he goes because of constant death threats.”
It’s springtime in Peru./s
No crime by a black guys counts in Earl’s world!
Thank you. Based on that description I’d conclude that, as the Brits would say, “He’s gone round the bend.”
“Liberals” want mob rule... they think a mob of angry blacks trumps the rule of law.
Anyone with a name that sounds like "sick of you" is sure to be a nasty creature.
Race hustling appears to be a family business for these people.
Most racists in America anymore tend to be black.
Pray America wakes
Ah, ha...Total Negro Bravo Sierra (TNB).
Actually I’m a little afraid of the black racist lynch mobs myself. Good thing I live in Maine.
Maybe he should just move up here, or Montana, or North Dakota, or Nebraska, or Vermont, or Puerto Rico etc etc etc.
My point was that the inquiry doesn’t end with the officer’s assertion that he feared for his life. The fear has to be reasonable in the circumstances, which means that the jury asks itself whether a reasonable person would have been afraid. That’s an objective standard. The article suggests that the law is strange or unfairly gives the officer leeway to do whatever he wants. The law is not strange. I would guess that the law is similar in the other 49 states.
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