General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFeds will retry Madison police officer for takedown of Indian grandfather (al.com)
By Challen Stephens | cstephens@al.com
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on September 21, 2015 at 5:15 PM, updated September 21, 2015 at 5:48 PM
Madison police officer Eric Parker will face a new jury on Oct. 26, as federal prosecutors once again try to make their case that Parker used unreasonable force.
The first attempt ended in a mistrial, as the deadlocked jury could not agree whether Parker acted unlawfully when he slammed down an Indian citizen on the morning of Feb. 6.
The defense argued that police were responding to a call about a suspicious man, then the man, Sureshbhai Patel, walked away from officers. The defense argued Patel then pulled his hand away from Parker and that he could have had a dangerous weapon in his pockets.
But Patel had just arrived in the United States days earlier to care for his new grandson. He was taking a morning walk on the street in front of his engineer son's home. He testified that he does not speak English and that he did not pull away from officers. Patel was left partly paralyzed, was hospitalized and had cervical fusion surgery.
Patel's surgeon testified that patients with Patel's injury were unlikely to regain full motion in the legs or grip strength in the hands.
***
more: http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/index.ssf/2015/09/new_trial_set_for_madison_poli.html
ChisolmTrailDem
(9,463 posts)eppur_se_muova
(36,227 posts)By Challen Stephens | cstephens@al.com
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on September 15, 2015 at 9:30 AM, updated September 15, 2015 at 10:29 AM
The jury that couldn't reach a verdict in the criminal trial of police officer Eric Parker was split 10-2 along gender lines, according to one of the holdout jurors.
Ten men wanted to acquit the officer who slammed down a 57-year-old Indian citizen during a sidewalk stop, leaving the man partly paralyzed.
The two women on the jury thought Parker was guilty of the federal civil rights charge, deprivation of rights under the color of law. The charge carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
When contacted by al.com, one of those two women explained the two-day deliberation that ended in frustration for both sides. "I was the one saying he was guilty," said the juror, who asked to withhold her name.
The juror, who is retired from the U.S. Army, said from Thursday morning through late Friday no jurors changed their minds and extra time seemed unlikely to alter the deadlock. "It was 10 to 2. I wasn't changing my story."
The jury also appeared to split along racial lines. Both female jurors were black. None of the 10 male jurors were black.
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/09/hung_jury_favored_officer_on_t.html#incart_story_package