Is it now the norm

[sadoldgirl]

to test only the victim for drugs and not the shooter? If I
remember correctly Zimmerman was not tested either.

I have wondered whether in both cases this was omitted on purpose.

[Socal31]

1. There is no auto-warrant for your blood issued...

Simply because you used a firearm in a (hopefully) defensive action. For police I would think so due to them being public servants. But a civilian?

[noiretextatique]

3. why did they test the victim?

and not the shooter, in the Zimmerman case? both of them were civilians. on edit: i see you are asking that same question.

[Socal31]

5. Toxicology is pretty standard once you belong to the coroner.

For a living person who is initially presumed to be innocent is obviously a different ballgame.

[NutmegYankee]

9. Normal autopsy procedure. nt

[GGJohn]

26. Drug/alcohol tests are routine during an autopsy,

in the case of Zimmerman, he wasn't arrested that night, there was no indication of any impairment, cops could have asked and Zimmerman would be well within his rights to refuse and there's nothing the cops can do about it.

To get a warrant for a drug/alcohol test, cops would need probable cause to force a test.

[MoonRiver]

2. African Americans always considered to be drug fiends.

Whites not so much.

[Socal31]

6. Oh man really?

Now that is a stretch.

I've never heard that before. The only stereotyping I've seen is the drug of choice, and route of administration.

Drugs are a universal vice....

[MoonRiver]

8. There are plenty of stereotypes about African American, drugs is just one.

Those rose colored glasses must keep you very happy. Maybe I'll try a pair!

[noiretextatique]

10. yes. even thought the majority of drug users are white

the majority of drug arrests are overwhelming of black people. it seems we have new contingent.

[Socal31]

13. I'm lost.

Because I disagree that drug abuse is exclusively a black stereotype, I am disqualified from all stereotype discussion?

Breaking Bad was a whole series based on a stereotype.

Pharmaceutical abuse is generally viewed as a suburbia problem.

Powdered cocaine is associated with guys in suits in the office bathroom doing a line.....

Club drugs are seen as a teenage asian/white suburban issue...


Am I off? I have been known to be wrong.....what am I missing?

[MoonRiver]

19. You're talking from a rational, educated perspective.

What the masses perceive are drug crazed black gang members rampaging through their law abiding neighborhoods. Only the holy cops can protect them from certain disaster. Maybe I exaggerate, but not by much.

[malaise]

18. I'd like a pair

for a few hours

[heaven05]

21. no stretch at all

a normal stereotype for black males, young black males especially. Has been for decades now.

[Lurks Often]

4. Probable cause is required to test for drugs

however, in the case where the shooting ends in a death, the deceased normally has a toxicology report done which includes, but is not restricted to, drugs and alcohol as part of the autopsy.

[B Calm]

7. That is amazing. Hell I use to get drugged test even for hitting

a damn deer while driving a company truck. You'd think they would drug test a cop after shooting someone.

[csziggy]

11. Wilson was tested, actually

Darren Wilson Toxicology Report: http://ksdk-download.edgesuite.net/data-files/reports/Darren%20Wilson%20Toxicology%20Report.pdf

They only tested for cocaine, amphetamines, marijuana, opiates and phencyclidine (PCP), not for steroids or the full panel that Michael Brown's body was tested for.

Michael Brown Autopsy Toxicology Report: http://ksdk-download.edgesuite.net/data-files/reports/2014-5143%20Toxicology%20Report.pdf

[Scuba]

14. Not for steriods. Key point.

[csziggy]

15. Yep. n/t

[k2qb3]

17. I've seen the after-incident photos of Wilson...

I doubt steroids were the issue.

[Scuba]

24. How does one test for steroid use by looking at a photograph?

Or are you just trying to defend a killer even if you have to just make shit up?

[BobbyBoring]

20. Wow! THC detection defines impairment!

In my 40+ yrs. of THC that would be detected, I've never been impaired to the point of charging a cop with his gun drawn believing he was too much of a pussy to shoot me!

[world wide wally]

12. Rule #1: The guy with the gun has more rights.

Apparently there is no rule #2

[NutmegYankee]

16. An autopsy always tests for drugs.

Sometimes they are found to have contributed to a death. I remember the case of a young woman who fell from a balcony and died - tests showed she had been given a date rape drug, and that caused her to get disoriented and sick to the stomach and fall. Police then knew it was a case of manslaughter and found the guy who had spiked the drink.

In the case of a living person, normal Search rules apply and probable cause has to be demonstrated.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

22. They test the victim because they consider him to be guilty,...of something....

Oh look! He smoked pot at some time in the last six months according to his hair sample.

[saintsebastian]

23. It's Not the Testing That Is the Problem

Last edited Sun Nov 30, 2014, 07:35 PM - Edit history (1)

It's not so much the performing of toxicology tests on victims that gets people, like myself, riled up. It's what the pundits and, unfortunately, the media at large will do with the results of these toxicology tests that's disgraceful. They may try to drag out the old drug-crazed negro cliché. In this scenario the victim, in a crack-fueled rage, becomes 10 foot tall and impervious to bullets. The media may also try to use the victim's drug usage to paint a larger picture about the victim. "Well, he was no angel" -as though the punishment for drinking alcohol, smoking pot or even robbing a convenience store is public execution.

Both of these tactics were deployed, more or less, to justify the murder of Mike Brown.

[GGJohn]

25. Zimmerman wasn't tested that night because he wasn't arrested that night,

plus there wasn't any indication that he was impaired, cops certainly could have asked him to take a drug/alcohol test, but they couldn't force him to take one.

[Hoyt]

27. If police had wanted to, they would easily have gotten a warrant to test Zman or Wilson.

Killing an unarmed Black kid is not considered a likely crime in too many areas of country.

[Travis_0004]

28. Wilson took a drug test and passed.

[Hoyt]

29. Apparently they didn't test for steroids, or prescription drugs that alter judgement or increase

aggression.