I understand Duante Wright was not an angel. I'm not at all saying Wright was in the right here or anything to that effect. The video clearly shows he shoved off a cop and dove into his car. A reasonable cop could have assumed he was reaching for a gun tucked under the seat or something. I fully understand that. But when a cop says "taser, taser, taser" while pulling out her pistol and shooting Wright, that seems like a clear example of "she made a mistake which resulted in the death of a person."
In Minnesota, second degree manslaughter is defined as "a person who causes the death of another by... the person's culpable negligence whereby the person creates an unreasonable risk, and consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another."
The cop was negligent in that she pulled her pistol instead of her taser and Wright died as a result of her actions. I guess a court case will have to explain what "consciously takes chances of causing death..." means here.
It's already being reported the cop will be charged with 2nd degree manslaughter, so I'm not way off base here saying that is the likely charge. Im no defense attorney but I don't see how, given the facts of this case, you really argue that she didn't kill Wright by accident (manslaughter). If the defense is, well she meant to taze a suspect resisting arrest but accidentally pulled out her gun instead, that would seem to directly affirm manslaughter here, would it not? If I'm missing something please correct my thinking here. I'm not trying to eagerly condemn someone without due process, I'm just expressing my opinions on the case and the relevant law as I see it.
She honestly might. If she had known she was pulling out her pistol when she fired at Wright, she could have conceivably argued Wright was resisting arrest, fighting with her fellow officer, potentially grabbing at his belt or going for his own concealed weapon. There's enough erratic movement from Wright in that video that she could make that defense if she had knowingly pulled the pistol.
IIRC, the cop who shot Jacob Blake is literally back on the force now because his actions were both justified and intentional.
But in the video this cop clearly, audibly and repeatedly says "I'm going to taze him" and then says "taser, taser, taser" and after she shoots she says "oh shit" like she realizes she grabbed the wrong thing out of her belt. Shooting Wright may have been justified, but shooting him was not her intent, meaning her accidental actions caused a death. Generically speaking, when someone has an accident that gets someone killed, that's usually called manslaughter (again, speaking generically and not specifically in this exact case).
Now, maybe this could be dismissed as a no-fault accidental death situation but I doubt it and the cop had already been charged with second degree manslaughter. I think the evidence is strong enough to earn a conviction on manslaughter in this case and I'm not really sure Wright's actions here could negate that. It's clear the cop did not premeditate murder or even attempt to cause the kind of harm that would result in murder, so it does seem murder 2 or 3 are not appropriate here.
If I'm totally off base, feel free to correct me. What do you think are appropriate charges, if any, in this case?
Manslaughter? Duante was wanted for armed robbery and strangulation of a woman, he had been evading arrest for two years.
I understand Duante Wright was not an angel. I'm not at all saying Wright was in the right here or anything to that effect. The video clearly shows he shoved off a cop and dove into his car. A reasonable cop could have assumed he was reaching for a gun tucked under the seat or something. I fully understand that. But when a cop says "taser, taser, taser" while pulling out her pistol and shooting Wright, that seems like a clear example of "she made a mistake which resulted in the death of a person."
In Minnesota, second degree manslaughter is defined as "a person who causes the death of another by... the person's culpable negligence whereby the person creates an unreasonable risk, and consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another."
The cop was negligent in that she pulled her pistol instead of her taser and Wright died as a result of her actions. I guess a court case will have to explain what "consciously takes chances of causing death..." means here.
It's already being reported the cop will be charged with 2nd degree manslaughter, so I'm not way off base here saying that is the likely charge. Im no defense attorney but I don't see how, given the facts of this case, you really argue that she didn't kill Wright by accident (manslaughter). If the defense is, well she meant to taze a suspect resisting arrest but accidentally pulled out her gun instead, that would seem to directly affirm manslaughter here, would it not? If I'm missing something please correct my thinking here. I'm not trying to eagerly condemn someone without due process, I'm just expressing my opinions on the case and the relevant law as I see it.
So if she didn't have a taser and just blasted him, she would have had a better defense? :thinking:
She honestly might. If she had known she was pulling out her pistol when she fired at Wright, she could have conceivably argued Wright was resisting arrest, fighting with her fellow officer, potentially grabbing at his belt or going for his own concealed weapon. There's enough erratic movement from Wright in that video that she could make that defense if she had knowingly pulled the pistol.
IIRC, the cop who shot Jacob Blake is literally back on the force now because his actions were both justified and intentional.
But in the video this cop clearly, audibly and repeatedly says "I'm going to taze him" and then says "taser, taser, taser" and after she shoots she says "oh shit" like she realizes she grabbed the wrong thing out of her belt. Shooting Wright may have been justified, but shooting him was not her intent, meaning her accidental actions caused a death. Generically speaking, when someone has an accident that gets someone killed, that's usually called manslaughter (again, speaking generically and not specifically in this exact case).
Now, maybe this could be dismissed as a no-fault accidental death situation but I doubt it and the cop had already been charged with second degree manslaughter. I think the evidence is strong enough to earn a conviction on manslaughter in this case and I'm not really sure Wright's actions here could negate that. It's clear the cop did not premeditate murder or even attempt to cause the kind of harm that would result in murder, so it does seem murder 2 or 3 are not appropriate here.
If I'm totally off base, feel free to correct me. What do you think are appropriate charges, if any, in this case?