Get Ready (Acquittals loom in the Inglewood cop trial)

National Review OnLine ^ | July 17, 2003 | Jack Dunphy

[End Times Sentinel]

July 17, 2003, 9:55 a.m.
Get Ready
Acquittals loom in the Inglewood cop trial. Will trouble follow?

LOS ANGELES — Do you hear that? If you listen closely, you can hear the faint, far-off sounds of the No Justice, No Peace Hallelujah Chorus practicing their scales and limbering up the old vocal chords. That's right, soprano Maxine Waters, baritone Al Sharpton, bass Jesse Jackson, and all their assembled multitudes may soon be, as is their wont, raising a ruckus. Though the story has been largely eclipsed by other events in the national media, the two Inglewood, Calif. police officers indicted in last July's videotaped altercation with a teenager have been brought before the bar of justice. As the world knows, Los Angeles juries can be prone to irrationality at times, so predictions in such highly charged cases can be dicey, but I'm planning on working some overtime soon. Recall that Officers Jeremy Morse and Bijan Darvish were two of several officers involved in a July 6, 2002 fracas with 16-year-old Donovan Jackson, whose father had been stopped for driving a car with expired registration. The final moments of the incident were captured on a bystander's videotape, and for days and weeks thereafter few in the civilized world could escape the image of Morse slamming the handcuffed Jackson onto a police car's trunk and punching him in the mouth. Morse was charged with assault under the color of authority; Darvish, his partner that day, was charged with filing a false police report. The jury has now heard the prosecution's evidence, and what thin gruel it turned out to be. When prosecutors rested their case on Tuesday, some observers were prompted to ask, "That's it? That's all you got?"

L.A. County Sheriff's Commander Charles Heal, testifying for the prosecution as a use-of-force expert, told the jury on Monday that while he considered Morse's treatment of Jackson excessive, it did not rise to the level that would warrant criminal charges. "If [Morse] would have been my deputy, he would have got his chain rattled in my office," Heal testified under cross-examination. "Would I have filed [criminal charges] on him? No." What, then, the jurors might have wondered, are we all doing here?

Prosecutors sought to rebound from this setback on Tuesday by calling Inglewood P.D. Chief Ronald Banks and LAPD Captain Greg Meyer, both of whom testified that Morse's actions were excessive and inexcusable. But in relying on Heal, Banks, and Meyer as they have, prosecutors run the risk of seeing their testimony undercut by other use-of-force experts to be called when the defense presents their case. All three are high-ranking officers within their departments, and one doesn't get to be a high-ranking officer in any police department by mixing it up in gas-station donnybrooks. I don't care how many articles they've written or how many speeches they've given, I'll bet a paycheck that neither Heal, Banks, or Meyer has gotten his uniform dirty in 20 years. The defense will surely present use-of-force authorities whose expertise is more practical than theoretical, and whose testimony will likely carry more weight with the jury.

As if resigned to defeat, some in the anti-cop crowd were quick to denounce the prosecution's efforts. Max Huntsman and Michael Peterson, the two deputy district attorneys assigned to the case, came in for some colorful criticism from one Najee Ali, head of Project Islamic Hope. "What's up, Steve [Cooley, the county D.A]?" said Ali. "Why did you send us Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis? We want to know how come their best people weren't sent out instead of a comedy act."

An even more enlightening reaction came from Leo Terrel, the seldom-tranquil Los Angeles attorney. Reacting to Cmdr. Heal's admission that he did not believe Morse's actions to be criminal, Terrel nearly blew a gasket. "Are you telling me," he thundered, "that [prosecutors] couldn't find, out of all the use-of-force experts in the state, in the nation, one person that would have been loyal to them, and been on the same page?" Interesting that Terrel, who on his local radio show bills himself as "the fair-minded civil-rights attorney," should call for a witness to tailor his testimony so as to achieve some desired outcome.

We'll be hearing a great deal from Terrel and all the better-known cop bashers if the trial continues on its present course. It will be pointed out ad nauseam that only one black was on the jury, so when the acquittals come there will be all the more reason for the usual suspects to condemn them. All that furniture heisted in the '92 Rodney King riots is bound to be a bit threadbare by now, so some people may be looking forward to a shopping spree, one for which the bill never comes.

The jury may get the case as soon as next week. Look for me at Florence and Normandie.

— Jack Dunphy is an officer in the Los Angeles Police Department. "Jack Dunphy" is the author's nom de cyber. The opinions expressed are his own and almost certainly do not reflect those of the LAPD management.

[Poohbah]

Stick it in your home page as I did.

[UCANSEE2]

DITTO. And if they don't, if they get riots, they deserve it. Hell, I might go myself to help riot, and I'm not black.

[Catspaw]

I just put in on my home page....sweeeeeeet.

[Poohbah]

Hey, y'all should put something like this in your home page:

"PUBLIC NOTICE My posts on Free Republic are Copyright 2003 catspaw. I grant my consent to Free Republic website to host my postings. My posts are not to be reproduced in whole or in part on another forum (ie Free Republic Sucks, Liberty Post, et al.). Reproducing of any posts by me without my prior consent may result in civil action without further warning. Reproduction of posts by me will also be viewed as a binding agreement by the party responsible for reproduction to pay me $5000.00 (US dollars) for each occurrence. The forum hosting my words without my consent will also agree to pay me $5000.00 (US dollars) for each occurrence. I grant users of the Free Republic permission to quote from my posts so long as the quotation is used solely on Free Republic and not on any other forum."

[UCANSEE2]

Until you've seen the entire video as well as the station security tape and not just the last 12 seconds of video that clearly doesn't show not only what led up to the incident, or what Jackson's hands were doing, all side's testimony deserve equal hearing.

I agree with you. What else was going on? What did this person do before or after being handcuffed that warranted an OFFICER OF THE PEACE slugging him in the mouth while he was handcuffed?

I have some personal experience of police, who without any provocation at all, after a suspect had been handcuffed, beating the crap out of them, and that was a white person. So, anyone trying to convince me that police have a right, under any circumstances, to exert physical force on you after you are under arrest, should really consider moving to another country where the laws are more 'liberal'. An officer can ARREST you but is not the JUDGE. You are INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY, and that doesn't take place until you go to trial.

Cops think they are 'gonna teach that mutherf*cker a lesson' by beating you after they arrest you. I am sorry, it is not their job to teach anyone anything.

There only job is to arrest the suspect. They are supposed to be trained to control their personal anger. If they can't, they should be removed from the police force. PERIOD.

[UCANSEE2]

From the testimony presented at the trial, the kid brutalized the police officer by reaching back and grabbing and then squeezing the police officer's genitals. The kid ought to be charged with assault on a police officer.

Wait a minute. Police stopped and were dealing with the driver of the car, which this kid was not.

Then all of a sudden, they handcuff him.

You know HOW they handcuff you? Drag you out of the car by your hair, slam you down onto the ground. Drive their knee into your spinal cord, and if you even flinch, they yell "QUIT RESISTING". It is almost impossible for the body not to react in some way. When your face is being ground into the asphalt, and you think you might be paralyzed for life by the knee in your back, your instinct is survival, and the f*cking cops know it. They know they are provoking a reaction, and they love it. Ever had them twist your arms behind your back until your arm almost pops out of your shoulder?

[Catspaw]

I've never been arrested. Have you?

[AppyPappy]

Riot! Riot! Riot! C'mon LA, do what you do best. Entertain America.

[Mo1]

Great idea .. Thanks

[Howlin]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/947910/posts?page=100#100

[UCANSEE2]

I didn't see the video, so I am going on what I have read here.

The cops are arresting his father (see my previous posts on being handcuffed), and he walks toward them.

They tell him to stay there, but he comes forward more.

YEP, now is the part where the police teach that MF a lesson. Grab him, twisting the arms behind the back, inflicting as much pain as possible in the process. Gee, he grabbed he cop by the nuts, wonder why?

Do the police have reason to be concerned about another civilian interfering/pulling a weapon, while they are busy arresting someone else? OF COURSE. Maybe if they didn't always attempt to TEACH everyone a LESSON, they wouldn't have to worry as much. Other than moving towards the officers, the young man had not violated any laws, at all. You have the right to speak, in public, whether to police or anyone else.

The police think the law is whatever they decide it is at the time. Many times they arrest you and decide what to charge you with later. Another violation of the civil trust that causes problems.

AM I always so negative about the Police. NO. I think there are many good cops, and that many have reason to react /handcuff a person first.

I would not want to be a cop. It is the worst job (almost) in the world. Low pay, situations that go from dead boring to life or death in an instant. Everyone you pull over or detain lies to you. Many would shoot you just for the fun of it. Everyone hates you. BUT the instant they are in trouble, they want you to come bail them out.

I think there is a fine line, and in this case, the boy should have maintained his distance from the cops detaining his father. The question one must ask himself, is what would your son do? What would you do for your father? Especially if you lived your life watching cops treat black fathers different than white fathers?

[UCANSEE2]

Oh yes.

[Poohbah]

Well, like I said...I saw the video, and the first thought that ran across my warped mind was "steroid-induced rage." The second one was the facial expression of my 'roid-raged roomie as he body-slammed me through a wooden door so hard that I flew down the stairs. Had to get my head x-rayed to make sure I hadn't fractured my skull. Took four MPs with batons to restrain the guy--he was COMPLETELY out of control.

[UCANSEE2]

I have seen several instances of cops who go 'over the line' and it is not steriods, it is andrenaline.

One almost becomes addicted to it. Nothing like a high speed chase to ensure the arresting officers will need to work off some of that adrenaline. Expect to be drug out the window by your hair, and jumped on by every officer on the scene, attempting to place their entire body weight on one knee and jam it through your spine. The others will put their shoe bottom on your head and grind your cheek into the asphalt, while some prefer kicking you in the ribs.

It is an experience one should not miss!~

[ladyinred]

Unfortunately, the media only shows the part where the cops who have clearly had enough react. That is how they love to portray the police on the left. Had the kid done what he was told, none of this would have happened. But his disobeying the law is never the issue in these cases.

Leo Terrell is the worse racist of all, and that is saying something. I detest that man and his screaming bad manners.

[AppyPappy]

I've never been arrested. Have you?

I have. Twice. It was no big deal. We were cordial to each other and I was never cuffed.

[connectthedots]

This is the first time I have seen you not support the cops in a case of this sort. I am quite surprised, but pleased. It appears to me that the prosecutors are intentionally putting on a weak case. Hopefully the jury will see through this sham prosecution and convict anyway.

[connectthedots]

That's right, soprano Maxine Waters, baritone Al Sharpton, bass Jesse Jackson, and all their assembled multitudes may soon be, as is their wont, raising a ruckus

In this rare instance, it may be justified. It is cases like this, assuming there is an aquittal, that lend credibility to race pimps like Jesses Jackson. What needs to happen if there is an aquittal in this case is for the white community to express its outrage, in a civil manner of course. That would do more to promote race relations than anything else in this case.

[Poohbah]

Some cases I support the cops. Some cases I don't support the cops. It depends on the particulars.

[xm177e2]

Expect to be drug out the window by your hair, and jumped on by every officer on the scene, attempting to place their entire body weight on one knee and jam it through your spine. The others will put their shoe bottom on your head and grind your cheek into the asphalt, while some prefer kicking you in the ribs.

It is an experience one should not miss!~

And even if it turns out the officer isn't going to arrest you, it's not too late to miss out! You can still get the works if you go up to an officer and attack him.