Its L.A.--they have guns, the kid has friends....that pig will most likley
face a harder jury than anything the gubmint could throw against him. Maybee
his wife and kids too....
I hope they suffer.
Mike
Charges dropped against ex-officer taped arresting teenager
From Stan Wilson
CNN
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) --In the wake of two trials that ended in
hung
juries, a former police officer in Southern California will not face a
third
trial over the arrest of a handcuffed teenager captured on videotape,
prosecutors said.
In reaching a decision to not prosecute former Inglewood police Officer
Jeremy
Morse a third time, local authorities pointed to the two previous trials
that
ended without a verdict as a signal that they would not be able to obtain
a
unanimous decision from a jury.
"The community ultimately decides what police conduct is proper and what
is
improper," said Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley in a written
statement.
Morse, who is white, was videotaped in 2002 slamming Donovan Jackson, who
is
black and was 16 at the time, onto the trunk of a police car and punching
him in
the face. The incident, televised throughout the world, caused outrage and
led
to accusations of police brutality.
State prosecutors charged Morse with one count of assault and his partner,
Bijan
Darvish, with one count of filing a false police report about the
incident. The
videotaped incident caught the attention of U.S. Attorney General John
Ashcroft,
who announced a federal inquiry into possible civil rights violations.
"Jeremy and I are both relieved that the prosecution has decided not to
pursue a
third trial. I didn't think that they would," said John Barnett, Morse's
attorney.
Last week, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Hollingsworth declared
a
second mistrial after jurors indicated they were hopelessly deadlocked.
Darvish
was found not guilty in the first trial.
Prosecutor Cooley pointed to the effort by jurors during the second trial
to
reach a decision, to no avail.
"Jurors told news reporters after the second trial that they studied the
videotaped incident at least a dozen times in the jury room, at different
speeds
and even frame-to-frame," Cooley said. "They could not agree whether
victim
Donovan Jackson was conscious when Morse slammed him onto the back of a
patrol
car."
The confrontation between Jackson and the officers occurred at a service
station
on July 6, 2002. Jackson's father, Coby Chavis, was being questioned by
police
for driving with expired registration tags when his son, returning from a
mini-mart, was ordered into the back of a squad car.
According to police, a struggle ensued, and Jackson was wrestled to the
ground
by officers and handcuffed. Morse then hoisted Jackson and threw him on
top of a
police car, and struck him repeatedly on the face with his clenched fist.
The videotape was presented as evidence in both trials, with state
prosecutors
contending that Jackson was unconscious and posed no threat the officers,
so
Morse's actions were unnecessary and unreasonable.
Defense attorneys argued that the slam occurred because of a violent and
long
struggle, during which Jackson grabbed, kicked and punched at the officers
before the videotape began.
"Prosecutions against police officers are difficult ones because of the
positions that they hold as protectors of the community," Cooley said.
"Our
position has been, and remains, that when the handcuffs go on and
resistance has
stopped, use of force must also cease."
Many residents in the predominately black community of Inglewood said the
beating was reminiscent of the 1992 beating of Rodney King and complained
that
the jury makeup, with just two black jurors, was unfair because the city
of
Inglewood's population is almost half African American.
Authorities reported no incidents of civil unrest throughout the case.
Morse, who was fired from the police department, is facing a civil lawsuit
from
Jackson while the city of Inglewood and Los Angeles County are being sued
for
civil rights abuses, according to Jackson attorney Cameron Stewart.
