Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Free Speech, Justice, Media, Torts

Bleed on a Ferguson police officer? Get charged with destruction of public property. Oh My!

By Charlton S. Stanley, Weekend writer

We should have seen this coming. I believe it is going to get worse before it gets better, if ever. At some point there is going to be a “pitchforks and torches” backlash.

Ferguson MO logoIt may be starting in Ferguson, MO. Take a look at one of the latest stories to come out of there. It’s sad that we have to look overseas to get reliable and up to date news about what is happening in the good ol’ US of A. Because of the great sucking sound that is the US corporate mainstream media, people who want to get a more balanced read on the news check sites such as Al Jazerra, The Guardian, RT, The Epoch Times, and Der Spiegel.

This is a brief clip from a story posted yesterday on RT (Russia Today). Emphasis is mine:

Nearly four years to the day before Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson opened fire and killed Brown, 18, a complaint filed in federal court accused the same law enforcement agency of violating the civil rights of a man who says he was badly beaten after being wrongly arrested, then later charged with “destruction of property” for bleeding on the uniforms of the cops alleged to have injured him.

Full story at this link.

It gets better. Reading the court filings, we learn that on September 20, 2010, Henry Davis missed his exit and found himself in the the St. Louis County community of Ferguson at 3:00 AM. As it happened, there was a warrant was out for a Henry Davis, but the wanted man has a different middle initial, different birth date, and different Social Security number.

However, Davis, a 54 year old African-American welder was assaulted by four officers (one of them female). The records show that he was thrown forcefully into a one-person cell, but the one-person cell already had an occupant. He would have had to sleep on the concrete floor, because the one bunk was already occupied. There was a pile of sleeping mats near the cell, so Davis asked for a sleeping mat. Because he asked for something to sleep on, he was called disobedient. At that point, Davis was thrown to the floor, and put in restraints. During this assault in the jail, one of the officers kicked Davis in the head.

After being restrained and kicked in the jail cell, paramedics took Henry Davis to the hospital where he insisted that his picture be taken before he was treated (photo and story at the link). The Emergency Room doctor diagnosed him with a concussion and stitched him up before releasing Davis back to custody of the Ferguson PD.

He was released 3 days later on a $1500 bond for “destruction of public property.” If they kick and beat you, you better not dare bleed on their uniforms.

Davis sued. When the four officers were deposed, all four denied that they had blood on their uniforms as they had signed on their affidavit of complaints. What does this mean? They either perjured themselves at trial or had falsified affidavit. That level of perjury is a felony. The county prosecutor declined to prosecute because he claimed Davis’, injuries were de minimus.

Bob McCullouch
Bob McCullouch

Let’s take a look at the prosecutor. The St. Louis County Prosecutor is a man named Bob McCulloch. He has a reputation of being extremely harsh in his prosecution of offenders. However, McCulloch has some personal baggage which calls both his judgement and racial neutrality into question. You see, Bob McCulloch is the son of St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officer Paul McCullouch. Officer Paul McCullough was killed in the line of duty on July 2, 1964. Officer McCullouch was 37 years old at the time. His son, current prosecutor Bob McCulloch was 12 years old in 1964. I remember that cop killing, because we lived in St. Louis, and it happened not far from where I was working at the time. Officer McCullouch was responding to a kidnapping call at the infamous Pruett-Igoe Housing Project when he was shot in the head by the fleeing kidnapper. His killer was a black man.

Bob McCullouch wanted to become a police officer like his father, but lost a leg as a teenager. That eliminated him from joining the police force, so he went to law school and became a prosecutor, a position he has held for the past twenty years. His tenure as a prosecuting attorney has been marked by controversy. He has a reputation as being almost fanatical about prosecuting alleged perpetrators, but turns a blind eye to even the grossest misconduct by law enforcement officers. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a story about him.

Mr. Davis’ injuries were de minimus, and according to McCullouch, not worth pursuing, yet Davis’ spattered blood on the officer’s uniforms did warrant charges. Maybe somebody smarter than me can explain that logic.

Henry Davis sued the city for civil rights violations, but late last year Magistrate Judge Nannette A. Baker ruled in favor the city. His attorneys filed a notice of appeal in March, and the case is currently slated to be considered later this year by the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals.

A PDF of the filing to the Eighth Circuit is embedded in the RT article.

–ooOoo–

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441 thoughts on “Bleed on a Ferguson police officer? Get charged with destruction of public property. Oh My!”

  2. Karen S,

    The police officer fired 6 rounds in 2 seconds. The rounds seem like a lot. The time actually is very little.

    What would you be able to decide in 2 seconds when you are under assault by a 6’3′ 300lb. robbery suspect who has struggled with you through your car window and attempted to gain control of your gun, presumably, to shoot you?

    The semi-automatic fires in a series not single shot.

    The shots hit targets randomly and shooting is not an exact, precise activity. The first rounds had little effect, as rounds take effect the target slows and is more accessible or easier to hit.

    Waiting until the last second, the officer fills with adrenaline.

    He is not trained to fire 1 round.

    The officer simply completed a firing series as he was trained.

    2 seconds of firing.

  4. Beldar here. Pulling up stakes here in Downtown Saint Louis and headed the Louisville with a resident from there who came up to observe the Ferguson thing. She is originally from Cairo, Illinois and we are stopping there to see what happened in the long aftermath of their times of protest. She says that the town is quite sleepy if not dead and most retail business is gone. I would like to stay and have a beer with Jack but we are pulling out this afternoon. O’Connells Pub in Saint Louis is one of the best we visited. The owner also has an antique shop upstairs. It reminded me of France.

  5. i’m not on either side here…. this kid was bad, and the cops have a history of doing unlawful things, and the DA is basically an unconvicted felon….
    flush all of them down the toilet…..

  6. I wonder if this will all boil down to a training issue. Did the officer shoot Brown more times than he intended, or did he charge, and continue to move towards, the officer?

    We have had a series of articles on this blog that outline problems in the police department ranging from abuse of power, to poor department policy (such as no-knock raid warrants). I wonder how this one will turn out – it could be anything from a justified shooting to poor training to a hate crime. Perhaps the investigation will determine that he was justified in shooting him but not justified in continuing to shoot.

    I hope we get a follow up once the final reports are released.

  7. Darren – thank you for the analysis. Calm reasoning is what is needed in a situation like this. I wish the media and speakers at protests would include the reasons, as you’ve stated, for why an independent investigation is warranted and we must be careful to have all the facts.

  9. From the Ray Kelly interview, I’m agreeing with him as well.

    Failure #1 – “Number one you get out all the information that you can put out that you know. ” And please, make sure the story is accurate so you don’t have a press conference later in the day saying the deceased wasn’t stopped because of suspicion of being involved in a robbery when that morning you said he was.

    Failure #2 – “I think one of the challenges is to sort of make that into a cohesive, tactical force.” SLCPD SWAT seemed like they were a force to themselves, arresting people without basis and generally seeming like they gave their own commands. SWAT is one of those groups that probably doesn’t like getting orders from non-SWAT members. Reminds me of the marines in Aliens, passing out the extra ammo after the Lt turns his back.

    Failure #3 – “You separate as much as you can, the criminals from the people who are legitimately demonstrating over a legitimate concern.” Understanding manpower concerns, tear gas is like using a house to pound a nail. Worst of all, there seemed to be no desire or attempt to separate the good from the bad. Police gave every indication they considered everyone bad. Especially the media, which generally is not a good idea. Targeting media for illegal arrests, then releasing them without charges (and in some cases, refusing to identify the arresting officer) is not going to help you in the PR battle. One that is almost important as what is going on in the streets.

    Three strikes Chief. There needs to be a cleaning of house in the leadership of multiple departments down there by St. Louis.

    1. I would agree with what the police commissioner said in the video. I think he described it accurately.

  11. I’m with ya Darren.
    Did you see the live autopsy with the two lawyers and both coroner’s?
    Both lawyers called for the arrest of Wilson. They stated that they’ll wait for the Federal investigation to happen. The coroner said when that happens the three autopsies most likely will agree with each other.

    1. Max-1,

      One thing that might be of note is that autopsies do not necessarily provide the sole evidence of guilt. They will of course provide, if properly administered, cause of death, injuries, toxicology, identification and other evidence. But to rely solely on their conclusion is not sufficient for conviction of a crime or a civil wrongful death.

      Simply put it is the how but not the why. It is when this and other investigation and evidence is amalgamated that the case comes to completion. I am hesitant to conclude guilt based upon the autopsy alone and the lawyer for the family, while well meaning, is not privy to the remainder of the investigation.

      If the first two autopsies arrive at the same conclusion and they were performed expertly, I would have little doubt a third would arrive at the same cause of death. But this again is not sufficient to determine guilt.

      If the three autopsies determine that the fatal shot was the one that hit the face of the deceased and that there were no powder burns or contact tears it would be evidence of angle of entry, caliber, sometimes shot order but not always easily, at a distance other than close up. It would be very difficult to determine if the shot came from ten feet or forty. That requires investigation of the shooting scene to determine who was where and where the shot originated in relation to the body.

      Then after the particulars are determined, it becomes one of a legal review if such a shooting was justified, excusable, or criminally liable. There is often a separate hearing to determine if department policy was violated.

      So there are multiple layers that must occur in any police shooting investigation and by civilians, except civilians do not have the department policy review. That is why it is premature for those to conclude with certainty that a person is guilty solely based upon only one of these three steps.

  12. Max-1,

    I don’t think any of them should do it. But unfortunately there are too many enablers who support their politicians blindly and do not value our constitution or equality before the law as much as they do political goals.

    I am convinced Chelsea Manning never had a chance and neither will Ed Snowden if he returns to U.S. jurisdiction while the current politicians are in power.

    Even on a local level we see this frequently, especially in larger cities. Mayors are the worst offenders in my observation. We often see mayors standing right next to chiefs of police demanding prosecutions against individuals or groups. In fact, this is one of the reasons I prefer law enforcement by sheriffs. Many mayors regard the police department as their own private police agency subject to their dictation. It is not just oversight but directions are taken because sometimes the chief serves at the pleasure of the mayor.

    On the federal level my belief is that the attorney general \ justice department should be a completely separate office from the executive or legislative branch, with due oversight of course.

  14. Darren,
    If the POTUS can do it… what stops other political elites from getting away with indicting people before their trials? #freechelseamanning

    This is why I posted the petition above to have the Governor removed.

  16. BarkingDog commented:
    “Jay Nixon: Tells the world and the media and the state that the police officer needs to be prosecuted for a crime. “
    ~+~
    I agree that this is completely unacceptable. As I said before politicians have no right to demand the criminal prosecution of a citizen who has not been formally charged with a crime or for that matter anyone. This issue is still in the investigation stage and I am certain the governor is not, or should definitely not, be privy to the evidence in the case.

    That makes the matter before this officer tainted as a political crime and not one of statutory law.

    This type of behavior diminishes the likelihood of a fair trial of a defendant when someone of high office has made statements as to certainty of probable cause or guilt. It also puts pressure on prosecutors, grand juries or even jurors to arrive at a certain outcome as dictated by a high ranking politician, especially when it is also a possibility they will make that decision for fear of repercussions or fallout from their decision should it be in disagreement to the demands of the politician.

    If this officer is ever criminally charged, how can it be articulated he will get a fair trial? Hard to have a practical change of venue when the state’s governor has it out for a person.

  17. Ferguson is Everytown, U.S.A.
    https://www.aclu.org/blog/racial-justice-criminal-law-reform-free-speech/ferguson-everytown-usa

    The numbers show the reality.

    Studies of Rhode Island traffic stops and New York pedestrian stops confirm that police stop blacks at higher rates than whites. Even more troubling is that the New York study determined that a neighborhood’s racial composition was the main factor for determining NYPD stop rates, above and beyond the “role of crime, social conditions, or the allocation of police resources.” In other words, New York cops targeted blacks because of their race – not because they happened to live in a dangerous place or in an area flooded by police.

    Data from Ferguson mirrors these racial disparities. Last year, blacks not only accounted for 86 percent of stops, 92 percent of searches, and 93 percent of arrests by Ferguson police, the state attorney general’s office calculated that blacks were overrepresented in these encounters in light of their population figures. Even more damning is the fact that although police were twice as likely to search blacks than whites after initiating a stop, whites were far more likely to be found with contraband.

    It is not a leap to conclude that the same biases that cause those racial disparities also make it more likely that black men will die during the course of police arrests. According to the Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, although black men made up only 27.8 percent of all persons arrested from 2003-2009, they made up 31.8 percent of all persons who died in the course of arrest, and the majority of these deaths were homicides.
    (continued)

  18. ACLU: First Amendment ‘suspended in Ferguson’
    http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/aclu-first-amendment-suspended-ferguson

    Even as civil rights groups have demanded more transparency in the investigation of Michael Brown’s death, they have been struggling to keep up with the ever-changing policies on protest and the press – and what they are concerned are serious constitutional violations.

    “In many ways,” Rothert told msnbc, “the First Amendment has been suspended in Ferguson.”
    (continued)

  19. BarkingDog,
    Are you suggesting that pit bulls aren’t being racially profiled in communities…
    We all know they’re taught by their masters. NO?

  20. Racial issue? Who created this? Michael Brown could have not gone further after robbing the liquor store and walked down the middle of the street and then assault the cop. We need to look into the family of the Brown guy. Why is the 18 year old adult out there on the streets with mommy and daddy saying he is only a child?
    Bunch of crap.

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