Jury can’t decide if cop who destroyed woman’s eyeballs with pepper spray should go to prison

[MrScorpio]

Jurors appeared deadlocked Tuesday morning in the case of a former southern California police officer who blinded a woman when he fired a blast of pepper spray into her face.

Prosecutors said 38-year-old Enoch “Jeremy” Clark became “annoyed” when 32-year-old Monique Hernandez resisted his attempts Feb. 21, 2012, to place her in handcuffs.

Clark fired a JPX gunpowder-propelled gun, which discharges chemical irritant at 400 mph, just 10 inches away from the woman’s face while arresting her for misdemeanor driving under the influence, authorities said.

A dashboard camera recording, which has not been made available to the public, shows Hernandez with her hands behind her back, moving around as Clark tries to place her in handcuffs.

The officer repeatedly tells her to stop resisting, but Hernandez insists she’s not resisting and demands to know why she’s being taken into custody.

Clark repeatedly threatens to “JPX” her if she does not stop struggling, and the video shows the officer remove the pepper spray gun from his belt and fire a blast into her face.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/05/20/jury-cant-decide-if-cop-who-destroyed-womans-eyeballs-with-pepper-spray-should-go-to-prison/

[hobbit709]

1. That bastard should be in jail and she should get millions.

[billhicks76]

23. South Carolina

I thought they were tough on crime.

[GeorgeGist]

32. California

[billhicks76]

50. Whoops

I remember people who chained themselves together to stop the redwoods from being chopped. The cops took bowls full of pepper spray liquid, topped off spoons with it and poured it into activists eyes. That's pretty much Nazi-like torture but our justice system approved it. And it was all on video. Our Democrat leaders bent over a long time ago and stopped vocally opposing this kind of thing. That's why we are where we are at. Corporate sellouts.

[Warpy]

2. Gunpowder propelled?

That shit needs to be taken away right now.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

3. A sad story, and a sad jury.

Pretty much all of those sprays with any propellant come with explicit instructions not to spray within very short distances, and those are supposed to be part of standard protocol in using them. He violated protocol, resulting in permanent grievous bodily harm, above and beyond the 'force' required to 'subdue' this woman.

[Jesus Malverde]

4. 20 agencies are using it.

Not supposed to be used under 5 feet.

[Jesus Malverde]

5. Her eyeballs were literally blown into pieces

...

[GReedDiamond]

41. "Her eyeballs were literally blown into pieces"...

...and the attack "fractured her right orbital bone, and severed the optic nerve in her left eye."

And a couple of fuckin idiots and/or assholes on the jury went with not guilty?!

[gollygee]

6. The less cops are held responsible for their behavior

the more of this kind of abuse, and shootings as well, we see and will see.

[theHandpuppet]

7. OMFG

He blew her eyes right out of her head and they can't decide if this was a crime???

[truebrit71]

8. Right?

WTF is going on??

[LittleGirl]

13. WTF !!!!!!!!! eom

[warrior1]

9. can she sue for civil damages?

[dickthegrouch]

11. Probably since civil only requires a preponderance of evidence

There's no question as to the evidence that she was harmed, and how, and by whom.

Criminal conviction requires "no reasonable doubt". I imagine the jury is hung up on her perceived culpability for allegedly 'resisting'. I don't think they should even be looking at that. The cop used his weapon outside of guidelines and safety, QED.

[winter is coming]

34. I don't care if she was having a prize fight match with the cop, that does not excuse using

pepper spray at such close range.

[Brigid]

14. According to the story,

She is suing in federal court.

[lark]

19. I think an eye for an eye sounds about right.

So, in this case it would be 2 eyes gone for the negligent asshole. Harsh, yes, justice, yes also.

[nilesobek]

10. The jury system is now a modern day failure.

Good luck trying to get a jury of your "peers." Most jurors are petrified of judges and prosecutors and don't realize the power they really wield. Also, the prosecutors, professional liars they are, do everything they can to keep important information from the jury.

Once again, the so-called "justice," system is bad for everyone, including the police because if this keeps up, people will never surrender to their authority if they know they will get beat, tazed or sprayed. You might get better justice under the Roman Law system.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

20. true...an actual jury system requires an ability to think.

Higher level thinking. Critical judgement.


They're deadlocked!?!? Didn't they get the proper use instructions? Firing anything with that much power so close to someone's face should be clear enough in itself.

This is sickening.

[nilesobek]

29. So many jury outrages lately including the woman who could get

7 years for having a cop smash her breast. Jury selection is the most important part of a trial.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

30. Yep....or the black woman in Fla., in jail now

for shooting a warning shot in front of her attacking abusive husband....while Zimmerman is free.....

Truly, as the populace devolves, .......... well.......

Not much more I can say.

[Dawson Leery]

12. Uniform worship needs to stop.

Also, the cops have too many weapons.

[frylock]

15. fuck tha police

[951-Riverside]

16. There is a war...

And the American people are the enemy.

Ooh-rah!

Woman's face after encounter with two male Albuquerque Police officers in 2012
[IMG][/IMG]

Riot Police Anaheim, California 2012
[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[Tsiyu]

45. That is one scary compilation

And it's only the teeniest tip of the iceberg

Land of the free indeed!

We are a laughing stock in the civilized world.

With more people incarcerated and this sort of abuse condoned by judges and juries, we have become the thing we were warned against as kids in the sixties: the police state.


Cops all over this country need to step up and rid themselves of the vermin in their midst.

The American people are not enemy combatants, and no cop should think he is judge, jury and executioner.

Wake up, decent cops...you are the company you keep....

[blackspade]

17. WTF?

Cops are assholes.

Maybe we should go to some sort of 'draft' so that cops actually represent 'civilians' rather than being bastions of juvenile bullies with no conscience or respect for the law that they are supposed to uphold.

[joeglow3]

22. SOME cops are assholes

It amazes me how ignorant and bigoted some people on DU are.

[blackspade]

28. So where are these not 'some' cops?

Why are they not drumming assholes like this guy and the innumerable other 'bad apples' out of the force?
Where is the FOP with enforceable requirements for cops? Where are the internal affairs officers? The police commissioners?

When cops get away with this shit, the 'not bad' cops are complicit in their behavior.
And calling cops assholes is not bigoted. They are not an oppressed minority. They are an oppressive authority with no checks on their power.

[joeglow3]

38. Calling ALL cops is assholes IS bigoted.

I think you might want familiarize with the definition of bigot.

[villager]

51. then I guess the rest are cowards

Since they never speak up, or out, about the sociopaths and sadists in uniform

[blackspade]

54. You might want to as well.

My comment was not unfair which is a critical component of bigotry.

And you have not addressed the actual issue: police brutality.
How do you propose to fix the problem since the system has obviously failed?

[Nevernose]

39. You're right

If the ten percent of cops who weren't assholes would just speak out, all of these problems would vanish overnight.

[Taitertots]

43. The bad apples have spoiled the bushel

That man is surrounded by people who actively support and defend his actions.

[uponit7771]

47. +1, Because the Bushel isn't speaking up

[SheilaT]

18. How about just pepper spray his eyes the same way?

And he gets fired, no pension.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

21. Ah,...the good old days,.......

....when they cracked skulls with clubs.

[jamejest]

24. human anatomy

Wouldn't it be interesting if someone found that the standard position that police put you in to cuff you was so anatomically against
the way a human is supposed to move and bend the resistance that they charge people with is actually their body being twisted
in an unnatural and painful manner. Hence, the act of cuffing an individual will always produce a charge of resisting arrest!

[MrScorpio]

25. Good luck with getting cops to admit to something like that...

If they did, I would have more respect for them.

[Gravitycollapse]

33. In pretty much any position it is not strenuous to put your hands behind your back.

The only positions that might make that a problem are ones which would be questionable as police brutality. For instance, if two officers had their knees in your back as you were being smashed into the ground, the compression of the shoulder blades and the spine and neck may inhibit the free movement of the arms and thus wrenching them could cause physical injury.

You can try different positions yourself. Lean over the counter, flat on the bed, onto the table, get down on your knees and place your forehead on the ground...then put your hands in a position that they could be cuffed. I've tried a large number of positions and they all allowed me to place my hands in a position to be cuffed.

And don't make a sex joke out of that.

[winter is coming]

35. If you've got a bad shoulder, it can quickly become quite painful. n/t

[Gravitycollapse]

36. Of course, without question, physical disability will be an issue.

Even in a position as simple as standing up right. But I think it would be difficult to argue that those with full range of motion are suffering physical pain simply by having their hands cuffed behind their back.

[winter is coming]

37. That depends on how long you're in the position and how much force is applied to get you there. n/t

[aikoaiko]

26. I wonder if "intent" is the hold up.

CA laywers, is intent a factor in the way the law is written?

[freshwest]

31. I think it generally is. Had a case of a guy who beat a guy who was already on the ground who died.

He decided applying a skate board with great force to the guy's head was a good idea. It was not ruled self-defense, it was part of a riot.

He was convicted and sentenced to life, but it was commuted and was set free AFAIK, because his lawyer said that he didn't intend to kill him.

That was what struck me in reading about it, that the issue was that he didn't intend to kill him. So intent appears important, and there is a legal term:

Mens rea

Mens rea is Latin for "guilty mind". In criminal law, it is viewed as one of the necessary elements of some crimes. The standard common law test of criminal liability is usually expressed in the Latin phrase, actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea, which means "the act is not culpable unless the mind is guilty". Thus, in jurisdictions with due process, there must be an actus reus, or "guilty act," accompanied by some level of mens rea to constitute the crime with which the defendant is charged. As a general rule, criminal liability does not attach to a person who merely acted with the absence of mental fault. The exception is strict liability crimes...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mens_rea

IMHO, beating a person already on the ground and not resisting is not an act of love. Yet the court decided that he didn't intend to kill him. Intent means something in the law, of course.

I just disagree that the application of a skate board to a person's head is not good for their health, and might imply bad intent.

There may have been other reasons he was let off the hook, but only that part was covered by media. But, hey, what do I know other than what they say?

[Liberal_in_LA]

27. he should go to prison

[damnedifIknow]

42. Moron cop or a damn sadist

"Clark fired a JPX gunpowder-propelled gun, which discharges chemical irritant at 400 mph, just 10 inches away from the woman’s face "

No words.

[Rhiannon12866]

44. Call me for the jury, I can decide...

[Tsiyu]

46. I don't know of any other profession

where to expedite your tasks you can basically blow someone's eyeballs out of their face, or throw them through a glass window, or stick a knife down their throat, killing them to find a packet of drugs.

Must be nice to be able to physically maim and kill because your job isn't always easy and because human beings have voices and free will and are sometimes difficult.

I mean, who wouldn't want the authority to speed things up like cops do? You work in fast food? Some creep get belligerent over his burger? Just stick his head in the fat fryer!

You work in retail and some teenager is trying on everything and won't decide which dress to buy? Throw her through the plate glass store window!

You're a dentist and some guy won't open his mouth wide enough? Just bash him in the head, or take a knife and cut his mouth open. That'll show him!


No, aside from military rules, we don't allow physical violence as a means to efficient workplace function in any profession but law enforcement. It appears anything goes if a cop thinks you're wasting his precious time.

[MrScorpio]

48. The funny thing is that I spent 22 years in a military uniform...

And never harmed another living soul with my own hands.

I'm proud of that accomplishment.

[Tsiyu]

49. You should be

This police brutality is out of control and unnecessary


And BTW, love your work at Discussionist

[MrScorpio]

52. Thank you!

The only fighting that I do enjoy is completely conversational.

[Laelth]

53. I am quite saddened by this story. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth