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Calista241

(5,584 posts)
Wed Jun 15, 2016, 08:05 PM Jun 2016

State expert: Unclear whether Freddie Gray had ‘rough ride’ in police van

Source: Washington Post

The state’s expert on police policy and practices testified that he could not say definitively that Freddie Gray got a “rough ride” the day he suffered a fatal spinal injury in the back of a van on the way to jail.

Former Baltimore City police commander Stanford Franklin struggled to clearly define “rough ride” during his two hours on the stand Wednesday and said most of his expertise on the matter is rooted in anecdotal stories he heard from citizens during his time in law enforcement.

Franklin’s testimony came shortly before prosecutors rested their case on the fifth day of proceedings in the trial of Officer Caesar Goodson Jr., the only one of six officers in the Gray case to face a murder charge.

Prosecutors are attempting to convince a judge that Goodson is responsible for Gray’s death by failing to put Gray in a seat belt and ignoring his requests to go to a hospital. They say Gray got a “rough ride,” bouncing around in the back of the van with his hands and feet shackled, as Goodson drove recklessly.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/trial-set-to-continue-for-officer-charged-with-murder-in-freddie-gray-case/2016/06/14/6b268fa0-3265-11e6-8ff7-7b6c1998b7a0_story.html



The prosecution of Caesar Goodsen in the Freddie Gray case is going down in flames.

In addition to this abject and complete failure of their own witness to confirm the "rough ride' theory, their medical examiner has pretty well been impeached. The defense is sure to call witnesses who heard her say (and recorded in their notes) that Freddie Gray's injuries were an accident, after swearing in open court that she never said such a thing. Without her testimony that Freddie Gray's injuries happened before stop 5, rather than after stop 5, the state has no case (which was pretty tenuous even before the Defense begins to impeach her).
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Feeling the Bern

(3,839 posts)
1. Law enforcement doing its best to protect itself and shift the blame and pass the buck
Wed Jun 15, 2016, 08:17 PM
Jun 2016

Anything to protect the murdering badge wearer! If a private citizen did this, they would already be guilty. But because it's a badge wearer. . .all people are equal, some are more equal than others.

 

TipTok

(2,474 posts)
6. That ship sailed...
Thu Jun 16, 2016, 09:06 AM
Jun 2016

Mosby desperately needs a win after how strongly she came out at the beginning.

Right now she just looks incompetent. DAs might like to get on the good side of police but not at the cost of their careers.

 

TipTok

(2,474 posts)
5. Mosby is in a bind entirely of her own making...
Thu Jun 16, 2016, 09:05 AM
Jun 2016

She made a mad dash to the political and the populist and left all the legal as an afterthought.

alarimer

(16,245 posts)
7. I hope these cops never work again.
Thu Jun 16, 2016, 01:29 PM
Jun 2016

They knowingly injured a guy badly enough he died. Fuck them and fuck anyone excusing this bullshit.

Proving it may be another matter, but if a suspect dies or is injured while in custody, that should be enough for automatic firing. And being barred for life from law enforcement anywhere.

 

Taitertots

(7,745 posts)
8. If someone died in my factory, I'd never work as an industrial engineer again
Thu Jun 16, 2016, 01:38 PM
Jun 2016

Failure to immediately fire them is a sign of pandemic corruption.

Even if they are found not guilty, it's beyond doubt that they beat an innocent man to death in their custody. In any other context, this is grounds for immediate termination.

 

TipTok

(2,474 posts)
9. That's a factory...
Thu Jun 16, 2016, 02:26 PM
Jun 2016

Last edited Thu Jun 16, 2016, 02:57 PM - Edit history (1)

A relatively controlled and regular environment filled with people who all want to be there and perform the same tasks regularly.

The almost total opposite of an encounter with law enforcement who deal specifically with folks who will, sometimes, do their utmost to get as far away as they can or cause harm.

The two aren't even comparable...

 

Taitertots

(7,745 posts)
10. They are comparable. You don't get to wave your hand and declare police work...
Thu Jun 16, 2016, 03:26 PM
Jun 2016

is incomparable to other types of employment.

This type of thinking causes innocent deaths. Your ideology is responsible for the deaths of countless innocent people.

Do you think beating an innocent man to death is grounds for termination? Is police work so special that beating an innocent man to death shouldn't result in the end of your career in law enforcement?

 

TipTok

(2,474 posts)
11. Steady, regular work with folks inclined to safety...
Thu Jun 16, 2016, 04:15 PM
Jun 2016

... doesn't compare to the wide spectrum of potential outcomes when law enforcment interacts with the public and criminals in particular. There may be some small overlap but in this matter they are worlds apart.

I'm not suggesting that a death or an accident doesn't deserve investigation or punishment if proof is found...

I was tacking on to this bit from the post above yours..

Proving it may be another matter, but if a suspect dies or is injured while in custody, that should be enough for automatic firing. And being barred for life from law enforcement anywhere.


Any accident or death and boom.. a career is finished... That's just simplistic to the point of incredulity...

Folks always complain about mandatory jail time but then when confronted with a compelx issue, they devolve to ideas like this.
 

Taitertots

(7,745 posts)
12. Nope, you don't get to wave your hand and declare police work incomparablely different
Thu Jun 16, 2016, 06:57 PM
Jun 2016

The risk to factory workers in heavy industry (at work deaths and serious injury) is higher than for police officers.

It must be nice to mentally categorize personal failures as mere accidents. Not everyone has the luxury of killing people and remaining in the position that they used to kill people. If my decisions intentionally killed people, I'd never work in this field again. If my personal failures killed people, I'd never work in this field again. Why do you think the police should be any different?

 

TipTok

(2,474 posts)
13. There's that word...
Fri Jun 17, 2016, 12:28 AM
Jun 2016

Last edited Fri Jun 17, 2016, 01:01 AM - Edit history (1)

Intentionally...

No reasonanble person has suggested that if you can prove intent to kill someone there shouldn't be severe legal and professional consequences.

The obvious point is that each case has to be handled professionally and dispassionately and wtihin bounds of law and any injury or death resulting in the automatic end of a career is too simplistic to implement.

Frankly, I should have engaged the post above yours but I treated it as an add on to your comment to that post as well.

If your factory has reasonable safety procedures in place and one of your employees blatantly ignored them and chose not to follow them, why should you lose your career?

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