***
As a Spanish language courtroom interpreter -- and a victim of violent crime who was pushed by Chief Detective Fantagrossi (Rochester, New York) to identify a guy in a line-up who looked vaguely like my assailant - I am aware that district attorneys (and police departments) are "out to get somebody."
Often their prosecutorial target does not matter... so long as they "get their man."
I understand the urge for "punishment" and "closure." But I also understand how the "prurience of vengeance" gets pumped by passions-of-the-moment.
Under similar circumstances, best friend, Steve Gibson, was arrested for armed robbery.
Were it not for the considerable wealth of Steve's family (and consequent ability to re-enact, in court, his purported crime, right down to prevailing "light conditions" and how they affected the victim's ability to identify the perpetrator through a screen door), Steve would have languished in prison, with no opportunity to dedicate his life to nursing.
Lacking Steve's financial resources, most people who are wrongfully accused would plea-bargain to minimize likely punishment for crimes they never committed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plea_bargain
Consider the following NPR broadcast about miscarriage of justice in Texas - http://www.npr.org/2012/04/
Consider the case of Todd Willingham who was executed for the highly alleged crime of torching his own house to kill his three young children. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/the-spill/
The Innocence Project: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innocence_project
***
Dallas officer caught on video shooting mentally ill man is fired, could face charges
(CBS/AP) DALLAS - Dallas police say the officer who shot a mentally ill man in a disputed incident caught on tape has been fired.
Police Chief David Brown made the announcement Thursday and apologized for the officer's actions. At a news conference Thursday Brown stated that Officer Cardan Spencer was charged in the incident, but a judge declined to sign a warrant and the case will go to a grand jury instead.
Officer Spencer wrote in a police report that he shot Bobby Gerald Bennett last week after the 52-year-old man lunged at him and another officer with a knife.
But video captured by a neighbor's surveillance camera shows Bennett didn't appear to move toward the officers before he was shot and crumpled to the ground on Oct. 14.
Bennett has reportedly been charged with aggravated assault in the incident but charges against him were later dropped after Spencer's actions were called into question.
Bennett's mother, Joyce Jackson, says her son suffers from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. According to CBS DFW, Bennett's family members say he was not on his medication last week when he was shot.
Following an outcry after the video was publicized, Spencer had been placed on indefinite administrative leave.
George Milner, an attorney representing Bennett's family, spoke to reporters Thursday saying, "What happened 10 days ago should have never have happened in the first place, and I want to make sure it never happens again."
Milner says Bennett was shot in "cold blood," according to the station.
"I don't see how he could not be charged with a crime, Milner reportedly said of Spencer.
20 Comments +
No comments:
Post a Comment