Post by pavel on Jan 25, 2016 16:39:03 GMT -6
After Ga. cop indictment, a reality check: Convictions rare in shooting cases
Activists who say a DeKalb County police officer committed a crime when he shot a naked veteran last year applauded District Attorney Robert James after a grand jury indicted the officer last week.
overthelineIn a new story about the Anthony Hill case, the AJC reports that James has a long way to go before he gets a conviction of Officer Robert Olsen. It’s rare in America for an officer to be charged for fatally shooting a citizen, but even more uncommon for a trial jury to convict officers for using their guns.
“When push comes to shove, I think that jurors and even judges are very reluctant to second-guess police officers for split-second, life-or-death decisions,” said Philip Stinson, an associate professor of criminal justice at Bowling Green State University in Ohio and a nationally recognized expert on police shootings.
Still, Stinson noted that the grand jury’s return of an indictment was itself remarkable. The AJC’s 2015 series, Over the Line, examined six years of shootings and found that most were cleared without ever being presented to a grand jury.
Read more: investigations.blog.ajc.com/2016/01/25/after-ga-cop-indictment-a-reality-check-convictions-rare-in-shooting-cases/
Activists who say a DeKalb County police officer committed a crime when he shot a naked veteran last year applauded District Attorney Robert James after a grand jury indicted the officer last week.
overthelineIn a new story about the Anthony Hill case, the AJC reports that James has a long way to go before he gets a conviction of Officer Robert Olsen. It’s rare in America for an officer to be charged for fatally shooting a citizen, but even more uncommon for a trial jury to convict officers for using their guns.
“When push comes to shove, I think that jurors and even judges are very reluctant to second-guess police officers for split-second, life-or-death decisions,” said Philip Stinson, an associate professor of criminal justice at Bowling Green State University in Ohio and a nationally recognized expert on police shootings.
Still, Stinson noted that the grand jury’s return of an indictment was itself remarkable. The AJC’s 2015 series, Over the Line, examined six years of shootings and found that most were cleared without ever being presented to a grand jury.
Read more: investigations.blog.ajc.com/2016/01/25/after-ga-cop-indictment-a-reality-check-convictions-rare-in-shooting-cases/