2 Albuquerque officers charged with murder in March shooting
Jan 12, 2015 17:15:53 GMT -6
727sky and Doug like this
Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2015 17:15:53 GMT -6
Check the link and many will recall this case by the picture in this article alone. This is the homeless guy on the hillside they shot as he was surrendering. Many of us wrote about this on another site at the time, and it was a really ugly shooting IMO. Pretty clear they just up and killed the guy. Apparently, the situation will get its day in court, and good. Really good, on this shooting.
That is the way I saw it too. Then and now. He was giving up, and he was shot for his trouble.
Now, we could stop here and it would make a good story, IMO. Even if the cops end up acquitted. I can live with that if its gone through and a Jury says so. I don't have to agree, but that IS our system, and so be it. As long as a highly questionable death gets at least that much.
The problem is..there is likely more to it than this. In another part of the story...we find this.
Source
The story also mentions that the prosecutor herself is under suspicion and investigation regarding allegations of bribery, and the Albuquerque Police Department is apparently very interested in seeing that pursued against her. So... Is it just the facts of the case, or more?
Either way, I think it comes down to being a case where this was the right outcome, however it came to be this way. Let a jury decide if the man had to die.
Police said SWAT team member Dominique Perez and former detective Keith Sandy fatally shot Boyd, who was holding two knives, during a standoff in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains. Video from an officer's helmet camera showed Boyd, who authorities say was mentally ill, appearing to surrender when officers opened fire.
That is the way I saw it too. Then and now. He was giving up, and he was shot for his trouble.
"Unlike Ferguson and unlike in New York City, we're going to know. The public is going to have that information," said District Attorney Kari Brandenburg, who said she decided to bring murder charges and avoid a grand jury to heighten transparency.
Each officer faces a single count in the March death of 38-year-old James Boyd. The charges allow prosecutors to pursue either first-degree or second-degree murder against the officers.
Each officer faces a single count in the March death of 38-year-old James Boyd. The charges allow prosecutors to pursue either first-degree or second-degree murder against the officers.
Now, we could stop here and it would make a good story, IMO. Even if the cops end up acquitted. I can live with that if its gone through and a Jury says so. I don't have to agree, but that IS our system, and so be it. As long as a highly questionable death gets at least that much.
The problem is..there is likely more to it than this. In another part of the story...we find this.
Brandenburg has been criticized for her office's decades-old practice of using grand juries to affirm prosecutors' decisions that no probable cause existed to charge officers in shootings.
The story also mentions that the prosecutor herself is under suspicion and investigation regarding allegations of bribery, and the Albuquerque Police Department is apparently very interested in seeing that pursued against her. So... Is it just the facts of the case, or more?
Either way, I think it comes down to being a case where this was the right outcome, however it came to be this way. Let a jury decide if the man had to die.
