Clyde Haberman at the New York Times has an interesting column on the general shift away from bringing civil rights charges when state juries fail to convict in cases on the state level. Al Sharpton is calling on the Obama Administration to try police officers again in the case of Michael Mineo after a Brooklyn jury acquitted three police officers.
Officer Richard Kern was accused of ramming his baton between Mr. Mineo’s buttocks and other officers were accused of covering up the abuse.
While the officers celebrated the decision, Mineo had a different take: “I kind of had a feeling it would turn out this way. If you want to commit a murder, join the N.Y.P.D. and you get cleaned off.”
The declination of a federal prosecution is part of an interesting trend as federal prosecutors increasingly question the need or fairness of such duplicative trials. Such federal charges always raise concerns with civil libertarians over double jeopardy. While the Supreme Court had held that there is no such violation, the trials tend to involve the same witnesses and same alleged acts.
For the story,click here.
Most police officers are hard working and honest. There is however a criminal element inside every police force. More and more we are seeing this because almost everyone walks around with a video camera on their cell phones. I remember the BART officer who shot and killed a handcuffed man on his stomach he had arrested on the platform in Oakland CA. There were a number of people who took video on their cell phones and had those confiscated and destroyed by the other officers. One video showing the killing survived and he was prosecuted. No video no prosecution. But none of the other officers who destroyed evidence or obstructed justice were even prosecuted.
The defendants’ lawyers will say they did an admirable job of jury selection. But this cases smells of prosecutorial negligence, incompetence or collusion. Or all of the above.
This is a miscarriage of justice, pure and simple.
I one read a memo from a senior officer to a rookie. If you shoot make sure that you hit them and hit them dead. Then there is only your account of what happened. I am not at liberty to reveal the source.
To the story, I am not surprised that they were acquitted. I agree that they should have probably been and know the merit in nals statement. However, I am totally against retrying the SOB’s no matter how guilty I may think that they are. Go after the Prosecutor or someone else in that office.
I see retrying them as abuse and against the principals of Double Jeopardy. I have seen it happen before and if you etch one exception in this rule, you have destroyed the foundation. Wonder if they were convicted of simple assault. Should the Prosecutor state or federal have another bite at the more serious charge?
While I do not agree with the end result, they will get there’s.
I wonder how zealous was the prosecution? The incestuous relationship between police and prosecutors in cases not involving the police, makes me wonder about the quality of prosecution in cases were police officers are defendants.