(Written by an American expat of European descent living in the European Union) While the media is telling us to be patient and wait for all the facts to come in, the simple fact is convicting a killer under Missouri law, if he is a police officer is basically impossible. If the police officer is white and the victim is black it seems to make matters even more difficult..if the defendant claims includes evidence of self defense. The DA must beyond a reasonable doubt disprove any claim of self defense. Under that standard generally speaking under Mo. law is basically impossible to convict cops. So the usually the fix is in, even if the facts are not. Trust me more likely then not, it's all over but the crying. It really is a "MISSION IMPOSSIBLE BASICALLY"!!
As we all know that Ferguson, Missouri is the place that Michael Brown was killed in what is basically a suburb of St. Louis Missouri and it is St. Louis which is the site of the latest killing of yet another young African American male by a white police officer.
So people think killings perpetrated by police have become the default where little or almost no burden of a justified killing is needed in states like Missouri. If that is so, may we ask are American militarized police who look like an occupying army acting as if they are in a state of war on American streets? If so what kind of war is it? As most killers are white policemen and the dead are usually African American, may we not ask is it a race war? A race war coming out of a history of slavery in the St. Louis area. Until we in America come face to face with our history and change the laws in a state like Missouri, the race war will go on where poor people and people of color are killed with what seems like impunity by America's militarized police, who will not even tell the American public how many people they've killed nationwide from a single comprehensive source that is reliable. So while police conduct is a problem, so is the law that enables their conduct to go on, which must be seen through the history of slavery in the St. Louis area. This is pointed out in the German magazine Der Spiegel's article entitled "We're Like Animals To Them': An American City's Daily Racism" which was published shortly after the shooting of Michael Brown.
Spiegel staff got a tour from a man know only as Jurmael. Here is what happened on at tour of Ferguson Mo.
Spiegel quote:The car is now driving past large, old wooden homes with fresh-painted verandas and well-groomed front yards, small oases of order. "Look right up there," Jurmael says as he points to the front door of a house. There's a bronze plaque on the door, as there are at many homes in the area. It notes that a slave owner once lived in the home.........The plaques are not intended as memorials. Instead they appear to reflect the pride some of these homeowners have in their house's history. The neighborhood is the city's Historic District and is a tourist attraction. Even today, though, the district is inhabited exclusively by white people........ In the days leading up to Brown's funeral on Monday, white signs bearing the slogan of a new movement had been posted in the front yards of the former slave-owners' district. They read, "I love Ferguson." On this particular morning, the organizers of the initiative have gathered at the Corner Coffee House. A long line formed at one table with people waiting to buy signs and t-shirts. There's not a single African American in the cafe -- not among the guests or among the service personnel. Only the guy in the kitchen is black. The people gathering here are part of what could be described as the white countermovement.
http://www.spiegel.de/...
Has this quote by Yishai Schwartz reporting on the killing of Michael Brown proven to be a prophetic nightmare come true in the police killing of yet another young black male by white policeman? If we are in a war what kind of war is it? Is it a race war by the militarized police state?
This is basically what Yishai Schwartz reported in the matter of the killing of Michael Brown, a young African American male shot to death by Darren Wilson, a white policeman. So while the plutocratic owned corporatist media is telling us to withhold judgment until all the facts are in, everyone in the know (that is to say everyone who understands the position of Missouri law) already knows before the facts come in that given the position of the law in states like Missouri, it will basically be impossible to obtain a conviction against police. Especially if the victim is an African American male and the killer is a white police person. Therefore may we not reasonably ask, when the media tells us to wait until the facts are in shouldn't we tell the media that we know the fix is in, even if the facts are out and that it's all over but the crying, even before it starts in the racist militarized police state of 2014. According to the German magazine Der Spiegel, the St. Louis area suffers under a history of chattel slavery which continues to make itself felt, even in the 2014 America leading members of the African American community tell European press outlets like Spiegel that "they're treating us like animals".
Convicting Darren Wilson will be basically impossible. You can thank Missouri law for that. New Republic August 20, 2014
By Yishai Schwartz
In this case, a combination of entrenched racial and occupational biases, and most importantly the details of Missouri law, all but ensures that a conviction is off the table.
.........We are supposed to presume guilt, and it is the shooter who must prove that his actions were justified. Unless the shooter is a policeman. And unless the victim is a black male. And unless the shooting happens in a state with self-defense laws like Missouri.
http://www.newrepublic.com/...
The "race war" under Missouri law means Ferguson and St. Louis means that cops that kill barely have to justify the killing.
"We have a word for a situation where killing is the default, where violence is so expected that the burden is no longer on a killer to prove his actions are justified. That word is war. It has no place in suburban St. Louis."
The above quote by Yishai Schwartz reporting on the killing of Michael Brown have proven to be a prophetic nightmare come true in the police killing of yet another young African American male by a white police officer. This was also in the St. Louis area just 3 days ago. Therefore we may view this author's cogent remarks as likewise having application to this most recent tragic killing.
Here is the ugly truth in the mind of many legal scholars in all states today, save Ohio and possible to some extent Louisiana if the defendant claims includes evidence of self defense. The DA must beyond a reasonable doubt disprove any claim of self defense. Under that standard under Mo. law is basically impossible to convict cops. So usually General speaking the fix is in, even if the facts are not. Trust me it's all over but the crying. It really is "MISSION IMPOSSIBLE BASICALLY"!!
New Republic August 20, 2014 - By Yishai Schwartz
In other states, claims of self-defense need to be proven as more likely than not, or in legal speak, to a “preponderance of the evidence.” It’s still the state’s obligation to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that the defendant actually killed the victim. But once that’s established, the prosecution doesn’t also have to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that the killing wasn’t justified. That’s because justifications—like self-defense—require the accused to make an active case, called an “affirmative defense,” that the circumstances were exceptional. The logic here is simple: As a rule, homicide is a crime and justification is reserved for extraordinary cases. Once the state has proven that a defendant did in fact kill someone, it should be the accused's obligation to prove his or her actions were justified.
Not in most states today, including Missouri. INSTEAD, AS LONG AS THERE IS A MODICUM OF EVIDENCE AND REASONABLE PLAUSIBILITY IN SUPPORT OF SELF-DEFENSE CLAIM A COURT MUST ACCEPT THE CLAIM AND ACQUIT THE ACCUSED.
The prosecution must not only prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the crime, but also disprove a defendant’s claim of self-defense to the same high standard......In other words, he only needs to produce some evidence (his own testimony counts) supporting the claim. Once he does so, “any reasonable doubt on the issue requires a finding for the defendant.”
http://www.newrepublic.com/...
To reiterate any prosecutor in Mo. must beyond a reasonable doubt disprove any claim of self defense. If there is any reasonable modicum of evidence as to a plausible case for self defense the court is required to acquit the defendant. Generally speaking the Police will usually say that they felt the victim threatened them in some way,( even if unarmed) and so they had to shoot to protect themselves and the community. Under that standard under Mo. law it is basically impossible to convict cops. A fact exacerbated by racism emanating from the history of slavery in the St Louis area. So usually the fix is in, even if the facts are not. And the fact is basically the only state that has a substantial civil independent review process of police shootings is Wisconsin, which only occurred through the heroic efforts of Mr Michael Bell Senior, who is a retired lieutenant colonel from the United States Air Force. He is the father of Michael Bell Junior who approx 10 years ago was executed in cold blood (though unarmed), right in front of his mother and sister. It is only through the tireless efforts of the Bell family, who have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of their own money, that change in Wisconsin was effectuated. But sadly in the 2014 America,Wisconsin in this regard in America, stands alone in terms of having a civilian review board investigated shooting of police involved homicides.
We must all remember that Dr Martin Luther King was put into prison as an innocent man and in these United States by a racist militarized police force whose legacy lives on in Ferguson, MO, where yet another innocent African American man by the name of Henry Davis was in prison. Even after they found out they had the wrong man, they beat him bloody and then they charged him and fined him $3,000 for bleeding on them. It's hard to believe but it's true. This is our America and we all of us allowed this happen. Now we must take responsibility at the ballot box to stop it because just like Dr King told us, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Spiegel quote: Racist Incidents in Ferguson, Missouri
When asked why so many blacks are stopped by the police on the streets, Fletcher replies that it is unrelated to the color of their skin... He claims the record speaks for itself. To be sure, there isn't much in the official record, but there is plenty of evidence to the contrary. Take the account of Henry Davis. Five years ago, police pulled the 52-year-old African American over one night. They checked his papers and allegedly found there was an arrest warrant against him. At the Ferguson police station, one officer told them that they had picked up the wrong MAN.
Nevertheless, Davis was still forced into a cell by four white policemen. As he lay on the floor, they punched him in the back and in the head........
Henry still sounds furious and distressed when he tells his story today. "They hit us blacks and they kill us blacks," he says. "And they do everything they can to cover it up."............... In Ferguson, officials accused of excessive violence fill out the investigation reports themselves -- so it comes as little surprise that cases like the Davis beating never crossed former mayor Fletcher's desk. The police claimed that Davis had fallen against a wall. Instead of justice, Davis was charged two weeks later with counts of destruction of property, for "knowingly bleeding on their uniforms," and ordered to pay $3,000."I don't believe they would have done this kind of thing to a white man," Davis says today. He says he was incapable of working for a long time and that he still suffers from migraine headaches and memory loss. He continues to challenge the fine he was ordered to pay, but he hasn't had any success so far.
There are no official govt statistics as to how many American citizens police kill annually, that is comprehensive. Though to be clear the exact number is well known to government, to police and the police unions, especially as a matter of accountancy every time a member of the police causes the death of an American, the police union will spend between 25 to $35,000 in legal fees on behalf of the member of the police involved in the killing. So as a matter of straightforward responsible accountancy and bookkeeping the number of persons killed by police in America is very well known by everyone except the American public. Why is that? Who benefits from that? Why as members of the public and voters do we tolerate this lack of accountability from our public servants, who work for us? Please let me invite you to please read.
"No comprehensive, reliable database of police shootings exists" February 19, 2013 Written by Pat Schneider
August 19th 2014 Erin Burnett of CNN speaks with Michael Bell.
"Erin says: There is still no national set of statistics for how many people are killed by police officers."
http://edition.cnn.com/...
American Line of Duty Police Deaths for 2014: 67
Assault: 1
Automobile accident: 15
Fire: 1
Gunfire: 27
Gunfire (Accidental): 1
Heart attack: 8
Motorcycle accident: 2
Struck by vehicle: 3
Vehicle pursuit: 2
Vehicular assault: 7
Link: http://www.odmp.org/...
It's odd and perhaps even ominous that the corporatist plutocrat owned media is telling us to exercise patience until all of the facts are in, in the matter of shooting of a young African American male in suburban St. Louis. So as to coax into exercising calm patience because we must be fair, after all we must wait patiently until the facts are in, when in fact those that already know the law know that the fix is already in Missouri law and in states whose laws are like Missouri, which basically make it impossible for police officers to be successfully prosecuted provided the victim is working class or poor and is often the case is an African American. They're able to act with such impunity that basically they don't even have to bother to tell the American public how many citizens the police are killing through a single reliable data source, yet they're very good about informing the public about every single inline of duty deaths by police, every one of which becomes a media event in newspapers, radio, television and on the internet. Yes, of course we must wait for all the facts to be in about the latest shooting in the matter of a white police officer and a young African American male because we must be fair and we must be patient. We must always be aware that in states like Missouri the fix is in and it will stay in until the voters take ownership of this issue at the ballot box and demand accountability from our government and the police that it hires.
One of the problems that the media never wants to report on is the fact that only 1% of police departments require a four year college degree. This means there are more discipline problems with American police.
FBI.gov - Research estimated that less than 1 percent of all local law enforcement agencies require a 4-year degree. Also in 2014 why would the FBI rely on a 2006 report on it's website?
http://www.fbi.gov/...
Only two states mandate higher education for officers: Minnesota and Wisconsin both require associate’s degrees. Other states require a minimum of a high school diploma or GED. It’s up to the individual agency to meet or exceed that requirement – which many do. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1% of all local police departments require a 4-year college degree; 15% require a 2-year college degree or some college.
http://blog.discoverpolicing.org/...
There are a number of recent studies that provide evidence in support of the fact that police officers that are college graduates tend to have fewer disciplinary problems and tend to resort to force at a lower rate than police officers who are not college graduates. Whereupon it should be noted that 17% of police agencies, particularly in rural areas don't always even require a high school diploma or its equivalent. Clearly it would help professionalism in police agencies to hire better educated police officers.