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.

[zlala]

How will this come down?

[Frank_Discussion]

Keep the home fires burning in Cincinnati!

[TheOtherOne]

How did you think he died?

[Bikers4Bush]

The unruly mobs in Cinci need a scapegoat and it looks like the coroner is trying to give them one.

Pretty sick.

[ysoitanly]

This is absolutely ridiculous. The man was (who, to put it mildly) was resisting arrest - as in assaulting the arresting officers. If you start charging the police with brutality/assault every time someone resists arrest, what are they supposed to do? Each case is different, of course, but that video clearly depicted a man beating up on the officers while under the influence of PCP, etc. Besides, I was pis$ed because it cut into the Scott Peterson coverage. /SARCASM

[zlala]

The coroner did say the ruling of homicide should not cause the conclusion that the actions of the police were not justified. This will end up in court (as if that were even a question). This guy's gramma said he was "gentle" and not at all violent. Maybe when he wasn't on drug grannie. But that's not how the police met him....

[caisson71]

Contributing conditions were drugs, his weight and heart condition? It would seem that would be enough to kill anyone.

[CollegeRepublican]

But was it justifiable? I think so, but in todays wacky world you just never know.

BTW, if I lived in Cincy right now I would keep it locked and loaded. But then again the Bengals are winning these days so maybe the urban element is less agressive than they have been in the past. Go Ravens.

[BenLurkin]

Pretty amazing though it may be "justifiable homicide" in the final analysis. Problem is I thought he died of a heart attack.

[xJones]

It might make things difficult for police officer recruiters, at least for Cincinnati.

[Catspaw]

How will this come down? The family will file a massive lawsuit, and at the end, either the city will settle, just to get them off of their backs, or they'll take it to trial and get nothing.

[mlbford2]

The guy was smoking amp joints (marijuana joints soaked in embamlming fluid). I live in Houston and all the scum smoke the stuff in the bad parts of town. This was called a homicide but it will not go to a wrongful death case(although the black 'leaders'(and I use that term loosly) will try to go that route. He was also on PCP (angel dust)and cocaine. And most dangerous of all White Castle Burgers.

[Celtjew Libertarian]

Homicide, in this case, is not a judgment on guilt. It merely means that the death was caused by another person, as the result of an intentional act. Even clear-cut cases of self-defense are described as "homicide," as the official cause of death.

[AAABEST]

Yeah but what exactly did he die of? Cardiac arrest, internal bleeding....what?

If this is all the coroner put out it's a very irresponsible statement.

[retrokitten]

Contributing conditions were drugs, his weight and heart condition? It would seem that would be enough to kill anyone.

My thoughts exactly.

[WackyKat]

Just to clarify, "homicide" means a death caused by actions of another person.

It is not a crime, many homicides are ruled justifiable

The corner also said he had a significant amount of embalming fluid in his system apparently from smoking joints dipped in the stuff

I have read this causes numbness of the body, which could explain why he did not have much reaction to the baton strike.

Had PCP in his system also.

[ysoitanly]

"And most dangerous of all White Castle Burgers."


Yer killin' me....LOL

[pogo101]

Yes, a homicide, but bear in mind that the most justifiable of killings -- e.g., shooting the Texas Chainsaw Massacre guy as he runs to within 5 feet of you with chainsaw aloft and roaring -- is a "homicide." So is a suicide.

[marlon]

I'm no lawyer, thank God, but I think I remember that in terms used by a medical examiner anytime a death is caused or brought on due to certain outside events, i.e. a fight that results in one of the participants having a heart attack, the medical/legal definition is homicide. This has no bearing on the actions the cops took only to say that if the FAT MAN hadn't started a fight he may not have died on that particular day.

[RS]

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

??? suicide by cop is more like it