Discussion: Felony Drug Case Dismissed After Ferguson Police Officer A No-Show

TPM Article Topics
21

Well, it was some really good shit, man, and his buddies on the force appreciated it!

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22

Getting OT here but what’s to stop them from doing that? Are there actually any penalties for cops harassing innocent people with unnecessary searches? (I mean on paper, I know that in reality there aren’t any consequences for cops doing anything, not for the cops anyway). Is the only repercussion they face that the evidence won’t be admissible? Is there anything to deter them from unnecessarily searching innocent people?

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23

Wow. In my working class mixed ethnicity Brooklyn neighborhood people smoke dope in cars and walking down the street and on front steps and anywhere else all the time with no apparent fear of being thrown to the ground by the police. My experience is that when you smoke it doesn’t seem like it smells like much, but the odor can actually be easily detected in the air without trying from 100 feet away, and I detect it often.

24

Thanks for playing journalist. “The case, involving a marijuana possession charge” got him a commendation? For what? Thought that was part of his job - to serve and protect.

25

Well he probably was planning on showing up when it was just a small time case where none of his buddies in the legal system would think twice about his victim’s story of excessive force. Now that the whole country is watching and with a less forgiving eye, of course he’s not going to have all that out for the public to see.

26

You say “Wilson is the officer who allegedly shot and killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown back in August in Ferguson, Mo.” I thought it was established fact that he shot Brown. What is alleged are the circumstances.

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27

Does he have to give back the award now??

28

The Brown supporters are threatening to kill him.

29

Speed trials are impossible due to a lack of prosecutors
, crime labs, judges etc.

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30

“Wilson is the officer who allegedly shot and killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown back in August in Ferguson, Mo.”

Allegedly? Seems like TPM has joined the conspiracy bandwagon.

31

Of course his efforts were extraordinary: he didn’t shoot 'em. That took a lot of effort.

32

And then there’s that ebola going around…

33

“Wilson is the officer who allegedly shot and killed unarmed black teenager”

Umm, one can debate whether or not the shooting was justified, but Wilson shooting Brown is not “alleged”, it’s “reality”. Even he says he did.

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34

Guess you are not too familiar with our Court system?

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35

Said in jest, I assume.

36

“Five criminal cases have been dismissed because the primary witness — the cop who shot unarmed teen Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri — didn’t show up to court, prosecutors said Monday. Officer Darren Wilson “wasn’t available,” said Ed Magee, a spokesman for the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney. He said prosecutors would not take any action against Wilson, who has not been seen publicly since the Aug. 9 shooting that sparked weeks of unrest. “We don’t get people in trouble for not showing up for court,” he said.”
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/five-cases-dismissed-because-ferguson-officer-darren-wilson-was-no-n234996

Yet that is exactly what the municipal courts do when “regular” people don’t show up in municipal courts in St Louis County. "Thomas Harvey, another of the three co-founders of ArchCity Defenders. “These are people who make the same mistakes you or I do — speeding, not wearing a seatbelt, forgetting to get your car inspected on time. The difference is that they don’t have the money to pay the fines. Or they have kids, or jobs that don’t allow them to take time off for two or three court appearances. When you can’t pay the fines, you get fined for that, too. And when you can’t get to court, you get an arrest warrant.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/09/03/how-st-louis-county-missouri-profits-from-poverty/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/10/16/why-we-need-to-fix-st-louis/

37

It’s a complicated subject, but if you can prove that a cop flat out lied or framed you a civil action for damages under 42 USC 1983 is possible. Difficult to prove and cops have a qualified immunity that means they win if the illegality of the conduct was not clear at the time, but it does happen.

38

“Did you investigate to find the source of this odor, officer? Did you ‘follow your nose’?”

39

Wilson, Darren Wilson, helloooo, calling Mr. Wilson, come out come out wherever you are,
Darren Wilson, alleged cold-blooded murderer, racist pig asshole, cowardly fuck.

40

I’m almost to the point where I ask what an officer’s award is covering up. A lot of times they award or promote an officer after an incident to muddy the waters in a civil suit.