As a wise poster on another site said: "The idea that one should have to be calmer, more thoughtful, and more disciplined than the police in order to survive a confrontation is silly."
Mosher panicked. This read is absolutely damning, and we haven't even got to the federal trial yet:
http://confederateyankee.mu.nu/archives/306409.php
It was written by a veteran of nearly two decades of civilian police service, Mike McDaniel (http://confederateyankee.mu.nu/archives/305948.php)
The information that the police officers had at the time gave them the perception that Scott was armed, threatening, and under the influence of drugs. If Scott followed commands he would have changed that perception. Scott didn't need to be "calmer, more thoughtful, and more disciplined than the police."
Good link. I thought this was pretty interesting from the timeline he made of the radio calls:
14:05 (SL): “Yes, he’s about ten feet away. I see the officer standing at the door right now.”
14:07 (D): “Who is?”
14:08 (SL): “I see the officers right now.”
14:09 (D): “You see them?”
14:10 (SL): “Yes.”
14:11 (D): “And do they see him?”
14:12 (SL): “Ah, negative.”
14:13 (D): “Have they walked out the door right now? What is that guy doing right this...”
14:16 (Unidentified Officer’s Voice(s) in Background): “Put your hands where I see them now, drop it, get on the ground, get on the ground...”
[At 14:18, multiple, rapidly fired gunshots can be clearly heard in the background.]
Notice that at 14:12, the Costco employee is saying the cops don’t see Scott. At 14:18, multiple shots are fired. SIX seconds from ‘they don’t see him’ to firing shots? If that timeline is correct, the cops will be in deep doo-doo in the civil trial.
As noted at the link:
“From the moment the Officer, probably Mosher, yelled “Get your hands where I can see them” until he fired two shots in rapid succession, only approximately two seconds elapse. The additional five shots are fired with a lapse between Mosher’s shots and theirs of only a fraction of a second, and the entire sequence of events, from Mosher’s yelled command and the final shot is only three to four seconds (from the first command until Lierley told the Dispatcher that shots had been fired, only seven seconds elapsed).”
SIX SECONDS from ‘not seen’ to ‘open fire’. First command to final shot is FOUR SECONDS!
If you were exiting Costco carrying concealed IAW the law, and from first sight to cops yelling equaled 2 seconds, and 2 seconds later cops were shooting, does it REALLY make any difference what you did? Would you, caught by surprise, realize they were shouting at you and not someone else, and comprehend their commands and act in total obedience? In TWO-FOUR SECONDS?
The civil case should be very interesting. I think Mosher will be a disaster on the stand.