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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   38486 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of June 5, 2023

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Let's check and see if there is any non-outrageous explanation for this. Skimming some news articles available it looks like the legal argument made was that her initial detention of him was illegal and so their ensuing struggle was self-defense. The Deputy says his own mother called the cops on him and was holding a knife when the Deputy arrived, leading the deputy to assume the schizophrenic man was a violent threat so she put his hands behind his back and a struggle ensued.

The video opens with them already struggling and her gun is in her hand. The gun fires twice while they're struggling with it then he gets it and she runs out of frame, he fires in the direction she ran out of frame. The defense lawyer says they found the bullet hole from that shot in a nearby garage door and it was in a different direction from the bush she says she ran to for cover. It's possible she changed direction once she was off camera and he wasn't aiming at her.

If they show he's not aiming at her with forensics, and we only have her testimony that he fired the gun and it jammed I can see the jury acquitting him of attempted murder. The jury hung on the charges of resisting arrest, battery against an officer, and removing her firearm. I guess the defense lawyer convinced at least one member of the jury that the initial detention was unlawful. I wouldn't have guessed that you can legally resist unlawful detention and I'd be curious if anyone with legal expertise wants to comment on that.

I think the solution is pretty simple here: if you're white and the suspect is black, simply do not go. Announce you see some other crime in progress (e.g. littering, jay walking, etc.) and are unable to respond. There is no upside for the cop and only potential downside. I'd quit before I'd go to confront someone I'm not legally able to arrest.

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