MIAMI: Jury Afraid to Confict Cops on Trial

[Tom and Vipers]

Jury quoted as saying they were afraid of "reprisals."

Complaints were that an elite Police unit was planting guns on minorities that they blew away.

Up North, its been decades since the Police have had to plant guns on peole they blew away.

C'mon South, get with the program!

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Sheesh Tom, we're on the same page for most issues but I wish you would post a link for these stories you hear. Otherwise it's just gossip and hearsay.

[Tom and Vipers]

It was on Headline News or one of the other cable news type programs.

It was an outrageous story. The cops shot up this guys house with something like 123 bullets - they showed the machine gun ridden house. The guy was a drug dealer and there were 2 purse snatchers in the house too.

There was another car of another guy that was all machine gunned up that was also shown.

There was commentary that when this sort of thing happens in S. Florida there are usually riots when the victims are black - and they were.

They just appointed an Irish guy to be the head cop and the major or the like was pleading for people to wait and not riot.
http://www.ci.miami.fl.us/chief/chief.asp

Now these people they blew away were not innocent and they were black.

Here is a like that refers to it I think:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/01/05/corruption.trial.ap/
http://www.naplesnews.com/03/01/florida/d818864a.htm

I looked for about 5 minutes and I can't find any commentary about the jurors complaining that they fear reprisals from their local police if they brought guilty verdicts. I heard this on TV and THIS was what made me make the posting!

Hey we fear TRAFFIC COPS!

Imagine how much people fear the cops that KILL IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD! And we'll NEVER know what it is like to be black in these neighborhoods.

This is a very, very sad commentary on us...

[Snake Bitten]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Tom and Vipers:
Up North, its been decades since the Police have had to plant guns on peole they blew away.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I am sure you speaking facetiously...Where exactly is Cinncinati located??? Philly? Etc...?

[Tom and Vipers]

http://www.theiowachannel.com/news/949595/detail.html

Ok, here are comments by jurors during selection:

During individual questioning of prospective jurors, a black truck driver was excused after he said he was "more or less" afraid of retribution if he voted to convict and were stopped later by a Miami officer.

A white pharmaceuticals buyer whose best friend was an officer killed on duty thought he would side with the defendants because "dishonest, honest, they put their lives on the line every day." He was dismissed.

Another white man was also dropped after he said police were probably guilty in the shooting of a homeless man armed only with a cassette radio.

Two blacks cleared an initial round of questioning. One was a school administrative worker who said three of his brothers have been imprisoned but felt she could put her own mother in jail.

These quotes taken from:

http://www.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/C10900/

A nice collection of related links:

http://www.headlinescanner.com/?X=NG113

OK, folks, I'm done rabble rousing!

[Tom and Vipers]

yeah, you got me.

I really meant Diallo (shot 41 times) in New York City.

Unarmed Haitian on his porch. Trial moved to all-white Albany. Cops acquitted.

I have to laugh when the authorities says these outrages killings were justified. Shows you what they think of our rights.

Recently PA State Police shot in back 12 year old running from stolen car. Some story about how other officer tripped, gun went off and other cop thought kid was shooting.

If you can't tell the difference between your partner shooting and the suspect...

From "Deadly force debated," Tribune-Review 1/5/03 opening paragraph:

"Pennsylvania State Police, instructed to respond to dealy danger to themselves and others by deploying deadly force of their own, appear to receive less training in the use of such force than troopers in a nearby state and less than what some experts recommend."

Hummmmm, "training" required for legal use of deadly force?

Professionals such as doctors and lawyers have to go to school for years to be allowed to lance a boil or transfer a deed.

If this is the case for such minor functions, how much schooling should be required to administer deadly force - especially on an innocent person?

I would think at least 10 years of college minimum AND a requirement that you were in the upper 10% of your class.

The Police can kill in circumstances the President or a Supreme Court Justice cannot legally.

And the Police are not elected! They are merely employees!

Racism is the only thing that keeps police tactics out of the spotlight. As long as these problems are kept in minority communities, the white majority just doesn't care.

Sad.

I heard a good one about Cinn. There was a funeral for some gay fellow who died from AIDs. So 2 of his buddies were in a car and the one guy was crying on the other guys shoulder, so a Cinn cop arrested them for lewd behavior.

It is a shame because the story of Cinncinnatus, the Roman soldier is mythical.