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Posted on 07/25/2007 7:15:54 AM PDT by stm
NEW ORLEANS — A former police officer accused in the videotaped beating of a man in the French Quarter after Hurricane Katrina was acquitted Tuesday by a judge who heard the case without a jury.
"I didn't even find this a close call," said District Judge Frank Marullo.
Robert Evangelist, 37, had been charged with beating Robert Davis, 66, during an arrest videotaped by an Associated Press Television News crew the night of Oct. 8, 2005, about six weeks after Katrina.
Evangelist, who elected to have his case heard by Marullo without a jury, pleaded not guilty to second-degree battery and false imprisonment. Marullo acquitted him of both counts.
Marullo watched videotapes of the beating and its aftermath and noted that Davis could be seen struggling on the tape for several minutes.
"This event could have ended at any time if the man had put his hands behind his back," the judge said.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I thought this was another Lindsey Lohan thread.
That’s the first thing I thought about too. Scary
In order to avoid unnecessary duplicates, please do not alter article headlines.
Can you fix the headline in accordance with the article’s title? The current one is misleading (I thought it was a Lohan thread, too!) Thank you.
Sorry, that was uncalled for, and I believe a jury would have said so too. I wonder why it was just a judge that saw it and not a full jury, I think that is fishy in itself.
A defendant can waive his right to a jury trial.
Justice New Orleans style. I wonder what it cost Evangelist to get this verdict? I saw the video of this when it first happened. Sure the victim resisted...they were beating the hell out of him.
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do you know what happened just before the camera was turned on? i’m going to guess the cops were instructing him to put his hands behind his back. he was belligerent and non-compliant. and when the cops put his hands on the perp, he struggled. perhaps going for a blade or gun. the cops acted appropriately, imho.
Bottom line: any man is a fool to walk in the midst of New Orleans...either the local criminals will get you or the cops...so why take risks? You can have a better time and be safer, in Vegas.
I know he can, but I can't believe his lawyer wanted to.
Asking “what did I do” while in the process of complying, or trying to clear up a misunderstanding, for some cops is equivalent to being “belligerent and non-compliant.”
no. you go in cuffs for the safety of the officers and yourself. THEN you clear up any “misunderstandings”. police dont usually just walk up to people and tell them to put their hands behind their backs. this guy was doing something dangerous. even if it was simply drunk and disorderly conduct. he needed to be dealt with for the safety of cops and civilians alike.
I don’t see any way to read this but a crooked judge.
My wife and I used to go to New Orleans every year. But with crooked cops beating old people in the streets and crooked judges letting them we are gonna skip at least one more year and maybe never go back.
IIRC the man was neither drunk nor disorderly and from what I saw, one officer on horseback even appeared to attempt to block the view of cameras from the brutal beating the man received.
Judges almost always back cops unless they are border agents :)
so you're saying that the cops simply approached the man, ordered him into custody and then beat him for no reason? seems to me the judge might have an issue with that.
people need to realize just how quickly something like this can go really bad. other drunks can get into the mob mentality very quickly and turn on the cops.
Three fourths of everyone in NOLA are in someone’s pocket.
I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree.
Based on the footage I saw, had I been a witness, I would have testified to police brutality.
but my point is you have only seen the video! what happened 10 seconds BEFORE the video was turned on? what if the perp had reached in his waistband? or simply lunged at the cops? no one ever sees these kinds of interactions from soup to nuts. and that is the problem. you only see the police action and the “helpless” victim. obviously, the judge got the whole story.
Some orders that cops give are illegal. Would you instantly obey a cop who told you to bend over and spread your cheeks while undoing his belt? How about this one?
Corrupt brutal, criminal cops who get off on throwing their weight around exist, and they need to be rooted out, not rationalized.
Then what was Officer Smith doing when he demanded that the cameraman stop recording, then attacked Rich Matthews as he displayed his press credentials?
when that scenario is occurring, other civilians must not be allowed to enter the immediate area. how do i know who you are? a press pass and a camera does not allow you to enter a scene like this. officer safety is paramount.
I spent a bunch of time in the French Quarter and other parts of New Orleans during the 90’s. I never once felt in danger. As far as the NOPD, Rule #1 is “Always, always do what the officer says.”
Only if we are truly a police state!
Watch the video in post 8. The man wasn’t resisting arrest. The horse blocked the camera and then there was a glimpse of the man being punched in the face repeatedly by the police. He didn’t start resisting arrest until after they started punching him.
According to the judge, when a serf is being beaten, he's supposed to lie still and take it.
Beatings will continue until morale improves.
You sure you’re on the right website? I think nazi.org is that way <-——
We are, and this site is full of apologists for it.
Yeah, there have always been a lot of psycho statists on here.
of course i have seen the video. FYI, non-compliance with police orders counts as resisting. not placing your hands behind your back definitely counts. as the judge said, that was all he had to do to diffuse the situation.
Obviously, his lawyer felt his client stood a better chance with a judge than with a jury. As it turns out, seems like a good call.
Another thug punk scumbag cop out to beat the crap out of the citizens. Dang jerk hiding behind the shield, with a crooked judge to get him off. the fix was in, clearly. A jury would have convicted him.
Robert Bork (who as a tank commander in the Korean War) said if he was innocent he would rather face a court-martial, if he was guilty, a jury.
No cop in his right mind would want to face a New Orleans jury. Ray “Chocolate City” Nagin would understand.
When I lived in and then outside of NOLA, visitors would come often and would always want to go to the Quarter. I always gave them THE SPEECH. Generally, I think the NOPD’s rep for brutality and corruption is well-deserved, but I also think they do a pretty good job in very difficult circumstances on Bourbon St. and during events like Mardi Gras, Super Bowl, etc.
if you didn’t forget your sarc tags then you are a complete tool.
The remedy for the police is not the beat-down I saw on that video. We're a civilized society, last I knew.
They weren't trying to "enter" the scene, they were trying to film it. Why not "stay back" instead of "turn off the camera?"
All charges against the subject were dismissed, including the public intoxication charge. He’s a retired elementary school teacher, and he maintains he was not drunk.
The horse also blocked the view of what the man may have been doing. All you see is the cops with the guy, then the horse moves into the view, when it moves away you can see the cop beating the guy. What happened while the view was blocked and what happened before the camera was turned on?
His hands are behind his back at the beginning of the video. Then the horse blocked the view, then we could see the cop punching him repeatedly in the head. Notice he’s being hit on the back of the head, too. His hands weren’t even up in self-defense at that point. There’s no question that this was police brutality.
No sarc tag, that cop beat the snot out of that guy. He’s another scumbag punk cop who deserves jail time.
WOW, you really need to get your facts straight. You are clueless on this obvious case of police brutality.
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