A plan by the district attorney to seek murder charges against three narcotics officers involved in the shooting death of an elderly woman during a bungled drug raid may jeopardize a broad, federal investigation into civil rights violations by the Atlanta Police Department, a spokesman for the victim’s family said Thursday...I'm sorry, but I don't get it.
“These officers did not commit felony murder,” he said. “They committed a violation of civil rights that led to her death.”
Mr. Hutchins said both he and Ms. Dozier believed strongly that the civil rights division of the federal Department of Justice should be the prosecuting agency. That way, the legal consequences might apply to the entire Atlanta Police Department, not simply to the three officers.
Of course there should be a murder prosecution, and the people directly responsible should be the ones on the hook for it.
If the family wants to pursue civil, that is, monetary penalties against the department for bad policies and training, that's also an option open to them.
And there's nothing that I can see in this that precludes federal civil rights actions on top of that, as a different set of laws would be applied.
I thought maybe the concern was that the murder charges were for show, to mollify "the community" when the "authorities" know they won't stick--but it seems to me that an acquittal would produce renewed outrage and a whole 'nother set of problems.
Tell me if I'm missing something, because right now, I'm questioning whether the "survivors" of the childless victim are after justice based on personal accountability or deep pockets.
[Via Tom, who credits The Agitator]