The Shooting of Jeremy Mardis

[Nice Squirrel]

http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/29/us/louisiana-body-cam-shooting/index.html

A Louisiana judge released body cam video Wednesday showing officers firing multiple rounds into a car, unknowingly striking and killing a 6-year-old boy.

The incident, which happened in September 2015, resulted in the indictments of two marshals on second degree murder and second degree attempted murder charges.

The marshals began pursuing the car after they witnessed an argument between a man and his girlfriend in front of a local bar, a source told CNN. Officers moved to detain the man, identified as Christopher Few, who took off in his car.

The pursuit ended in gunfire on a dead-end street in Marksville, Louisiana.

 

[laughing dog]

In before "Hey vehicles can be used as weapons, so the officers were justified in shooting.".

Good to see that there is an attempt at justice in this case.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

This wouldn't have happened if liberals like Hillary Clinton didn't stop parents from letting young children play with guns in the back of the car and the kid could have defended himself.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

This makes no sense. Either the officer's lives were in danger and shooting is justified despite the presence of a hostage, or they weren't in danger and shooting isn't justified, period.

 

[Bronzeage]

This makes no sense. Either the officer's lives were in danger and shooting is justified despite the presence of a hostage, or they weren't in danger and shooting isn't justified, period.

This is one of those complicated cases. Marksville is a small town, where everyone knows everyone. The Town Marshall is an elected official who serves court orders and enforces the Judge's rulings. He hired Marksville policemen to work part time as Deputy Marshall's. Then, the Marshall bought police cars and turned his Deputies into a regular uniform patrol. Whether or not this is legal, has not been determined.



There were various stories at the time. One stated reason for chasing Few was because there was an open warrant for his arrest. No such warrant exists. There is another story that one of the Marshals had a relationship with Few's girlfriend, the mother of the boy who was killed in the incident.

Whatever happened, the video makes clear what most people assumed to be true. The position of the car shows there is no way Few could have been trying to ram a patrol car, or any officer. No officer's lives were in danger at the time of the shooting.

 

[fromderinside]

More evidence that dumb shows gravitate to law and order dole for free gun play.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

This makes no sense. Either the officer's lives were in danger and shooting is justified despite the presence of a hostage, or they weren't in danger and shooting isn't justified, period.

This is one of those complicated cases. Marksville is a small town, where everyone knows everyone. The Town Marshall is an elected official who serves court orders and enforces the Judge's rulings. He hired Marksville policemen to work part time as Deputy Marshall's. Then, the Marshall bought police cars and turned his Deputies into a regular uniform patrol. Whether or not this is legal, has not been determined.



There were various stories at the time. One stated reason for chasing Few was because there was an open warrant for his arrest. No such warrant exists. There is another story that one of the Marshals had a relationship with Few's girlfriend, the mother of the boy who was killed in the incident.

Whatever happened, the video makes clear what most people assumed to be true. The position of the car shows there is no way Few could have been trying to ram a patrol car, or any officer. No officer's lives were in danger at the time of the shooting.

1) We don't see what came before. While it looks unlikely he was doing something that endangered the shooters we don't know. I get very suspicious when we see video start in the middle without good reason.

2) We do not see what lies in the path of the vehicle.

Thus you can't say nobody's life was in danger. (And note that it need not be an officer--if his actions tried to run over a civilian the situation would be the same.)

 

[Crazy Eddie]

There were various stories at the time. One stated reason for chasing Few was because there was an open warrant for his arrest. No such warrant exists. There is another story that one of the Marshals had a relationship with Few's girlfriend, the mother of the boy who was killed in the incident.

The latter story sounds more likely, considering the two deputes in question are already facing lawsuits for excessive force, including -- supposedly -- one case where he tased a couple of people while they were both in handcuffs and another where he broke a girl's arm trying to break up a fight. Basically he shows a pattern of thuggish behavior to the point that creating a conflict as an excuse to kill his ex's new boyfriend may not actually be beneath him.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

This is one of those complicated cases. Marksville is a small town, where everyone knows everyone. The Town Marshall is an elected official who serves court orders and enforces the Judge's rulings. He hired Marksville policemen to work part time as Deputy Marshall's. Then, the Marshall bought police cars and turned his Deputies into a regular uniform patrol. Whether or not this is legal, has not been determined.



There were various stories at the time. One stated reason for chasing Few was because there was an open warrant for his arrest. No such warrant exists. There is another story that one of the Marshals had a relationship with Few's girlfriend, the mother of the boy who was killed in the incident.

Whatever happened, the video makes clear what most people assumed to be true. The position of the car shows there is no way Few could have been trying to ram a patrol car, or any officer. No officer's lives were in danger at the time of the shooting.

1) We don't see what came before. While it looks unlikely he was doing something that endangered the shooters we don't know.

Bullshit. He was backing out of his driveway when he was fired on. The shooter had been out of his car all of two seconds when he fired the first shot. Even if he had done something threatening BEFORE that point, he wasn't doing it when he was fired on. They shot him to stop him from leaving, not to protect themselves.

2) We do not see what lies in the path of the vehicle.

A road sign.

There are only two police cars on the scene here and neither of them are in his path and neither are the cops who fired.

 

[Deepak]

More evidence that dumb shows gravitate to law and order dole for free gun play.

http://www.katc.com/story/30460349/...icers-accused-in-shooting-death-of-6-year-old

In October, 2011, when Lt. Derrick Stafford was already a Marksville police officer, he was indicted by a Rapides Parish grand jury on two counts of aggravated rape on two separate victims -- one in 2011 and another in 2004 when Stafford was 21. The victim in 2004 was 15. After Stafford was arrested on the rape charges, he stayed in jail for a month until the $300,000 bail was lowered to $40,0000. He was barred from communicating with the victims or owning or possessing a firearm or ammunition as part of the bail agreement.

In May of 2012, the state dismissed the rape charges, but still ordered Stafford to stay away from the victims. We've requested more information on why the charges were dismissed, but have not yet received that information.

Stafford also has six pending civil lawsuits involving him in Avoyelles Parish. He's also worked for the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office, Avoyelles Parish Sheriff's Department, Marksville Police Department, Alexandria Marshal's Office and the Chenyville Police Department. Norris Greenhouse Jr. was also named in several of the suits. Greenhouse is a reserve officer with the Marksville Police Department, part-time Marksville City Marshal, and full-time Alexandria City Marshal. The District Attorney has recused himself from the case because Greenhouse's father is an Assistant District Attorney.

All of the following civil suits are still pending in Avoyelles Parish:

January 3, 2011 -- While arresting a woman, Stafford allegedly threw her in the backseat with her hands cuffed and tased her without warning in the left side of her stomach while she was sitting in the backseat.

June 20, 2011 -- Stafford arrived as backup to a man who says he was being falsely accused of shooting his neighbor's dog. While the man was handcuffed and face down on his porch, Stafford tased him, according to a lawsuit filed later. The lawsuit is still pending.

July 4, 2012 -- While the Fourth of July parade was in progress, a family with a dog suffering from seizures and a stroke says they tried to get across the parade to make it to a veterinarian's and was told he could not go cross. The officer allegedly yelled at the wife and the husband ran across the street to make it to the vet. The man later called the sheriff's office to make a complaint against the officer, and was arrested for disturbing the peace. While he was being arrested, Stafford reportedly arrived and asked to arrest the suspect himself and put his handcuffs on him. The man spent the night in jail and later filed a lawsuit. A jury awarded the man $50,000, but the lawsuit is still pending in appeals.

December 2012 -- While breaking up a fight between two girls on an Avoylles Parish school bus, Stafford was working for the City of Marksville and allegedly pulled a 15-year-old girls' arms behind her back and apparently broke it. The girl's mother filed suit and it's still open.

June 18, 2013 -- Stafford and Greenhouse were driving a Marksville Police Department cruiser when they ran into an open gate owned by the Avoylles Parish Sheriff's Department. They sued the department and the case is still open.

July 4, 2013 -- Greenhouse and seven other officers, including Stafford, broke up a fight during a Fourth of July Celebration by pepper spraying into the crowd. It was here another officer allegedly arrested and assaulted a 14-year-old boy. A mother who was there with her three children, sued. The case is still pending. At the same event another man says he lost his keys in the confusion of the spray, and was slammed to the ground and assaulted by several officers who also allegedly pepper sprayed him again. The man sued. The suit is still pending.