Posted on 07/18/2009 11:40:39 AM PDT by Frank Burns
Jurors have found a New Jersey park ranger not guilty of reckless manslaughter for the deadly shooting of a member of the Ramapough Lenape Indian Nation, CBS 2 HD has learned.
The shooting happened after rangers arrested Emil Mann on charges of illegal weapons possession and stopped several others for riding all-terrain vehicles in 2006.
At trial, a lawyer for ranger Chad Walder said he was on the verge of being disarmed when he fired three times in self-defense. Mann died nine days later.
Prosecutor James Santulli said Mann was unarmed and standing about five feet away with his hands up when Walder fired. Mann was 45 and a resident of Monroe, N.Y.
The jury deliberated for two days. The charge carried a maximum 10-year prison sentence.
Opening statements began Thursday, June 4.
Walder's attorney tried to convince a jury he shot Mann in self-defense.
"Emil Mann jumped on him, and he jumped on him and he had him from the back hitting him. And then after hitting him, he tried to grab his gun," said Bob Galantucci, Walder's lawyer.
Walder's wife, who is also a New Jersey park officer, was also present.
During the trial, jurors got a look at Mann's bullet-pierced jacket and police dash-cam video of the area where the tragedy occurred more than three years ago.
"You're going to hear how Chad Walder panicked during this moment and that during that period of time he was face to face with Emil Mann and he fired the two shots and it did not have to happen," Santulli said.
The defense claims that Mann's cousin Otis was attacking another park officer and that Walder was trying to help her when an intoxicated Mann jumped out of a bush.
"He said, 'Stop! Stop!' Emil Mann said, 'Shoot me!'" Galantucci said. "And he lunged for the gun."
"You're going to hear he was intoxicated and he had a .103 blood alcohol level," Santulli said.
See what happens when you hire female police officers who can't handle themselves, had Lt. Kelly Gottheimer been able to defend herself and subdue the perpetrator maybe this whole thing wouldn't have happened. Ranger Chad Walder was ambushed by an out-of-control drunk who comes from a group of people who think they own NY and NJ state property and use it as their back yard and private playground and park area.
The Ramapough's claim they are an Indian Tribe full of Native Americans, they are not. They are primarily African Americans (black) who were there since slave times and were used during the Revolutionary War to mine iron ore for the guns and bullets. Through the years they have married whites and their own race and through inter-racial marriage and in incest, in some cases, many have been known to have vitiligo and light skin and were given the nickname of Jackson Whites.
Outsiders are not welcomed and are often attacked and shot at, this includes the state rangers who were attacked, state and county officials who investigate child abuse and welfare fraud and those who come up there to actually benefit them like the mosquito control agency. This part of the state in Ringwood and Mahwah is also the site of a large toxic waste dump from the Ford Motor Co. that dumped thousands of gallons of paint in the mines, to date the federal govt. can't seem to complete the clean-up project.
Only three comments so far and two of them removed by the Moderator. Not a good show guys! Keep your nasty language and racism to yourself and then give us your opinion.
If the officer was actually jumped, there would be burn marks on the perp’s clothes. Without burn marks, she shot an unarmed man to death at a distance far enough where he was no lethal threat to her.
I havnt heard about the Jackson Whites in ages, the Obamacare people should have an interesting time up there.
Correct!!!
no, it had nothing to do with what other FReepers said. I posted my comments and the print was in red, then I tried to correct it again and it “previewed” in black font and “posted” in red again. That’s is when I asked the moderator to take away the two posts.
she shot an unarmed man to death >>>
a male park ranger shot him: Chad Walder.
Yeah, I screwed that up by reading the other part of the post and confusing them. But I still stand by my point because of the lack of burn marks. In fact, since the officer was male, there's even less of a chance of lethal unarmed intimidation at a distance from a male perp than there potentially would be for a female officer.
Sorry, I didn’t see them and took it that they were offensive. That is what is usually removed. Aloha
Used to live in that area. They’ve names like defreeze, degroat, mann.
that's what usually happens, no big deal.
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