Cop killing a unarmed man in hotel found not guilty
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Mr.LV
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http://www.azfamily.com/story/36985863/ex-mesa-police-officer-who-shot-killed-unarmed-man-found-not-guilty-of-murder
Brailsford was charged in the on-duty shooting death of Daniel Shaver at the La Quinta Inn. Officers went to the hotel on a call that someone was pointing a rifle out a window.
[SPECIAL SECTION: Murder trial of ex-Mesa officer Philip 'Mitch' Brailsford]
Brailsford claimed he thought Shaver was reaching for a gun when police were trying to take him into custody and was refusing police commands. Officers later learned Shaver did not have a gun and only found two pellet rifles related to his pest-control job in his room.
The former cop said he was doing what he was trained to do when he saw a threat.
"I was doing what I needed to do to protect my fellow men and the woman we had just taken into custody," Brailsford said while on the stand.
[RELATED: Testimony over in murder trial of ex-Mesa police officer]
[READ MORE: Wife of man shot, killed by police at Mesa hotel files $35M notice of claim]
Brailsford testified that he believed Shaver, who was from Texas, was reaching for a gun in the waistband of his shorts. During Brailsford's testimony, prosecutor Susie Charbel challenged Brailsford's memory of the events of the shooting because he did not remember some of the details of what happened that night.
"I'm not perfect, and I had my Axon body camera running at the time," said Brailsford. "So, that was going to be the best type of recording that we could have."
Leading up to the shooting, Brailsford and his supervisor told Shaver and a woman to come out of Room 502 but got no response. After the phone rang inside the room, Brailsford said a man and a woman came out of the room.
[READ MORE: Former Mesa police officer on trial for murder testifies]
He testified that the woman followed commands and was taken into custody unhurt. Shaver was ordered to lie face-down in a hotel hallway. Brailsford said Shaver disobeyed orders to not put his hands behind him on a couple of occasions.
"For some reason, he placed his hands behind his back," said Brailsford. "For one, I don't know why he did that."
Brailsford fired at Shaver after he said Shaver reached behind him again, this time in what he described was a classic "draw stroke," as if reaching for a gun.
[ORIGINAL STORY: Officer-involved shooting at a Mesa La Quinta Inn leaves man dead]
Shaver can be heard on Brailsford's body camera video saying, "Please do not shoot me."
Before the testimony ended, Brailsford reiterated that he 100 percent believed Shaver was reaching for a gun and that if in the same situation again, he would make the same decision.
The detectives investigating the shooting agreed that Shaver's movement was similar to reaching for a pistol but also said it looked like Shaver was pulling up his loose-fitting basketball shorts, which had fallen. The investigator had noted he didn't see anything that would have prevented officers from simply handcuffing Shaver as he was on the floor.
The woman who was taken into custody, Monique Portillo, testified as the only civilian eyewitness to the shooting of Shaver.
[RELATED: Former officer charged with murder will testify]
[MORE: Reports shed light on fatal Mesa police shooting]
Portillo said she and a male co-worker met Shaver about an hour before he was shot in the hallway of the hotel. The three of them were all there on business and were staying in separate rooms, but Shaver invited them up to his room for a drink. Once inside, the two men started admiring one of the pellet rifles Shaver had with him.
Portillo said she warned the guys as they passed the rifle back and forth and pointed it out the window of the fifth-floor hotel room, checking out the scopes.
"I was like, 'Hey, you guys, don't be so close to the window. People may get the wrong idea,'" said Portillo.
Shortly after, the Mesa police officers were called to the hotel.
[MORE: Jurors in Arizona see video of officer killing unarmed man]
Portillo said she did exactly as asked by the officers while at gunpoint. Portillo was still in the hall when Shaver was ordered to do the same thing.
“As he was crawling out, I guess his shorts were falling down because of the material of his basketball shorts. And trying to crawl with your hands up this way, I mean out of reaction, you’re going to try to pull up your shorts. And he … he … they shot him,” said Portillo.
[RELATED: Parents of unarmed man killed by police sue Mesa, police officers]
She also told officers she believed Shaver was shot because he didn't follow protocol.
Brailsford served as a Mesa officer for about two years before he was fired for violations of departmental policy, including unsatisfactory performance.
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That video is disgusting
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That ? was inhumane. No matter what dude did, he was going to ? him. The fact that he told dude to crawl to him, then killed him with a rifle.....could have detained and checked dude whilst he was face down, could have deployed pepper spray, tased him. Murder, man.
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It was like the officer wanted to ? that dude. He was overly aggressive. -
Boy I'd have got shot by this demented pig as soon as he said 'obey'. Wudda stood right up and accepted then bullets
? is disgustin' they cudda cuffed both suspects instead he gettin' himself a ? tellin' brudda to crawl towards him -
scary ass ? deez cops.........dey executed that man
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Ain't no way in the ? they showed a jury this video and they came back with a not guilty.....I refuse to believe that ? .
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i was gonna say somethin..
but imma keep my thoughts to myself. smmfh..
this is some sad ? tho.. -
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/12/footage-of-a-police-killing-that-jurors-didnt-punish/547868/The video was released because a verdict was reached by jurors in Maricopa County, Arizona, the same jurisdiction where Joe Arpaio was sheriff for 24 years. The jury found the Mesa, Arizona, police officer not guilty of second-degree murder.
“Jurors deliberated for less than six hours over two days, finishing Thursday afternoon,” the Arizona Republic reported. “The eight-member jury also found Brailsford not guilty of the lesser charge of reckless manslaughter.” Readers can now watch the video for themselves and judge whether they want to keep living in a country where police who behave in the manner shown face no criminal punishment.
There are consequences to America’s unique attitude toward police killings. In 2016, at least 50 people were shot and killed by police in Arizona, a state with population of 6.9 million. Over a similar 12-month period in England, population 53 million, just six people were killed by police. (During the prior 12-month period, police shot and killed three people in England.) The total number of police killings in England since 1990 is about the same as the number of people killed by Arizona police last year alone.
The same year that Arizona police killed 50 people in population of 7 million, police in Germany, where the population is 82 million, killed about 13 people.
Jurors in the Daniel Shaver case were not allowed to know that the police officer who shot him had scratched “you’re ? ” into his service weapon. But they did hear him testify about the encounter where he shot an unarmed man.
“I believed 100 percent that he was reaching for a gun,” he said.
Without a doubt, he was 100 percent wrong––and yet, according to the Arizona Republic, he was unrepentant:
A former Mesa police officer charged in the killing of an unarmed man while on duty nearly two years ago testified Thursday that he would take the same action if he had to relive the episode. Philip Brailsford, 26, is charged with second-degree murder in the on-duty shooting of 26-year-old Daniel Shaver on Jan. 18, 2016 in a Mesa La Quinta Inn & Suites hallway.
“If this situation happened exactly as it did that time, I would have done the same thing," Brailsford said testifying in his Maricopa County Superior Court trial.
Smh.. These pigs will continue ? people like this because they rarely face any kind of consequences.. Oh and ? that ? jury... -
atribecalledgabi wrote: »Ain't no way in the ? they showed a jury this video and they came back with a not guilty.....I refuse to believe that ? .
Then you haven't been paying attention. We've been over this. The only thing a cop has to say is that he believes his life is in danger, and that's a get out of jail free card. When the investigators said that the kids motion looked like a drawing motion, that's all it took for one or two of the people on the jury to say "Fair." It doesn't matter that it wasn't the most reasonable or logical explanation and that those investigators pointed out that it shouldn't have gotten to that point in the first place.
These white people will learn. I hate to say it, but more ? like this needs to happen. Maybe then some of them will wake-up and realize this police ? ain't just a black problem, we're just ahead of the curve when it comes to wanting get it resolved. -
the service weapon. smh.
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The cop made it seem as if he was alone trying to arrest them.
How you have half a dozen cops with guns and can't just cuff them soon as you got them to lay down with their hands behind their heads? That cop is definitely emotionally unstable, trigger happy, and not fit for anything police related.
Cops ran up in that Vegas hotel with less fear ........ smh
"Hey yt, see what we talking bout now?!" - Black Americans
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That police officer sounded like his palms was itching for a ? . If he didnt terminate that mans life, an ass wooping may have may have been a suitble replacement. Black or white its really us against them. This racism ? is nothing but a smoke screen. Since reformation of police protocol seems to not be considered more murders will occur. ? 12's
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Too many folks sitting on juries in this country don't actually think for ? .
That cop is a cold blooded killer. He'd make more money as a hitman cause the way he shot that dude he don't give a ? about killing somebody. -
ThisThe Lonious Monk wrote: »atribecalledgabi wrote: »Ain't no way in the ? they showed a jury this video and they came back with a not guilty.....I refuse to believe that ? .
Then you haven't been paying attention. We've been over this. The only thing a cop has to say is that he believes his life is in danger, and that's a get out of jail free card. When the investigators said that the kids motion looked like a drawing motion, that's all it took for one or two of the people on the jury to say "Fair." It doesn't matter that it wasn't the most reasonable or logical explanation and that those investigators pointed out that it shouldn't have gotten to that point in the first place.
These white people will learn. I hate to say it, but more ? like this needs to happen. Maybe then some of them will wake-up and realize this police ? ain't just a black problem, we're just ahead of the curve when it comes to wanting get it resolved.
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just watched the vid.. i am legit heated right now... that cop had the intention from the start to ? that man... this is just ? sick
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He should have followed commands. He should have not went out that day. He should of said yes sir, no sir and thank you. - Boot licking jury member
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Homie was so shook off being apart of a murder he couldn't open the door with the keycard
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Hands in the air, legs cross, face down, raise up, crawl with hands up and legs crossed
Or Ima shoot you.
Seems easy enough with 4 guns pointed in your face
? them -
the wild part to me is that after he shoots him, dude just keeps it moving like its a first person shooter. dude didnt even radio the shooting in. -
At this point why aren’t people fighting or running? I feel like sometimes it’s just your day and that’s the only thing to do.
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I cant be watching ? like that so i wont to close to some ? that can happen to anyone
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Police brutality is a NATIONAL problem. It's a problem for EVERYONE.
It's beyond time to stop trying to have oppression olympics on the subject and demand that this ? stops.
Dude was humiliated then shot for a minor error, an error he made after being under duress for several minutes.
