LAPD officer charged with assault in woman's arrest

[AnotherMcIntosh]

7. Sometimes an assault in connection with a death can sustain a manslaughter conviction.

While my preference would be for a conviction of more than just assault, some prosecutors will not charge a person for a crime if they do not believe that all the elements can be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

The question for the prosecutor is whether he can select a jury with 12 people who would each agree that the drugs in her system did not cause her death but that the kicks to her groin and stomach did. 12 people. A random selection of 12 people on DU might not even result in unanimity on the issue. What pool of 12 people could agree that kicks to a groin and stomach, no matter how repugnant, would result in death. How many people have life experiences in which they even heard rumors of such an attack causing a death.

The kicks didn't help. But even a fresh-out-of-law-school-defense-attorney would probably want to select a jury, and get a minimum of one person, who has not had that experience.