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Finally

"Cleveland Judge Finds Probable Cause to Charge Officers in Tamir Rice Death



Video A timeline of what happened after Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy, was killed by a police officer in Cleveland last November.
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA and MITCH SMITH
JUNE 11, 2015


A judge in Cleveland ruled Thursday that probable cause existed to charge two Cleveland police officers in the death of a 12-year-old boy, Tamir Rice, but the judge also said he did not have the power to order arrests without a complaint being filed by a prosecutor.

In his ruling, Judge Ronald B. Adrine, presiding judge of the Municipal Court, found probable cause to charge Officer Timothy Loehmann, who fired the fatal shot, with murder, involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide and dereliction of duty. He also found probable cause to charge Officer Loehmann’s partner, Officer Frank Garmback, with negligent homicide and dereliction of duty.

“This court determines that complaints should be filed by the prosecutor of the City of Cleveland and/or the Cuyahoga County prosecutor,” Judge Adrine wrote.

The shooting of Tamir last Nov. 22 was one of a series of killings of unarmed black males by police officers around the country that have prompted widespread protests and calls for reform in race relations and the use of force by officers. The county prosecutor, Timothy J. McGinty, has been handling the case, and although Judge Adrine’s ruling is not binding, it puts added pressure on Mr. McGinty in a closely scrutinized case.


Supporters of Tamir Rice outside Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on Tuesday before Game 3 of the N.B.A. Finals.
KEN BLAZE / USA TODAY SPORTS, VIA REUTERS
Mr. McGinty released a terse statement indicating that he would not be rushed into filing a criminal complaint.

“This case, as with all other fatal use-of-deadly-force cases involving law enforcement officers, will go to the grand jury,” he said. “That has been the policy of this office since I was elected. Ultimately, the grand jury decides whether police officers are charged or not charged.”

In a statement, a city spokesman, Daniel Williams, said city prosecutors would leave the case to Mr. McGinty to “review and to determine whether charges will be issued.”

This week, a group of activists and community leaders asked the court to have the officers arrested under an Ohio law that allows “a private citizen having knowledge of the facts” to start the process by filing an affidavit with a court. They argued that the widely seen video of an officer killing Tamir had given nearly everyone “knowledge of the facts.”

The Ohio law, in effect in various forms since 1960, is unusual and rarely invoked, and lawyers have disagreed about what might be achieved by using it.

Walter Madison, a lawyer for Tamir’s family and one of the people petitioning the court, called Thursday’s result a victory. “The people made the system work for them,” he said. “The onus now is on the government to act, and I don’t think a prosecutor’s office is going to defy a court.”

But Henry Hilow, the lawyer for Officer Loehmann, said the ruling should have no effect on the process. “We’re not going to get caught up in the rhetoric of individuals who do not have firsthand knowledge of what took place that day and have not been privy to any of the investigation that’s been done,” Mr. Hilow said.

Ric Simmons, an Ohio State University law professor, said that Thursday’s findings did not change the fact that prosecutors would decide the next steps. “All it does essentially is put pressure on the county prosecutor,” he said.


A memorial to Tamir Rice at Cudell Recreational Center in Cleveland, where he was shot and killed by the police.
TY WRIGHT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
The petitioners argued that the statute allowed ordinary citizens to bypass the police and prosecutors; if they showed probable cause that a crime had been committed, they said, then the court had no choice but to order the officers arrested. Some legal experts said the wording was not so clear.

Judge Adrine said there was a conflict between the law and rules laid down by the Ohio Supreme Court, so he could not issue warrants without a prosecutor’s complaint.

The Cuyahoga County sheriff’s office conducted a five-month investigation and handed its findings to Mr. McGinty’s office early this month, but they have not been made public, and Mr. McGinty said his office still had investigating of its own to do. Eventually, his office said, prosecutors will take the case to a grand jury, which will decide whether to issue indictments. But no one could say how long that would take.

That, the petitioners said, was the problem; they argued that if the people involved had not been wearing uniforms, they would have been arrested long ago. Yet nearly seven months after Tamir died, no decision has been made.

“The video in question in this case is notorious and hard to watch,” Judge Adrine wrote in his order. “After viewing it several times, this court is still thunderstruck by how quickly this event turned deadly,” he wrote, adding that Officer Loehmann fired his gun before the car he was riding in had even come to a stop.

On the day he was shot, Tamir was playing in a Cleveland park, brandishing a lifelike, airsoft-style gun, which fired plastic pellets. A 911 caller reported his behavior to the police, but emphasized that the gun was probably not real, and that the person holding it was probably a minor. That information was not conveyed to the responding officers.

In the video, taken by a surveillance camera, a police car with Officer Garmback at the wheel drives onto the grass and stops a few feet from Tamir. Though image quality is poor, Judge Adrine wrote, “it does not appear to show him making any furtive movement prior to, or at, the moment he is shot.”

The police officer in the passenger seat, Officer Loehmann, 26, steps out and immediately fires twice, hitting the boy once in the torso.

Tamir’s 14-year-old sister tries to run to him, but the officers force her to the ground, handcuff her and put her in their car, and then stand beside Tamir. For at least four minutes, no one tries to provide first aid. An ambulance arrives almost eight minutes after Tamir is shot."

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/06/1...charge-officers-in-tamir-rice-death.html&_r=0

 

This is disturbing on so many levels, but I'm glad she put her first hand account out there.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/post...nto-my-own-apartment-nineteen-cops-showed-up/

 

I just read about that a couple days ago, hadn't heard of it before. It's genuinely frightening, because they actively tried to hide this, from allegedly taking Burger King's security taped and editing them, to not releasing the dash cam video for a year (after a crucial re-election period for someone this might have affected (effected? dammit)). I hope that officer gets what he deserves. Not to make light of this at all, but this brought to mind Dave Chappelle's joke about black people being killed by police and then having crack sprinkled on them. It's an example to the extreme, but it speaks to cover ups.

 

Chicago is a lawless wasteland.

 

Warning: Language



@John3:16 posted this on Facebook

This video is a great example of why you can't just pick a side in the Police Vs. Black Lives Matter argument, and support it no matter what, like you would support a sports team, is stupid. While I think Black Lives Matter is correct and needed to address how often police attack and kill black people, more than others, it doesn't give anyone a green light to do and say whatever they want and verbally assault an officer. This officer didn't do anything wrong as far as these people know, so you're just being a d**** in treating him like that.

Unfortunately some people don't know how to keep protest of any topic in perspective.

 

^^^ perfect words. Agree 100%.

 

This is a problem. The people you serve pay your salary. You need to care about their opinion. IMO, their is a deep seeded mistrust of the police by minorities, specifically black people. When I get pulled over, I'm thinking of the fine I'm gonna have to pay for speeding and hoping to get let off with a warning. A black person is hoping to get out alive. This may sound ridiculous and without merit, but look back at history and it's not that far fetched.

 

I don't understand why it's so hard to accept this as true. If 1 out of 100 people are complete a*******, why would 1 out of ever 100 police officers be any different? Whatever percentage of the general public you think are a*******, why would the police be exempt?

 

Dave -- I've voiced opinions on both sides of the issue. In Ferguson, I believe the police. NY, I side with the victim. Chicago I side with victim. Baltimore I'm waiting for more info.

And I agree the media had an agenda. Did you hear about the 17 white guys who burned the black girl alive? No, you didn't, because really, the girl was white and the guys were black. So I'm not blind to the agenda of the media as they try to divide us.

Barns video has merit though. Drugs were introduced to the inner cities (Oakland and LA) for one purpose -- destroy blacks. That's not opinion or media agenda. That's fact.