GannonFan wrote:travelinman67 wrote:
He received the fatal injury sometime between the second and fifth stop, so, all of the initial arresting officers have been exonerated.
Next, failure to seat belt him in was an act of omission. It will be for the jury to decide whether that act rises to the level of negligence...which will require the jury to weigh if the act is consistent with past practices by the trade (I.e., is it common for prisoners in transport vans to be seatbelted).
Finally, did the transporting officer take reasonable steps to seek medical attention once he determined there was a problem.
Absent evidence of gross negligence, reckless indifference, or malice, there won't be a criminal conviction.
Civil conviction and judgement, sure! But not a criminal conviction.
Please, there will be multiple criminal convictions here. The initial arresting officers haven't been exonerated of anything, the act of omission was a conscious act with the intent to injure, and they've already said they didn't get him medical attention by the time he was hurt (you already said there were stops after he was injured). I'm sure there might be one or two of the officers that do escape conviction, but there will be multiple bad cops going to jail for this, as they should. They put the guy in a situation with the hopes of injuring him, and it went further than they expected and he died. They will do time.
Um, the investigators concluded the fatal injury occurred sometime between the second and fifth stop, and the other arrestee in back has stated Gray was screaming and banging around up to the fourth stop...
...sooo....
...how could the initial arresting bike/foot patrol officers be responsible?
Gray was standing unassisted at the back of the van as he was placed inside...a physical act several doctors have said would have been impossible with the type of fatal injury he sustained.
There are really two relevant issues:
1. Was his injury self-inflicted or caused by vehicle movement?
2. Was the transporting officer's failure to seatbelt Gray an egregious act rising to the level of negligence?
My hip-shot guess is there will only be one officer facing a conviction, if any.
BTW, much of the investigation has been withheld from the press. Leaks indicate Gray fled to the housing project, ditched some form of contraband (drugs/gun), then returned outside to taunt the officers.
Not that this theory would change (justify) the outcome, but like the Michael Brown shooting, the narrative that Gray was some saint indiscriminately harassed and abused by police, is a myth.