ICE SHOOTING OF RENE NICOLE GOOD IN MINNEAPOLIS

 

I just watched a video of Kristi Noem saying that a critic of the ICE shooting in Minneapolis didn't know what he was talking about. I would like to criticize the shooting, and I definitely know more about shootings in general and police shootings in particular than Kristi Noem does.

I’ve prosecuted and defended plenty of shootings in my career. And I have investigated more than a few police shootings. I was even been personally involved in one. I also know something about running over people with a car. I have handled a few of those cases, too.

I am going to try to be dispassionate in my critique and refrain from using incendiary language like "jack-booted thug," "meat-headed police officer with more testosterone than sense," "domestic terrorist," or "left-wing conspirator against law and order."

In my experience, the most justifiable incident involving an officer shooting the driver of a vehicle bearing down on him occurred with the appropriately named Mississippi State Highway Patrolman, John Wayne Leggett. Leggett attempted to stop two escaped murderers when one of them rolled down the rear window of the stolen Bronco they were driving and started shooting at him. They had a running gun battle through the streets of Brookhaven, Mississippi until Leggett chased them into a cul de sac. Leggett got out of his car with a shotgun as the bad guys made a U-turn and raced toward him definitely attempting to run him down. Leggett stood his ground and emptied his shotgun into the windshield on the oncoming car. He struck the driver in the face but failed to stop the onslaught. He finally jumped out of the way at the last minute, with the car barely missing him. The driver, being somewhat disconcerted by the injury to his face, swerved on down the street and rammed a tree on the side of the street. Both men were captured and sentenced to death. One died of natural causes awaiting execution, and the other died in the death chamber at Florida State Prison. I admire Leggett’s courage, but I question his judgement. He could have much more safely shot at the car from behind his nearby cruiser’s trunk.

I have prosecuted a few drivers who ran their cars into officers who were trying to detain them. Never got a conviction because the officers were mistreating the defendants in some way, and the defense was, “I was just trying to get away from the aggressive officer.”

Then there was the case where the officer said he was defending himself from a drug arrestee's vicious attempt to run over him. The problem was that the bullet holes were in the driver’s side window, not the windshield. Pardon me for being skeptical about the necessity for shooting through the side windows of a car that has missed you. I was, however, appreciative of his wisdom in jumping out of the way.

That’s the best defense against someone trying to run you over with a car—jump out of the way. Stand your ground and shoot the driver dead, and you haven’t stopped the car. Not only that, but you have deprived the driver of the ability to stop the car. Best strategy: jump out of the way jump in your patrol car, and give chase. There is a difference between "justifiable homicide" and necessary homicide.

Now let’s look at what was just shown by video evidence to have happened in Minneapolis in the light most favorable to the officer who fired the shot.

The woman was blocking the street. Officers approached her, ostensibly to get her moved out of the way. She and her wife were engaging in conversation with the officers which would irritate a thin-skinned officer, but which should have rolled off a professional officer's skin like water off a duck's back. (Look at the officer's cellphone video if you don't believe me). The officers did two things which were counterproductive to their stated objective of getting her out of the way. One officer grabbed the driver’s side door handle in an apparent attempt to get her out of the car. If she were out of the car, it would be difficult for her to drive out of the way. The other one stood in front of her car, rendering it difficult for her to drive away. It looks far more likely that they were attempting to punish her for "mouthing off" at them than that they were attempting to get her moved. She pulled off, turning to the right, as the officer, standing to the left front of the car shot her dead in "self-defense." He didn’t stop the forward progress of the vehicle, and it eventually crashed.

If she had survived, could a prosecutor have convicted her of aggravated assault on the officer? I don’t think so. She would most likely have defended herself by saying that the officers were being angry and rude (they were yelling and cursing), and she feared they would hurt her if they got her out of the car. Maybe throw her on the pavement, handcuff her behind her back, and use a little unnecessary roughness in the process. She would say that she tried to evade the officer in front of her by driving around him. Verdict: Not Guilty.

As a prosecutor, I would probably not prosecute the officer either. Although I believe he used abominable judgement and committed an unnecessary homicide, giving the officer the benefit of the doubt, I can’t say that I could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he acted unlawfully. That’s a paradox I saw many times as a prosecutor: a homicide which was defensible as being justified but was absolutely unnecessary.

The officer's abominable judgement, however, won't protect him or his department from a civil rights lawsuit pursuant to 42 U.S. Code § 1983.

Two things that I think are the marks of a highly professional officer. He doesn’t lose his cool when a suspect gets verbally abusive, and he uses force judiciously. The ICE officer failed this test of professionalism on both counts.