Since the incident in Minneapolis involving George Floyd, there has been a growing hue and cry for the abolishment of qualified immunity for law enforcement officers. This article will address the question and its ramification. Qualified immunity provides public employees with protection against personal liability for actions taken in the performance of their duties. The […]
Category Archives: Officers in Court
What happens to an officer after the incident — grand juries, criminal trials, qualified immunity and civil suits. Most prosecutions of police fail, and the reasons start with the charges, not the jury.
Politics
Republicans have been screaming that the justice system has been corrupted under the Biden Administration. Democrats counter that the convictions of Hunter Biden and Sen. Menendez disprove that. The reality is that constitutional experts, who neither support or have voted for Mr. Trump, have publicly stated that the criminal cases against him are baseless. Alan […]
The DOJ needs to take a look.
Ashleigh Banfield, a host on NewsNation, ran a piece on the Canton, Massachusetts Police Department that the DOJ Public Integrity Unit needs to take a look at. The piece began with the case of a woman charged with Murder in the death of her Boston Police officer boyfriend. In her defense, she claimed that the […]
New York v Trump
The criminal justice system is comprised of three independent sections working together. The police investigate criminal activity and collect evidence for use at trial/ The Prosecutor (District Attorney, State’s Attorney, Commonwealth Attorney) evaluate the evidence and present it in a court. The Court protects the interests of both sides and explains the law to a […]
The question of race
Whenever an African-American dies in a confrontation with police officers, the media and activists scream “RACIST”! But when the five police officers charged with criminal conduct in a death are also African-American, there is not a sound of an outlet charging racism. The reality is that this is not an issue of race, rather it […]
A travesty
A jury in the Federal trial of three former Minneapolis officers found them guilty of violating the civil rights of George Floyd. The Justice Department successfully argued that they failed to provide medical aid to Mr. Floyd and that constituted a violation of his civil rights. Nowhere in US Code Section 1983 is there a […]
The conviction of Kim Potter
This must begin with the statement that the death of Duante Wright was tragic and avoidable. However, the criminal conviction of the police officer who caused the death raises a number of issues which will likely be addressed at the appellate level. The family of Mr. Wright has suffered an irreparable loss, that is unarguable. […]
Qualified Immunity
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals based in Cincinnati, Ohio, known as one of the more liberal Appellate Courts, has reversed a Federal District Court ruling denying qualified immunity to deputies involved in a fatal shooting in Tennessee. The case, Cunningham v. Shelby County, Tennessee (6th Cir. 2021) 994 F.3d 761 revolves around a woman […]
Weaponizing Federal Law Enforcement
The Department of Justice announced that they have charged the four police officers who were involved with the death of George Floyd. They took this action even though Derek Chauvin had already been convicted in state court and the other three officers are awaiting trial. The officers are charged with violating Floyd’s civil rights under […]
Vengeance or Justice
The real question is whether the protestors outside of the Hennepin County Court House in Minneapolis are seeking justice in the death of George Floyd or whether they actually just want vengeance. The Murder trial of the police officer seen on video kneeling on the neck of Mr. Floyd started this week with the selection […]
Another twist
A Columbus, Ohio police officer involved in a deadly shooting has been indicted by a Grand Jury. The indictment charges the former officer with Felony Murder, Felonious Assault, and two counts of Dereliction of Duty. The case was presented to the Grand Jury by the Ohio Attorney General. On December 22, 2020 officers Adam Coy […]
Smell the coffee Chicago
With record breaking violence in many big cities across the country, police agencies are looking at ways to reduce the numbers. Cincinnati, Ohio, in conjunction with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio announced a program which should have an impact on the violence. Cincinnati has already […]
A WIN for Cops
The United States Supreme Court in a 7-2 ruling has found that a Tuscon, AZ. police officer who shot and wounded a female armed with a knife IS protected by qualified immunity and cannot be sued civilly for alleged violation of her Civil Rights. The Court slapped the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, who reversed […]
The growing list of failed prosecutions of police.
A jury in Mesa, Arizona found former police officer Phillip Brailsford Not Guilty of Second Degree Murder in the shooting death of Daniel Shaver in the hallway of a La Quinta Inn. The incident was captured on body cam, but was not released by the Judge in the case until after the verdict was rendered. […]
Is it Murder?
A Texas jury has convicted a police officer of a Murder charge in the death of a fifteen year old. The officer invoked “Defense of another” as his justification for the use of lethal force, but the jury heard from the officer who he claimed to be defending testified that he was never in fear […]
Another case of political correctness
In yet another blatant example of political correctness, the City of Cleveland, Ohio has fired a 19 year veteran following his bench trial acquittal of misdemeanor Negligent Homicide charges. Office Alan Buford and another officer responded to a break-in at a Cleveland grocery store in 2015. Officer Buford fired a single shot claiming that the […]
Another prosecution fails
A jury in Mesa, Arizona found former police officer Phillip Brailsford Not Guilty of Second Degree Murder in the shooting death of Daniel Shaver in the hallway of a La Quinta Inn. The incident was captured on body cam, but was not released by the Judge in the case until after the verdict was rendered. […]
Another prosecution FAILS
A judge in St. Louis, Mo. has acquitted a former St. Louis police officer of a first degree murder charge in an on-duty police use of deadly force. Former officer Jason Stockley shot and killed Anthony Smith after a high speed chase. This was a bench trial. In what appears to be another example of […]
Ohio vs Tensing has come to an end
In a Tuesday afternoon press conference in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio prosecutor Joe Deters announced that there will be no third trial of former University of Cincinnati police officer Raymond Tensing in the shooting death of Samuel Dubose after a traffic stop. In a diatribe that followed, Mr. Deters stated his belief that the Murder […]
Your fifteen minutes have expired
Family members of loved ones who die in a confrontation with law enforcement deserve the opportunity to express their outrage over the loss. But their fifteen minutes of fame should end when the case reaches a conclusion. That just is not the case. These families become wildly rich because governmental agencies operate in the politically […]
Three more cases, similar results
There were three concurrent trials of police officers involved in shootings over the past few weeks. The trial of a St. Anthony, MN police officer and a Milwaukee, WI cop both resulted in Not Guilty verdicts, while in Cincinnati, Ohio a second trial of a former University of Cincinnati Police Officer will result in another […]
Tensing trial week two
It took until Wednesday morning to get a jury seated and sworn in. The jurors were then taken to the scene of the shooting by bus. On Thursday testimony began with a University of Cincinnati Police Lieutenant who manages the department’s body cameras. The jurors were then shown the body cam of Tensing in real […]
The case for Raymond Tensing
On July 19, 2015, then 25 year old Raymond Tensing went to his job at the University of Cincinnati Police Department. He was assigned to patrol an off-campus area enforcing the traffic laws of the State of Ohio. During his shift, Tensing made three known traffic stops. All were African-Americans who committed traffic violations and […]
The Tensing Trial Week One
It is not unusual for opposing counsel in a court case to refuse to agree on the time that court starts, but the Murder trial of former University of Cincinnati police officer Raymond Tensing has taken an unusual twist. An attorney representing multiple media outlets filed an emergency appeal of the judge’s restrictions on seating […]
The circus returns to Cincinnati
The re-trial of a former University of Cincinnati police officer charged with Murder started Thursday in a Hamilton County, Ohio courtroom. It actually started the day before when the defense filed a Motion for Dismissal alleging that Prosecutor Joe Deters violated the Court’s gag order in an attempt to poison prospective jurors by doing a television interview.
Mr. Deters was too busy to personally attend the hearing on the motion sending his first assistant to apologize for the “mistake” of his boss. Judge Leslie Ghiz, who previously worked for Mr. Deters, ruled that she could not dismiss the case because “the community would not be served.”
The second day of the case presented other motions for the Judge to rule on. The defense requested that an undershirt, worn under the ballistic vest, which had a Confederate flag should be excluded from evidence. Judge Ghiz ruled that the prejudice would outweigh the probative value. The Judge also excluded a defense expert who did an animation from the body cam stating that it would make an imperfect event into a perfect event. The jury will still see a video enhancement which broke the event into milliseconds.
The jury will be picked after the Memorial Day holiday and the trial is expected to last about three weeks. There are cries of racism as the small number of African-American jurors in the pool have claimed hardships. The Black Lawyers Association is calling for the jury pool to include any person who possesses a driver’s license rather than only registered voters.
Mr. Deters, who led the prosecution in the first trial, assigned the presentation of the case to two of his senior prosecutors. The trial will be live-streamed on the websites of all of the local television stations and the jury will be sequestered for their deliberations.
New blogs will be posted each day to update the events of the day.