If Wilson was protecting himself, why were there six shots? Brown was unarmed and running away when shot first in the back. Once he was down with his hands up, why didn't Wilson cuff him? He wasn't a danger anymore. Mike Brown didn't have to die even if Wilson was defending himself.
A lot of things about the Mike Brown case bother me but there is one issue that angers me above the others. EVERY witness for Mike Brown saw him with his hands in the air in surrender. NONE saw him reaching for Officer Darren Wilson's gun. Wilson claims he was reaching for the gun. He wouldn't be the first cop to lie to cover his own ass. There isn't any PROOF Mike Brown was reaching for his gun. Below are quotes from the NY Times article in the link below. The article is from the autopsy.
Only one of the many witnesses, Tiffany Mitchell, said she saw them fighting through an open car window. A shot went off from inside the car but no one saw who. In this case, a lot of people are taking Officer Wilson's word on what happened. But no witness saw Brown reach for the gun. To me, the biggest red flag is because there was no gun powder on his body. He wasn't wearing gloves. If he shot the gun inside the car, there would be gunpowder on his hands. That lack of gunpowder shows he wasn't shot at close range. Whoever shot inside that car missed. Wilson hasn't been punished for this at all. The local authorities aren't treating this like a murder. But witnesses say differently. The autopsy says differently. Why is this time different then Troy Davis?
In 1989 off duty police officer Mark MacPhail was killed in Savannah, Georgia. Troy Davis was executed in September of 2011 for it. Quotes and the article link below. There are a few flaws to his conviction:
1. Ballistics tests were flawed
2. 7 of 9 witnesses changed or recanted their stories
3. No physical evidence linked him to the crime
So for Troy Davis there was nothing solid to prove he did it and he was executed anyway. Witness testimony was considered strong enough for them not even to let him appeal. He was with Sylvester Coles. Coles went to the police the next day and claimed it was Troy. Coles is one of the two people who didn't recant. Troy steadily claimed he didn't have a gun. The weapon was never found. Coles is most likely the actual shooter. Witnesses even said that in a sworn affidavit. One witness said Coles admitted to the crime and made Troy take the fall. But Coles lives and Troy Davis is dead.
For Mike Brown, the police claim a few different stories. But Brown's friend, Johnson, hasn't changed his. Why aren't they showing PROOF if their story is true? Lack of proof in Mike Brown's case has led to a lack of convictions.
But lack of proof in Troy Davis' case was strong enough for execution. I'm not saying Mike Brown DIDN'T reach for the gun. But I don't see any proof that he did. The only proof I see is a lot of witness testimony saying he had his hands up in surrender. There is not proof to why Tiffany Mitchell said about the police car fight. Johnson says Brown was pulled into that car
"When the officer opened his door, it hit Mr. Brown. With his left hand, Officer Wilson reached out and grabbed Mr. Brown by the neck, Mr. Johnson said. “It’s like tug-of-war,” Mr. Johnson said. “He’s trying to pull him in. He’s pulling away, that’s when I heard, ‘I’m gonna shoot you.’ ”
In fact, not all of Wilson's stories include the car. If the car part really happened, it would be in ALL of his versions of the story. She could have been influenced by the police. Just like some of Troy Davis' witnesses confessed. Their stories are below.
Witness testimony isn't strong enough to convict Wilson. But it was strong enough to convict Troy Davis. Brown's witnesses are a lot more reliable then Davis' were too. I'm not saying Troy Davis was innocent. But there isn't any solid proof that he committed the very sad crime. Why didn't they ever let him appeal? All his appeals were denied. If you are going to kill someone on weak evidence, you really should give them an appeal. The point was to get the killer executed. But there is no way to know for certain Davis was the killer. He may have been, but, what if it was Coles instead? If Coles did it, justice wasn't served.
The difference is who committed the crime. It's okay to execute a black man for killing a white police officer EVEN WITHOUT solid proof. It's NOT okay to put a white police officer in jail BECAUSE there isn't enough proof. Why didn't Troy Davis get the same treatment Darren Wilson is getting? It's racism.
Wilson should be in jail awaiting trial. If he was defending himself, there will be proof. Troy Davis had to prove his innocence instead of being considered "innocent until proven guilty". Why doesn't Wilson have to do that? Mike Brown isn't getting a fair trial and neither did Troy Davis.
I respect law enforcement officers. I think they are all very brave. In most cases there is solid evidence. The real issue with both of these cases is that the best evidence they both had were on witness testimony. Why are they being handled differently? Most law enforcement officers are respectful and honorable. They deserve thanks for their bravery, hard work and respect. If Wilson was defending himself, I can support that. But there are racist cops. If there was solid evidence proving his story, we would know about it by now. I can't support this racist-fueled murder.
A racist cop sees a black teen as a potential threat and their protective instincts heighten. That's why George Zimmerman got a "get out of jail free" card for killing Trayvon Martin. He was practically celebrated for the outright murder. To a racist cop, they assume a black kid has a gun. Sometimes, that's true. But sometimes it's not. When your protective instincts are heightened, you act on reflex. It's unclear what really happened with Wilson and Brown.
I suspect Wilson shot assuming Brown had a gun. He THOUGHT he had to defend himself. Upon discovering there was no gun, I suspect he came up with a story to cover his own butt and not make him look like a racist jackass. The police department is covering their tushies too. If the truth came out, they'd have a lot of issues.
Don't assume all white police officers are racist. They are there to serve and protect. Most do exactly that. However, it can't be ignored that it happens. I doubt it's really this common for most places. If racism was really that common, it wouldn't be news. Even if they don't put Wilson in jail they need to suspend him without pay until the trial is over. You can't undo death. A split-second reflexive decision can end a life. He let racist views get in the way of his ability to do his job.
Mike Brown
"The bullets did not appear to have been shot from very close range because no gunpowder was present on his body. "
“The sheer number of bullets and the way they were scattered all over his body showed this police officer had a brazen disregard for the very people he was supposed to protect in that community,” Mr. Crump said. “We want to make sure people understand what this case is about: This case is about a police officer executing a young unarmed man in broad daylight.”
Mr. Johnson, who declined to be interviewed, has described the events differently in television interviews. While he and Mr. Brown walked, he said, Officer Wilson stopped his vehicle and told them to get on the sidewalk. When they refused, Officer Wilson slammed on his brakes and drove in reverse to get closer.
When the officer opened his door, it hit Mr. Brown. With his left hand, Officer Wilson reached out and grabbed Mr. Brown by the neck, Mr. Johnson said. “It’s like tug-of-war,” Mr. Johnson said. “He’s trying to pull him in. He’s pulling away, that’s when I heard, ‘I’m gonna shoot you.’ ”
A witness, Tiffany Mitchell, said in an interview with MSNBC that she heard tires squeal, then saw Mr. Brown and Officer Wilson “wrestling” through the open car window. A shot went off from within the car, Mr. Johnson said, and the two began to run away from the officer.
According to Ms. Mitchell, “The officer gets out of his vehicle,” she said, pursuing Mr. Brown, then continued to shoot.
Mr. Johnson said that he hid behind a parked car and that Mr. Brown was struck by a bullet in his back as he ran away, an account that Dr. Baden’s autopsy appears to contradict.
“Michael’s body jerks as if he was hit,” Ms. Mitchell said, “and then he put his hands up.” Mr. Brown turned, Mr. Johnson said, raised his hands, and said, “I don’t have a gun, stop shooting!”
Officer Wilson continued to fire and Mr. Brown crumpled to the ground, Mr. Johnson said. Within seconds, confusion and horror swept through Canfield Drive. On that Saturday afternoon, dozens of neighbors were at home and rushed out of their apartments when they heard gunshots.
One person who claimed to witness the shooting began posting frantic messages on Twitter, written hastily with shorthand and grammatical errors, only two minutes after Officer Wilson approached Mr. Brown. At 12:03 p.m., the person, identified as @TheePharoah, a St. Louis-area rapper, wrote on Twitter that he had just seen someone die.
At 12:23 p.m., he wrote, “dude was running and the cops just saw him. I saw him die bruh.”
A 10-minute video posted on YouTube appeared to be taken on a cellphone by someone who identified himself as a neighbor. The video, which has collected more than 225,000 views, captures Mr. Brown’s body, the yellow police tape that marked off the crime scene and the residents standing behind it.
“They shot that boy ’cause they wanted to,” said one woman who can be heard on the video.
“They said he had his hands up and everything,” said the man taking the video, speaking to a neighbor.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/18/us/michael-brown-autopsy-shows-he-was-shot-at-least-6-times.html?_r=0
Troy Davis
According to court documents, the conviction was based on the testimony of nine witnesses who identified Davis as the man who shot MacPhail in 1989. There was no physical evidence introduced in the trial and the murder weapon was never found.
Now, 19 years later, most of those witnesses are recanting their testimony, including four who appeared in court Wednesday.
"I was so scared I told them anything they wanted to hear," Jeffrey Sapp, a witness who fingered Davis as the shooter in the 1991 trail, said Wednesday in released testimony.
Sapp said in court Wednesday the police told him, "Just say Troy told you. Just say Troy told you." Other witnesses told similar stories Wednesday, as Davis fights for his life after sitting on death row for close to 20 years.
Kevin McQueen had testified in 1991 that Davis admitted killing MacPhail, yet now McQueen says there is simply "no truth" to his original testimony.
"He never told me nothing like this. ... He never confessed to shooting anybody to me," McQueen testified Wednesday.
Last year the Supreme Court, for the first time in 50 years, granted a writ of habeas corpus for a case filed directly to its docket rather than hearing an appeal from a lower court ruling.
The prosecution argued in 1991 that Davis was involved in an argument with several men near a Savannah bus station, and witnesses testified that Davis struck a man on the head with a handgun before fleeing the scene with another man, Sylvester Coles.
MacPhail, off-duty at the time, was working security at the bus station and witnessed the incident before giving chase to Coles and Davis. During the pursuit Davis allegedly shot MacPhail, and as MacPhail, 27, lay wounded on the ground Davis "stood over him, smiled and fired the final shot," court documents say.
During the trial, Davis maintained it was Coles who shot and killed MacPhail.
Coles, however, went to the police shortly after the shooting and according to court records implicated Davis as the shooter, while Davis fled the Savannah area and went to Atlanta.
Coles went on to be one of the prosecution's witnesses against Davis in the trial. Coles and one other man, Steve Sanders are the only two people who have not recanted testimony against Davis. Sanders' testimony identified Davis as the shooter, despite telling police originally he "would not recognize the shooter," court documents say.
Davis' defense argued during his trial that the Savannah police were given an immediate suspect in Davis, by Coles, and only pursued that angle, in part the defense argued because the police were motivated by "anger" with the death of an officer to have a quick trial.
In the years that followed, seven of those nine witnesses have recanted their testimony and some have allegedly claimed they were coerced by police to finger Davis as the shooter. Some even said in sworn affidavits that it was in fact Coles who shot MacPhail.
I told them what they wanted to hear," Darrell Collins said in recanting his originaly testimony Wednesday.
Collins was 16 at the time of the shooting, and according to court documents he was with Davis the night of the shooting. Collins told the court Wednesday that he was threatened by investigators to identify Davis as the shooter.
A similar story was told by Dorothy Farrel in 2000 affidavit. During the 1991 trial, Farrel told the court that she was "real sure" it was Davis she saw shoot the police officer.
In the sworn affidavit recanting her testimony, Farrel said, "From the way the officer was talking, he gave me the impression that I should say that Troy Davis was the one who shot the officer like the other witness [sic] had and I felt like I was just following the rest of the witnesses. I also felt like I had to cooperate with the officer because of my being on parole and I told the detective that Troy Davis was the shooter, even though the truth was that I didn't see who shot the officer."
Others who testified Wednesday included Charles Hargrove and Benjamin Gordon.
Hargrove told the court that Coles admitted to him that he let Davis take the fall for the crime, but Hargrove said he did not come forward out of fear due to outstanding arrest warrants.
Gordon said he witnessed Coles pull the trigger, but did not come forward because Coles was married to his cousin. However the prosecution cast doubt on their testimony and according to court transcripts their testimony was regarded as "hearsay" by the judge.
Davis' advocates realize that he still faces an uphill battle to prove he is not a cop killer.
"The bar has been set high. Troy Davis was asked to prove his innocence. Usually it's innocent untill proven guilty," Wendy Gozan Brown, of Amnesty International told ABC News.
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