SDPD officer found not guilty in road-rage case

San Diego Union-Tribune ^ | 06-22-2009 | J. Harry Jones

[Drew68]

Waiting for their defenders in 5, 4, 3, 2.....

I'm a San Diego resident and I've paid a bit of attention to this story. When it first happened, my immediate reaction was, "I hope this juiced-up son of a bitch cop goes to prison for a long, long time!!!"

Then some details started to surface that really caused me to rethink things. First, as the story says, this woman was no angel. She instigated the confrontation while being drunk and high on meth and was acting like a maniac (with her child in the car). Neither side disputes this. Second, the cop emotionally testified on the stand that he didn't see her son in the passenger seat and had he known there was a child in the car, he never would've fired on her. I believed his testimony.

Like I said, I just paused to rethink the case. It became less cut and dried as some of these details surfaced but I accept the jury's verdict.

[Filo]

Oh wait, you meant your sarc tag for the “Great news” portion of your post, rather than your initial rant. Right?

Correct. . . but it wasn't a rant - it was a statement of fact.

Sorry. The post structure was a bit confusing.

I hate to see cops getting away with crap that would have the rest of us behind bars for decades.

I can't believe we reward these people for being the "largest street gang in America."

[Auntie Mame]

I was once terrorized by an unstable woman who, for over 10 miles, on streets and then on the freeway, attempted to harm me. What set her off is that I didn’t take off when a red light turned green quickly enough. She then proceeded to speed up, get in front of me and slam on her brakes, and I would go around her and she continued to try to force me off the road. I then got on the freeway, thinking she would go on her way, and she followed me on the freeway and continued on. I sped up to over 70 mph to try to get away from her and she went 80, pulled in front of me and slammed on her brakes. What happened at the end was I stopped dead on the freeway and she pulled up beside me. That was when I saw a boy leaning forward in the back seat looking out. This insane woman (Iranian looking) was driving like that with a child in her car. I think the shock on my face on seeing the child finally got through to her. It was terrifying.

[the long march]

While she is drunk and continuing to back into him and his car with his family into it. I don’t blame the officer. Anyone with a hand gun would have responded in like manner. This woman heard the first shot. It hit her son and shattered her car window. Did she stop? NO. ALL if this could have been avoided if the drunk driver had not FOLLOWED the officer into the parking lot.

[the long march]

His wife had called 911 BEFORE the first shot was fired

[ASOC]

The civil case is still open. Count on the local taxpayers forkng over a load of D’oh.

[allmendream]

Having shown that I don’t know several relevant factors in the case, and one of the “facts” I thought I remembered was wrong; I withdraw my comment.

[a fool in paradise]

A citizen who fired five shots into the woman’s car hitting her and her passenger would not be found “not guilty”. It was using deadly force.

Sideswiping a car happens. I see it happen in public a couple times a year and generally the other driver just takes off (hit and run).

Was her initial impact ruled “assault with a deadly weapon” or accidental (due to impared driving)? Because when he (out of uniform and looking every bit the civilian) started firing he posed a threat to her life.

Did he announce “Ma’am, I’m an officer and I’d advise you to stop your actions”?

It’s criminal to assault an officer even out of uniform.

Neither person seems to have handled themselves properly in this situation.

[piytar]

Been following this, too, and agree it is more complicated than it appears at first. Gotta defer to the jury on this one. Ditto on the civil side once that works its way through (although my guess is it will now settle).

[SeaHawkFan]

More evidence that if a prosecutor.doesn't want a conviction, he isn't going to get one.

[a fool in paradise]

Let me also add that I do believe that lethal force can be used on a driver if the situation warrants it.

I would even support officers shooting a driver in a chase rather than running around after them for 1-2 hours only to force them to drive into some civilian.

[Cyman]

I am always amazed at the anti-police venom spewed out her at FreeRepublic. Maybe I have led a charmed life but as a 56 white male growing up in inner city Cleveland, living in Milwaukee and now in San Diego, how I avoided being as stigmatized by the police like a lot of posters here just dumbfounds me. I grew up respecting the authority of police officers and other than getting upset for a few speeding tickets(all my own fault I may add)I retain that respect to this date. It is one of the toughest jobs in the world and the American justice system makes it so much tougher to be an officer of the law in these United States.

[TalonDJ]

I grew up respecting the authority of police officers and other than getting upset for a few speeding tickets(all my own fault I may add)I retain that respect to this date.

Many of us that are hard on cops here on FR also 'respect authority'. I have been very polite every time I have been pulled over. At least once the cop was pretty confused when I thanked him for giving me a ticket. I think he thought I was mocking him but I was not.
I have also known plenty of cops and liked and respected them.

However, with high regard does not come a bank check. Nor does great respect give them reverence. I hold those that serve to a much higher standard and I am disgusted that 'the system' does not. We revolted from england in part because law enforcement (that is what the red coats were) was unaccountable to the people for their crimes.

In this case I the man was clearly in the right and I am glad he got off. I sincerely hope a civilian in the same situation would have gotten off but I doubt it. There are plenty of police abuses that happen. It is only by vigorously pursuing them that we cut out the bad flesh and keep the whole organism healthy. They have too much power to let any abuses slide. Rot festers quickly when not dealt with. Because of the great authority they wield it is necessary to hold them to a HIGHER standard not a lower one. Failing to full investigate or to prosecute alleged abuses is holding police to a lower standard than you would a civilian. It is preciously because we need a respectable and respected law enforcement community that we have to go after such abuses and alleged abuses with gusto.

It is a fine line between holding them to a higher standard and outright cop hate. It is NOT a fine line between holding them to a higher standard and giving them a pass on everything in the name of 'respect for authority'. That is a yawning chasm. My parents taught me to respect authority. They did not teach me to kowtow and they certainly did not teach me that authority figures are always right or even worthy of the respect they should still be given by default.

[Fundamentally Fair]

Did they test the officer for steroids?

He wasn't testing for anything. The union kept him secured for quite some time afterward.

[Fundamentally Fair]

First, as the story says, this woman was no angel. She instigated the confrontation while being drunk and high on meth and was acting like a maniac (with her child in the car). Neither side disputes this.

OK...so, it a citizen did the same thing...shot into the car...what would have happened?

Second, the cop emotionally testified on the stand that he didn't see her son in the passenger seat and had he known there was a child in the car, he never would've fired on her.

Again, what is a citizen admitted to shooting into a car when they couldn't see his target?