News from Atlanta

[Wheeler]

Another interesting note to this story is that she had a revolver, and put rounds in three of the "cops" before they killed her.

Wheeler

 

[Lupinus]

A jailed cop...you know what's going to happen in the big house.

Yes I do, and it makes me smile. I just hope the prison he is sent to has a ban on vaseline.

Every cop involved here needs to eb thrown in jail, you screw up on the job and you need to be held accountable. Killing someone due to your total stupidity is a crime, shouldn't matter that you are a cop.

 

[TCB in TN]

What happened in Atlanta seems pretty obvious now. These cops bust a drug dealer and either for profit or revenge gives up this old lady as having a pound of Cocaine.

The dealer’s profit motive is easy to see. We know the old lady had Marijuana, maybe this dealer sold it to her and though he would get a deal from the cops by rolling over on someone else.

However I question that motive because he knew at the end of the day she did not have a kilo of coke. So I think his real motive was revenge, either against the old lady or the cops. As a dealer, he would have had to know how the cops would react to the 1-kilo-of-coke bait. My only question is was his lie aimed at the old lady, or at the cops and what he figured they would do to an old lady? Did the dealer know the old lady had a gun? It sounds like the old gag of telephoning someone everyday and calling him a jerk. Then arranging for the *jerk* to come to your house at the same time another nemesis of yours coming over, then calling the cops . . .

As I understand it, one kilo of Coke is a very large bust and would be a tremendous feather in a cop’s cap. So the dealer sets the cops up with their own greed, and the cops decide they want the bust enough to lie to the judge, insuring a warrant is issued.

To me this is the key element of the crime. The cops must not have believed they could get a warrant with just the word of a drug dealer, so they embellished the story to be sure and get one. There are constitutional reasons why probable cause has to be shown.

Had the old lady been unarmed, nobody ever would have known the truth. They would have trashed the woman’s house, scared her to death, found her stash of Marijuana, and declared victory.

The lying to get a warrant was premeditated and in my mind clearly done for personal gain. This is no different than any other premeditated felony which results in murder.

That is a very good point, they fabricated evidence, that led to a raid that led to the ladies death. In any event they should be held accountable.

There was a load of shoddy police work done in this case, and even if they had not lied, their lack of due dilligence should warrent in the very least a negligent homicide (or similar) charge. Let's say there was really a kilo of coke somewhere, and they just got the wrong address. Would they be any less guilty of a crime? Were that the case and they didn't verify the address etc. then they still should be held accountable.

 

[Kindrox]

Police apparently were led to the house that day by an alleged small-time dealer who was arrested nearby on drug charges.

According to a report by Tesler, the suspect "wanted to take us to a house that had a kilo of cocaine. [He] directed us to 933 Neal Street N.W. where a buy of crack cocaine was later made and a search warrant drawn up for that location."

This dealer must have a history with the woman and maybe those cops. I think we can assume the dealer would have known another criminal to turn in and save his own skin, but he turns in this lady who lives nearby. I bet you anything this dealer was a known neighborhood crack house and I bet this lady was a pain in his neck.

And he set up a brilliant master plan because she is dead and I bet he gets immunity for his crime to help nail these cops. The underlying scheme is a concern voiced by some people on this board. .gov can make it really easy to rat out and wreck the lives of innocent people.

 

[Erinyes]

Erinyes, no, the feds, with unlimited resources and the power of federal criminal law, can do far more damage than the state of Georgia not only to that particular officer but the entire crew that did the hit on the house and the department. The Fulton County DA is stepping in front of the feds to limit the number of officers who go to prison.

Do more damage and possibly send more to prison, maybe. But do more to the cops charged with what amounts to a capital crime, I don't see how. GA felony murder charges carry a longer prison term than deprivation of civil rights charges.

 

[Liberal Gun Nut]

This dealer must have a history with the woman and maybe those cops. I think we can assume the dealer would have known another criminal to turn in and save his own skin, but he turns in this lady who lives nearby. I

You're way over-thinking it. These guys don't think straight. He may have just pointed to her house for any number of reasons or no reason at all. This isn't a great analogy, but remember that guy that confessed to Jon Benet's murder, and then they figured out that he was just nuts? Criminals can be like that. Why would this guy confess to a serious murder that he had nothing to do with? Whatever. And here we have a small-time drug dealer. If you think you can figure out logic behind what he does in something like this you're wrong.

 

[ConstitutionCowboy]

Not To Be Persnickety

From the original post....felony murder charges....

Is there a class of murder that isn't a felony?

Seriously, I'm glad these charges are being brought against those involved in this killing. No matter what label is placed on it, or any extenuating circumstances surrounding this killing, killing Kathryn Johnston was inexcusable.

One question: Did the officers sent to arrest the alleged drug dealer have a clue what he looked like? They had to look at Kathryn to see to shoot her. Seems they would have been able to see the difference between a youngish male and an old woman.

I assume that will come out in court...

Woody

Look at your rights and freedoms as what would be required to survive and be free as if there were no government. Governments come and go, but your rights live on. If you wish to survive government, you must protect with jealous resolve all the powers that come with your rights - especially with the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. Without the power of those arms, you will perish with that government - or at its hand. B.E. Wood

 

[Deanimator]

From the original post....felony murder charges....

Is there a class of murder that isn't a felony?

That is a specific legal term of which you are apparently unaware.

"Felony murder" is murder in which you do not directly act to cause the death, but your actions are a proximate cause.

Hypothetical example:

You rob a liquor store with your buddy. The owner shoots and kills your buddy. Your actions (the robbery) are a proximate cause of his death, even though you didn't point a gun at him.

Real life example:

Back in the '80s, a guy in Chicago decided he'd buy his girlfriend some dope for Christmas (I didn't say he was a SMART guy.).

He wanders down to the neighborhood drug house and orders up a bag of grass.

While our hero is waiting for his dope, the Chicago PD bust in through the front door on a raid. He hides under a table, taking no further substantive action of ANY sort.

Fleeing the police, the proprietor of the drug house runs toward the back door. Just as he gets there, the police bust down the back door.

The second set of cops chase him back toward the front. Cops A and Cops B meet in the middle of the drug house, where one cop accidentally shoots and kills another cop.

The proprietor and our hero are arrested. At some point the proprietor cuts a deal with the State's Attorney. Our hero is indicted for Felony Murder, since according to Chicago thought processes, a guy hiding under a table after ordering some dope is the proximate cause of one cop shooting another while chasing a third party.

Our hero is convicted and SENTENCED TO DEATH.

Sleazy Republican governor Ryan commutes our hero's sentence to (I believe) life without parole.

Thus we see that "Felony Murder" is a distinct legal concept, not a rhetorical flourish of some sort.

 

[ConstitutionCowboy]

Deanimator

Thanks. I'm aware of the concept, but I've never heard it called that. It certainly makes sense, though. I've always heard it referred to as "Murder During the Commission of a Felony".

I see a problem with this charge, though. If these guys don't get convicted of a felony in this matter, they are off scot-free. The prosecution must prove the actions of the officers(the raid) constitute a felony.

This case could also include the judge who issued the warrant, the informant, any supervisors, and anyone else privy to the raid.

Woody

"The power of those in government to use common sense shall not be infringed. It is imperative, however, to elect people to those positions of power who possess common sense. Remember that at the next election." B.E.Wood

 

[Deanimator]

I see a problem with this charge, though. If these guys don't get convicted of a felony in this matter, they are off scot-free. The prosecution must prove the actions of the officers(the raid) constitute a felony.

You would THINK that providing false evidence for a warrant would be a felony, as should be suborning a false official statement/perjury from the informant.

Of course given that absent a valid warrant, they had no legal basis to be in the woman's house, we've possibly got breaking and entering, assault, battery, manslaughter, second degree murder, menacing, etc., etc., etc.

But then the last time I was in Georgia was IOBC and Airborne School at Fort Benning in '80, with absolutely no contact with the civilian authorities.