Why is it not shocking that the citizen who did this was white…?
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I wonder if the revelations since Ferguson are actually making things worse, as racist, violent police react in the usual way to any threat to their position - with more racism and violence.
In this case the prosecution position looks, to this outsider, like “You’ve got to admit to doing something illegal so it doesn’t appear in the record that you were pulled over for no reason and then went to a well lit area so the police couldn’t shoot you without evidence. So we’ll make up a crime. But you and we know your real crime is being black and being uppity.” It will be interesting to see if any evidence emerges to prove me wrong.
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Dealing with prosecutors? People who’ve figured out how to be professionally vindictive while maintaining the full force of the government behind them? They’ll actively destroy evidence as best they are able. It’s not like they haven’t done that before.
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Headline: Michigan Cop Charges Black Graduate Student With Felony.
Correct Headline: Michigan Prosecutor’s Office Charges Black Graduate Student With Felony.
For the millionth time: Cops do not charge people. They do not file criminal complaints. That is the job of an elected office. You want to hold cops accountable? Fine, I’m all for that. Just remember that if he hadn’t been charged by complicit prosecutors, he would be out and free right now.
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As an American driver, please tell me more about this new technology, this…“turning signaler”.
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If somebody tells you, perhaps you could also inform drivers in the UK. It seems that the bigger the car the less likely to make turn signals.
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I suppose I’m just saying that it isn’t that far to get to a safe spot, and although some kind of citation may be called for, calling it “fleeing and eluding” is silly.
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I really like to see the report of a car driving on the sidewalk. Yeah, this was a bogus stop. The cop was fishing.
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You make an important point: this was not a single level of stupidity. The officer was the first stage, but the state prosecutor’s office choosing to take the case instead of walking away means the problem is much bigger than one precinct.
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I’ve been pulled over A LOT, in the US and outside of it, and those flashing lights still scare the everloving shit out of me. Adrenaline pumping, jerky movements and such, but I’ve learned to expect it and deal appropriately. It helps exponentially that I’m a white guy.
Many moons ago I was pulled over while driving my dad’s rather beat-up cadillac (mid-70s, rusty) around 2am with a friend as a passenger. We’d just finished soaping the fountain at the local shopping center and were ahem headed to another spot to repeat the deed with part of the 3/4-full case of dishsoap behind the driver’s seat.
Cop ran the plates, and accepted my somewhat ridiculous explanation that I worked in construction and needed it to clean up after work (which I actually did), and let me go with a long forgotten warning. Had my skin been any other color, I sincerely doubt the situation would have ended in a similar manner, especially as it occurred in a somewhat rural part of Florida.
That experience, among many others, is what I consider when thinking about privilege and race in America. It’s unacceptable that POC have to even consider the likelihood of being killed (or put into a dangerous situation) due to law enforcement proximity.
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I wish to hell more people would pause and think before just pulling over in a panic when they see police lights. I don’t know how many times I’ve gotten to end of a 10 minute traffic slow-down only to find it was due to some moron not driving 30 seconds further to where there’s a shoulder and instead just stopping within the lane because some (also moronic cop) flashed his lights on him–in rush hour–in a place with no pull off.
Pulling over safely is implied in any statute, whether stated explicitly or not. Period. And an orderly 3 minute drive to get out of a dark area fits the bill in my opinion.
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I saw an item about it on an obscure Korean tech blog. Supposedly they’re going to do a presentation at the next CES to drum up interest in a crowdfunding campaign.
Expect them on a car near you by 2018 at the latest.
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To elect judges and prosecutors shows that a nice idea on paper (yay democracy) has horrible repercussion in practice.
Elected prosecutors in combination with adversarial procedure makes an even worse situation.
Switching to an inquisitorial system like in Japan, Germany or Scotland where the judge and/or prosecutor has to look for incriminating AND exculpatory evidence could dampen the effect. AFAIK the USA already uses an inquisitorial system for misdemeanor charges.
it’s a crime to be Black in America!
https://www.michaelfranti.com/music/songs/crime-be-broke-america
I’m pretty sure the system you describe not used in America in any capacity. To the extent that people who are not facing jail time are not necessarily guaranteed representation (a defense lawyer), I suppose the prosecutor theoretically has a greater ethical responsibility to look for exculpatory evidence, but I wouldn’t say that actually happens. All prosecutors are ethically obligated to pursue justice not just a conviction (in other words, they should not pursue a conviction they know to be false) but in practice I’ve found that most prosecutors take a “you can’t prove a negative” attitude and pursue any charge they can support with any evidence whatsoever, no matter how misguided it might be.
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[quote=“LDoBe, post:38, topic:61182, full:true”]
Huh. I didn’t know it was illegal for cops to patrol in unmarked cars in Washington. I see them do it all the time. The spotlight on top of the driver-side wing mirror is a dead giveaway no matter what they’re driving. [/quote]
I think most of those cars are ex-patrol fleet that have been sold. But if there are officers driving it, or it’s still full of police radio/computer gear, then that’s obviously different… 
Looks like the prosecutor gave in to the pressure and dropped the charges:
I think this guy was smart to resist and not get further into the system by accepting the plea. It’s just too easy to end up unable to get back out.
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Agreed, though, OTOH, a plea is often (infuriatingly enough) a way of getting OUT of the system.
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BMWs and taxis. Grrrr.
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