In 2005, ex-radio DJ Quincy De’Shawn Smith was involved in a confrontation with a police officer that resulted in his being tased. In November, this case was cleared for trial alleging police brutality by the officer. However, Smith, 24, is now dead after being tased in December by the same Minneapolis police officer, Officer Timothy Devick, who was responding to a report of a domestic assault.
The case is under investigation by the police department. It is unclear whether the earlier case would be dismissed or withdrawn in favor of a new wrongful death filing. It may be hard to go forward on the initial brutality claim without Smith as a witness.
The problem with a new filing would be the question of how much of the earlier incident would be allowed into the trial. Yet, a court might be reluctant to allow both cases to be joined due to the prejudicial impact on the officer. A jury faced with both incidents is likely to assume a clear relation and presume guilt.
For the full story, click here.
“Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.”
–Auric Goldfinger (in the Bond film, “Goldfinger”)
Maybe we’d better work on that numerical sequence in view of this case.
And it’s actual irony. Don’t see that often.
One way to get rid of the brutality claim against you is to get rid of the claimant. This case is a scary one. The news article does not tell us much about the circumstances of an event that happened in December. I think a higher authority needs to be investigating this case to make sure that a real investigation is done. I would not trust the police in this case to do an impartial investigation of one of their own.
I think rafflaw is reading this one accurately.
I’ll have to agree this doesn’t pass the smell test for certain.