They contain so much vivid detail and emotion and meaning, that it can be jarring to stop and think that this was an everyday occurrence. Only a few people paid any attention to it, and everyone else went about their business. I don't understand why the 1-in-a-million case becomes a cause célèbre, when other cases of horrible crimes don't. The fact that the alleged perpetrator was white and the alleged victim was black in the cases we care about, and there was a different racial configuration in most of the cases we don't care about, would seem to be a very poor criterion. It's certainly not a reason to reach a national consensus that a man is guilty before we've afforded him due process.
२६ नोव्हेंबर, २०१४
"I regularly see cases that feel just as important to me as any case I see in the news."
"I work on a lot of felony cases; many are murder cases.... They feel anything but routine."
याची सदस्यत्व घ्या:
टिप्पणी पोस्ट करा (Atom)
पोस्ट्स
१२१ टिप्पण्या:
About suffering, they were never wrong. The Old Masters, how well they understood the human condition
It does seem awfully random, which cases catch the activist and media eye and which cases don't. There is a standard hierarchy of victims, of course, the attractive young white woman rates very highly, the Mexican dishwasher does not.
But cases like this defy the usual rules.
The case that is selected for high visibility should represent a problem, not be the anomaly. What happens most is the bigger problem, not the thing to ignore, at least if the point is to see the individual case in terms of a larger problem, as opposed to something to excite and engage our curiosity.
It does seem awfully random,
Not quite random in the Brown case. Media couldn't help but run with the "shot in the back" "executed in the street" rumors that were being pushed out into social media.
It was the "if it bleeds" SOP, and even as all evidence - forensic, autopsy, etc - demonstrated the early reports as false, the usual suspects could not, would not, let go of the opportunity.
They are still out their flogging the "Justice" for the "Gentle Giant" mendacity.
The case that represents the bigger problem is always going to be the most common, and so it isn't news. Which homicide in New Orleans or Detroit or any other larger population city with a higher homicide rate would you even pick to focus on?
For what it's worth, I think the case is being advanced in the national perspective precisely because of the notion that it represents the bigger problem, racial discrimination.
To be perfectly clear, I believe the bigger problem is an idea that an appropriate response to receiving disrespect is to respond with aggression. It is compounded when the disrespect is perceived to be class based; the appropriate response is then aggression by whole class.
The media is perfectly capable of proving or disproving the magnitude of racial discrimination, but seems wedded to the idea that it exists to such a degree as to be on par with historical slavery in the U.S..
Follow the money.
Newspapers have white space to fill every day. Cable/satellite networks are even worse off - 24 hours of airtime to fill every day.
Both need victims - monsters help too! Mom drowned the kids? Go with it. Race involved? Yes.
CSI-Ferguson? Sign me up!
There is a case in Austin Texas of a white cop shooting a black man in the back of the head. Complicated, the officer was responding to a bank robbery. A man approached the bank, saw the cop, and ran. The cop pursued, caught him, struggle ensued, guy got shot. Not national news, not sure why.
The press has three rules.
1. if it bleeds , it leads
2. Man bites dog, or "The fact that the alleged perpetrator was white and the alleged victim was black in the cases we care about"
3. new rule, party who has the best claim to socio-economic victimization becomes the focus of the story, hence the best victims are female, minority etc. "World ends, Poor and women hurt most"
Somewhere between 400 and 500 people die at the hands of a Law Enforcement Officer in the average year.
(Using data from the CDC, and from the FBI.)
Of those, about 2/3 are White. About 1/3 are Black. (Using some careful searching of the Race in the CDC data for death due to "Legal Intervention".)
Why did this one incident get so much attention?
What about the multiple thousands of murders by non-Police that happen in the typical year?
The story that never got any National Press because the pigments weren't right was the Newsom-Channon Murders in 2012:
According to the testimony of the Knox County Acting Medical Examiner Dr. Darinka Mileusnic-Polchan at the subsequent trial of Eric Boyd, Newsom was sodomized with an object and then raped by an individual. When his body was discovered near a set of nearby railroad tracks, it was found that he had been bound, blindfolded, gagged, and stripped naked from the waist down. He had been shot in the back of the head, neck, and back and his body had been set on fire.
According to the testimony of the medical examiner, Channon's death came after hours of torture, having suffered injuries to her vagina, anus, and mouth as a result of repeated sexual assaults. It was also reported that her body was scrubbed with bleach which was also poured down her throat, in an attempt by her attackers to remove DNA evidence, while Channon was still alive. She was then bound with curtains and strips of bedding, her face covered with a trash bag and her body stashed within five large trash bags, before being placed inside a residential waste disposal unit and covered with sheets. The medical examiner said there was evidence that Channon slowly suffocated to death
Political Power comes out of the barrel of a gun.
The Blacks are awakening to their nearly total dependence on a continuing political clout for the necessities of life, such as Cigarillos needed to get high on marijuana.
They do need to be afraid of the white men with superior firepower lacking the requisite fear response to group chants before they make night time banzai charges.
That same bitter lesson had to be learned by Japanese Army veterans of the Rape of Nanking when were told to wipe out a small force of Scots-Irish US Marines holding the last defensive position on the jungle border behind the prized airfield on Guadalcanal.
I don't understand why the 1-in-a-million case becomes a cause célèbre, when other cases of horrible crimes don't.
It is actually simple, really. It becomes a cause celebre when the powers that be give it attention for their own nefarious purposes and in a black and white mix, it is actually even simpler -- have race-baiters like Obama/Jarret/Holder trio enlist the lowest common denominators like Al Sharpton to fan the flames. Signs of the times we live in. If a Republican or other was in the WH, you could expect less attention given to Ferguson than it did. You would have the Sharptons talking to themselves.
I don't understand why the 1-in-a-million case becomes a cause célèbre, when other cases of horrible crimes don't.
Read Tom Wolfe's "Bonfire of the Vanities" for a succinct explanation.
It's a random thing, and we will just ignore the facts or change them to fit the narrative.
It does seem odd though. As large as this country is, and the situation being what it is, there must be bad things happening to "good" black teenagers somewhere every day, so why pick these cases, so obviously phony?
Perhaps just because they are so phony, the "bitter clingers" resist and we can shout them down and win anyway? At least in our own minds?
How do journolists' minds work???
Ann Althouse said...
The case that is selected for high visibility should represent a problem, not be the anomaly. What happens most is the bigger problem, not the thing to ignore..
The main murder problem in the black community is that a lot of black people are killed by other black people. Who wants to talk about that besides Rudy, Steve S and the Derb? Certainly not black people. They want to call you a racist for "noticing."
Black on black crime does not:
1. Sell newspapers/newscasts.
2. Drive voters to the polls.
3. Result in payments from whites to blacks.
Is it even interesting? Snooze.
As usual Jaltco is reasoning perfectly.
As a young trial lawyer, I remember being amazed at how much damage could be done to the human body by blows, crashes, and falls, with nearly totally disability therefrom.
We litigated those smallest details with testimony from experts in crashes and medicine that Jurors listened to for weeks.
It was a long time after that before I could watch the Westerns with bloody fist fights and shootouts that hurt no one much without wanting to scream that was unreal. Violence done to a human body is totally serious and usually permanent.
The main murder problem in the black community is that a lot of black people are killed by other black people. Who wants to talk about that besides Rudy, Steve S and the Derb?
A problem that has no answers. It's a fabulous talking point though. Chicago! Detroit! And something!
@garage
No, it's boring.
Or garage, maybe you have the answer to black on black murder?
I'll wait.
Tell me, maybe you got something interesting. Go look at Vox or Pandagon or Kos, maybe you can find something.
Now a murder with Taylor Swift in the shower, that's interesting.
Not Laslo.
AA said: The case that is selected for high visibility should represent a problem, not be the anomaly.
What interests me about this is why the cases that become "symbols" are always so bad. There may be numerous examples of young black men who are shot by police officers in unjust situation - I'm certainly seeing stories that indicate that police shootings of young black men are a constant occurrence. It does not seem possible that there is not a better example out there than this one, where the deceased appeared to do virtually everything wrong.
I would love to see someone do a broad analysis of, say, all of the cases of police shootings over a year, and carefully examine the racial issues, media coverage, legal issues and disputes, etc.
Unless one of the attorneys or parties calls the press, how are they supposed to know? Also, I'm not sure most cases make good copy. More than once, I've sat through a state court docket call while the court approved plea agreements (waiting for my civil motion to be heard). The only person who didn't look bored was the defendant.
I will say, though, that criminal pleas in federal cases are more interesting because the Assistant US Attorney usually gives a narrative of the case when the plea agreement is approved. If you sent a journalist to a U.S. Magistrate's court during their criminal motion day, they would come out with a bunch of interesting stories.
Darleen said...Not quite random in the Brown case. Media couldn't help but run with the "shot in the back" "executed in the street" rumors that were being pushed out into social media.
Maybe the media couldn't ignore the social media on this, but that doesn't answer the question. Why was the social media in this case too much to ignore when it isn't in so many other similar cases?
According to Facebook, white people have many sanctimonious and conflicting opinions on this case, none of which have much to do with the case itself. All the white people are competing to see who can make himself appear to theorectically like black people the most or who can be the most theoretically colorblind.
Stuff White People Like.
John's comment is the only intelligent thing I've read about this case today.
Which social media?
Cellphone videos and witnesses backing "the cop's story" were all over the internet from day one.
We need to think more carefully about the way we elevate a single criminal case into something that's supposed to take on larger meaning, resonate throughout the country, and resolve lingering, longstanding national wounds.
@Jaltcoh, what if people already are thinking very carefully about the way that they elevate a single criminal case into a cause celebre? What if they're deliberately picking cases that are open-and-shut cases of white men killing young black men in self defense? What if the goal is rub salt in "lingering, longstanding national wounds?"
Everybody knows the answer to black on black violence. Outlaw guns! That that fixes it for good like it does in ChiTown... and then outlaw knives...and then outlaw free weights that cause biggers muscles...and then outlaw bows and arrows,...and then outlaw slings and rocks.
oh, phooey. Just and outlaw Micro-aggression in a civilized neighborhoods with armed security like the liberals do.
If the topic is a white cop shooting a black kid, the topic should then turn to why aren't we talking about black on black killings? Strong Tank. Very strong.
OK, garage, I found a possible interesting black on black murder.
Young black man who testified (probably favorable to Wilson) before the Grand Jury). Snitches get ... dead.
Assume it's true.
Discus.
Ah, even that's boring.
@garage, the topic is black people being murdered. Aren't yo interested in the blacks murdered by other blacks?
No, I guess not.
NO NARRATIVE THERE.
Ann Althouse said...The case that is selected for high visibility should represent a problem, not be the anomaly.
That's a solid principle, but how often is it followed? For example, how representative of the population of illegal immigrants as a whole are the people chosen by the Media (and politicians) as examples? Are the people NPR interviews to speak for the illegal immigrant community good examples of a typical illegal immigrant?
@garage
Addressing this:
Ann Althouse said...
The case that is selected for high visibility should represent a problem, not be the anomaly. What happens most is the bigger problem, not the thing to ignore...
We need to expose the process by which activists select cases to exploit.
Indeed, this case was not randomly selected. The shooting of Michael Brown occurred way back on August 4. The election occurred November 4, and the riots are happening afterward, not before.
The timing is significant. The NYT reported that some of the national leaders met with President Obama on November 5, the day after election day. However, we can safely assume that the activists were contacted and the appointment to meet was made weeks beforehand -- you don't just walk up to the White House and get a meeting with the President the same day.
Somebody decided that staging the riots way before the election would have made the Democrat blowout on election day much worse. The expedient course would be to stage them after the election.
This is obviously what was done. And the President's apparent involvement in the selection of the victim (as opposed to all the other young unarmed black men shot by police that summer) and the date of the protest makes me wonder if the people of Ferguson, Missouri had their Seventh Amendment rights violated. IANAL, and it may just be an old-fashioned 20th century notion, but I don't think that the government should be involved in the planning of riots. The federal government should compensate the riot victims.
(Cross-posted on Jaltcoh.)
I have a new way of thinking about the news thanks to the occupy movement--Grundoon's One Percent Theory of News Selection.
Our journalists journal the events of our time on earth by paying attention to the top one percent (business leaders, politicians, entertainers, athletes) and the bottom one percent (criminals, misfits).
So what good is this idea? If you are in the 98% who are happily living middle-class lives there is almost nothing in the news that affects your plans in life. You can stay up to date on the 2% if you want to but doing so probably displaces something better in your life.
This wasn't grass roots. It was Astroturf.
Jaltcoh's formulation is perfectly phrased. It is bizarre to watch the path of a particular case as it becomes national news. It is disturbing to watch the particulars of the case be twisted and turned to fit the first, fixed formulation.
In terms of the perfect case, I'm not sure any such case exists. No single case can bear the weight of the history of racism and the sociology of police-minority interaction. A case is, by definition, just a case, a compilation of ad hoc facts and individual motivations. Even the most just conviction of the most egregious racist would not absolve us from history.
So, in a way, any case is as good (or bad) as another, whether as a trigger for the mob to run riot, or as a catalyst for citizens to reconsider the methods of the armed state.
It would be a better world if the former had no countenance and the latter needed no catalyst.
Young black man who testified (probably favorable to Wilson) before the Grand Jury). Snitches get ... dead.
Terrible. Nothing in your article indicates that DeAndre Joshua was on the grand jury or that a black murdered him though.
Twitter: DID THUGS MURDER WITNESS? Retribution in Ferguson? Was DeAndre Joshua Murdered as Payback for Testimony?
Conservative media for you.
"The fact that the alleged perpetrator was white and the alleged victim was black in the cases we care about, and there was a different racial configuration in most of the cases we don't care about, would seem to be a very poor criterion. It's certainly not a reason to reach a national consensus that a man is guilty before we've afforded him due process."
Charming thoughts, but unreasonably reasonable. Politics trumps reasons. A poor criterion is good when it serves the right agenda. Outcomes may look arbitrary; the process is anything but.
The timing is significant. The NYT reported that some of the national leaders met with President Obama on November 5, the day after election day. However, we can safely assume that the activists were contacted and the appointment to meet was made weeks beforehand -- you don't just walk up to the White House and get a meeting with the President the same day.
Somebody decided that staging the riots way before the election would have made the Democrat blowout on election day much worse. The expedient course would be to stage them after the election.
This is obviously what was done. And the President's apparent involvement in the selection of the victim (as opposed to all the other young unarmed black men shot by police that summer) and the date of the protest makes me wonder if the people of Ferguson, Missouri had their Seventh Amendment rights violated. IANAL, and it may just be an old-fashioned 20th century notion, but I don't think that the government should be involved in the planning of riots. The federal government should compensate the riot victims.
(Cross-posted at Infowars.com)
For better or worse, that post was my original work. Go libel somebody else, garbage mahal.
Garage's reaction to the news that a young black man was possibly murdered because he testified truthfully to the GJ is to attack conservative media.
Noted.
Yeah.
Now, let's get back to Benghazi.
Racial politics is an effective means to transform a latent bias (e.g. genetic) into a prejudice.
"Media couldn't help but run with the "shot in the back" "executed in the street" rumors that were being pushed out into social media."
By which I take it you mean their own prejudices and bigtory meant they "couldn't help" it.
The fossil Democrat press has proved fully capable of ignoring facts and opinions presented in social media when they undercut the chosen narrative. Hence the new pushes at Facebook and Twitter to censor those facts and opinions.
OT, but another thing for us moviegoers to think about.
Officer Wilson carried a Sig-Sauer w/ .40 JHP ammo, about 25-30% more stopping power than "standard" .45 ACP ball ammo, yet being repeatedly hit with these seems to have just annoyed the "gentle giant" until he was hit in the head.
Not at all like in the movies.
Unknown — the "bigger problem", racial discrimination? Who kills more black men, whites or other blacks? Who abandons more children to the state, whites or blacks? Who commits more crimes against blacks, whites or blacks? Who commits more acts of violence against others not their race, whites or blacks? Who punishes members of their own race who attempt to get ahead, whites or blacks?
The problem is not racial discrimination, the problem is a black community that refuses to accept responsibility for its own condition and actions.
Until that happens, a thouand Detroits and Oaklands will bloom. And the evidence of Ferguson seems to be, that won't happen.
Hagar -- you don't WANT your cops carrying ball ammo. It tends to go right through what you're shooting at and hit something you really, really don't want to hit...
High profile cases are selected by the media based on criteria that have nothing to do with their importance or justice, but on marketability. CNN's ratings, for example, actually look healthy when there is a media-induced riot in the offing.
In the domain of violent deaths of black men, killings by white cops are the exception, not the rule. The mediaswine promulgate the fiction that it is otherwise and the race hustlers, including Obama and his AG, the looters and the usual bedwetters jump on board.
Excessive use of force by police and the murder of black men by black men are important issues that cannot be explored during a media carnival.
I wonder how much of this has to do with how much time the family has to meet with journalists and activists. The national attention cases seem to come at two ends of the economic spectrum---Natalee Holloway's parents had enough money that the mom didn't have to work, Trayvon Martin's parents didn't seem to have much going on career-wise. If both parents have full- time jobs that they must return to after a few days or weeks off, since they don't find it acceptable to live on donations or gov subsidies for long, they might just be unable to fit into Sharpton/Jackson/Nancy Grace's schedule.
Note: I'm also counting parents of young children as having full- time work, regardless of their paid employment status, since parenting puts similar strains on one's time. I can't think right off of any of these cases where the parents were also raising a very young kid, except Elizabeth Smart, but the Smarts were both rich and part of a community known for helping out with childcare.
Traditionalguy said... [hush][hide comment]
As usual Jaltco is reasoning perfectly.
As a young trial lawyer, I remember being amazed at how much damage could be done to the human body by blows, crashes, and falls, with nearly totally disability therefrom.
We litigated those smallest details with testimony from experts in crashes and medicine that Jurors listened to for weeks.
It was a long time after that before I could watch the Westerns with bloody fist fights and shootouts that hurt no one much without wanting to scream that was unreal. Violence done to a human body is totally serious and usually permanent.
I hope everybody here keeps this in mind when the media casually uses the phrase" non-life threatening injuries". Victim may be blind,brain damaged. paralyzed from neck down, facially dis- figured but ,hey, she's still alive everything gonna be a-ok.
garage - are you ok with Office Wilson's address being posted on the New York Times? Is that moral?
One trend I've observed in national cases is how often they aren't really that controversial when looked at objectively, which, I think, is precisely the point; the victim's side is using the national media in an attempt to win their case since they know they can't otherwise.
What strikes me about the Brown case is the notion that he was "a nice guy." But he wasn't; he was a two-bit thug.
There are plenty of people who are nice up to when they beat the shit out of you.
"garage - are you ok with Office Wilson's address being posted on the New York Times? Is that moral?"
Wait. Morality is supposed to have something to do with the actions of the NYT and the perspectives of Garage Mahal? Who says?
The case that is selected for high visibility should represent a problem, not be the anomaly.
But no one is interested in Black kids killing other Black kids, or Black men sexually assaulting White women.
Apparently.
"When that doesn't happen, after all the talk about how the defendant symbolizes this country's problems with race, the legal result strikes some people as so outrageous that they riot, harming innocent people and casting whatever political movement they might represent in the worst possible light."
I really doubt that this was in the minds of many rioters. More likely, they were thinking "free stuff" and "party, party, party."
Still waiting for garage's reply on morality.
The main murder problem in the black community is that a lot of black people are killed by other black people. Who wants to talk about that besides Rudy, Steve S and the Derb?
A problem that has no answers
What? Why?
Are you saying that Black people cannot be convinced, taught, or prevented from killing each other?
I know the Left prefers not to acknowledge the problem, let alone attempt to solve it, but I believe this is the first time someone from the Left has claimed it is unsolvable.
If the topic is a white cop shooting a black kid, the topic should then turn to why aren't we talking about black on black killings? Strong Tank. Very strong.
Garage, your poor comprehension skills are showing again.
The topic is: "Why did this case become a major issue, when other cases representing bigger problems didn't?" not "A white cop shot a Black kid".
When you live in an urban community, there can be a stabbing once a week.
I can't be outraged, because my own community has its problems. Only if police officers had tasers... And here I'm thinking only if drug dealers had tasers????
"
UPDATE: Lawrence man charged in Lowell teen's death
By The Lowell Sun
Wed, 19 Nov 2014, 11:43 AM
David Benitez Jr.
LOWELL - Police and prosecutors say an 18-year-old Lowell girl lost her life and a Lawrence man is facing a manslaughter charge over $135 worth of marijuana.
Standing silent in Lowell District Court on Wednesday, David Benitez Jr., 23, of 10 Diamond St., Lawrence had his bail set at $100,000 cash. Benitez pleaded not guilty to manslaughter. Benitez is accused of fatally stabbing of Charlena Ngeth, 18, of 174 Hale St., Lowell, on Monday night in what is being described as a drug theft gone bad.
Defense attorney Robin Gagne said Benitez talked to his father after the incident on Temple Street in Lowell.
"He cried and explained what happened," Gagne said. Afterward, Benitez turned himself into Lowell police and provided a statement in which he admitted to the stabbing.
Prosecutor Christopher Tarrant requested Benitez be held on $200,000 cash bail. Judge Stacey Fortes cut that bail request in half, with the conditions if Benitez posts bail he is under house arrest wearing a GPS monitoring device.
Benitez will be allowed to work, but he must abstain from drugs and alcohol and submit to random testing.
A probable-cause hearing is scheduled for Dec. 18.
Manslaughter is a lesser charge than murder; a murder charge requires premeditation.
Tarrant said Ngeth and some friends planned to meet a drug dealer in a park near Temple Street to buy $135 worth of marijuana. The plan was for Ngeth and her friends to steal the drugs and money from the drug dealer, he alleges.
They outnumbered Benitez and his friend, Antonio Ortiz, but Ngeth and her friends were unarmed, police said.
When Benitez and Ortiz arrived they were ambushed by Ngeth and her friends, Tarrant said. As Ortiz and Benitez were being assaulted, Ngeth allegedly had Benitez in a frontal bear hug, Tarrant said. Benitez told police he pulled out a knife and stabbed Ngeth in the back, Tarrant said."
http://www.lowellsun.com/breakingnews/ci_26968072/update-lawrence-man-charged-lowell-teens-death
as usual morality only applies to conservatives. Liberals need not be moral in any way.
"The media is perfectly capable of proving or disproving the magnitude of racial discrimination, but seems wedded to the idea that it exists to such a degree as to be on par with historical slavery in the U.S."
The problem has to be magnified so that those fighting it – including those in the media – may be portrayed as even more heroic.
Much of the hoopla around this case was caused by first impressions. The first thing people learned here was that an 18 year old unarmed black man was shot to death by a white police officer who fired several rounds at and into him. The dead man's friend said the dead man had been trying to surrender, and the cop just executed him.
Just on that info alone, people were understandably mad--and people who already believe that cops treat black males extra harshly were more inclined to let this story fit into that narrative.
However, as with any case that sounds damning, our first instinct should be to find out more, particularly the opposing side of the story, before deciding everything's fine or everything's screwed. Once more facts came out--that Brown was unarmed but the cop had no way of knowing that, and Brown had robbed a store immediately before, and was stopped for walking in the street, and had leaned into the cop's cruiser, and the cop had gotten out to arrest him, and Brown had resisted before turning around, and the cop claims he'd been attacked in his car first, then Brown had advanced on him and reached into his pants--well, suddenly the story is at least muddled to the point that it's plausible the cop had acted properly and Brown had acted recklessly, causing his own death.
But when ideologues get involved--ideologues being the people who have answers before they even know the questions--then of course you get this mess.
The prosecutor here was subject to political pressure, and in a no-win situation.
Hopefully, the creation and exploitation of prejudice for political leverage will not end with "separation".
"Why did this one incident get so much attention?"
it's a good question, for if you were to choose an incident to illustrate a narrative of white police killing black men, you would not choose one in which Michael Brown was the victim, because, Brown's own behavior makes it very difficult to be sympathetic toward him.
So, "why this one incident?" seems a very good question.
What about the multiple thousands of murders by non-Police that happen in the typical year?
I'd argue that if police are murdering citizens then that's a very big story indeed, for police are given powers which ordinary citizens don't have: thus, there would be an "abuse of authority" story in addition to any narrative regarding any alleged crimes.
It baffles me to read something like Dana Milbank's article in the WaPo. He seems to concede that officer Wilson could not be convicted of anything, but still insists that the DA is guilty of malpractice for not having used a "ham sandwich" tactic to bring a full-house trial lasting for years like the Trayvon Martin case.
Does Milbank think that not enough damage has been done as it is?
As for the White House role in this, I think it says it all that they have kicked Jesse jackson to the curb and are using Al Sharpton as their frontman on this.
"It baffles me to read something like Dana Milbank's article in the WaPo. He seems to concede that officer Wilson could not be convicted of anything, but still insists that the DA is guilty of malpractice for not having used a "ham sandwich" tactic to bring a full-house trial lasting for years like the Trayvon Martin case."
I'm not sure why the "ham sandwich" approach is desirable--what's the point of a grand jury if the prosecutor is supposed to try to skew them in favor of indictment? It makes more sense to just let the prosecutor decide on indictment and let a judge decide if it meets a minimum standard.
"As for the White House role in this, I think it says it all that they have kicked Jesse jackson to the curb and are using Al Sharpton as their frontman on this."
The elevation of Sharpton by the White House is unforgivable. For all of Jackson's faults, he's a saint compared with Sharpton.
but still insists that the DA is guilty of malpractice for not having used a "ham sandwich" tactic
I'd like to see how many years Milbank has been a prosecutor, or even an issuing dep. district attorney.
The prosecutor is ethically bound to present exculpatory evidence. Indeed, a lot of people look askance at a GJ proceeding because of the ham-sandwich meme -- which can exist when prosecutors are conducting secret gj proceedings due to the highly confidential nature of the indictment they are seeking (e.g. drug cartel or government corruption)
But there are those instances in which a prosecutor looks at the evidence submitted and knows it is not enough to bring charges, so presents the case to the grand jury to sift through and come to their own conclusion.
I'm aghast that there are people claiming that the Grand Jury was presented with "too much evidence"?
WFT?
Very well put, accurate and articulates a important goal. But how?
The prosecutor in the Trayvon case was to justice what Dana Milbank is to journalism.
I am a bit impressed that the media didn't pull the stunt they did with Trayvon where they post five year old photos of Brown looking like a cherubic lil' scamp.
Hagar said...
OT, but another thing for us moviegoers to think about.
Officer Wilson carried a Sig-Sauer w/ .40 JHP ammo, about 25-30% more stopping power than "standard" .45 ACP ball ammo, yet being repeatedly hit with these seems to have just annoyed the "gentle giant" until he was hit in the head.
Not at all like in the movies.
11/26/14, 12:50 PM
A Sig-Sauer P229 in .40 S&W is one nice pistol! Nice weight, good balance, natural grip, only down side is the price.
The GR reviewed the evidence and came to its conclusion: what do the protesters want? Do they want to lynch the police officer? Do they want to try to start a national revolution with Obama seizing all power?
It did not make any sense. Then I read Instapundit's post, which made perfect sense. Here's the best part of his short post:
[snip] "It’s about the base. And it’s not about the Democratic Party’s base, but about certain leaders’ base within the Democratic Party. This may be best understood as an intra-party struggle. Obama is the champion of the urban-black wing of the party, and because of him that wing has been on top. But his star is fading, black voters are beginning to realize that they haven’t benefited economically, and the next Dem nominee — whether it’s Hillary Clinton, Jim Webb, or Elizabeth Warren — will be from the white gentry-liberal wing of the Democratic Party. The riots, the marches, the traffic-blocking are a way of telling them that the Sharpton wing is still a force to be reckoned with, and to improve its bargaining power between now and 2016. At least, that’s the only way this — not at all spontaneous — street theater makes sense."
LINK
Do they want to lynch the police officer?
They want to know why the police procedures and grand jury proceedings were such a hot mess.
garage: "hey want to know why the police procedures and grand jury proceedings were such a hot mess."
LOL
Keep flogging those strawmen tiger.
You're doing great.
There does seem to be more evidence against the cop killer Mumia Abu Jamal than there is against the killer cop Officer Wilson. Nonetheless, Mumia is innocent and Wilson is guilty. In a lot of these cause cases, it's the very fragility of the case that makes it so attractive. Only a true believer can recognize the innocence of Mumia and the guilt of Wilson. They don't argue their case but profess their faith in its righteousness. It's more blessed to be righteous than right.
They want to know why the police procedures and grand jury proceedings were such a hot mess.
They weren't. Why should the irrationality of the mob be indulged? Or their craven leaders be tolerated?
They weren't
16 people testified, under oath, that Mike Brown had his hands up when he was shot. Two said not. You don't have any problem with that?
Garage,
If his hands were up when he was shot, the entry wound in his right arm would not be in the front of his arm.
That to me is better evidence than eye witness testimony.
I don't have any problem with that because the autopsy results prove they are lying.
Just like you, you fat fuck.
Peter said...I'd argue that if police are murdering citizens then that's a very big story indeed, for police are given powers which ordinary citizens don't have: thus, there would be an "abuse of authority" story in addition to any narrative regarding any alleged crimes.
You'd think so, but somehow that doesn't always work out, either. Take the Kathryn Johnston shooting in Atlanta. 92 year old woman shot multiple times by police who improperly got a no-knock warrant and both falsified records and planted drugs. They knock in her door, she fires a shot at the danger, they fire at her 39 times (5-6 hits) and end up shooting themselves 3 times--no drugs in her house so the plant some weed and make sure the informant they're using lies and says he bought crack at her house.
To me this is a good case to use as a springboard for many of the anti-police sentiments being expressed in protests like Ferguson's. The three officers pleaded guilty to federal civil rights violations and state manslaughter charges and their department did make some changes, but compare the media attention to this case to others where the police's culpability (and the victim's good reputation, etc) were not as clear cut.
garage the hopeless: "16 people testified, under oath, that Mike Brown had his hands up when he was shot. Two said not. You don't have any problem with that?"
That is impossible based on the autopsy report.
Impossible.
How stupid can you be?
16 people testified, under oath, that Mike Brown had his hands up when he was shot.
I could find twice that number who would testify that Elvis is alive and working as a short-order cook in Beaut, Montana.
The science demonstrated they are either delusional or lying.
I'm not surprised you're invested in that narrative.
Drago,
It's not stupidity, it's malice.
garage: "This is the very first legal analysis you have ever offered."
It's not legal analysis.
It's forensics based on the medical examiner autopsy results.
Again, this is what happens when garage insists on posting without adult supervision.
With garage, we are definitely approaching Robert Cook "October Surprise" GHWBush hopped an SR-71 and flew off to Europe to meet with representatives of the Iranian hostage takers.
There is simply nothing these gruber-marked idiots won't believe.
But remember, always remember, garage is a member of the "party of science".
Yessir.
Science.
But apparently not medical/forensic science.
That must be a tool of the white oppressors.
garage: "Brown was shot six times"
.....and?......go ahead. Complete your adolescent and moronic "thought"....
But apparently not medical/forensic science.
Three autopsies. THREE. All in agreement.
Conspiracy, I tell you, as Brown, 6'5" 289 lbs was killed by a shot to the TOP of his head, he was either charging at him (as testified to) or Wilson can turn into Treebeard at will.
Reconstructing the trajectories of bullets at crime scenes is racist.
garage: "Okay......We'll just have to fucking leave it there I guess!"
No no.
Don't get us wrong garage.
I didn't mean to imply that the forensics and medical exam results should in any way outweigh the clearly objective and intelligence insights you have to offer on this case.
Do continue.
Really, do.
LOL
Garage,
I know he was shot six times. The first was in the car and bullett grazed his left hand.
You said his hands were up when he was shot. If his hands were up the entry wound would not have been where it was in his arm. So his right arm was down.
So when were his hands up when he was shot? Do you mean his hands were up before he was shot at but that he then lowered them and then was shot?
mccullough: "So when were his hands up when he was shot? Do you mean his hands were up before he was shot at but that he then lowered them and then was shot?"
You want garage to answer these questions?
LOL
Can you imagine garage straining mightily to construct a mental image that both matches his insane accusations and still conforms to physical reality?
I'd almost, almost, pay money to see it.
PMJ: "Measuring distance accurately is racist."
Ban Tape Measures!
Ban Lasers!
Ban Surveyors!
Read the transcripts, a lot of them either had an obscructed view, assumed it from hearing over the media I don't think they were lying.
A few were complete BS though.
Renee: "Read the transcripts, a lot of them either had an obscructed view, assumed it from hearing over the media I don't think they were lying."
Garage doesn't need the transcripts of testimony under oath.
Garage doesn't need to actually read for himself the shifting stories of the "Angel Michael Brown" side.
Garage has no use for forensics/medical science.
Garage has Ezra and Chris Hayes and that's all a "thoroughly modern man" really needs.
I haven't read all the testimony but it sounds like some people might believe that Brown stopped and put his hands up and that's when Wilson started shooting at him. If that was the case then it might make sense for Brown to charge at him since Wilson would be trying to kill him even tough he was surrendering. I haven't seen anyone say this though.
You said his hands were up when he was shot. If his hands were up the entry wound would not have been where it was in his arm. So his right arm was down.
I said 16 people testified Brown had his hands up.
Do you mean his hands were up before he was shot at but that he then lowered them and then was shot?
I don't know. I'm guessing that is a possibility. Or he was shot then lowered them and was shot again in the arm.
I don't know. I'm guessing
garage in a nutshell
nobody in this blog was there, you have No idea what happened. Trust the grand jury.
God bless Officer Wilson and his family. I hope he has an excellent turkey day!
garage: "So let's see a pic of you for reference. I'm not afraid to be photographed on this site. Are you?"
Sheesh!
So now we can add this latest to the other garage adolescent challenges of drinking someone under the table and having played contact sports in some all-white area of Wisconsin as a "yute".
If ever anyone believe that a key component of being a leftist is arrested adolescence, well, here ya go.
This is a boring discussion. Garage has nothing past mendacity. Thomas H. Crown has a good line on this on his twitter account. But the issue is the left doesn't want to get past racial discrimination. They don't want reconciliation. They want black people poor and discriminated against.
Notice that all of the policies that enforce discrimination are perpetrated by government force. The natural solution to a government failure is more government of course. Democrats and race hustlers run around ginning up racial discord and call everyone else racists. Naturally we should elect democrats and give the hustlers shakedown money. That will fix everything.
I said 16 people testified Brown had his hands up.
That means sixteen people lied. A phone call shortly after the shooting, recorded by the media, had a real witness telling someone the story in the background. He specifically said the man's hands were down and he was charging the cop. That's what the autopsy confirmed as well.
Darrell: "That means sixteen people lied."
I don't believe that all sixteen people lied.
Just most of them.
You are going to get from me exactly the same as that dead thugs scumbag parents get in their inevitable civil suit shakedown - nothing.
So you're saying that you, who attacks the appearance of so many on this site, are too chicken shit to post a pic of yourself? Even though posting a pic wouldn't reveal who you are, where you live, or where you allegedly work?
Bwhahaha. Thanks for confirming to us all that you are a pathetic coward that can only snipe through an anonymous account.
That the big bad man on the internet is smarter than him and doesn't give out personal information?
Posting a picture isn't giving out any personal information at all. Did you think I might bump into you in one of 50 states, recognize you from a pic on Althouse, and then follow you back to the state you live in, and then harass you? LOL. You are such a fucking coward. And, obviously dumber than a stump.
garage: "Thanks for confirming to us all that you are a pathetic coward that can only snipe through an anonymous account."
I take it "garage mahal" is your given name?
"have race-baiters like Obama/Jarret/Holder trio enlist the lowest common denominators like Al Sharpton to fan the flames."
I was just talking to my sister on the phone and she pointed out that Jesse seems to have disappeared. He was around last summer.
Either it is too cold for him there or he smelled a rat in this case.
"our first instinct should be to find out more, particularly the opposing side of the story, before deciding everything's fine or everything's screwed."
Eric Holder was enraged that the surveillance video was released. Ruined the story.
Either it is too cold for him there or he smelled a rat in this case.
Mike Brown is Sharpton's new Tawana Brawley
"16 people testified, under oath, that Mike Brown had his hands up when he was shot. Two said not. You don't have any problem with that?"
Have you ever heard the term, "Lies like an eyewitness.?" The fact that black witnesses were willing to tell the truth in spite of real hazards in doing so is impressive. This was all decided on forensic evidence.
" I'm guessing that is a possibility."
The world of garage.
How many autopsies have you seen, garage ? Do you know how that is done ?
Hav you ever reconstructed a shooting from autopsies and X-rays ?
I have.
she pointed out that Jesse seems to have disappeared. He was around last summer.
Either it is too cold for him there or he smelled a rat in this case.
Jesse committed the unpardonable sin of attacking Obama in the early days of his rise. He was deliberately replaced with Sharpton as punishment.
Hav you ever reconstructed a shooting from autopsies and X-rays ?
I have.
And?
@Darleen/
I hate to be a pedant, but it's Butte Montana. :)
PS: I know, picky, picky, picky.. :)
It sure is interesting. If racism among white cops is so bad that they're gunning down innocent black kids all the time, how come the only two cases in recent times that went national are Trayvon Martin and Mike Brown?
Turns out, neither kids were innocent, contrary to the first-blush stories, and both Zimmerman and Wilson acted in self-defense.
Why, it's almost as if the racial grievance business picked two really, really bad cases to flog nationally, so when Zimmerman and Wilson weren't strung up, they could say, "see? the whole system is racist! we don't stand a chance!"
So who benefits from that? The race hustlers like Sharpton. And the political race hustlers keep their black base fired up, and keep the liberal white guilt crowd firmly in their camp, and also convince much of the low-info crowd that innocent black kids are getting killed all the time by white cops, who still get off because the legal system is racist.
I am thankful today that I do not own any property in Ferguson or anywhere near there.
Here's actual video of someone getting shot in the back with their hands in the air. Cop was back on duty a week later, no riots.
Could have been a better hill to die on, no? But the guy has a criminal record, so he doesn't fit the narrative.
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