In a criminal trial, the defendant’s entire case should be given the benefit of the doubt – if there is any reasonable doubt to be had, in other words, the accused must be acquitted.
In a civil trial, the defendant is entitled to the barest benefit – his opponent, the plaintiff, must only prove his claim by preponderance of the evidence.
In other contexts, like hearing on admissibility, still other burdens apply. So it’s necessary to define exactly what sort of context we’re discussing.
A jury hearing a charge against Bland for resisting arrest (or, less morbidly, an accused motorist similarly situated to Bland’s traffic stop)? A jury hearing some sort of criminal charge against the officer? A jury hearing some sort of civil complaint against the officer?
Okay, thanks. I thought you might be trying to establish a legal defense, and was wondering how it would work.
I agree it is an interesting question. But I also agree that the safety concern would be considered reasonable (they give the police a wide berth for safety issues).
More specifically, the first “Step out,” did not include that information. Seconds later, however, he advised her she was under arrest and reiterated the command.
For those (camille?) who keep wondering if the presence of a garbage can in the cell was something maliciously weird and exceptional:
But of the 501 inmate deaths that have occurred in county jails since 2009, nearly a third of them — 140 — were by suicide.
And most of those suicides were by hanging, with inmates using objects available to them as ligatures: bed linens, clothing, telephone cords and trash bags.
…
Bland’s death has renewed questions about why trash bags are available in county jail cells at all. While trash can liners are often available in county lockups, they are scarce in state prisons.
I never said that. Do you think of me as a conspiracy theorist?
**
In fact, I said the lack of garbage bags wouldn’t prevent a suicide, because of the other items mentioned in your cite.
I did question the wisdom of having a large unbolted garbage pail in a cell, because it could be thrown at a guard if the detainee is agitated.
Not malicious, or a conspiracy. Just stupidity.
BTW, since you mentioned the prevalence of suicides in jail, here’s a recent news article:
Are you counting as the first “Step out” the phrase “Well you can step on out now”? The authoritative imperative command is phrased as permission? This is the phrase the conveys legal detention and seizure of the person, the arrested one.
“OK, Rocky, you can lie down on the pavement with your hands clasped over your head. Feel free to bleed…”
I didn’t write the article. I agree it would be good to know the answer to your question as well.
But for the record, it would be just as wrong if the jails not following protocol failed to keep* any* detainees safe and alive, regardless of race. We already know that the media latches on to the latest outrage to highlight certain aspects of it, but a problem like this goes beyond race or sex.
It was your question, so maybe you can employ your google-foo to let us know?
Do you see something in those stats that would make you suspicious of some “special” treatment of blacks in jails? I don’t.
That thinkprogress article you cited is deliberately trying, by omission, to create an impression of some kind of open season on black women. Complete crap.
The truth will never be known because the camera didn’t pick up crucial pieces of the story. We don’t know if the cop was kicked, we only heard a struggle off camera. We don’t know if the cigarette had an ashtray. We don’t know anything about Sandra’s time in her jail cell other than witnesses hearing her.
What we have learned today from the Sam Dubose murder is that a cop lied through his teeth and another cop corroborated his lies.
However, We can draw the similarities in the two situations. In both cases The family did not believe the cop story because of what they knew about their loved one. In both cases the deceased had many traffic violations and were not models of society, and yet the Dubose family has the comfort of a murder charge due to video evidence, rather than those eager to believe the lies and smears to the dead man’s integrity. Given the mistrust of the legal system, Video evidence is the only thing that will save lives . The law has failed. Video evidence is the only thing that can exonerate or find guilty those in question.
I was thinking about that, and wondering if the 2012 suicide in the same jail led to the same level of investigation. If no family with an aggressive attorney comes forward, what happens? Hard to say anything without knowing the specifics of each incident.
As for the media, you know it’s all about “selling papers” or clickbait stories. This case had enough controversial features (and video evidence) to make it go viral. But there are reporters, bloggers, and social media junkies covering lesser known cases. Are you on Twitter?
People should care, but in my experience, prisoner rights and conditions are pretty low on the general public’s priority list. Maybe having more video evidence and a reactive social media will change that.
A few months ago, The Guardian did an expose on the conditions in a “black site” detention center in Chicago (Homan Square). There was a thread started in GD about it, and I was posting in it, along with the usual posters interested in this issue (although I don’t remember you posting in it).
The usual scoffers weren’t buying it: I don’t trust The Guardian, I don’t trust the word of prisoners, I don’t trust the word of Public Defenders, I don’t trust Prisoner Advocates… etc.
And this wasn’t about race (or sex); there were white, black, male, female detainees making these claims, and they were all there for non-violent crimes.
No video, no story. No one believes it unless there’s video proof. Not even to call for an investigation of the allegations.
At “Well, you can step out now,” her refusal could not be the basis of any charge, since as you correctly point out, all she’s heard is either a request or an invitation (or permission).
But when the officer says she’s under arrest, she’s under arrest, with no ambiguity.
