Posted on 06/23/2015 6:59:30 PM PDT by Olog-hai
It is further compounded by the fact that the Baltimore PD has a proven history of “rough riding” prisoners in their paddy wagons. Cuffing them and intentionally leaving them unsecured and then driving irratically intentionally to rough them up on the ride to the station.
The mental twists folks are making here trying to deny the cops did something wrong here is no different than the idiots here in the past who argued that David Westerfield didn’t murder Danielle Nicole van Dam.
The cops screwed up, their own police chief has publicly admitted as much, so for anyone here, or anywhere else to claim the cops have no culpability for this mans death are best useful idiots and at worst, are things I cannot say in polite company.
A guy with hands cuffed behind his back can’t put on his seatbelt.
I don’t claim to be an expert on applicable laws, but seems to me there are at least three possibilities here:
1. The cops intentionally chose not to restrain him, contrary to procedure, and he was accidentally injured during a normal drive. This would seem to be at most negligence on the cops’ part.
2. The cops intentionally chose not to restrain him, contrary to procedure, and he was accidentally injured during a normal drive. This would also seem to be negligence. But I would think their culpability would be somewhat reduced due to his participation in what injured him.
3. The cops intentionally chose not to restrain him, contrary to procedure, and he was injured during the ride because the cops intentionally made the ride rough. Braking hard, swerving, etc. This would take it well beyond negligence, but not seemingly to murder, which I think requires an intent to kill.
Seems to me to get a conviction for anything beyond negligence, they will need to prove #3. Which I think will be extraordinarily unless there is video from the vehicle.
But as little information as we have, who knows?
Sorry, screwed that up.
#2 was intended to refer to the possibility he intentionally flung himself around in the van.
Any of these, particularly #3, requires the ability to prove malice of forethought. Virtually impossible, unless there is both audio and video, and there is neither.
This case was way overcharged, and with an unsympathetic vic, juries do not like that.
Even more, Def can have a field day with DA if they choose. If she has a lick of sense she will never try this case herself. A good Def lawyer would tear her apart. If she has assistant try case and they get a conviction, she wins big. If they lose, she blames someone else. If she tries case and loses, AMF.
In addition, if I was running the Def, I would consider calling her as a witness, thereby disqualifying her as trial counsel.
I would be asking, in her capacity as the chief LEO for her area, who was she listening to when she said she had listeners to rioters and that led her to bring charges.
What proof or evidence did the young man who burned down the CVS serving the Black community offer to her regarding the guilt or innocence of these officers in this case?
What evidence of any officer’s guilt did she get from the young man dancing on the burning police car?
The two deputy jail guards, the ones later arrested for looting, did they say some snitch told them something?
Actually. I wouldn’t do the examination of her. I’m White. I’d get an old Black legal tiger, ex FBI agent from New Orleans on the team. He would rip her a new arse on the stand.
Additionally, she would have to prove exactly which officer caused the death. Recently a (stupid) cop climbed on top of car that had tried to flee. Cops claimed car had backfired, then fled (when was the last time you heard a car backfire repeatedly?)
After car was stopped, some cops fired some shots into car. The accused officer jumped up on hood of car, putting 13 bullets into perps through the windshield.
No gun found in perps’ car. All they had done was run.
Cop not guilty, even with 13 shots, because no one could prove his shots were the cause of perps’ death. Had they been killed by earlier bullet?
This Balt matter is drek
Yes, there was a reasonable expectation that cops would protect Grey. But that is a civil issue, upon which the estate of Mr. Gray, his kids, others depending on him, and if the law in Maryland allows, his parents can sue.
Defendant in MD law, (I am NOT admitted there) was neglegent and his damages would be greatly reduced by Gray;s contributions to this damage/death. He ran from the cops, he initiated the action with the illegal knife, he stood up in the van, etc.
But that is a CIVIL matter, not a CRIMINAL one.
Also, PLEASE SEE #22.
Be well
You may not remember, but Google does.
From the above (referring to the 2005 death of Dondi Johnson, 42, busted for public pissing):
Police Officer Nicole Leake would later testify that she failed to put him in a seatbelt as required by Department General Order K-14 because the nature of the charge against him suggested he had a full bladder.Meet Police Officer Leake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD0ZdI-wkSELeake would deny that she gave him what is known in Baltimore as a “rough ride,” where the van is driven in such a fashion as to jounce and jangle the prisoners. She did estimate that she reached a nearby police station in less than half the time it would have taken at the speed limit.
“When she arrived at the District and opened the back door of the van, Mr. Johnson was lying on the floor of the van and could not move,” court papers say.
...
After his arrival at the hospital, Johnson was interviewed about how he came to be injured. Records say he reported “that he was handcuffed and the wagon made a sharp turn, [he] fell, hitting face first and [heard] a pop and blacked out.’”
That's right: Pretty Boy Martin O'Malley!
I don’t see how you get any kind of conviction on anyone with the exception of the driver and even that looks super sketchy to me.
I will share this. My husband was arrested on a DV charge based on a police report that was filled with numerous lies and half truths. One thing I learned through this experience is that police can and will lie. My husband had some issues back then (over 10 years ago) that he has corrected, but he did not do what was in that statement. I was upset and trusted that the police wrote down what I said and I signed the statement without reading it. BIG MISTAKE! And once a person is in police custody, they are often treated very poorly. Driven around handcuffed and unsecured in poorly ventilated vehicles. Denied medications for days that are essential to their health. These are things that go on all the time and need to be addressed by the local governments that employ the police. This experience has caused me to become quite negative about the way some local police conduct themselves.
On the other hand, all this racial crap and federal intervention is a farce, nothing but Occupy Wall Street 2.0, IMHO. We cannot have a civil society without proper law and order. We also cannot have it if the police themselves behave in such a manner that they undermine the trust of the citizens they are supposed to protect. Obama and his ilk couldn’t care less about the real issues when it comes to this subject.
And how do they PROVE driver knew was Grey was un-belted, how much did Grey’s actions contribute to his own death, and EXACTLY when did injury happen?
No case here.
How do you know that those questions can’t be answered? All politics aside, the police may have done something either knowingly or unknowingly that contributed to his death, but that is a completely separate thing from how this has been handled by a bunch of incompetent, politically corrupt boobs. I would like to get to the truth of the matter, I have little faith that will ever happen.
“Contributing to a death” does not come anywhere near sustaining a murder conviction.
If the State wants to call the failure to attach Grey’s seat belt “depraved indifference,” are they going to bring a “reckless endangerment” charge for every driver who has a non-seat belt wearing passenger in their car?
“Contributing to the delinquency of a minor” for every un-belted child?
The problem here is, these charges were admittedly brought solely to satisfy a group of young rioters and those who think their actions are justified.
Had the DuhA waited for the ME report, fully investigated the matter and made a presentment to a Grand Jury, then gotten a True Bill or a No Bill, two things would have happened.
#1: There would never have been this radical overcharging
#2: They would, or would not have been charges of some lesser extent brought.
Most important thing here: You do not bring a Murder information against police officers to stop rioters. That’s what escalating force, up to and including 5.56 is for.
“Contributing to a death” does not come anywhere near sustaining a murder conviction.
If the State wants to call the failure to attach Grey’s seat belt “depraved indifference,” are they going to bring a “reckless endangerment” charge for every driver who has a non-seat belt wearing passenger in their car?
“Contributing to the delinquency of a minor” for every un-belted child?
The problem here is, these charges were admittedly brought solely to satisfy a group of young rioters and those who think their actions are justified.
Had the DuhA waited for the ME report, fully investigated the matter and made a presentment to a Grand Jury, then gotten a True Bill or a No Bill, two things would have happened.
#1: There would never have been this radical overcharging
#2: They would, or would not have been charges of some lesser extent brought.
Most important thing here: You do not bring a Murder information against police officers to stop rioters. That’s what escalating force, up to and including 5.56 is for.
P.S. All this has really done is to teach the next group of inner city thugs that when they want something, rioting will get it for them.
I cannot verify that. I have seen it mentioned many times on these threads, but I have seen no proof.
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