http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/nation_world/20070904_ap_murdercharge41yearsaftershooting.html

The guy already served 15 years for the shooting and now they want to charge him with murder? I think
the DA is grasping for straws here. they have to prove that there was no other way the officer who was
shot could have gotten the infection. I feel the only reason Lynne Abraham, the Philadelphia DA, is going for
a murder charge because it was a police officer who was shot.

http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/nation_world/20070904_ap_murdercharge41yearsaftershooting.html

The guy already served 15 years for the shooting and now they want to charge him with murder? I think
the DA is grasping for straws here. they have to prove that there was no other way the officer who was
shot could have gotten the infection. I feel the only reason Lynne Abraham, the Philadelphia DA, is going for
a murder charge because it was a police officer who was shot.


Its not all that unusual.  We had a guy near where I live who was a crack dealer and got paralyzed by a guy who shot him in a deal gone bad.

14 years later he bit it.  They then charged the shooter with murder.

My opinion?  Thanks to the shooter there was one more drug dealer off the streets.  They shoulda given him a medal.

I call BS on this one. I know there is no statute of limitations on murder, but this is ridiculous. The shooter is 71 and already served 15 years for attempted murder.

"When you set in motion a chain of events, a perpetrator of a crime is responsible for every single thing that follows from that chain of events no matter how distant," District Attorney Lynne Abraham said Tuesday in announcing the murder charge.

That is the dumbest thing I have heard all year. I don't have the time or energy to rant about this right now, but I will say ideology like Abraham's scares the hell out of me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Abraham said the new charge wasn't filed because Barclay was a police officer or because of any political pressure.

"It's not to please anybody or to make nice on somebody or to do something that somebody wants me to do," the prosecutor said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, he stated why the charges were NOT filed. How about stating why they WERE filed?

I know this cop was 23 when he was shot and paralyzed for life, and that is a truly sad story, but I don't see where bringing up charges now does anything productive. The family already knows who is responsible, and that man served 15 years in prison.

"However, the officer's sister Rosalyn Harrison has said Barnes should serve time for murder, saying her brother had problems for decades after the shooting including pneumonia, bedsores and recurrent infections."

I'm no lawyer, but this seems pretty reasonable to me:

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/murder

"To be murder the victim must die within a year of the attack."

Ant

It's technically not double jeopardy, but it certainly smacks of double jeopardy. 

I don't agree with the decision.

Remember, the punk shot a police officer, and cops' lives are more valuable than other people's lives.


The lesson, however, is DON'T SHOOT PEOPLE!

::)

I'm no lawyer, but this seems pretty reasonable to me:

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/murder

"To be murder the victim must die within a year of the attack."

Ant



Nevertheless that is not the law in the Commonwealth of Pennnsylvania. 

I don't see people here shedding any tears for those guys in Mississippi who have been sent to prison, decades later, for murdering civil rights workers and innocent children.  Note that some of THOSE murderers were also tried (and acquitted) years before.  And some were convicted of lesser charges.  And they are all "old men" now, in the slammer where they belonged all along.

I support the DA's action here, so long as the death can be shown to be the result of the initial shooting, of course.  And the sentence should be offset by the amount of time served.  So he likely should get "life in prison without the possibility of parole, minus 15 years".

 

I don't see people here shedding any tears for those guys in Mississippi who have been sent to prison, decades later, for murdering civil rights workers and innocent children.  Note that some of THOSE murderers were also tried (and acquitted) years before.  And some were convicted of lesser charges.  And they are all "old men" now, in the slammer where they belonged all along.




In those cases it has been proved that there was collusion with the prosecution, sham trials,  to allow the accused to get off, so it is a bit different. 

In any case the prosecution in cases such as these tend to be carefully worded as to allow for future trial, without double jeopardy, should the person die in the future.  It is a slippery slope, I have as much faith in the prosecution as I do in the criminals.  I believe here in Massachusetts that there is a one year limit, if the person dies from injuries sustained within one year they can be prosecuted for murder.

I support the DA's action here, so long as the death can be shown to be the result of the initial shooting, of course.  And the sentence should be offset by the amount of time served.  So he likely should get "life in prison without the possibility of parole, minus 15 years".


This has been the debate here. Can the prosecution show the death was caused by the shooting? The DA is saying because
he was shot it put him in a condition in which infection could occur causing death.

I'm not defending the shooter, and I really feel for the officer and his family but what benefit will it bring to anyone bringing
murder charges at this point. As I stated earlier, the prosecution will have to prove, without a doubt, that the infection could
only have been caused by his injuries. 41 years later and a common infection, I say they have their work cut out for them at
the tax payers expense.

In those cases it has been proved that there was collusion with the prosecution, sham trials,  to allow the accused to get off, so it is a bit different. 



If the same men had killed white police officers....
::)

If the same men had killed white police officers....
::)


On the other hand...  if the the man who killed was a white police officer


Sheriff Lawrence Rainey on trial for "depriving Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, and James Cheney of their Civil Rights" (doesn't look worried, does he?)

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAburning.jpg

On the other hand...  if the the man who killed was a white police officer


Sheriff Lawrence Rainey on trial for "depriving Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, and James Cheney of their Civil Rights" (doesn't look worried, does he?)

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAburning.jpg

http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/14/sign10.gif
I love that photo!  There was an '80s band called "Pig" that used that picture for their album cover!

http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/14/sign10.gif
I love that photo!  There was an '80s band called "Pig" that used that picture for their album cover!


A real kluxxer that guy.  Much to his dismay, this photo helped the civil rights movement enormously after being sent around the world.  He ended up a bitter security guard with grudge, which was better than him being a bitter sheriff with a grudge.

A real kluxxer that guy.  Much to his dismay, this photo helped the civil rights movement enormously after being sent around the world.  He ended up a bitter security guard with grudge, which was better than him being a bitter sheriff with a grudge.


Not even an endorsement deal from Red Man, eh?

Not even an endorsement deal from Red Man, eh?


;D

Sheriff Lawrence Rainey on trial for "depriving Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, and James Cheney of their Civil Rights" (doesn't look worried, does he?)

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAburning.jpg


PIG: Never for Fun (1988, Wax Trax)
This was the record I had with the Sheriff Rainey photo on the back.  PIG was/is a project led by Raymond Watts, a founding member of KMFDM and an old hand in the Industrial music scene.  I traded that record for something else, it was awful.

http://www.raymondwatts.com/pigcds/neverforfun.jpg