The LEO thread

[O Really]

How many times have you been shot through the heart Verde?

People who live in NYC are not outwardly polite to strangers on the street, but behave very well among friends and colleagues.

Friggin' Yankees in general are not outwardly polite to anybody, on the street or off. Behave well among friends and colleagues? Bullshit.
They'd just as soon smack the piss out of you and rob you as to look at you. After you've received a good dose of mf this and mf that, that is.

No surprise that you would only have personal knowledge of illiterate low-lifes.

[homerfobe]

No surprise that you would only have personal knowledge of illiterate low-lifes.

I have known you a while haven't I? And I'm guessing you're a Yankee.

I've been all over the world, and yes I have met my share of illiterate lowlifes. Now they want to marry each other.

[O Really]

No surprise that you would only have personal knowledge of illiterate low-lifes.

I have known you a while haven't I? And I'm guessing you're a Yankee.

I've been all over the world, and yes I have met my share of illiterate lowlifes. Now they want to marry each other.

A better guess would be that I am a US citizen, resident over time of 9 states, Greece, England, and Canada. Paternal ancestors were out in the Northwest when the "Wah of Nathern Aggression" occurred, somewhere between Washington, that wasn't a state, and Canada, that didn't care. Maternal ancestors were still in England, since that side of my immediate family didn't arrive in the US til around WWII. If you want to call that personal history a "Yankee," fine. It's not like the term is offensive to anybody but Red Sox fans and rednecks.

But to Mr.B's original point, grouping people into "Northerners" and "Southerners" in terms of behaviour is totally stupid and ignorant of reality. There are nice people everywhere, and there are assholes everywhere, too.

[O Really]

Chief: Duncan officer fatally shoots woman who put patrol car into drive

What's the justification for deadly force?

Unfortunately, that concept has left the building.

[neoplacebo]

Was at Fuddrucker's in Asheville for lunch a couple of days ago, and at the next table was the sheriff and several of his assigns. They all had on uniforms and guns; nobody got shot while I was there. I resisted the urge to ask the sheriff if he wanted to buy some heroin, but I wasn't sure if that would be against the law. Good burger.

[O Really]

Possibly just playing my favorite role of Republican's Advocate, but what possible relevance would testimony of a parent of a deceased adult have to sentencing? Are, or should, sentences be determined by vote of the relatives? It it legally relevant if the father "forgives" the killer? Or if he supports or does not support legal killing by the government? The trial phase is over. The conviction was won. There are no more facts to consider, only the decision of guilty and the range and limitations of the judge. OK, maybe I'm not playing Republican's Advocate. Should the judge actually listen to the family of the victim in determining a sentence, absent a situation where a short sentence might put them in danger when the evil-doer is released?

[neoplacebo]

Possibly just playing my favorite role of Republican's Advocate, but what possible relevance would testimony of a parent of a deceased adult have to sentencing? Are, or should, sentences be determined by vote of the relatives? It it legally relevant if the father "forgives" the killer? Or if he supports or does not support legal killing by the government? The trial phase is over. The conviction was won. There are no more facts to consider, only the decision of guilty and the range and limitations of the judge. OK, maybe I'm not playing Republican's Advocate. Should the judge actually listen to the family of the victim in determining a sentence, absent a situation where a short sentence might put them in danger when the evil-doer is released?

I would imagine it's provided for in state statutes; a holdover from the frontier justice days....just a thought. Probably some religious relevance thrown in as well.

[O Really]

Here's more... http://www.theatlantic.com/national/arc ... ls/283345/

and more... (official guidelines).. http://www.justice.gov/olp/pdf/ag_guidelines2012.pdf

[O Really]

I could see a case being made for not allowing any victims or their families to testify at sentencing though we know that will never, ever happen. What I find obscene is a prosecutor trying to block family testimony because it doesn't fit his agenda. I would never call for banning just pro-death penalty families.

I'm thinking his nefarious "agenda" is to prosecute defendants to the extent of the law. He made a decision early on to pursue a legal government killing, and he won a conviction on that plan. I don't know if he has legal grounds to object to the family testimony, why wouldn't he do so? Turns out, there is more to the story.
Convict Montour was serving a life sentence for killing his own infant daughter. Montour originally pleaded guilty in Autobee’s murder and was sentenced to death by a judge. That sentence was overturned and a new trial ordered.

Autobee offered to plead guilty in exchange for a second sentence of life without parole. The prosecutor, Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler, turned down the deal and sought the death penalty.

It's unclear as to Brauchler's objection. Colorado law states "[t]he victim of any crime or a relative of the victim, if the victim has died, has the right to attend all sentencing proceedings resulting from a conviction of said crime under any laws of this state." "Attend" isn't the same as "testify," but it does give some standing to victims' families.

Maybe it would have been reasonable for Brauchler to accept Montour's offer for another guilty plea in exchange to life, but it's not reasonable for Brauchler to roll over or not try to avoid having testimony allowed that might hand him his ass and gain him major criticism from those he works for because of the waste of money. Sorta like the guy who killed Shawn Blanton. Offered to plead guilty, got rejected, and the state lost on the death penalty. Would have been better to accept the deal.

[neoplacebo]

Saw a story on WLOS tonight where a homeowner stood his ground when two guys busted down his door; he thinks he hit one of them with his pistole, so the sheriff has one suspect in semi custody(he's at the hospital) but the other is apparently still loose. No charges for the homeowner. I say good job.

[O Really]

Saw a story on WLOS tonight where a homeowner stood his ground when two guys busted down his door; he thinks he hit one of them with his pistole, so the sheriff has one suspect in semi custody(he's at the hospital) but the other is apparently still loose. No charges for the homeowner. I say good job.

Not to argue over nits, picked or not, but that's not "stand your ground." That's the old, and generally reasonable, "castle doctrine." If you're in your house and somebody breaks in - or even if you let them in and they become dangerous, you can shoot them. Used to be people would say "if you shoot them in the yard, drag them into the house." You also could only shoot them in the front (of their body). If you shot them in the back, it would be assumed they were leaving, and no longer a threat to you. But "stand your ground" applies outside your own house or car, pretty much anywhere you have "a legal right to be," and requires no duty to try to get away from your attacker and - at least apparently in Florida - you can shoot them even if you started the argument, and can shoot them even in the back if you wuz sufficiently skeered.

Otherwise, I agree with you - good job. Bad shooting, but good job defending his home.

[O Really]

http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/sc-sh ... s-watching
Your SC tax dollars at work. (Story is about of of the several SC sheriffs indicted for general "Dukey Hazzardous" behaviour.)

[neoplacebo]

Typical; cop fear(which is only spoken about in court proceedings) as long as you believe in it, is like religion. You have to believe in it and occasionally be fervent about it or it just doesn't work.

[rstrong]

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department killed a man earlier this week, mistaking him for an armed assailant.

He was a production assistant on the Comedy Central show Tosh.0.

[rstrong]

[O Really]

Another cop skeered of a dog - that was running away from him.
http://news.yahoo.com/texas-deputy-sack ... 43378.html

[rstrong]

John Pike, the storm trooper thug who pepper-sprayed passive UC Davis students, got $38,000 in workers' compensation payments because the people's reaction hurt his feelings. (In addition to getting $80K in paid vacation and costing UC Davis well over $1 million.)

It's a good thing that none of the students Pike attacked were smoking. We'd paying him a whole lot more for the additional trauma.

[rstrong]

I expect Pike got transferred to UC Berkeley. They hire torturers and war criminals, so a psychotic storm trooper should fit right in.

[Boatrocker]

I guess they didn't see the guy taking pics, or they might've confiscated his camera/phone or even arrested him. Without pics, this would've been he-said-cop-said, and we know who wins those.

[Boatrocker]

Haven't found a piece yet with such details, but I'd like to know. I would say it's a fairly rare event for other cops to step up, but who knows? Either way, I'm surprised the photog didn't get popped.