selfbnd411
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Joined: 7/23/2005
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Wow...This is why trial by jury is a joke these days. This guy was caught on tape ordering a compliant suspect to stand up, and then shooting him multiple times for...attempting to stand up. The best part is juror Richard Day's legal reasoning: We cannot prosecute cops for breaking the law because it might dissuade other cops from making tough choices in the field. In short, the police must be kept above the law so they can keep the rest of us under the law!
Simply incredible. There's a reason San Bernandino County is known as the redneck capital of California. And no, I don't mean just white. It seems to attract rednecks of all races!
Edit to add: I also find it outrageous that the article suggests that because the cop is black and the suspect Latino, racism could not have been a factor. Is the idea that only white people are capable of racism?
Ex-deputy cleared in shooting of off-duty airman
Jury acquits Ivory John Webb Jr. in the videotaped January 2006 confrontation, which came after a high-speed chase in Chino.
By Maeve Reston, Times Staff Writer
June 29, 2007
A former San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy who fired on an unarmed, off-duty Air Force police officer last year — a videotaped shooting that drew outrage when it was aired nationwide — was acquitted Thursday of attempted voluntary manslaughter.
Ivory John Webb Jr., 46, the son of a former Compton police chief, was the first law enforcement officer to face criminal charges for an on-duty shooting in San Bernardino County. Webb, also acquitted of assault with a firearm, would have faced up to an 18-year prison sentence if he had been convicted.
...
The jury of eight men and four women spent less than half a day deliberating after the four-week trial in the San Bernardino courtroom. The case was dominated by the video footage of the Jan. 29, 2006, shooting on a residential street in Chino, as well as by dueling experts on police tactics and use of deadly force.
Outside the San Bernardino County courtroom, jurors said they were swayed more by the volatile, dangerous situation the suspects created during the high-speed chase than by the video.
"Police officers have to be given the right to make their decisions," said juror Richard Day, 43, of Highland. "If they make a bad decision in the line of duty, should we hold them responsible for that to the point that we incarcerate them for it? I don't think so."
The jury was composed of eight whites, three blacks and one Latino.
...
In freeze-frames of the video shown countless times by the defense, Carrion raises his left hand toward Webb at least twice. He testified that he may have been trying to shield his eyes from Webb's flashlight.
Though Webb had told him repeatedly to keep his hands on the ground, Carrion then appeared to use his right hand to gesture as he told Webb several times, "We're here on your side" and "We mean you no harm."
Carrion then told Webb he had more training in the military and the police than the deputy did. "You … believe me, all right?" Carrion said as he pointed toward his chest.
Webb then appears to tell Carrion twice to "get up." When Carrion says, "OK, I'm getting up" and starts to rise, Webb shoots him three times.
...
Webb "didn't know anything about these people," said juror Linda Goldstein, 58, of San Bernardino. "They were belligerent. If they had kept their mouths shut and obeyed what he had told them to do — none of this would have happened."
Goldstein said jurors took a preliminary vote on the attempted voluntary manslaughter charge less than two hours after they began deliberating and every juror said Webb was not guilty.
Webb initially told detectives that Carrion had lunged at him after ignoring orders to stay on the ground. Several days later, after watching the video, Webb told detectives he believed Carrion was reaching for a weapon when he fired.
...
Webb, who left the Sheriff's Department a few months after the incident, still must contend with a federal lawsuit Carrion filed against Webb and the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.
He alleges that Webb tried to kill him and that the deputy's supervisors deliberately kept ambulances from reaching him, exacerbating his injuries.
Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, also said federal attorneys had not made a decision about whether to pursue a civil rights case against Webb.
"We were monitoring the state court prosecution, and we will review the matter to determine if a federal investigation is warranted," Mrozek said.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-airman29jun29,0,191973.story?coll=la-home-center
< Message edited by selfbnd411 -- 6/29/2007 7:26:17 AM >
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Jury: Police Officers are Above the Law - 
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