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Author: Andrew Branca

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Andrew Branca

Andrew F. Branca is in his third decade of practicing law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He wrote the first edition of the "Law of Self Defense" in 1997, and is currently in the process of completing the fully revised and updated second edition, which you can preorder now at lawofselfdefense.com. He began his competitive shooting activities as a youth in smallbore rifle, and today is a Life Member of the National Rifle Association (NRA) and a Life Member and Master-class competitor in multiple classifications in the International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA). Andrew has for many years been an NRA-certified firearms instructor in pistol, rifle, and personal protection, and has previously served as an Adjunct Instructor on the Law of Self Defense at the SigSauer Academy in Epping, NH. He holds or has held concealed carry permits for Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, Pennsylvania, Florida, Utah, Virginia, and other states.

No charges are to be filed against the police officer who shot and killed Keith Lamont Scott last September in Charlotte NC, announced Mecklenburg County District Attorney Andrew Murray today, reports CNN and other news outlets. Both Scott and the officer who shot him, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Officer Brentley Vinson, are black. As has long since become the common pattern in police shootings of black male suspects, considerable early effort was put into creating a false narrative that was negative to the police. For example, Scott’s spouse claimed that he was not armed at the time police shot him. In fact, a gun extensively covered in Scott’s DNA was found at the scene beside his body. As another example, Scott’s daughter claimed that her father was merely reading a book when police shot him. In fact, no book was found at the scene.

The scientific journal JAMA Internal Medicine has published a paper utterly devoid of scientific or public policy merit, fraught with abject error and ignorance, and utterly lacking any arguable purpose other than to deceive gullible readers about the nature and merits of Florida’s Stand-Your-Ground law. The JAMA study follows another supposedly scientific study by others I have previously debunked: Published on Monday, Nov. 14, the JAMA paper is entitled: "Evaluating the Impact of Florida’s 'Stand Your Ground' Self-defense Law on Homicide and Suicide by Firearm: An Interrupted Time Series Study." How this paper passed peer review and why it has not already been withdrawn is a question left to the reader.

Readers may recall the 2014 trial of Michael Dunn for the killing of teenager Jordan Davis, as well as three counts of attempted murder of Davis' friends, in an incident apparently triggered by Dunn's annoyance with the teens' loud music.  We covered this trial in great detail right here at Legal Insurrection.  Following his conviction Dunn filed an appeal "on the ground that the State failed to present evidence rebutting his self-defense claim." Yesterday, Florida's 1st District Court of Appeal unanimously affirmed Dunn's conviction in a concise 6-page opinion.  (That opinion is embedded below.)

Minutes ago Judge Megan Shanahan declared a mistrial in the case of University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing after the jury remained unable to come to a unanimous verdict in its fourth day and twenty-fifth hour of deliberations, as reported by WCPO in Cincinnati. Tensing was being tried for murder and manslaughter for the shooting death of Sam DuBose, after DuBose attempted to drive away from a traffic stop. Tensing raised the legal defense of self-defense, claiming that he shot DuBose because DuBose was dragging him with his vehicle, and as a result threatening Tensing with death or grave bodily harm.

Today is the third day of deliberations in the murder/manslaughter trial of police officer Ray Tensing, and this afternoon Judge Megan Shanahan once again sent the jury back to deliberations after they told her that they were still unable to arrive at a unanimous verdict. Ray Tensing, you may recall, is the Univesity of Cincinnati police officer who shot and killed black motorist Sam DuBose when the driver attempted to flee a traffic stop after refusing to show the officer a driver's license.  The events were captured in a rather shaky maneer on Tensing's bodycam, as we covered way back in July of 2015: Sam DuBose Shooting: Let’s Go to the Video Tape.

It appears that another negative narrative about a police shooting of a black suspect is about to go down in flames. This particular case involves the shooting death of suspect Terence Crutcher by Oklahoma police officer Betty Jo Shelby. The racial narrative in the shooting death of Crutcher appears to have taken a fatal blow with the news yesterday, as reported in the New York Times and elsewhere, that the coroner in the case has determined the Crutcher “had a high level of the drug PCP in his body” at the time of his death (emphasis added). This finding essentially puts the finishing bow on Officer Shelby’s narrative of a lawful use of deadly force, which was already consistent with all available evidence. It also puts a spotlight on the local prosecutor’s shameful and patently politically-motivated decision to charge Shelby with manslaughter in Crutcher’s death even before the coroner’s findings had been released.

The details on the Charlotte riots and attacks on motorists trapped on the highway and others are in our earlier post. Instapundit (law professor Glenn Reynolds) was suspended from Twitter (then later reinstated) after posting the following tweet as those riots and highway blockades were ongoing: Instapundit Tweet Charlotte Riots Professor Jacobson has asked me to address whether such an act would be lawful as a justified act of self-defense.  I'm on a flight now using airplane WiFi, so I'll make this quick. (Before I go on, however, I should point out that Professor Reynolds has added some important context to his pithy tweet, and these later comments can be found at the link above.)

Yesterday Angela Corey, the prosecutor who dragged George Zimmerman into a hapless politically-motivated trial for second degree murder for the lawful killing of Trayvon Martin, has soundly lost the GOP primary race for her re-election as 4th Judicial State Attorney in the Jacksonville area of Florida, reports the Florida-Times Union newspaper.  Corey was defeated by a relatively late entrant into the primary, former corporate lawyer and prosecutor Melissa Nelson.

This morning Maryland State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby dropped all criminal charges against the remaining "Freddie Gray" defendants, reports the Baltimore Sun. There were three trials remaining--de novo trials of Officer Garrett Miller (whose trial was scheduled to begin today) and Sergeant Alicia White, as well as a re-trial of Officer William Porter. Porter, the first officer to be tried in this series of prosecutions, had his trial end in a hung jury and was immediately scheduled for re-trial by prosecutors.

[UPDATE: The official transcript of Judge Williams' decision has been embedded below. Thanks to commenter amwick.] Like a Baltimore State's Attorney version of the movie "Groundhog Day," the fourth of the Freddie Gray trials has once again failed to achieve a conviction on even a single charge, according to Baltimore Sun reporters Kevin Rector and Justin Fenton: Screen Shot 2016-07-18 at 10.37.54 AM This time Lt. Brian Rice was acquitted of charges involuntary manslaughter, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment. An assault-related charge of misconduct-in-office was dropped by prosecutors at the start of the trial and a charge of second-degree assault was dropped by Circuit Judge Barry Williams after the state rested. Previous Freddie Gray trials have resulted in one hung jury in the trial of Officer William Porter, and two bench trial acquittals in the cases of Officers Edward Nero and Caesar Goodson.  Still awaiting trial are Officer Garrett Miller and Sergeant Alicia White.  State prosecutors have also scheduled a re-trial of Officer Porter.

The defense rested yesterday in the current "Freddie Gray trial" of Baltimore Police Department Lieutenant Brian Rice, and closing arguments are scheduled for Thursday.  Given the past practice of trial judge Barry Williams a verdict in this bench trial is likely to be delivered by him no sooner than early next week (to wit, after the weekend). The regular reader of Legal Insurrection (and you'd be a fool not to be) will have noted that we haven't done as many posts on this latest "Freddie Gray trial" of Lieutenant Rice as we have of the previous failed prosecutions of Officer William Porter, Officer Edward Nero, and Officer Caesar Goodson.  The explanation for that apparent lapse is straightforward--there's little new to post about. The ongoing legal battle between the police officers' defense counsel and the State's Attorney prosecutors is reminiscent in a pathetically bizarre "Groundhog Day" fashion of the battle of Waterloo, after which the defending Duke of Wellington dismissively noted of Napoleon's attacking army, "They came on in the same old way, and we saw them off in the same old way."

The "Freddie Gray trial" of Lieutenant Brian Rice began today with opening statements and the state's first two witnesses, reports the Baltimore Sun (the tweets embedded below are also provided by Baltimore Sun reporters).  Rice has chosen a bench trial before trial Judge Barry Williams.  The last two "Freddie Gray" defendants, who also chose bench trials, were both acquitted of all charges. Although the state dropped one of the minor charges against Rice--the misconduct charge associated with the arrest in which he was not involved--they continue to pursue charges of involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and a second misconduct in office charge.

The courts have scheduled the next trial in State Attorney's apparently pathological persecution of innocent police officers charged in the death of community drug-dealer Freddie Gray on Thursday.  This time the victim is Baltimore Police Department Lieutenant Brian Rice, the most senior of the six officers charged in Gray's death. They have charged Rice is with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, two counts of misconduct in office, and reckless endangerment. He is free on $350,000 bail.  Like every other officer charged in the case, Rice has pleaded not guilty. To date, the state has unsuccessfully tried three of the six officers in Gray's death. The first, Officer William Porter, ended in a hung jury, and scheduled to be retried. The second and third, of Officer Edward Nero and van driver Officer Caesar Goodson, were both bench trials and in both cases trial judge Barry Williams acquitted the officers of all charges. The Baltimore Sun reports that this morning Lt. Rice notified the court that he also elected a bench trial. The prosecution in these trials has been characterized by a seemingly random interchange of variable theories of the case, none of which appear supported by actual evidence. The prosecution has also repeatedly failed to meet it's discovery obligations, and has already been substantively sanctioned by Judge Williams for their repeated failure to share exculpatory and other evidence in a timely manner. These lapses include the failure to disclose evidence indicating that Gray's death was initially believed accidental by the medical examiner and not a homicide.

It wasn't supposed to be this way for State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby.  When she abruptly brought criminal charges against six Baltimore Police Officers during riots, looting, and arson following the death of community drug dealer Freddie Gray she became an immediate media darling.  Profiles in Vogue quickly followed, as well as prominent speaking engagements (some of which she used as platforms for extrajudicial commentary on the pending trials, a serious breach of ethics). Interestingly, Mosby didn't call for justice, per se.  She called for particular forms of justice.  Justice for Freddie Gray.  Justice for "the people of Baltimore" and, remarkably, "the protestors across America" (!).  She called for justice for "those that are angry, hurt, or have their own experiences of injustice at the hands of police officers."  She wrapped by calling for justice "Last, but certainly not least, to the youth of this City. I will seek justice on your behalf. This is a moment, this is your moment."

Just a quick post here to add some additional insight into the acquittal of Office Caesar Goodson, first from an experienced trial attorney in Baltimore, then from two of the Baltimore Sun reporters who have most intensively covered these "Freddie Gray" trials, and finally an editorial from the Baltimore Sun editorial board urging Mosby to reconsider these "Freddie Gray" trials.

Baltimore Criminal Defense Attorney Warren Brown

Minutes ago Judge Barry Williams, sitting in a bench trial, acquitted van driver Officer Caesar Goodson of all charges in the death of Freddie Gray, according to Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton. Freddie Gray Caesar Goodson not guilty Goodson had been charged with second-degree depraved heart murder, manslaughter, two counts of vehicular manslaughter, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and misconduct in office.  He faced up to 30 years in prison. This leaves State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby with a record of 0 and 3 in the "Freddie Gray" prosecutions, following the hung jury of Officer William Porter and the acquittal Officer Edward Nero in a bench trial.

Well, well, well.  It looks like the civil suits filed against State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby (who brought the prosecution againt the officers) and Baltimore Assistant Sheriff Cogen (who swore out the charges against the officers) is beginning to bear strategic fruit, just as I'd predicted was their true immediate purpose. Today the Baltimore Sun reports that Cogen now claims in an affidavit that he had "no involvement in the investigation whatsoever." Instead, he was simply presented with purported evidence by the prosecution and told what the prosecutors had already themselves determined to be the facts of the case.  Cogen affidavit states:
I was also presented with a narrative that formed the basis of the application for statement of charges that I completed by the State's Attorney's Office.  The facts, information and legal conclusions contained within ... as well as the charges lodged against plaintiff came entirely from members of the State's Attorney's Office.

Thursday morning trial Judge Barry Williams is expected to release his bench verdict in the “Freddie Gray” trial of van driver Officer Caesar Goodson. Officer Goodson is charged with murder, multiple counts of manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment. Goodson is the third of six charged officers to be tried in the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody. The jury trial of Officer William Porter ended in a hung jury, and Porter is scheduled to be re-tried. The bench trial of Officer Edward Nero ended in an acquittal. As was the case with Nero, Goodson also elected to have a bench trial. The prosecution in all these cases has put forth three distinct theories of criminal liability for the charged officers: (1) Murder by failure to seatbelt; (2) Murder by failure to provide prompt medical care; (3) Murder by “rough ride.”