Assisted to his feet

[Uli]

Unbelievable!

Brutality Trial for Officer Concludes in Hung Jury
By NICK MADIGAN


NGLEWOOD, Calif., July 29 — A mistrial was declared today in the case of a police officer who was videotaped last year slamming a 16-year-old onto the trunk of a patrol car. The jury said it was deadlocked, with seven jurors favoring a conviction of the officer, Jeremy Morse, on charges of assaulting the teenager and five voting to acquit.

Officer Morse's former partner, Bijan Darvish, was found not guilty of filing a false police report, which did not mention the slamming of the black man, Donovan Jackson, into the car and instead said simply that he was "assisted to his feet" during his arrest on July 6, 2002, at a service station. Nor did the report say Officer Morse, who is white, punched the handcuffed boy in the face.

As Judge William Hollingsworth of Superior Court in Los Angeles County thanked the jury, a man in the courtroom, Najee Ali, executive director of Project Islamic Hope, could be heard saying, "It's a joke."

Ordered to leave, Mr. Ali said: "Don't worry, I'm leaving. There's no justice in here for our people. There's no justice here."

Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for District Attorney Steve Cooley, said that she and her colleagues were "disappointed the jurors did not see the same crime that we did." Ms. Gibbons said that the case would be reviewed to see whether another trial was warranted and that a decision would be made by September.

Mr. Jackson's case raised passions inflamed by incidents of excessive force by law enforcement officers, the most notorious being the beating of Rodney G. King in 1991, which led to riots in 1992, when four officers were acquitted in the case.

Today, in an effort to prevent disturbances, dozens of volunteers who had spent months training for conflict mediation, walked around neighborhoods here advocating calm and inviting residents to a prayer vigil at City Hall.

Hours after the verdict, the city streets were quiet.

"We realize that it's calm, but we have to be careful," said Lt. Mike McBride of the police. "We believe we have a sufficient number of people to handle any situation that might arise."

This afternoon outside the courthouse just south of Los Angeles International Airport and less than two miles from the Inglewood's city line, dozens of people gathered to hear the verdict, which rippled through the crowd in a crescendo of voices.

"I'm very upset about that," said Morris Griffin, 48, an Inglewood resident for 26 years. "It tells me that we have a bunch of jury cop lovers who refuse to observe the videotape. It's ridiculous. It's totally ridiculous.

"What they're telling us is that what we saw on the videotape they didn't actually see."

Mr. Griffin called Officer Darvish's not guilty verdict "an insult to our intelligence."

In the trial, which ran just over a week, defense lawyers said that Mr. Jackson had grabbed Officer Morse's testicles and had resisted arrest, although the tape that millions of view saw showed the 136-pound Mr. Jackson limp and motionless as he was heaved in the air and smacked on the patrol car. The punch followed as another officer helped Officer Morse hold the boy.

Mr. Jackson testified that he had passed out while being choked and beaten with a flashlight and batons and that he recalled grabbing only the officer's shirt. Mr. Jackson's family has filed a civil suit against the City of Inglewood, four officers, Los Angeles County and three sheriff's deputies.

Mr. Jackson, looking solemn, appeared before reporters after the court hearing but said nothing. He left talking to his lawyer in the civil case, Cameron Stewart, who said she and Mr. Jackson were disappointed in the outcome of the trial.

"We do think this was a case of excessive force," Ms. Stewart said. "We hope that the next time around the cause of justice will be served."

The incident led to an internal affairs investigation of several officers and resulted in the firing of Officer Morse, a three-year veteran of the force who was charged with assault under the color of authority. He and Officer Darvish could have been sentenced to up to three years in prison if found guilty.

In the trial, when Mr. Jackson, now 17, took the stand, he said he became frightened when he saw the officers questioning his father, Coby Chavis, whose car had an expired license plate. He said the officers "started rushing me and started hitting me." He could not explain why they might have done so, and did not remember being slammed on the patrol car or being punched in the face, saying he was not awake when that happened.

Mr. Jackson testified that he then regained consciousness and heard Officer Morse threatening to break his nose. When asked whether the officer said anything else, Mr. Jackson replied, "He said it's his world."

[clinthopson]

LA-LA land , the home of uncomprehensible jury verdicts.

But at least this time there was no riot.

[Ron Thorne]

I was absolutely stunned when I saw the news report yesterday. It was alleged by many that the prosecution "blew it", though they didn't elaborate as to how.

I'm trying to figure out how any five people who saw the same video tape seen around the world by millions could possibly have felt that there was not excessive force, even brutality displayed by police officers.

Incredible is right, Uli!

Allegedly there are other video tapes shot from different angles. Which of course begs a whole host of questions.

I guess the officer's main defense was that the 'victim' grabbed his balls. While I would consider this a major no-no, I still can't really say that it warranted the response.

But I'm no cop, and I wasn't there.

[willy]

"I guess the officer's main defense was that the 'victim' grabbed his balls. While I would consider this a major no-no, I still can't really say that it warranted the response. "


What would YOU do if some guy grabbed your balls?

[Uli]

Originally posted by Scott Dolan
I guess the officer's main defense was that the 'victim' grabbed his balls. While I would consider this a major no-no, I still can't really say that it warranted the response.

It's certainly no defense for the blow to the head after the kid was handcuffed.

Originally posted by Uli
It's certainly no defense for the blow to the head after the kid was handcuffed.

Agreed. The cop clearly needs lessons on violence management.
After the asshole grabbed his balls, the cop should have simply whacked said asshole to the back of the head while slamming him into the car; making it look like one motion. Then handcuffed him.

[Dennis Gonzalez]

Originally posted by Scott Dolan

I guess the officer's main defense was that the 'victim' grabbed his balls.

Looks to me like none of the cops had balls.

[GoodSpeak]

Originally posted by willy
"I guess the officer's main defense was that the 'victim' grabbed his balls. While I would consider this a major no-no, I still can't really say that it warranted the response. "


What would YOU do if some guy grabbed your balls?

I'd punch him in the face.

On this point, Willy, we can agree.

[Ron Thorne]

Dennis said it for me, too!