A federal jury Wednesday acquitted a white Louisiana trooper charged with violating the civil rights of a Black motorist despite body-camera footage that showed the officer pummeling the man 18 times with a flashlight.

A federal jury in Louisiana on Wednesday acquitted a white state trooper charged with violating the civil rights of a Black motorist despite body-camera footage that showed the officer pummeling the man 18 times with a flashlight.

  • MicroWave@lemmy.worldOP
    67·
    1 year ago

    After a three-day trial in Monroe, jurors found Brown not guilty of depriving Aaron Bowman of his civil rights during a 2019 beating that left Bowman with a broken jaw, broken ribs and a gash to his head.

    The acquittal comes as federal prosecutors are still scrutinizing other Louisiana state troopers caught on body-camera video punching, stunning and dragging another Black motorist, Ronald Greene, before he died in their custody on a rural roadside. That federal probe is also examining whether police brass obstructed justice to protect the troopers who beat Greene following a high-speed chase.

    • Fredselfish @lemmy.ml
      741·
      1 year ago

      Let me guess the jury was made up of a mostly white male jury?

      Exactly how did he get aquiitted. These fucking states are si fucking racist you can’t get a fair trail there unless your white.

      • Madison420@lemmy.world
        4·
        1 year ago

        They probably expected to lose this one only to appeal immediately and hope appeals knows their ass from their elbow.

        • FlowVoid
          2·
          1 year ago

          I doubt it, since prosecutors generally cannot appeal a verdict of not guilty.

            • FlowVoid
              1·
              1 year ago

              The citizen can’t appeal either. Prosecutors are in charge of a criminal case, not citizens.

                • FlowVoid
                  1·
                  1 year ago

                  This wasn’t a civil case. This was a criminal case. Depriving someone of their civil rights is a federal crime. The officer was prosecuted by Brandon Brown.

                  U.S. Attorney Brandon Brown, who is not related to Jacob Brown, told AP he was proud of the 48-year-old Bowman for having the courage to tell his story.

                  “These cases are arguably the toughest that we investigate and prosecute,” he said. “We believe that this victim’s civil rights were violated. Unfortunately for us the jury didn’t agree, and we’ll have to respect their decision.”

                  • Madison420@lemmy.world
                    1·
                    1 year ago

                    You take the officer to civil court, win, take that win and use it for a public interest appeal, win be vindicated. The prosecutor doesn’t take part in the next step homie.

      • meco03211@lemmy.world
        41·
        1 year ago

        Let me guess the jury was made up of a mostly white male jury?

        Here comes the story of the Hurricane.

      • dartos@reddthat.com
        611·
        1 year ago

        The lawyers on both sides have influence on who gets into the jury. If the jury had such an overwhelming bias, then the lawyers are to blame…. As always

          • dartos@reddthat.com
            17·
            1 year ago

            I never said they did.

            they choose who to exclude. They have influence on the jury selection.

            • Zaktor@lemmy.world
              11·
              1 year ago

              You can’t exclude your way to having a representative jury. If the opposing side strikes all/most of the black people, none of your strike choices can make the jury more black.

              Why Is It So Easy for Prosecutors to Strike Black Jurors?

              There are no comprehensive statistics on how often prosecutors strike jurors based on race, but there is little doubt that the practice remains common, especially in the South. In Caddo Parish, Louisiana, prosecutors struck forty-eight per cent of qualified black jurors between 1997 and 2009 and only fourteen per cent of qualified whites, according to a review by the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center. In Jefferson Parish, where a quarter of the population is black, the split was even greater—fifty-five per cent to sixteen per cent—so that twenty-two per cent of felony trials between 1994 and 2002 had no black jurors.

              • dartos@reddthat.com
                11·
                1 year ago

                Yeah, but you can exclude your way to having a non representative jury… which happens very often.

                • Zaktor@lemmy.world
                  2·
                  1 year ago

                  Your original statement was that the lawyers on both sides have influence. Which they do, but only one side is responsible for all white juries. It’s not a failure of the other side for allowing that to happen.