Lawyer urged prosecutor after Ferguson shooting: 'Do the right thing' for police

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Lawyer urged prosecutor after Ferguson shooting: 'Do the right thing' for police

Emails to prosecutor’s office include rightwing article sent by investigator and plea from lawyer whose firm would later represent Michael Brown’s killer

Jon Swaine
Saturday 23 September 2017 01.48 BST

An attorney whose firm represented the policeman who killed Michael Brown in Ferguson urged the local prosecutor a day after the 2014 shooting to “do the right thing” and said officers were depending on him, newly released records reveal.

Jerome Simon emailed the message to the St Louis County prosecutor, Bob McCulloch, amid intense protests set off by Darren Wilson’s fatal shooting of Brown. McCulloch went on to preside over the controversial decision to not bring criminal charges against Wilson.

“Dude, WTF? Do the right thing,” Simon wrote. “All of St Louis County is counting on your seasoned judgment and innate sense of essential justice for all – especially County Brown police officers.” St Louis County police officers are nicknamed for their brown uniforms.

Simon’s firm, Pitzer Snodgrass, went on to defend Wilson and Ferguson in a civil lawsuit brought by Brown’s parents, which was settled by the city for $1.5m. Simon was apparently not directly involved in the case. He did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/22/ferguson-michael-brown-shooting-prosecutor-email

[sharedvalues]

1. Enormously important. Must have impartial (special) prosecutors for police

We can't go on with police investigating the alleged crimes of other police, and prosecutors who work with police prosecuting the same people they work with.

We need special investigators and prosecutors, appointed for example at the state level, who come in to fairly investigate police crimes.

[sharedvalues]

2. Also: WHY are CITIZENS paying fines while Wilson pays nothing

It is a farce that civil judgements against police are paid for by citizens' tax dollars.
If the city settles a suit over Wilson's misconduct, Wilson must pay a part of that judgement. Otherwise what's the disincentive for future actions?