Tulsa female race soldier faces trial for killing unarmed black man Terence Crutcher…

stringer bell
stringer bell Members Posts: 26,212 ✭✭✭✭✭
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/05/08/tulsa-police-officer-betty-shelby-faces-trial-killing-unarmed-black-man/101427580/
Tulsa Police officer Betty Shelby faces trial for killing unarmed black man

Jury selection began Monday in the manslaughter trial for Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby, whose fatal shooting of an unarmed black man along a quiet, two-lane Oklahoma roadway last September was caught on video and witnessed by her husband.

The shooting put the city on edge, prompting protests outside Tulsa police headquarters and a call for calm from Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin. Now the case again draws the spotlight, and a citywide "Prayer and Call for Justice" featuring the the Rev. Al Sharpton is scheduled for Wednesday.

Shelby, who is white, says she shot Terence Crutcher after he repeatedly ignored her commands to show his hands and kneel down. Ryan Kiesel, head of the ACLU of Oklahoma, says Crutcher was murdered "in cold blood."

Shelby says she was driving to another police call when she came upon Crutcher, standing alongside the road, then saw an SUV straddling the center line with its engine running and doors open. Moments later, backup arrived and dashcams and a police helicopter's camera began to roll. In the helicopter was the pilot and a police spotter — Shelby's husband, David.

The graphic videos show Crutcher, 40, walking toward his SUV with his hands up and his back to multiple officers. Crutcher appears to place his hands on his vehicle when he falls to the ground, shocked with a stun gun fired by one officer and shot by Shelby. In the video, no one immediately attempts to provide aid to the fallen man.

Shelby, 43, says Crutcher was behaving like a man on the hallucinogenic ? — "zombie-like" she told CBS' 60 Minutes — and she thought he might be reaching for a gun in his car. A medical examiner's report later determined Crutcher had ? in his system when Shelby shot him.

The Crutcher family released a statement saying the report of ? in Crutcher's system was "unfortunate" but did not change "the most pertinent facts of this tragedy: Officer Betty Shelby shot and killed Terence Crutcher, who was unarmed and had his hands up, without provocation or justification and she should be held accountable for her unlawful actions."

Shelby, a five-year veteran of the police force, was placed on paid administrative leave, then unpaid leave. The Justice Department has opened an investigation into the shooting.

The shooting was one of more than a dozen officer-involved shootings of unarmed black men across the nation, some of them sparking violent protests. Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan, within days of Crutcher's shooting, promised that justice would be done.

"I'm going to tell you right now that there was no gun on the suspect or in the suspect's vehicle," Jordan said. "I want to assure our community and I want to assure all of you and people across the nation who are going to be looking at this: We will achieve justice."

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/courts/update-jury-chosen-for-betty-shelby-trial-opening-statements-now/article_6cd66361-ac4e-5097-b910-dbd910e9faf1.html

A jury has been chosen, with 14 individuals set to hear the evidence against Officer Betty Shelby starting as early as this afternoon.

The jury panel of 12 includes two black women, and a black man is among the two alternates.
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Comments

  • Olorun22
    Olorun22 Members Posts: 5,696 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 2017
    I want to see how my city respond if she gets off
  • rebootx1
    rebootx1 Members Posts: 961 ✭✭✭✭
    Do it for black Wallstreet my ?
  • Trillfate
    Trillfate Members Posts: 24,008 ✭✭✭✭✭
    There's no way both black women are ? ... at least 1 has to stand her ground
  • atribecalledgabi
    atribecalledgabi Members, Moderators Posts: 14,063 Regulator
    What is she being charged with?
  • stringer bell
    stringer bell Members Posts: 26,212 ✭✭✭✭✭
    What is she being charged with?

    Manslaughter...
  • farris2k1
    farris2k1 Members Posts: 1,937 ✭✭✭✭✭
    What is she being charged with?

    Manslaughter...

    Got a better chance of being charged with that but well see,damn sure aint expecting ? to happen
  • stringer bell
    stringer bell Members Posts: 26,212 ✭✭✭✭✭
    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/us/tulsa-officer-shooting.html
    Tulsa Officer Cites Her Training in Testimony About Fatal Shooting

    TULSA, Okla. — Betty Jo Shelby, the white Tulsa police officer charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of an unarmed black driver in September, testified on Monday that during the encounter, she relied on her training in how to deal with potentially dangerous suspects.

    “I have all the indications that he has a gun,” Officer Shelby said under questioning by the prosecutor, Kevin Gray, of her response when the driver, Terence Crutcher, failed to follow her orders to stop moving toward his car. “I do not pull a Taser out, which is less lethal. I meet a gun with a gun.”

    “In this situation, though,” Mr. Gray said, “you’re not meeting a gun with a gun. You’re meeting a guess about a gun with a gun.”


    Responding to questions from her lawyer, Shannon McMurray, Officer Shelby testified that she thought Mr. Crutcher had a gun when he reached into a car window, and that she had been trained to shoot before he could take a shot.

    “I’m told in my training: Do not let them pull their arm back out,” Officer Shelby said.

    “Why?” Ms. McMurray asked.

    “Because they may have a gun or a weapon,” Officer Shelby responded.

    The fatal encounter played out amid a series of deaths across the country at the hands of the police that raised questions about officers’ use of force, particularly against African-American men. Video cameras in the police cars and a helicopter circling above recorded the encounter in Tulsa, which drew national attention.

    Before taking the stand, Officer Shelby, 43, wrung her hands and looked nervous while consulting with her lawyer. But she appeared calm and collected during her testimony, her voice gaining confidence as she recalled her career in law enforcement, first as a court deputy and later in the Tulsa Police Department as a patrol officer. Officer Shelby said she underwent training for 262 hours per year, well beyond the required 25 hours, to earn extra certifications, such as becoming a drug recognition expert.

    Several jurors took rapid notes as she led them through a computer simulation of her encounter with Mr. Crutcher, and then a police helicopter video.

    Officer Shelby testified that on Sept. 16, she was responding to a domestic violence call when she noticed an S.U.V. stopped in the road, blocking traffic. She said that as Mr. Crutcher, who was standing near the vehicle, approached her, she smelled the aroma of ? .

    Mr. Crutcher, 40, kept putting his hands in his pockets after Officer Shelby told him several times to keep them visible. Then, with his hands raised, he walked toward the driver’s side door. Officer Shelby said she fired when Mr. Crutcher reached into the window.

    The medical examiner’s report identified ? in Mr. Crutcher’s bloodstream at the time of his death. The police recovered a vial of the drug from the site of the shooting. No weapon was found on the car or on Mr. Crutcher.

    Mr. Gray questioned Officer Shelby about why she thought Mr. Crutcher was dangerous.

    “Based on the logic you laid out though, here, why wouldn’t everybody at a simple traffic stop not be the same type of threat as Terence Crutcher?” Mr. Gray asked.

    “It depends on their movements, their actions,” Officer Shelby replied.

    The episode was captured on video, but it is not possible to see Mr. Crutcher’s window clearly.

    Lawyers for Mr. Crutcher’s family have disputed some of the officer’s account. They said Mr. Crutcher’s car window was up, so he could not have been reaching inside before he was shot.

    The trial began last week before a jury of three men and nine women. At least two of the women are black. Officer Shelby has been on unpaid leave since the shooting.
  • Trillaaaaaa
    Trillaaaaaa Members Posts: 8,974 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Trillfate wrote: »
    There's no way both black women are ? ... at least 1 has to stand her ground

    I bet they both ?
  • Olorun22
    Olorun22 Members Posts: 5,696 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The verdict is on the way
  • Olorun22
    Olorun22 Members Posts: 5,696 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Not guilty,,,not surprised
  • Swiffness!
    Swiffness! Members Posts: 10,128 ✭✭✭✭✭
    if there was ever a chance, it went out the window with the toxicology report
  • 5th Letter
    5th Letter Members, Moderators, Writer Posts: 37,068 Regulator
    Olorun22 wrote: »
    Not guilty,,,not surprised

    Word? Not guilty? I'm surprised!!
  • Olorun22
    Olorun22 Members Posts: 5,696 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Man My mom is out there protesting right now
  • KingLuciano
    KingLuciano Members Posts: 476 ✭✭✭✭
    She walked, not surprised.
  • So ILL
    So ILL Members Posts: 16,507 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Olorun22 wrote: »
    Man My mom is out there protesting right now
    Why you ain't out there with her?
  • Max.
    Max. Members Posts: 33,009 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Swiffness! wrote: »
    if there was ever a chance, it went out the window with the toxicology report

    ?
  • blakfyahking
    blakfyahking Members Posts: 15,785 ✭✭✭✭✭
    ? was done once the report said he had ? in his system

    ? shouldn't protest over this one.......we gotta just hold that L
  • mc317
    mc317 Members Posts: 5,548 ✭✭✭✭✭
  • blakfyahking
    blakfyahking Members Posts: 15,785 ✭✭✭✭✭
    ghostdog56 wrote: »
    ? was done once the report said he had ? in his system

    ? shouldn't protest over this one.......we gotta just hold that L

    What does him having ? in his system have to do with whether or not the shooting was justified or not? I can see using that if he was trying to attack her but he wasn't

    my ? u really gon waste ur time protesting a situation where they can prove a ? wasn't on point before he got shot? and then u think white folks gon prosecute a white female cop at that?


    there are too many better cases to put ur efforts than to fight for a dude that they can prove was gon off of prob some dippers.........? ain't no regular drug bruh

    it's hard to make progress against police brutality when mofos want to protest for everybody, instead of the cases where it's obvious it's an innocent person who was killed


    it's not a coincidence that the media pushes the controversial cases over the obvious open and shut ones....the controversial cases give these ? up cops an excuse