Video of California police shooting spurs investigation

[sgtmac_46]

An AG aggressively prosecuting civil rights cases is unreasonable?

If he's only doing it for political pandering it is!

It takes an intentional act to deprive someone of their civil rights.....one CAN commit negligent homicide. I strongly believe this case to be negligent homicide, not an intentional act of homicide.

 

[sgtmac_46]

My question is...when was the last time the Dr held a Taser? If he has either recently or in the past, fine, but if he's basing his opinion off of something he's never done...well, he should keep his opinion to himself, because its comments like he made, that paint a very bad picture in the rest of the uneducated minds.

Since there HAVE been cases of officers doing exactly that.....the Dr's 'theories' are trumped by reality.

 

[sgtmac_46]

I fear that, as well. But Eric Holder, Obama's pick for AG, might be a little more reasonable... or he might not.

You're kidding about Holder, right? :rofl:

 

[arnisador]

Ex-cop charged with murder in Calif. shooting

A former transit officer has been charged with murder in the shooting death of an unarmed black man that set off violent protests, officials said Wednesday.

Johannes Mehserle, 27, was arrested Tuesday in Nevada and on Wednesday appeared briefly in court, where he waived extradition to California. He was expected to be returned to California later Wednesday.

 

[Andy Moynihan]

So it begins, for good or ill.

 

[Archangel M]

I will be interested to see the evidence to support an intentional murder charge, and what the defendant will say about the incident.

 

[sgtmac_46]

I will be interested to see the evidence to support an intentional murder charge, and what the defendant will say about the incident.

I predict a plea bargain to manslaughter......but this case isn't going to trial for the next couple years.

 

[Archangel M]

I predict a plea bargain to manslaughter......but this case isn't going to trial for the next couple years.

The good old "charge high" tactic.

 

[spectrex]

A deputy sheriff one county over had exactly the confusion you describe, of course the suspect was kicking, swearing and spitting at her when she shot him.

yeah just not this time.... it lokks like an execution, for which the cop gets prison time and deserves it.

 

[Archangel M]

yeah just not this time.... it lokks like an execution, for which the cop gets prison time and deserves it.

"Looks" is the key word here. We dont judge based solely on how a situation "looks". There is a LARGE difference between an unjustified killing and intentional murder. And nobody is in "prison" yet.

 

[Cryozombie]

"Looks" is the key word here. We dont judge based solely on how a situation "looks".

OH MY GOD.

If we go thru things like the good cop bad cop thread all we hear about is how cops make judgements based on how things look. The way you dress, the way you appear to be acting etc...

Please.

 

[Archangel M]

Spare me.."judgement calls" on the street by a cop are way different from convicted/judged in a court of law. Intentional or accidental, this cop was wrong..nobody has said otherwise.

Dont be a hater.

 

[Carol]

The good old "charge high" tactic.

Sarge and Arch, how often does that happen?

I read murder and thought that was too high for the incident, and wondered if this will end in a mistrial and allegations of corruption. (Then again that could happen if they put him up for manslaughter.

 

[jks9199]

Sarge and Arch, how often does that happen?

I read murder and thought that was too high for the incident, and wondered if this will end in a mistrial and allegations of corruption. (Then again that could happen if they put him up for manslaughter.

It's pretty routine. As a rule, I almost always charge the highest or most serious charge I can, as well as often charging as many charges as I think I reasonably can. I know that the prosecutor will probably deal, if they can. So I want to give them as much to work with as I can.

I'm not talking about stacking charges purely to stack them, or looking at the facts to get the most serious charge I possibly can. The charges have to be reasonable and make sense, based on the totality of the circumstances. In other words, I'm not going to push for charging someone with attempted murder just because they said "I'm gonna kill you" and pushed someone. Now... if they pushed them off a multi-story parking garage, or in front of an oncoming semi... different situation.

The charges are a tool. In this case, there's room for a murder charge; the officer did intend to use force of some level, and clearly reached for something. I believe and hope he intended to use a Taser... which is why manslaughter or negligent homicide is probably an appropriate place to end up, unfortunately. Meanwhile -- you can be sure he'll be sued for wrongful death to the tune of several million, at least.

 

[jks9199]

"Looks" is the key word here. We dont judge based solely on how a situation "looks". There is a LARGE difference between an unjustified killing and intentional murder. And nobody is in "prison" yet.

OH MY GOD.

If we go thru things like the good cop bad cop thread all we hear about is how cops make judgements based on how things look. The way you dress, the way you appear to be acting etc...

Please.

Appearances or "how things look" is PART of what may call a cop's attention to you. Perhaps you'll recall that the cops follow that initial suspicion based on appearances with an investigation to confirm or dispel the suspicions...

 

[sgtmac_46]

The good old "charge high" tactic.

Oh yeah!

Though in defense of the prosecutors, the murder charge is the one applicable at this point.......as the former officer has not even given a statement that offers a defense......I believe very much this was a negligent discharge resulting from grabbing his gun instead of the Taser......but without him injecting the issue there, it's only speculation.

 

[sgtmac_46]

OH MY GOD.

If we go thru things like the good cop bad cop thread all we hear about is how cops make judgements based on how things look. The way you dress, the way you appear to be acting etc...

Please.

You're not convicted based solely on those things.......lets not start CONVICTING police officers, based on the standards you feel they use to make arrests.......arrest and conviction are two different issues.

In essence it's apples and bowling balls.

 

[sgtmac_46]

Sarge and Arch, how often does that happen?

I read murder and thought that was too high for the incident, and wondered if this will end in a mistrial and allegations of corruption. (Then again that could happen if they put him up for manslaughter.

No, on the face this is a murder charge......the video supports the charge, even if that's not what is convicted on.......and since the officer has not yet made any sort of statement, the video and statements of other officers and witnesses are the only source.

Ultimately this former officer will inject his defense........but in the mean time the charge is, correctly, murder.

I still predict a plea in a year or two to manslaughter.......and then the morons and race baiters will burn the city down because they don't think manslaughter is enough......

 

[sgtmac_46]

It's pretty routine. As a rule, I almost always charge the highest or most serious charge I can, as well as often charging as many charges as I think I reasonably can. I know that the prosecutor will probably deal, if they can. So I want to give them as much to work with as I can.

I'm not talking about stacking charges purely to stack them, or looking at the facts to get the most serious charge I possibly can. The charges have to be reasonable and make sense, based on the totality of the circumstances. In other words, I'm not going to push for charging someone with attempted murder just because they said "I'm gonna kill you" and pushed someone. Now... if they pushed them off a multi-story parking garage, or in front of an oncoming semi... different situation.

The charges are a tool. In this case, there's room for a murder charge; the officer did intend to use force of some level, and clearly reached for something. I believe and hope he intended to use a Taser... which is why manslaughter or negligent homicide is probably an appropriate place to end up, unfortunately. Meanwhile -- you can be sure he'll be sued for wrongful death to the tune of several million, at least.

I completely agree.......on the suing end, suing him will be irrelevant as he's likely got zero assets, or he won't by the time his defense from criminal charges is done.

The big lawsuit will be against the department for failure to properly train and supervise.......I suspect a settlement on that to the tune of several million dollars.