Groom shot down by New York police

[Savaric]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/04/25/...ial/index.html

Won't comment on the verdict, but it looks to me like the cops might have been in the wrong. But you have to remember a lot of the guys these cops deal with don't mess around. I find it ironic that race has been implicated:

"This case was not about justice," declared Leroy Gadsden, chair of the police/community relations committee of the Jamaica Branch NAACP. "This case was about the police having a right to be above the law. If the law was in effect here, if the judge had followed the law truly, these officers would have been found guilty.

"This court, unfortunately, is bankrupt when it comes to justice for people of color."

Well two of the cops are black, the other, well he isn't white. Can you imagine the shit storm if these cops were white? Ugh, then the media would have had a ball with it and fed into the frenzy with gusto. Jenna 6 all over again. Why isn't the guy smiling next to his girlfriend?

[Frobozz]

"The cops might have been in the wrong..."

Remember, that is enough for a civil suit but not nearly enough for a criminal trial. Proof beyond a reasonable doubt is really hard to prove; shows like CSI and Law and Order obfuscate this quite a bit.

From my reading of the case and having followed it fairly closely the testimony of the other victims really sank this case. When the victim got on the stand and "lied" (told his own version) of what happened - contradicting what other witnesses said - by minimizing his own conduct he really threw the whole case into chaos.

When this happens and you combine the fact that the defendants testified at grand jury and then again at trial, and the trial testimony held up on cross-examination it was quite clear that there was reasonable doubt. Not just "possible doubt" which can mean anything you could dream up, but probable doubt as to whether or not the defendants' actions were criminal. If they really thought that the victim was going for a gun they were justified in shooting him and his friends.

It's heated, someone died, and that is unfortunate. But this is our criminal justice system.

[Aristotle]

I assume you mean picture #3 along with the article:

Originally posted by Savaric
Why isn't the guy smiling next to his girlfriend?

Dude, because he's too fucking hard for that. When you are that much of a bad mother fucker, you don't smile even in professional photographs with your fiancee. At all times you have to show what a tough mother fucker you are.

*roll eyes*

Huge caveat: I read that one article, and have not researched it further.

"Justice didn't miscarry," he said. "This was an abortion of justice. Justice was aborted."

Sharpton, who has been advising Bell's family, had called for calm Wednesday.

Al Sharpton has become a complete disaster of a public figure. He really has completely given up on doing anything positive. Now he is just a race baiting rabble rouser. I guess that is easier than doing something meaningful and productive. That's a shame, because there was a time that he actually brought some worthwhile opinions to the public discourse.

A few thoughts:

1) When are people going to realize that strip clubs are about the stupidest, most dangerous place you can go these days. The criminal element hanging around strip clubs is enormous. There are shootings and other tragedies at these places on an almost weekly basis. If you have half a brain, you stay away from these places.

2) Getting in drunken arguments outside of a strip club = fucking stupid.

3) "Bell was in a panic to get away from the armed men, his friends testified." HUH??? I highly doubt the cops did not identify themselves, and I bet at least one (or more) of them had badges out. We can sit here and guess at why he decided to run from from the cops. None of the reasons are good ones. None of them mean he should be shot. But it is still incredibly stupid.

It sounds like the cops did indeed fuck up here - big time. If so, they should have to pay (a lot), despite the fact that a civil judgment can never bring someone back to life. But I cannot help but boggle at the incredible stupidity, carelessness, and "bad assery" that Bell engaged in which contributed to his own death. I can't call it tragic, because I have to believe that someone this stupid and careless would end up in a violent death at some point in his future. I just hope he didn't have kids yet.