The Derek Chauvin trial is underway..GUILTY on all charges

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

I think sometimes, actually often, a white middle class American jury sees the police as the only thing between them and the barbarian brown and black hordes itching to rape and murder them and so doesn't really care that much if the cops are guilty they just need a fig leaf of an excuse to let them off

The panel of 15 includes nine people who are white and six who are Black or multiracial, according to the court. If the court follows standard practice and the alternates are the last three chosen, the 12 who deliberate would be evenly split between white people and people of colour.

IIRC its 9 women and 6 men.

Very diverse jury which I believe was intentional with the amount of press it is garnering and especially considering demographics where there is 20% black by population.

[troutman]

Brooklyn Center (Minneapolis suburb) Police says police shooting of Daunte Wright was ‘an accidental discharge’ as officer intended to discharge a taser
https://twitter.com/i/events/1381451278409113600

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

They just need to convince one juror.

Megyn Kelly had 3 defense attorneys on her show about a week ago to discuss the strategies of the defense. I thought it was an interesting discussion.

https://www.happyscribe.com/public/t...hael-belsky-ep

Part 2. This time the defense with Alan Dershowitz.


https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas...=1000516394374

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by troutman

Brooklyn Center (Minneapolis suburb) Police says police shooting of Daunte Wright was ‘an accidental discharge’ as officer intended to discharge a taser
https://twitter.com/i/events/1381451278409113600

I mean how inept can you get.

[darockwilder]

Thought it was his taser, this situation was somewhat similar. Guess will see where this goes, hopefully it doesn't take 10 years until the results of the investigation are made known.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/05/...atal-shooting/

[MoneyGuy]

Who would have thought that hanging an air purifier from a rear-view mirror is more dangerous than killing a cop at an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol?

[Acey]

Should they make the taser bright pink and covered in wool or something? It just seems wild to me that they can't do something to differentiate them enough so this doesn't happen.

[wwkayaker]

I thought police wore the gun on the dominant side and the taser on the opposite leg to prevent a mixup.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by Acey

Should they make the taser bright pink and covered in wool or something? It just seems wild to me that they can't do something to differentiate them enough so this doesn't happen.

The 'bright pink' thing is a bit of a joke (a lot of them are bright yellow or green already) but the 'covered in wool' thing isn't a BAD suggestion. They really do need some kind of very distinctly different 'hand-feel' from a service pistol. I'm honestly surprised we don't see more mistakes like this more often. I've held both in each hand, and was quite shocked at how similar (in both feel and weight) they felt. I don't really know what could be done to the grip/handle to change it up distinctly, though.

[GirlySports]

It's a training thing I think. Officer is scared and panicked that they can in a split second grab the wrong weapon and also fire it.

[Bill Bumface]

Obviously a terrible and tragic situation, but this reads as if the City Manager was fired for saying the officer would receive due process. Is this helping things?

https://www.businessinsider.com/city...-wright-2021-4

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

Obviously a terrible and tragic situation, but this reads as if the City Manager was fired for saying the officer would receive due process. Is this helping things?

https://www.businessinsider.com/city...-wright-2021-4

Certainly has the vibe of "mob justice"....really dont understand what he said or did that was incorrect,

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

It's a training thing I think. Officer is scared and panicked that they can in a split second grab the wrong weapon and also fire it.

bad training if an officer is scared and panics so badly the grab their gun instead of the tazer.

what was it a desk jockey thrown into the streets or something?
I'd figure a 26 year vet of the police should react better than I would if put out there.

I don't care if it was an accident, there better be charges brought for shooting someone instead of tazing them.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Acey

Should they make the taser bright pink and covered in wool or something? It just seems wild to me that they can't do something to differentiate them enough so this doesn't happen.

They should make all guns pink. Not just police guns.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Certainly has the vibe of "mob justice"....really dont understand what he said or did that was incorrect,

I think part of the reason we are seeing civil unrest is an erosion of trust in the criminal justice system, for very good reasons.

On one hand I can see how saying "due process" is tone deaf, as that has been trotted out, police have protected their own, and consequences do not seem balanced between a marginalized citizen and a member of the police.

On the other hand, to restore that trust, genuine "due process" is exactly what is needed.

If the appearance is projected that these crucial decisions are swayed by a loud mob, it's going to deepen the divides we already see forming around these issues.

It's a mess. No clue how you address such an engrained problem like this. Even Northern Ireland which is a relative success story on many fronts is still completely fragile after taking pretty dramatic action by disbanding their entire police force.

[transplant99]

I would think the entire point of all the demonstrations and whatnot over the last year would be to achieve justice for all regardless of race gender etc.

Due process is a part of justice. In fact it's a cornerstone of it. So if that part is ignored or only allowed in cases where public sentiment perceives it as allowable....we are no where near what the actual movement wants as its goal. It's counter-productive.

In this case it's even more egregious because all that was suggested by the guy whom i assume the burden falls on, suggested that the officer be granted that basic premise. Due process.

That is one frightening road to start down. I suspect there will be major blowback aganst the mayor and his decision here. How can suggesting someone be granted their constitutional right be grounds for termination?

Really bizarre IMO.

[GirlySports]

There's so much pressure right now. Every little thing is scrutinized and people demand perfection. People just want charges and conviction even if there's no basis for one. Then they claim racism or police corruption if there isn't.

The mayor doesn't want his house or his town to burn down. The city manager is a temporary fall guy to calm the waters.

[Red Slinger]

Originally Posted by transplant99

I would think the entire point of all the demonstrations and whatnot over the last year would be to achieve justice for all regardless of race gender etc.

Due process is a part of justice. In fact it's a cornerstone of it. So if that part is ignored or only allowed in cases where public sentiment perceives it as allowable....we are no where near what the actual movement wants as its goal. It's counter-productive.

In this case it's even more egregious because all that was suggested by the guy whom i assume the burden falls on, suggested that the officer be granted that basic premise. Due process.

That is one frightening road to start down. I suspect there will be major blowback aganst the mayor and his decision here. How can suggesting someone be granted their constitutional right be grounds for termination?

Really bizarre IMO.

I agree with this in principle but...

In the past there have been similar cases where the common refrain was to let justice run it's course and give due process only for the result to be a clear lack of justice. There is systemic racism abound in the US criminal justice system. Asking a black person to trust the process after decades (centuries?) of their people being systematically screwed by the system is a tough ask.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Red Slinger

I agree with this in principle but...

In the past there have been similar cases where the common refrain was to let justice run it's course and give due process only for the result to be a clear lack of justice. There is systemic racism abound in the US criminal justice system. Asking a black person to trust the process after decades (centuries?) of their people being systematically screwed by the system is a tough ask.

I totally agree with this as well.

"Due process" = "Wolf!"

So how do you move on from here? "Due process for real this time!"?

Firing the City Manager seems like an attempt to say "We care, for real, and we are trying to show it". But to what Transplant said, the whole issue is lack of public trust in the whole damn system, and this is just going to change/grow who doesn't trust it.

[Red Slinger]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

There's so much pressure right now. Every little thing is scrutinized and people demand perfection. People just want charges and conviction even if there's no basis for one. Then they claim racism or police corruption if there isn't.

The mayor doesn't want his house or his town to burn down. The city manager is a temporary fall guy to calm the waters.

People aren't demanding perfection they're demanding justice.

Those with authority, especially the authority to legally kill other citizens should be held to the highest level of scrutiny. The burden should be on the police to not, you know, murder people. The police will get the benefit of the doubt when they actually demonstrate there is equal justice for all. If they don't, even if an individual police officer isn't racist, s/he actively works to a keep the status quo of a system that is racist.