Minneapolis officers not charged in shooting death of Jamar Clark - Polidicks

[quote]Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman’s decision not to charge two police officers who shot and killed an unarmed black man in north Minneapolis last November was based on a wealth of video footage, witness and police statements and other forensic evidence, which Freeman says points to justifiable officer force after Jamar Clark attempted to take one of the officers’ guns. Freeman said the multiple agencies that investigated the shooting — the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), FBI and Department of Justice — interviewed 110 witnesses, and the BCA lab reviewed 141 items from 21 lab reports, including DNA and blood spatter reports. Freeman also provided evidence he said suggests Clark was not handcuffed at the time of the shooting — a claim that circulated afterward — such as photos of Clark’s wrists taken at the hospital after the incident that don’t appear to show cuff markings. In the autopsy report, the medical examiner said Clark’s wrists had “no occult contusions, or other injuries suggestive of restraint.” Investigators also couldn’t find any of Clark’s DNA on the inside of the cuffs, which prosecutors say is “strong evidence” he was not restrained.[/quote] [url]http://www.startribune.com/freeman-cites-wealth-of-evidence-in-no-charge-decision/374007711/[/url] [url]http://www.startribune.com/No-charges-against-police-in-Jamar-Clark-shooting-death/373979481/[/url] Evidence released here: [url]http://www.startribune.com/evidence-from-the-jamar-clark-investigation/374007211/[/url] ___ This has been an ongoing thing for Minneapolis since the shooting happened. As far as I know, and what the evidence supports, is that Clark assaulted his girlfriend, cops arrive and sort things out, ambulance arrives for the girlfriend, Clark assaults the medical personnel, attempts to grab one officer's weapon, and the other officer shot him dead in the head seeing the struggle. 61 seconds total. The controversy is over whether Clark was handcuffed or not - which understandably is a huge question at the time. Since the press conference, tensions have skyrocketed.

This case has been a perfect example of how utterly worthless eyewitness testimony is. My understanding is that multiple people said they saw him in handcuffs, but there was no forensic evidence of this at all.

in my country a cop shot a suspect who was fleeing and the suspect bled out and died the cop got five months in jail

[QUOTE=Mr.Brown;50038961]in my country a cop shot a suspect who was fleeing and the suspect bled out and died the cop got five months in jail[/QUOTE] Not sure how that's relevant to this case. If a cop in the states shot someone in the back and there was enough evidence, he'd typically be in deep shit. Open and shut cases like that can make a DA's career.

[QUOTE=Mr.Brown;50038961]in my country a cop shot a suspect who was fleeing and the suspect bled out and died the cop got five months in jail[/QUOTE] Sounds like a pretty bad place. Glad to hear evidence prevailed over mob mentality in this case, though.

[QUOTE=Zephyrs;50038993]Not sure how that's relevant to this case. If a cop in the states shot someone in the back and there was enough evidence, he'd typically be in deep shit. Open and shut cases like that can make a DA's career.[/QUOTE] the dude was about to flee in his car, and the cop opened his car door and fired a warning shot in the sky but he didn't listen and started backing up his car, so to prevent himself from being hit by the opened car door the cop fired a couple of shots at the guy's leg and dude bled out soon and died in his car 500 meters away from the scene, it was caught on tape too [t]http://twimg.edgesuite.net//images/twapple/640pix/20151229/LN01/LN01_003.jpg[/t] the cop got six fucking months

[QUOTE=Zephyrs;50038764]This case has been a perfect example of how utterly worthless eyewitness testimony is. My understanding is that multiple people said they saw him in handcuffs, but there was no forensic evidence of this at all.[/QUOTE] The video released partially supports this, and I say partially because the whole situation was not in full view. The video does support that there was a struggle with an officer face down on the ground, which is exactly what the police report claimed.

[QUOTE=Mr.Brown;50039275]the dude was about to flee in his car, and the cop opened his car door and fired a warning shot in the sky but he didn't listen and started backing up his car, so to prevent himself from being hit by the opened car door the cop fired a couple of shots at the guy's leg and dude bled out soon and died in his car 500 meters away from the scene, it was caught on tape too [t]http://twimg.edgesuite.net//images/twapple/640pix/20151229/LN01/LN01_003.jpg[/t] the cop got six fucking months[/QUOTE] Congrats. This has nothing to do with this case.

[QUOTE=Mr.Brown;50039275]the dude was about to flee in his car, and the cop opened his car door and fired a warning shot in the sky but he didn't listen and started backing up his car, so to prevent himself from being hit by the opened car door the cop fired a couple of shots at the guy's leg and dude bled out soon and died in his car 500 meters away from the scene, it was caught on tape too the cop got six fucking months[/QUOTE] Is this some sort of edgy fuck the police statement you're trying to make, cause if it is I'd have to ask you to not

[QUOTE=The fox;50039110]Sounds like a pretty bad place. Glad to hear evidence prevailed over mob mentality in this case, though.[/QUOTE] That's why the cops went to an evidence based court case and was judged by a jury right? Wait no the DAy just didn't charge him so we'll never know

[QUOTE=zakedodead;50041179]That's why the cops went to an evidence based court case and was judged by a jury right? Wait no the DAy just didn't charge him so we'll never know[/QUOTE] ...but the DA makes this decision for all cases, not just ones involving cops. If he/she accepted all charges no matter how flimsy the evidence, the legal system would be hopelessly backlogged for decades.

[QUOTE=zakedodead;50041179]That's why the cops went to an evidence based court case and was judged by a jury right? Wait no the DAy just didn't charge him so we'll never know[/QUOTE] Even disregarding the fact that the courts are already backlogged as it is, this idea is just stupid. A DA is not going to put [i]any[/i] effort into a case that they feel is not going to go anywhere. There is no incentive for them to do so. Forcing every case to go to court accomplishes nothing but wasting gargantuan amounts of money, and even more absurd quantities of time. Yes, it is possible that a DA will chose not to prosecute a case where they have a good shot at winning it, but it's in practice exceedingly rare. To repeat what I said earlier, a DA is typically pissing themselves with excitement when given the opportunity to tackle a police force. Being able to say, "I successfully prosecuted (number) cops for (crimes)" scores enormous political points. You can slingshot your career into the big leagues overnight like that, and it makes it [i]really[/i] hard to stick things on them in the future. Who's going to accuse a DA that locked up a bunch of cops for a combined total of 200+ years of being morally corrupt? Anyone who does is going to look like a buffoon. Locking up cops is one of the best single resume pieces you can have as a DA.