Cops cleared in groom shooting case

[run_to_win]

Yeah, living in the real world just ain't as nice as the ideal world. 

[Phishfan]

 

I'd love for some lawyer to convince me that cops fired 50 bullets at a guy and intended to NOT kill them.  What were they, warning shots?

Aren't police told not to shoot unless it is with the intent to kill anyway? 50 shots is out of hand though.

[CF DolFan]

Aren't police told not to shoot unless it is with the intent to kill anyway? 50 shots is out of hand though.

With tires screeching, glass breaking and bullets flying, the officers said they believed they were the ones under fire. Oliver responded by emptying his semiautomatic pistol, reloading, and emptying it again. Isnora fired 11 rounds, and Cooper four. Two other officers who fired weren't charged.

1) they thought they had guns
2) they were rammed by the guys so they knew they didn't want to give up
3) according to the quote above ... they were in fear for their lives and continued shooting, thinking they were being shot at as well.  I'm sure it wasn't well lit.
4) under the circumstnaces ... 19 shots by 4 officers doesn't seem totally unbelievable but the other 31 from Oliver shows that he freaked. I'm not sure that is criminal but it does show that he may be more suited for another job.

I don't think the guy needed to die but it obviously was a bad situation made worse by not following the officer's orders.  If you put yourself in bad situations the chances of something bad happening increases tremendaously.   It sucks but that it is reality.

[run_to_win]

they were rammed

Never bring a car to a gun-fight. 

[Dave Gray]

I think another hard thing about this particular case is how the actual story went down.  The cops could have been the aggressors, but maybe they were not.  We only have the conflicting testimony of both sides.

If this guy was drunk and rammed a cop car, then maybe deadly force was authorized.
If the cops got too big for their britches and were giving an otherwise innocent man trouble, maybe not.

We don't really have the facts, so it's hard to make a black and white judgment on it.

[run_to_win]

I wonder about the backgrounds of those involved.

If one side all had spotless records and the otherside had a history of trouble then we'd be better informed to decide which side was credible.

Just because you've been a lying scofflaw (or a saint) your entire life doesn't mean that you're lying (or being honest) this time ... but it is an indication....

[YoFuggedaboutit]

BUMP

A protest rally today for the slain man resulted in 190 people being arrested...... among them the Rev. Al Sharpton

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/sharpton-arrested-at-bell-protest-in-nyc/20080507182309990001?icid=1615988631x1201825767x1200303802

[Defense54]

Some interesting points made here for sure.  I wasn't there so I can't say for sure. I'm probably going to regret this but, Basically this is how I look at it......

I'm in a Uniform so I have a bulls eye on my back whenever its on. I'm going home at the end of the day. I would much rather be Tried by 12 then carried out by 6. Every time I show up at a domestic situation or an alarm there is always the possibility of someone being present that wants to harm me. 

 I have been to some pretty scary scenes with uncooperative people that refuse to follow simple orders like keep your hands where I can see them. I'm in their home and they seem to cop the attitude they are free to do what they wish, but in reality I was called to a scene in an environment I know nothing about. As far as I'm concerned danger lurks behind every piece of furniture and I need cooperation Immediately. If not you need to control it. if a gunshot breaks out all bets are off. That's why you train. We never go in alone . We never park out front and we know were our partners are and what jobs we need to do once we get there. But when shit breaks bad you have about 0.5 of a second to figure it out.......sometimes you make the wrong call. If we put someone in jail for that everytime we wouldn't have anyone to protect us. Doesn't mean we can't find them at fault and sue the shit out of the dept......but criminal action is completely offbase.

Its easy to say the man was innocent because he didn't have a gun. But for all we know he could have been a drunk asshole acting like he did. All I know is those cops didn't wake up that morning saying to themselves they were going to go out and kill a man today. Sounds to me like mistakes were definitely made. The dept will be held liable civilly. But why does Al Sharpton and others believe that the only way to get satisfaction is to put Cops in Jail for Trying to do their Jobs? Because he knows its not going to happen (deep down it shouldn't happen) and he's gonna make money fighting the injustice. BTW.......I believe 2 of the 3 cops were black.

[Guru-In-Vegas]

1 was black 1 was hispanic...

I just hope that it was investigated fairly and truthfully.  Cops are placed in shitty situations.  But they at times make it shitty themselves.  As long as it was properly tried and no actual fault was found, I have no problem with the acquital.

[Defense54]

1 was black 1 was hispanic...

I just hope that it was investigated fairly and truthfully.  Cops are placed in shitty situations.  But they at times make it shitty themselves.  As long as it was properly tried and no actual fault was found, I have no problem with the acquital.

I agree 100%. No doubt cops get put in bad situations with little or no experience and things can go from bad to worse awfully quick. To see a man die right before his wedding is extremly sad. I am glad I don't have to live with that shooting .