<p>saintfan, thanks for completing my Christmas shopping list. :)</p>
<p>LW, I think that’s ultimately the best solution. Hopefully the idea will spread.</p>
<p>Thus far, we have no comment from Governor Cuomo regarding the AG’s proposal. And already some news people have characterized the AG as a grandstander. Well, it’s no secret the AG is good at self-promotion but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a good idea. A point of information; the plan would allow for a special prosecutor in all cases where the police shoot or kill an unarmed citizen.</p>
<p>To be fair to Andrew he is still reviewing the proposal. That being said, he likes to be the one to dictate the solution to everything. </p>
<p>"In a statement, Melissa DeRosa, Mr. Cuomo’s communications director, said the attorney general’s proposal was being reviewed, even as the governor pursued a “broader approach that seeks to ensure equality and fairness in our justice system.”</p>
<p><a href=“New York Attorney General Seeks Powers to Investigate Killings by the Police - The New York Times”>http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/09/nyregion/new-york-attorney-general-seeks-powers-to-investigate-killings-by-the-police.html</a></p>
<p>He may also not want to anger the police, who are sure to be opposed to the idea for obvious reasons. </p>
<p>[In 179 NYPD-involved deaths, only 3 indicted ]( <a href=“EXCLUSIVE: In 179 fatalities involving on-duty NYPD cops in 15 years, only 3 cases led to indictments — and just 1 conviction”>New York City Crime News - New York Daily News)</p>
<p>BTW, of those three, only one was convicted, and even he didn’t do jail time. So they’ll fight tooth and nail to keep the local prosecutor in charge.</p>
<p>Not specific to Ferguson, but on-topic:</p>
<p>[#WhiteCoats4BlackLives:</a> Medical Students Stage Nationwide Protests Against Police Brutality](<a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>#WhiteCoats4BlackLives: Health Care Workers Stage Nationwide Protests Against Police Brutality | HuffPost Voices)</p>
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<p>I’m going to guess that hospitals treat a lot more blacks who were shot by other blacks than by cops since those numbers are something like 20 times more than the 136 police killings in the last year reported. But, no-one cares.</p>
<p>Marie, that is not true. Not only do people care but the problem has been widely written about and reported on the news and has been a huge concern in cities all over the country. </p>
<p>However, that has nothing to do with the problem of cops shooting unarmed black men and boys. They are two completely separate issues. </p>
<p>Did you guys see this? MB assaults and robs an Old Man!</p>
<p><a href=“BREAKING: The REAL Michael Brown They Don’t Want You to See… (SHOCKING VIDEO RELEASE) | The Silent Soldier”>https://lorrab.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2014/12/10/breaking-the-real-michael-brown-they-dont-want-you-to-see-shocking-video-release/</a></p>
<p>Wow, the site in the link above, where the supposed “Mike Brown” video is posted, is really an ugly, racist site. Feel like I need a shower after seeing it…</p>
<p>Oh, BTW, Snopes says that video is proabably false:
1)“The person depicted in the circulating footage does not appear to be nearly as tall as Brown was, by a good margin”
2) The facial features don’t look like Brown’s ( unless you’re from the “all thugs (new code for the N-word,BTW) look alike” camp.
3)“The footage seen here was originally posted to the Internet back in 2012, when Brown was just 16, under original title “only in Woodland City.” (Cities named Woodland exist in the states of California and Washington, but not Missouri. The latter is home to a populated area called Woodland, but it is not a city.) The event depicted in the video occurred on 3 September 2012 or earlier”
Read more at <a href=“Mike Brown Beating Video | Snopes.com”>Mike Brown Beating Video | Snopes.com;
<p>According to Snopes, “Since Brown’s death in August 2014, several rumors have circulated about him that have later been proved entirely false: one involving his supposed arrest record, another claiming that he had gravely injured Officer Darren Wilson, and one displaying a photo of gun-wielding murder suspect Joda Cain that was touted as depicting the “real Mike Brown.”” 
Read more at <a href=“Mike Brown Beating Video | Snopes.com”>Mike Brown Beating Video | Snopes.com;
<p>Sickening.</p>
<p>Then I won’t bother looking at it. From Momcat2’s description it sounds like Stormfront or the like; clearly racist/supremacist drivel. Are you a regular visitor to such sites, Newjersey17?</p>
<p>Nope. The media is reporting it. </p>
<p>
What do you mean by “the media” in this situation? Do you have a link to an actual news site?</p>
<p>I just googled and all that comes up is Youtube of that video (which I didn’t look at) and Snopes.com debunking the video, so I am very curious as to what media is reporting this. </p>
<p>Michael Brown and Eric Garner were both very big guys. Michael Brown attacked a police officer (proven by blood in the patrol car) and was shot dead for it. It was tragic that his body was left on the street for four hours after he was shot.</p>
<p>Eric Garner resisted arrest, and chokehold or not, might not have died if he was not overweight and suffering from various medical conditions. But the tragedy is that he did not get medical care as soon as he was handcuffed.</p>
<p>And also wondering - is there a point where someone is so overweight, and has lung issues, that normal police takedown procedure when someone is resisting arrest, would result in death?</p>
<p>Those caveats being noted - is there some reason that very few cops will go to trial? And is previous behavior, like the NYC PD having to settle because of an incident with strip-searching two guys on a public street involving the cop who did the chokehold, inadmissable in a grand jury hearing?</p>
<p>
The blood proves that the fight started at the car - it does not prove who attacked whom first, or why. Considering that there is conflicting evidence on both sides, it should have gone to trial.</p>
<p>
He certainly would not have died if the police had not intervened, and the medical examiner was quite clear that his health contributed to his death, but was not the cause - the cause was the police take-down. The tragedy is that for the crime of selling loose cigarettes, a young man was gang tackled by six police and restrained until he died. Every time you use techniques like that there is a risk of injury and death - if they are to be used, the crime should warrant that type of arrest.</p>
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Possibly, but it would be highly unlikely, as a person so fragile would hardly be able to resist much. Regardless, I have never heard of such a case.</p>
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There are LOTS of reasons, some good, some bad. </p>
<p>On the good side, it is part of the job of the police to commit acts of violence on behalf of the state, and the imperfection of humanity means that honest mistakes will be made - this calls for latitude, which would explain part of the reason why they don’t get indicted. </p>
<p>On the bad side, there are a lot of prejudices that influence certain types of cases whether people like to admit it or not. There is also a symbiotic relationship between the DA and the police that means the DA usually takes it easy on them, as well as a tendency to assume that cops must be good guys and criminals must deserve whatever happened to them. None of these serve the cause of justice.</p>
<p>Marie, that is not true. Not only do people care but the problem has been widely written about and reported on the news and has been a huge concern in cities all over the country.However, that has nothing to do with the problem of cops shooting unarmed black men and boys. They are two completely separate issues. </p>
<p>Of course, the issues are related. Why do you think the cops are aggressively policing these neighborhoods in the first place? Pretending it’s one sided problem or even some sort of new development is just nonsensical. It’s neither.</p>
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<p>DAs rely heavily on cops every day, to gather evidence and to testify at trial. If cops started getting indicted, they might start dragging their feet about helping prosecutors. So prosecutors see it as a priority to maintain a good relationship with the police force, which means turning a blind eye even when the cops use excessive force.</p>
<p>This is why we MUST have special prosecutors for these cases.</p>
<p>I heard this the other day - forget where - but didn’t want to post because it wasn’t confirmed by any one to my satisfaction. But now the prosecutor has admitted the witness (iirc it’s #40) lied on the stand. </p>
<p>“He made reference to one woman who claimed to have seen the shooting. McCulloch said she “clearly wasn’t present. She recounted a story right out of the newspaper” that backed up Wilson’s version of events, he said. McCulloch did not return messages left with his office by The Associated Press on Friday.”</p>
<p><a href=“http://enews.earthlink.net/article/us?guid=20141219/2be75a43-746b-4814-9af4-a9fe1f267e37”>http://enews.earthlink.net/article/us?guid=20141219/2be75a43-746b-4814-9af4-a9fe1f267e37</a></p>
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<p><a href=“Ferguson prosecutor says witnesses in Darren Wilson case lied under oath | Missouri | The Guardian”>Ferguson prosecutor says witnesses in Darren Wilson case lied under oath | Missouri | The Guardian;
<p>NOW can we all agree that this is why we need jury trials in cases like this??</p>