# How royally screwed is the Ferguson cop Darren Wilson? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 20, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-royally-screwed-is-the-ferguson-cop-darren-wilson/696043 "2014-08-20T21:48:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-royally-screwed-is-the-ferguson-cop-darren-wilson/696043/61 "2014-08-22T18:11:58Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > No, what normally happens is that most of the time the police shoot and kill they are actually justified in doing so, because most of them are not racist murderers, any more than anyone else is. Racism is pretty pervasive in the American police force, along with many other forms of bigotry. And American police have a propensity for shooting first and asking questions later, if at all. In many places they aren’t any better than any other street gang, just with government backing. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-royally-screwed-is-the-ferguson-cop-darren-wilson/696043/62 "2014-08-22T18:13:05Z")
> [@brickbacon](#): > > Again, what makes you think those in the surrounding community cannot be impartial regardless if how they feel now? Do you honestly think they can’t find 12 people in this community who are willing to rule just based on the law and evidence presented to them in a courtroom? I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but you seem to be implying Black people not only feel Wilson is guilty, but also that they cannot fairly parse the information presented to them in court, and render a verdict based only on that. Is that what you are trying to say? He can’t hear how he sounds. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-royally-screwed-is-the-ferguson-cop-darren-wilson/696043/63 "2014-08-22T20:01:07Z")
Given the history of such things I’m amazed anyone thinks Wilson will be convicted. His odds of actually being convicted of a crime are probably twenty to one against. If you want to convict a cop of homicide committed while on duty, you need video, and even then the cop is probably going to be acquitted if the jury can rationalize the shooting in any way. If the shooting is impossible to rationalize, then the cop will almost certainly get a light sentence, such as the cop who flat-out murdered Oscar Grant and got two years, of which he didn’t serve half. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-royally-screwed-is-the-ferguson-cop-darren-wilson/696043/64 "2014-08-22T20:40:11Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > If the shooting is impossible to rationalize, then the cop will almost certainly get a light sentence, such as the cop who flat-out murdered Oscar Grant and got two years, of which he didn’t serve half. You… don’t actually know what murder is, do you? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-royally-screwed-is-the-ferguson-cop-darren-wilson/696043/65 "2014-08-23T02:15:37Z")
I am quite aware of what murder is, your cute little ellipsis aside. Oscar Grant was murdered, the cop deliberately pulled his gun, pointed it at Grant, and pulled the trigger, and intended to do so for the purpose of killing him. (I know the cop’s defense, and I don’t believe it, because it’s frankly unbelievable, given the evidence.) But he wasn’t convicted of murder, because cops don’t get convicted of murder in the line of duty. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-royally-screwed-is-the-ferguson-cop-darren-wilson/696043/66 "2014-08-25T00:01:21Z")
It occurred to me today that this officer doesn’t have a lawyer handling press and correcting rumors. Probably because he is a cop and has been told to stay quiet. I think that is a mistake. Zimmerman didn’t hire Mark O’Mara until several months after the shooting. By then there were a lot of things published that were misleading or just wrong. O’Mara did a lot of interviews trying to correct the record. But by then a lot of damage couldn’t be undone. One of many reasons why the trial verdict upset so many people. (please, please lets not rehash this case for the 100th time. I’m just using it as an example of what happens when the press pursues their own narrative without anyone correcting them.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-royally-screwed-is-the-ferguson-cop-darren-wilson/696043.md?page=3)