Death of obese man (who assaulted police) ruled "homicide"

Fox News | 12/3/03 | Fox News

[zlala]

The Coroner just read a statement saying the direct cause of his death was the struggle with the police; or that them trying to subdue him and the struggle cause his death. Contributing factors included the drugs and his weight and heart condition.

[1Old Pro]

I suppose given this logic, it would be ruled a homicide if the police were chasing him and he dropped dead.

[Liberty Valance]

Could a tranquilizer dart work in such a situation?

[azhenfud]

Executions of criminals are also listed as "homicide", so any correlation of guilt to the officers would be erroneously placed. There are those that this means nothing, because they haven't enough common sense to analyze the entire situation.

But, there is another kind of sorry scum in Cincinnati waiting for an opportunity to riot, burn, loot, destroy, and murder if given half a chance. They don't seek any reason - just the opportunity.

Law enforcement, residents, and business owners there should arm themselves well and keep an extra vigilant eye out on their persons and property until the situation subsides.

[ican'tbelieveit]

People have gone to jail for that. Would you consider it homicide if an elderly person dies of a heart attack, induced by someone burglarzing his home?

[BossLady]

Savage was explaining last evening how Cincy PD had used those guns with the bean bags at one time and the ACLU said that they 'hurt' and were 'inhumane'. The ACLU made a huge deal out of it so the PD stopped using them altogether. Savage kept saying the man's death was the ACLU's fault because the PD had no other recourse. (I report....you decide)

[Diamond]

as someone who frequently critices police abuse on this forum, I support the police in this case because their actions appear to have been justified and they used the appropriate amount of force under the circumstances. In fact, I commend their restraint.

I wonder if there isn't some more humane way of restraining someone resisting arrest than repeatedly hitting him with clubs.

I watched the video, which shows that after he was on the ground he began to moan. A little later one of the police officers states that the man had a pulse but was not breathing. One of the disturbing things to me was that none of the police, who had shown no qualms about hitting the man (including in the head) with clubs, personally lifted a finger to revive him. They just stood by and waited for paramedics.

Cordially,

[ican'tbelieveit]

Again, the police did not beat him to death. The superficial bruises on the man from the nightsticks were limited to the lower portions of his body and did not damage deeper organs.

[At _War_With_Liberals]

His heart was racing so fast from all of that cocaine he took "possibly minutes before(!)" that he was sleeping when authorities arrived.

I have never seen a coroner speculate so much and use so many adjectives to push his conclusions to certainties. The drug test coming back in a few hours was also amazing.

This needs to be looked at independently. local law enforcement cannot be trusted in 2003.

I am usually on the other side of this argument, but when numerous pro police and DA spokespeople say that police used "EXTREME RESTRAINT", we have a problem.

The idea of clubbing an obese man 100's of times because he, like numerous other 350+ pounders, could not join his hands behind his back, is scary. That ONE round house punch he threw was so lame. He could not have fought one cop, never mind 6, successfully. And they knew that.

[ladyinred]

I don't understand guys how this is homicide when it says that his weight, heart condition, and his assaulting the police contributed to his death! HUH?

[ican'tbelieveit]

Have you seen the video? This guy was not laying on the ground peacefully, just unable to put his arms behind his back. He was flopping the cops around like they were toys.

[muggs]

One of the disturbing things to me was that none of the police, who had shown no qualms about hitting the man (including in the head) with clubs, personally lifted a finger to revive him.

You actually saw him get hit in the head? I'm local, and I've watched the tape many times and never saw that.

[ican'tbelieveit]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1033179/posts?page=143#143

Excellent response to this question.

[retrokitten]

Somehow I only managed to see the video once. Wasn't he trying to get back up when they had him on the ground, too?

Also, I saw the police chief on Fox News the next morning and he said that part of the delay in cuffing him was that due to his size they had chain 3 pairs of cuffs together.

[ladyinred]

"And most dangerous of all White Castle Burgers."

I hope someday to have a White Castle Burger. I hear they are killer! :-)

[At _War_With_Liberals]

"I can see you prefer the sort of coroner who "goes along to get along" with the DA and the police, and who shapes his findings to serve their interests.
I prefer physicians who retain the intellectual integrity to call'em as they see 'em, and not just be a lapdog of the prosecution"

Exactly.

[Taliesan]

The struggle with the police killed him. I believe that.

A struggle getting his socks off would also have killed him, in his condition.

[azhenfud]

If it was true the man was a bouncer, he was perfectly capable of placing his 350+/- pound fat where he would do the most harm. There are many 350# men capable of body-slamming two the size of those officers at one time. He chose the wrong place with the wrong people while under the influence of the wrong drug.

[Stewart_B]

100,000 volts from one of these would do the trick.

[At _War_With_Liberals]

Don't be so dramatic. He was moving in slow motion, and threw one lame punch, after being clubbed. He was on his knees trying to block blows, and they pounded him 50 more times.

He OBVIOUSLY did not know what was going on. Beating the living shit out of him because he was out of it is absurd.

I am sickened by the intensity of this beating. And by the posters here who think it is great.

[T.Smith]

Holy Cow! Did you view the slide show attached to that article? The pictures of the struggle between police and Nate Jones were accompanied by captions such as "Video shows footage of a man trying to get up while police strike him repeatedly". I can't even believe I'm seeing that!