# It's official: Police Officers can murder anyone without any reprocussions **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 13, 2008, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-police-officers-can-murder-anyone-without-any-reprocussions/456329 "2008-07-13T14:38:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-police-officers-can-murder-anyone-without-any-reprocussions/456329/81 "2008-07-14T05:15:38Z")
And if you order today, you can’t get FREE the second CD collection of Leper Colony Love Songs with Patsy Cline’s “I Fall to Pieces” and so much more… ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-police-officers-can-murder-anyone-without-any-reprocussions/456329/82 "2008-07-14T05:23:59Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] **sam** –darling: That’s **CairoCarol** who’s got an extra piano now, not **a suburb of Chicago not known for anything remarkable in any way whatsoever except for it might have gender issues**. : [/QUOTE] As Kay Kyser used to say “that’s right, you’re wrong.” Only I was wrong. Thanks for correcting me. **Carol**. I apologize for confusing you with another poster. Cairo is in Illinois, Carol Stream is in Illinois. Just my old mind playing tricks. You still added nothing of value to the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-police-officers-can-murder-anyone-without-any-reprocussions/456329/83 "2008-07-14T12:38:20Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] You still added nothing of value to the thread. [/QUOTE] Not directly, but it did lead to this: [QUOTE=SmartAleq] I was thinking more of third degree burns on the lips and the mental image of **Carol Stream** deep throating the bidness end of of a late model Honda Civic fart cannon, tiny hands with stubby fingers grasping desperately to shove every last inch into his/her/its puckered little piehole. [/QUOTE] which, you know, is, like, funny and stuff. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-police-officers-can-murder-anyone-without-any-reprocussions/456329/84 "2008-07-14T12:48:11Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] I don’t think you’re very informed about this. Wait until the lawyers chime in. [/QUOTE] **Diogenes** , remember how people say that you’re often overly confident in your “knowledge”? This is one such case. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-police-officers-can-murder-anyone-without-any-reprocussions/456329/85 "2008-07-14T13:50:02Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] **Carol**. I apologize for confusing you with another poster. Cairo is in Illinois, Carol Stream is in Illinois. Just my old mind playing tricks. [/QUOTE] Could they be _nom de plumes_ or code names for secret Doper business? Or perhaps one is The Evil Twin (no guesses for which)? I have one question: Has anyone ever seen **CairoCarol** \* and **Carolstream** together in the same room at the same time? :eek: **Lucy** –very nice. And Kermit can lead it. 🙂 \*my apologies to CC who has never done a thing to me except become notable by acquiring large musical instruments effortlessly. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-police-officers-can-murder-anyone-without-any-reprocussions/456329/86 "2008-07-14T14:40:54Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] > [@Kinthalis](#): > > Where are they getting these juries from, they never indict when it comes to police officers. Are they all related to police personnel? But, of course they do. Maybe your knee hit you in the head. Police officers get indicted all the time. Just not this time. [/QUOTE] We shouldn’t underestimate the possibility that individual jury members could get harassed by police. I’m sure it’s happened someplace, probably quite a few places. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-police-officers-can-murder-anyone-without-any-reprocussions/456329/87 "2008-07-14T15:08:16Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] We shouldn’t underestimate the possibility that individual jury members could get harassed by police. I’m sure it’s happened someplace, probably quite a few places. [/QUOTE] I’ve had several friends who served on Grand Juries, and it never came up. Do you have a cite of this ever happening? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-police-officers-can-murder-anyone-without-any-reprocussions/456329/88 "2008-07-14T15:08:26Z")
The thing is, if a grand jury, which almost always says go ahead, and there is no ‘defence’ just a DA presenting a case, and the grand jury says ‘no go’, well, maybe, just maybe, the DA didn’t try very hard and maybe the fact that the DA and the police have a close working relationship has something to do with this lack of trying. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-police-officers-can-murder-anyone-without-any-reprocussions/456329/89 "2008-07-14T15:10:30Z")
The usual line about grand juries is that a grand jury is in the complete control of the prosecutor. If the prosecutor wants to, he can get a grand jury to indict a “ham sandwich.” Ergo, the assumption is that if a grand jury didn’t indict, the prosecutor didn’t really want an indictment. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-police-officers-can-murder-anyone-without-any-reprocussions/456329/90 "2008-07-14T16:54:58Z")
[QUOTE=Telemark] I’ve had several friends who served on Grand Juries, and it never came up. [/QUOTE] To be comparable, though, your friends would’ve had to have been on a Grand Jury considering charges against a _police officer_. Were they? I doubt that there’d be much police harrassment of jurors for, say, a gang-related shooting. I’m not taking a position either way, I’m just sayin’… ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-police-officers-can-murder-anyone-without-any-reprocussions/456329/91 "2008-07-14T17:27:52Z")
IANAL, but I did serve on a Grand Jury in NYC (hated it with a passion). My understanding was that **every** criminal case had to clear a grand jury before going to trial (but perhaps misdemeanors did not). In the state of NY, this statement is certainly not true. > [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Grand juries in cases like this are used to provide political cover and give prosecutors an excuse not to have to prosecute unpopular cases ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-police-officers-can-murder-anyone-without-any-reprocussions/456329/92 "2008-07-14T17:29:33Z")
[QUOTE=Digital Stimulus] To be comparable, though, your friends would’ve had to have been on a Grand Jury considering charges against a _police officer_. [/QUOTE] GJ around here sit for something like 6 months and hear all sorts of cases. If there were any charges against the police they would have heard them. I don’t know if there were any during that time. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-police-officers-can-murder-anyone-without-any-reprocussions/456329/93 "2008-07-14T18:04:32Z")
[QUOTE=Telemark] GJ around here sit for something like 6 months and hear all sorts of cases. [/QUOTE] I know it’s been mentioned upthread now that I think about it, but this didn’t really sink in before. For some reason – probably having seen too many cop shows – I was operating under the impression that GJs were convened on a per-trial basis. Doesn’t change my point, but being very unfamiliar with the topic is the reason I had to add the disclaimer about not taking a position. Thanks for bringing my attention to that particular item of ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-police-officers-can-murder-anyone-without-any-reprocussions/456329/94 "2008-07-14T18:05:08Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] Maybe that Chicago suburb is ground zero for CO damaged folk? [/QUOTE] As a matter of fact, I once got a mild case of CO poisoning in Carol Stream. Or Glendale Heights. I had borrowed my MIL’s ultra-low-miles Regal which suffered the fate of many cars belonging to little old ladies that were only driven to church on Sunday and developed an exhaust leak. I was waiting for my wife to finish a business call and occupied myself watching my fingernails turn blue. And you people thought I don’t know how to have fun. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-police-officers-can-murder-anyone-without-any-reprocussions/456329/95 "2008-07-14T18:58:43Z")
[QUOTE=Telemark] GJ around here sit for something like 6 months and hear all sorts of cases. [/QUOTE] Holy cow, that’s several orders of magnitude more sucky than regular jury duty–how in hell can anyone take six months off to serve on such a thing, are the jurors compensated in some way? I mean more than the usual five bucks bus fare and a bologna sandwich kind of deal? **dropzone** –_snerk_😃 ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-police-officers-can-murder-anyone-without-any-reprocussions/456329/96 "2008-07-14T20:24:02Z")
[QUOTE=SmartAleq] Holy cow, that’s several orders of magnitude more sucky than regular jury duty–how in hell can anyone take six months off to serve on such a thing, are the jurors compensated in some way? I mean more than the usual five bucks bus fare and a bologna sandwich kind of deal? [/QUOTE] IIRC they met once every other week, or every third week for an afternoon. I’m sure it is different in different locales. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-police-officers-can-murder-anyone-without-any-reprocussions/456329/97 "2008-07-14T21:00:22Z")
[QUOTE=dropzone] As a matter of fact, I once got a mild case of CO poisoning in Carol Stream. Or Glendale Heights. I had borrowed my MIL’s ultra-low-miles Regal which suffered the fate of many cars belonging to little old ladies that were only driven to church on Sunday and developed an exhaust leak. I was waiting for my wife to finish a business call and occupied myself watching my fingernails turn blue. And you people thought I don’t know how to have fun. [/QUOTE] :eek: That explains so much about that suburb AND that poster! It’s brain damage, pure and simple… You didn’t suck on the tailpipe by chance, did you? :dubious: Glad you’re better now. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-police-officers-can-murder-anyone-without-any-reprocussions/456329/98 "2008-07-14T21:20:57Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] **Carol**. I apologize for confusing you with another poster. Cairo is in Illinois, Carol Stream is in Illinois. Just my old mind playing tricks. [/QUOTE] When you think of Cairo, the one you think of is in… _Illinois_? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-police-officers-can-murder-anyone-without-any-reprocussions/456329/99 "2008-07-14T21:45:48Z")
I don’t know about other states, but in Kansas I sat on a federal grand jury and it went like this. We met once every six weeks, for a year and a half, so that works out to twelve sittings. We were told that each sitting could last for one to three days, but only once did a sitting go into a second day. Most of the cases were either drug or gun related, or guns _and_ drugs. There was a fairly complicated multi state business bankruptcy case, and a sexual battery case. The latter was federal because it occured in a middle school on a military post. Twenty three people sat for the jury, and a case was sent to trial by majority vote. All but a handful of cases were unanimous though, or nearly so. We didn’t have the pressure of deciding guilt or innocence. One time though it was very close, twelve to eleven. I was one of the eleven, and thought the police evidence in the drug related charge sounded really iffy. Hopefully the defense at the regular trial was able to jump on that. Compared to a trial jury we were paid fairly well, $40 a day. Still, not minimum wage, but more than a trial jury. And my job paid me even though I wasn’t at work. We got mileage and parking. I was lucky because I was called to the jury that sat in Topeka, the others sitting in Wichita and Kansas City, Kansas. I could have had to go there every six weeks! We had a guy who had to drive in from the Colorado border each time. He got, in addition to mileage, meal tickets and a hotel voucher. ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-police-officers-can-murder-anyone-without-any-reprocussions/456329/100 "2008-07-14T22:05:45Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] If the DA can be manipulated by special interest groups (and the Horn case was in Texas, remember. The public sentiment was quite WITH Horn) then he ahs no business being in the job. [/QUOTE] Does Quannel X ring a bell, skipper? What about [The right honorless Shiela Jackson Lee](http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou080706_tnt_jacksonlee.2c828853.html) I’d say those interests in the Horn thing are pretty special, wouldn’t you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-police-officers-can-murder-anyone-without-any-reprocussions/456329.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-police-officers-can-murder-anyone-without-any-reprocussions/456329.md?page=6)