Mistrial in Duanna Johnson's case

[MarieDelta]

The jury failed to come back with a verdict in the case of Bridges McRae, the cop who punched her and used pepper spray on a transgender arrestee after calling her a "faggot" and "he/she" and by her former first name


The Commercial Appeal (http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/apr/19/mistrial-declared-memphis-police-beating-case-invo/) has more on why the jury couldn't come to a decision:


One female juror, who asked not to be identified, said later that the verdict was 11-1 in favor of guilty.[...]

The seven women and five men on the jury asked the judge Thursday for an expanded definition of the term "willfulness," which was used in the jury instructions.

In criminal law, willfulness refers to an act done with a bad purpose and without justifiable excuse.

The judge issued a supplemental instruction, saying that if the defendant voluntarily and deliberately committed an act that deprived Johnson of a constitutional right, it is not necessary for the government to prove that McRae knew his actions would violate that right.

The female juror who spoke Monday said that term remained a sticking point and led to the deadlock.

"We were seeking justice. That's all," she said, declining to reveal how she had voted.


Of course Federal prosecutors are going to retry this trial. Based on evidence that I have seen there could be no possible justification to use the amount of force that was used on Duanna.

Duanna, of course, was killed last year, so she was not able to take the stand in this case.

[Long Duck Dong]

even without the audio, I can see no reason for the officer to strike duanna in the manner they did.... even allowing for resisting a officers requests and possible verbal abuse from either party... I am struggling to justify the blows to a seated person

there was a second officer that could assist with a controlled take down and disabling of duanna, to subdue them... but it appears to me, that they were not assisting in a controlled take down, but acting in a manner to restrict movement by duanna, while punches were being thrown

another aspect I noticed was that duanna was left laying on the floor face down and I believe that to be after they were sprayed with pepper spray...
as a ex barman / door man, there was a standing rule that if you have a person subdued and face down on the face, you never keep them in a situation where breathing may become restricted
it happened at a bar here a couple of years ago.... two doormen subdued a man on the ground, face down, .... and due to their inattention and lack of medical knowledge... the guy died

I will take the cops sides for a bit, I know that they deal with all sorts of shit on the job, and that there are times that they get to the point where they just stop being, * good cop / nice cop * and that yeah, they can finally lash out..... not that it justifies what happened...... but I am realistic enuf to know that tempers will fray and finally snap

I take it also that the us has a 12-0 count for deciding guilty / innocent.....
in nz recently, we changed that to a 12-0 or 11-1 count as there was too many cases that were hung trials


I will be honest and say that I am not convinced that the treatment against duanna was done because they were trans gender ..... as I do not have all the facts..... I will acknowledge that the actions by the officer, was wrong... and that the punches were thrown against duanna..... however I can see the punches, I can not hear the words, ( no audio ) on the video clip, so I have no proof that offensive terms were used, or what was said to duanna before she was struck

in order to say guilty, I would need clarification what constitutional right was denied to duanna
if that was not something that I needed to consider, then I would have said quilty on the grounds of excessive and unneeded actions against another human being

[FalconAngel]

Like I have said before, people become cops for 1 of 2 reasons.

Either:

1. To make a real difference and protect the community,

or

2. To be able to stay out of jail by covering up their abusive/criminal behavior.

Sadly, determining who is joining for reason 2 is usually not discovered until it is too late.

[MarieDelta]

Prisoner rights mirror constitutional rights in that they require institutions to provide their inmates with a minimum standard level of treatment. Prisoners do not lose their constitutional rights to due process, appeals, and parole when they are incarcerated. Prisoner rights also protect individuals against discrimination, abuse, or other mistreatment on the basis of race, sex, religion, or national origin. Prisoner rights also include the freedom of speech and religion.
http://www.criminal-law-lawyer-source.com/terms/prisoner-rights.html

This officer was clearly abusing Ms Johnson.

In addition to the pepper spray he also


A surveillance tape showed McRae wrapping his handcuffs around his fist and punching Johnson six times in the head

I dont know, but that seems pretty clearly over the line...

[Long Duck Dong]

thanks marie......

I did a lil looking around about this case.... and yeah, found mcraes' side of the story
mzraes side of the story (http://bashbacknews.wordpress.com/2010/04/16/bridges-mcrae-claims-self-defense-in-bashing-the-fuck-outta-duanna-johnson/)

mcrae claims to be acting in self defence.... defence against what ???
even when duanna finally gets up and fights back... she doesn't fight in the manner of a fighter, instead she slaps....

her whole mannerism is not that of a agreesor, and I know, I have dealt with too bloody many over the years, as a doorman, a ex street fighter, a martial artist and a ex vet..... duanna may have been 6ft 5 200 pounds... but the term gentle giant comes to mind

I seriously question how a seated person poses a threat to a cop in a police room, that have other cops around.....

duanna did strike me as being sulky cos of being arrested, but the body language thru most of the video, ..... she was having trouble breathing, slightly concussed and acting in the manner of a person trying to put herself in a situation where she was aware of her surroundings ( getting up from the floor and moving down the room to stand against a wall with her back )

when the officer came back to get her to sit down, her movement suggests trouble with her bladder and a need to go to the toilet, something that can happen after a aggressive situation or violence
she sits down, her movements are very consistent with breathing trouble but there is more to it, its also a form of self comforting movement, like a child that rocks itself quietly in a corner, and the way her shoulders are, tells me shes distressed.....

the movements around the room after duanna is reseated, are not ones of people that view duanna to be aggressive or a risk, the female guard in the white shirt, has a relaxed and unguarded position and movement, the males that gather around the desk are more judgmental but isolative, they are not getting involved, and nor are they in a combat ready stance which they would have if they were dealing with a aggressive person
they knew that duanne was not agressive, nor a threat... but that their actions would impact on their own careers, so rather than aid and assist duannes well being, they took a neutral stance....

I hope they get a earful over their lack of prisoner care..... they should have offered a remedy to duanne for the effects of the pepper spray, as earlier you can see two people in white shirts, clearly effected by the pepper spray....

[MarieDelta]

Well LDD, she was arrested for prostitution (later was found not guilty of the charge.) But her "sulky" manner, I believe, had more to do with how she was being addressed.

As it said

after calling her a "faggot" and "he/she" and by her former first name

[12voltman59]

Its obvious that some cops go berserko for no real reason---did ya see the news report last week of this cop who attacked someone he was arresting???

The cop had done a traffic stop on a man-the man stopped a bit longer than he should have it was reported---the man said the side of the road was too narrow for him to feel he could safely pull off and waited till he found a wide spot---the cop had the man put his hands up--the cop had drawn his gun on the man--told the man to put his hands up--he did--then the cop had the guy get down on his knees--the man did--- the cop next had the man put his hands interlocked on his head--the man did---ALL THIS AUDIO and VIDEO being caught on the cops cruiser cam!!---next--the cop was yelling at the man--the man was totally complying--with him only saying "Ok, OK, sorry officer? what did I do wrong?" then the cop tasered the man----the man fell on the ground and then the cop beat the tar out of the man with his baton also kicking the man while he lay on the ground--the man was not a young, tattoed punk that the cop could maybe make some claim that the arrestee was threatening--the man in question was a sort of schlumpy, out of shape middle aged man--hardly a major threat to a young cop in top physical condition and he never did anything at all but follow the cops directions-----the bottom line to all this---the cop is now the one in deep shit--he is off his job and taking residence up in the county lock up---the man suffered some damage to his kidney or spleen I think they said along with bruises, contusions and abrasions.

The prosecutor already said the cop is going to be charged with felonious assault and other charges like use of excessive force and such!!

While most of those who do serve as cops are good people trying to do good in bad situations--there are more than the fair share of whack jobs doing that work!!!

[Long Duck Dong]

Well LDD, she was arrested for prostitution (later was found not guilty of the charge.) But her "sulky" manner, I believe, had more to do with how she was being addressed.

As it said


based around the charges being dropped for prostitution, its possible the * sulky * mood was cos of the whole issue ( the arrest, the crap with the cop, the beating )

either way..... duanna did not deserve the treatment she got