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Ex-St. Louis cop found not guilty of murder


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A judge found a former St. Louis police officer not guilty of first-degree murder on Friday in the death of a black man who was fatally shot following a high-speed chase in 2011.

The former officer, Jason Stockley, shot 24-year-old Anthony Lamar Smith five times. The officer said he saw Smith holding a gun and felt he was in imminent danger, but prosecutors said Stockley planted a gun in Smith’s car after he shot him.

Prosecutors pointed to the fact that the suspect’s DNA was not present on the weapon but the Department of Justice, under President Obama, had declined to pursue charges.

Assistant Circuit Attorney Robert Steele emphasized during the trial that police dashcam video of the chase captured Stockley saying he was “going to kill this (expletive), don’t you know it.” Less than a minute later, the officer fatally shot Smith. Stockley’s lawyer dismissed the comment as “human emotions” amid a dangerous police pursuit.

Stockley, 36, could have been sentenced to up to life in prison without parole. He left St. Louis’ police force in 2013 and moved to Houston.

Local activists threatened civil unrest ahead of the verdict prompting the Governor Eric Greitens to enact the National Guard.

Greitens met with and assured black faith leaders that peaceful protesters’ rights would be protected, but later stressed that violence would not be tolerated.

source - http://lawofficer.com/news/not-guilty-verdict-st-louis-riots-promised/

 

 

VIDEO

 

 

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5 minutes ago, c13 said:

Burn down the neighborhood and loot all the stores, that will solve everything.

 

Show your distaste for someone getting away with a crime by committing more crimes against innocent people!

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Eh I dunno about this. Hard to tell what went on with the shooting itself. I don't necessarily think the "I'm gonna kill this motherf***er" is sufficient evidence to say he shot him for no reason. I say that daily in stressful situations and have yet to actually kill anybody. :)

 

However, it's pretty obvious these cops were acting incredibly recklessly throughout this chase, and THAT needs to be seriously looked at. Flying through city blocks and intersections like that is sketchy enough, as evidenced by their collision with a tree.  But opening fire on a fleeing vehicle in public like that? Totally reckless. Ramming (not even PIT-ing) a vehicle, in a highly populated area, into oncoming traffic (and hitting a civilian vehicle in the process (would've been a head on collision if they timed it wrong) cannot be ignored and is straight up negligent in my eyes.

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42 minutes ago, Mags said:

But also attempting to run 2 officers over is not acceptable.

 

No, it's not, and he should be held accountable for this via the justice legal system.  I know for a fact a lot of cops have a habit of wanting to make someone pay who shot at them or did anything along the lines of trying to kill them.  What he did was unacceptable, yes, but it's not justification for taking matters into your own hands and dishing out revenge.

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1 hour ago, Kallus Rourke said:

 

No, it's not, and he should be held accountable for this via the justice legal system.  I know for a fact a lot of cops have a habit of wanting to make someone pay who shot at them or did anything along the lines of trying to kill them.  What he did was unacceptable, yes, but it's not justification for taking matters into your own hands and dishing out revenge.

A legal justice system where a man will get 20 years for weed, but a child rapist will get 2 years?

 

Yeah, my faith isn't that high on it man.

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2 hours ago, TheDivineHustle said:

A legal justice system where a man will get 20 years for weed, but a child rapist will get 2 years?

 

Yeah, my faith isn't that high on it man.

Or I got one better in my city. A man murdered a guy the judge let's him out on bond then he goes and murders his cousin. 

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4 hours ago, TheDivineHustle said:

A legal justice system where a man will get 20 years for weed, but a child rapist will get 2 years?

 

Yeah, my faith isn't that high on it man.

 

That still doesn't justify taking things into your own hands.  A lot of cops have a superiority complex.  They think because they are tasked with enforcing the law and given a gun and a pair of handcuffs they can alter the law to their choosing and go willy nilly doing what they please.  The sad thing is, our justice system allows it.  How many cops have done wrong and just gotten time off?  I agree, our justice system is a joke, but it's still 10x better than vigilante/cop justice.  That's not justice.  There is only one judge, jury and executioner, that's the courts. When it comes down to it, I don't even care if it's a cop killer, you are not the executioner.  You do not have any right to play that role, and I'd hope you get arrested for it.  This is not an eye for an eye society.  If it was, we'd be just like those in third world countries.

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Thing is in the case of a shooting right. So a suspect shoots at you and runs away his back is to you now. As an officer can you legally still engage the threat? Yes you can. At that point while not actively using lethal force against you or another civilian you are preventing him from potentially running away and shooting someone else. Now if you were a CCW holder and you did that you would go to jail because they were no longer a threat when you shot them. 

Biggest difference is the police officer has to be able to articulate why he shot him at that point and what risks they were to everyone else. Letting someone willing to shoot or harm a police officer who can potentially defend himself is a huge threat to the rest of society. At the same time as the officer you really have to keep you head on straight when the juices start flowing because you can be a danger to the public yourself in any chase or shoot out with a suspect.

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Can the news stop calling violent vandals that assault LEOs and loot stores protestors? Call them by their actual name, rioters.

 

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/protesters-surround-mayor-krewson-s-central-west-end-home-break/article_e1ae8685-64bc-5833-8785-2859002b1276.html

Sticks and stones may break bones, but 5.56 fragments on impact.

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