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PO guilty of felonious assault in shooting

1015 Views 10 Replies 11 Participants Last post by  SteveG, 
A
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/story?section=news/local&id=7441887

Here is the dash cam from the shooting: http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/story?section=news/local&id=7433661

TOLEDO, OH (WTVG) -- After several hours of deliberating, the jury has found Officer White guilty of felonious assault with a gun specification. He could face up to 11 years.

At around 8 pm on Friday, 13abc learned White was found guilty. That morning, the prosecutor and defense attorney gave closing arguments. Prosecutors say Officer Thomas White failed to protect and serve when he shot Michael McCloskey Junior in the back and paralyzed him. The jury had to decide if Officer White was justified in the shooting.

The defense argued Officer White believed McCloskey had a gun and feared for his life. Prosecutor Jeff Lingo says, "Officer White rushed to judgment, shot, critically injured, permanently disabled McCloskey for traffic violations."

White's attorney Jerome Phillips says, "You don't get a time out and go and tap the individual on the shoulder and say before we enter the next phase, the dangerous phase, where I'm going to have my gun out, and let's talk about this and see what's going on."
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M
This is a really tough one- The guys took off on the cop- even when he tried to pull em over. Not for nothing, but the alleged "victim" is still a criminal.

Unfortunately, even as a criminal, the problem is a misunderstanding of the issue here; that is, that the subject made motions that were actions indicative of someone getting a gun and getting ready to shoot. The camera from the car, is several feet right of where the officer is standing. The officer did not have as clear a picture of the situation. Had he had the vantage point of the camera, he might not have taken the shot .

Things really do happen quickly- a split second decision means your going home, or going home in a body bag.

Lessons learned here:
A. Don't run from cops
B. when your stopped by cops, keep those hands where they can see em. Don't argue about "I know my rights" and stick your hands into your pocket. Its the quickest way to end up eating the concrete or worse.
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1
Sorry, that was a traffic summons, not a round in the back.    Good luck in prison.
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pete480
Judging by the video it didn't seem the guy on the bike did anything to deserve being shot. It looked like he was just waiting for the officer to tell him what to do next. The cop was probably pissed that those guys took off right in front of him and he had to chase them.
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glocklife
Wow I just watched that video and I always give cops the benefit of the doubt but come on. We all shoot handguns here and let me ask you if you were on that motorcycle and had the intention of shooting the cop, could you have pulled your gun and turned towards the cop before he could have gotten more than one round off???? Absolutely not. This man was sitting on a heavy harley with his back turned. There was no chance for him to turn and shoot, especially at the angle from which the cops door was. This video is cut an dry, that cop had an unhealthy love for that gun.

I feel bad that the biker has to live with this cops decision. And for the people who look at this video and say he was running, umm no. I've ridden many Harley's and owned 2 bikes and have you ever been sitting at a light an got excited and just done a short drag. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't even know the cop was there initially.

That cop was wrong!!!
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Parashooter
This guy was shot and crippled for what?.... a crime? NO... for SPEEDING - at 2am on an empty road... the only harm done would have been MAYBE the godawful noise harleys make. The guy wasn't moving suddenly, made no gestures as if he was going to do something - I really think the cop just let adrenaline take over, jumped out and drew his gun (that I"m on the fence about, drew his gun for a speeder?) and got sloppy with his finger on the trigger.

AFTER the shot he's real careful about the trigger finger being out of the trigger, but my bet it was an AD from careless handling.

the cop was behind them long enough to run the plates, they knew who they were following (was he just looking for an excuse to pull them over???) and could have just had cruisers go to their homes instead of jeapoardizing the safety of the public, the riders and the officers by chasing them.

I've seen many videos where the cops are hollering "drop the gun drop the gun drop the gun drop the gun..." and yet don't shoot... (which baffles me why they didn't shoot) but this cop shot without seeing a gun. I'm not sure what (IF) he said to the rider before shooting, I keep getting glitches right at the moment he shot.

Discussion is moot, he's been convicted. Rightly.
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E
Hmn. I was expecting a more ambiguous situation in the vid... but damn...
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2edgesword
I watched the video a few times looking for what might have given this officer a reason to believe DPF was about to be used against him. I don't see it, not in this video.
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D
I like to give the benefit of the doubt until I can see things like the dash cam.

All I can say is "WTF? Are you KIDDING ME?"
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Captain Will
Unfortunately, hindsight is 20/20. This is an unfortunarte risk of being a cop, a soldier, or anyone else who is tasked with using only justified force and then in placed in situations whre it's really easy for a mistake to happen from adrenalin, anxiety, dosorientation, a momentary lapse of awareness, clumsy gun handing, you name it.

Both the motorcycle rider and the cop are going to pay very dearly for this misunderstanding, unfortunately.

It's a problem that is not easily solved until a weapon can be developed that can incapacitate as quickly as a .357 yet not cripple or injure. In which case, I want to reserve two :D
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S
I watched the video several times also.
As ex LEO, I couldn't see anything the motorcyclist was guilty of that would warrant being shot.
A ticket yes, even several tickets, but being shot? No. This is a cop that should have never been on the force. The cyclist did not make any kind of threatening move that would justify this.
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