Aug 08, 2019 · Before the trial began, Covington said, the state had offered the defense a plea agreement, as they do in “just about every single case.” Under their offer, Covington said, Thompson would have pleaded guilty in exchange for a maximum sentence of 65 years. Thompson’s defense attorney William Porter instead asked for 60 years.
Nov 24, 2021 · Travis McMichael shot Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, with a shotgun at close range. Bryan filmed the fatal encounter on his cellphone. Only after video footage of the fatal shooting leaked online May 5, 2020, did authorities arrest the trio on felony murder charges. In the video, Arbery jogs down a road as a white pickup truck blocks his path.
Feb 23, 2022 · A jury in Minneapolis is deliberating whether former police officers Tou Thao, 36, J. Alexander Kueng, 28, and Thomas Lane, 38, violated George Floyd's civil …
It didn't match mine; the report, hidden for 15 years, had never been turned over to my lawyers. The investigator later found the names of witnesses and police reports from the murder case that hadn't been turned over either. As a result, the armed robbery conviction was thrown out in 1999, and I was taken off death row.
Part of the problem, according to Schwartz and others, is that it’s also very difficult to successfully sue a police officer for misconduct because the courts have granted them broad protections from legal liability for actions they take on the job.
Of course, prosecution isn’t the only legal route for holding police officers accountable for misconduct. People can also sue if their constitutional rights are violated by police, which includes offenses like use of excessive force.
On Wednesday, a grand jury decided not to charge any Louisville police officers with killing Breonna Taylor earlier this year. One former police officer was indicted for recklessly endangering Taylor’s neighbors, but the other two officers were not charged. As we wrote earlier this summer, it’s actually quite rare for police officers ...
What’s more, there’s no evidence that substantially more police officers are facing charges, despite an uptick in protests against the use of excessive force by police. Many major cities continue to pay out millions of dollars each year to settle lawsuits against police officers, too, often without firing officers who have been repeatedly sued. So even though police misconduct has drawn greater national attention, it’s still really difficult to hold police officers legally accountable for any kind of misconduct — including fatal violence.
Thomas seemed similarly unconcerned about inconsistencies. In his first confession, Antoine said he and McDowell talked on the phone at about 9:35 p.m., and that McDowell came over shortly thereafter and murdered Williams. But according to phone records obtained by McDowell’ s attorney, there was no such call.
on Jan. 24, 2002. A break-in and shooting had been reported. The back door appeared to have been kicked in, according to the police report. A back porch window screen was slashed and the window was open. A single-edge razor blade was found nearby; police suspected it had been used to cut the screen.
The slender 19-year-old says he is nearly 6 feet tall, but he looks smaller. He is serving a life sentence for second-degree murder.
The day after Antoine’s eight-plus hour grilling, police instructed Ennis Morris to bring his son in for a polygraph examination. The father testified that, at the time, he still had not been told that his son had said he watched McDowell murder Williams.
Thompson has no police record. Asked to explain how the residue got into his car, Thompson told Metro Times that his car was unlocked the night of the murder. “The boys could have gotten into it,” he said.
According to an eight-page confession that Thomas said Antoine dictated to him on Feb. 25, 2002, McDowell shot Williams twice. The confession also said that the night before Williams’ murder, she had grounded her son for being out late with McDowell. Though he wasn’t to see McDowell, McDowell came to Antoine’s house that night to collect some CDs, the confession said. When McDowell went into the kitchen, Antoine’s mother asked why he was there and McDowell answered, “To get my CDs.”