RE: Alternate forms of subduing suspects…
Remember, any method of taking someone down is either going to be A: unreliable, B: dangerous for the cop doing the take down, or C: potentially lethal. Until we develop magic force fields and tractor beams that can just target someone and lift them in the air…
Beagle: the Fox affiliate in Cincinnati has the whole video.
BTW: I don’t know if this has been mentioned anywhere but word is the dashboard camera in this case has to be turned on manually (via remote) after the cruiser’s engine is shut off. You’d think that if the cops really wanted to beat his ass, they would have left it off.
Eve: Don’t forget nurse anesthetists. They’re trained to administer cholorform and such-like, too.
In fact, I think the term anesthetist pretty well covers both groups without leaving anyone out.
Well, I once saw news footage of a cop skipping the “subduing” phase and just taking a white person down.
A white woman was pulled over by Highway Patrol. They told her to get out, and she did, then she put her hands behind her back and BAM! Patrolman fired one fatal shot. Said afterwards that he assumed she was reaching for a weapon.
As dashboard cams become more common, there’s probably plenty of white (and Asian) folks getting beat up. But they don’t make the news, because let’s face it, ‘Obese man on drugs with Hypertension dies after starting fight with police’ doesn’t make the national news unless there’s a race angle. Which I think the OP was going on about to begin with.
The camera is connected to the lights, BTW. There is a simple explanation – factually – for that. I think the better policy would be to keep the camera running whenever dealing with suspects.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Rhum Runner *
ccwaterback – You can’t be charged with “homicide” since “homicide” isn’t a crime.
This is incorrect Rhum Runner. (depending on what state one is in).
In Wisconsin we don’t have murder statutes, we have homicide statutes:
**940.01 First-degree intentional homicide
940.05 Second-degree intentional homicide**
You most certainly can be charged with homicide.
From Jones’ Lawyer -
The PCP in his system was enough to cause the man to switch into mad mode nearly instantaneously. It is PCPs trade mark. Anger of the King Kong kind!
I hate to see Atomic Little People on PCP in a Mud Wrestling match. I wouldn’t even pay to see it…
*From Jones’ Lawyer - *
Uh, what about the EMT’s who called the cops in the first place?
You can be charged with “intentional” homicide as interpreted through statutory and common law. Intent is critical.
“Homicide” – as per the coroner – really just means that human factors (here, the struggle) contributed directly to the death.
For example, it’s nearly impossible to argue that the police “premeditated” the homicide unless one argues the intent formed in an instant at the scene. OTOH, one could argue that the homicide is justifiable. Nobody is every charged for justifiable homicide, in theory of course.
So, it’s better to say that “homicide” is a term of art in medicine and law. The two do not overlap. Medicine does not care at all about intent. The coroner was correct when he said that terming the death “homicide” with poor health and weight as contributing factors does not mean the police are guilty of anything, legally.
I agree that the lawyer is seizing on whatever he can. That’s his job. I’d just keep the cameras running all the time from now on. Don’t feed conspiracy theories you can knock down with a slightly different policy.