Autopsy: Death of handcuffed man in Jonesboro ruled a suicide

[KamaAina]

Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis) via AP

An autopsy report released Monday lists the death of a man shot in the head while his hands were cuffed behind him in an Arkansas patrol car as a suicide.

The state crime lab report, signed by three medical examiners, said the muzzle of a gun was placed against the right side of 21-year-old Chavis Carter's head when it was fired. Jonesboro police released the report to The Associated Press and other news organizations under a Freedom of Information Act request....

"He was cuffed and placed into a police car, where apparently he produced a weapon, and despite being handcuffed, shot himself in the head," the report says....

Officers a short time later saw Carter slumped over in the backseat and covered in blood, according to the report, which concluded he had managed to conceal a handgun with which he shot himself. He later died at a hospital, and the report listed his death as a suicide.



Read more: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/aug/20/autopsy-death-handcuffed-man-jonesboro-ruled-suici/

---

If they wanted a cover-up, they could have got one at Kmart for fifteen bucks.

[Roy Rolling]

1. Wow

Another contortionist conceals a gun up his butt, removes it with handcuffs on, and then shoots himself in the head. When will we ever learn how to deal with the double-jointed?

[ejpoeta]

2. wow! he must have been pretty nimble and magical.

his hands were handcuffed behind his back and yet he shot himself in the head.

[DCKit]

22. Not only that, but he held the gun TO his head. Amazing. nt

[Scairp]

63. This will put me in the minority no doubt

But I am on the fence here. I think it's possible the cops did a bad search before putting him in the back of the car in too loose handcuffs, and also if they wanted him dead why would they fake suicide him in the back of one of their own cars? On the other hand, this could have easily been an accidental shooting by a cop and they managed to make it look like a suicide. I want to know if anyone had ever seen him with this exact gun before he died and if the other people with him knew he had a gun at the time they were stopped. If not, was it a gun one of them had stashed in their vehicle and he took it, with or without their knowledge. Whatever happened to this guy, the cops fucked up royally, either by failing to find the gun in a pat down search or by killing him outright. I want to know more about the guy and if he might have been prone to suicide. Was whatever was going to happen to him so bad that the thought of it was too much? I want to know more about the cops and if any of them had complaints of force against them and if so how many. I haven't read enough, but usually if the cops kill someone in custody they don't do such an obvious job. If they did do it I think it was some kind of freak accident. It's a weird case and I just hope the Justice department does a thorough job making sure they find out what really happened.

I would also want to know if there are any other known cases in Justice Dept. files of a suspect being able to conceal a handgun from cops even with a search, getting cuffed, put into a police car and then shooting themselves in the head or anywhere else or turning it on the cops. Finally, whatever happened, the cops that searched him should be fired immediately. If they did fuck up and let a suspect get a gun into a patrol car they are supremely unqualified to be LE.

[kooljerk666]

3. if suicide was on his mind why didnt he shoot 5 bullets into COPS?

???????????????????

[Angry Dragon]

4. I would demand they show me how he did it

[jberryhill]

20. Then what?

[ManiacJoe]

69. Impressive. I did not think that was possible.

[Warpy]

5. The cops had better hope the autopsy showed

powder residue on his hands.

[KamaAina]

18. This was the official autopsy

signed off on by three medical examiners!

This is the sort of thing I thought only happened in Faulkner novels!

[Scairp]

67. I know

Three ME's signing off on this is going to carry a lot of weight in the investigation.

[louis-t]

6. They didn't search him before they cuffed him?

Maybe he found a gun stuffed in the seat? What are the odds? A million to one?

[renie408]

8. If somebody threw the gun in the backseat with him, how did he manage to hold the gun to his

own head with his hand cuffed behind his back?

I just tried and I could maybe paralyze myself with a gun with my hands in that position. But not shoot myself in the head.

[WooWooWoo]

10. it isn't that hard to get out of that position

just slide your arms down and bring your torso up and put your legs through.

I've seen video of a guy in a police interrogation room produce a handgun from his waistband and kill himself. So I'd say it's possible this was a suicide, but I don't know much about this particular story.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

35. "Slide yr arms down and ... put yr legs thru"--and reverse the process

after you've killed yourself?

[renie408]

43. The article says that he managed to shoot himself in the head 'while his hands were handcuffed

behind his back'. There is no mention of him pulling his legs through his hands and getting his hand in front of him.

[Scairp]

68. Right

He was stilled cuffed behind his back AFTER he was shot. He didn't slip the cuffs, he didn't do the thing where some can manage to pull their legs through their arms and get their hands in front of them. Too many questions and I don't know nearly enough to draw a conclusion except that whichever cop(s) searched him should be fired.

[Confusious]

26. Depends how nimble you are

I can reach the back of my neck with my arm behind my back. I cam also sit in the lotus position.

Never taken yoga a day in my life.

That being said, don't those cops check for weapons? When I was a youth, and got in trouble, the cops patted me down.

[renie408]

44. Can you manage with your hands TOGETHER and BEHIND YOUR BACK...

to get one to your right temple?

Cause flexible or not, I just don't think so.

[Confusious]

47. Yea, I can do that.

Just pull one arm over and lean a little.

[renie408]

50. It still seems

weird to me. I think it is weird that they have a video that goes up until he gets in the car and starts up again after he shoots himself. I think it is weird that he was left handed and shot himself in the right side of the head. After he told his girlfriend that he would call her from jail. I think it is weird that he managed to hide a gun from TWO frisk searches.

It could happen, but it is still just really weird.

I don't necessarily think the cops did it. He was sitting on the right side of the car and shot in the right side of the head. Somebody from outside the car could have done it. The cops could be guilty of not paying attention.

[Confusious]

56. I agree that not finding it

In two frisks is weird.

People who are suicidal, really suicidal, may act depressed, but when they finally make a decision, they act normal and carry on as normal. So the telling the girlfriend really doesn't raise any flags with me.

Strangely enough, my evidence of this is the suicide of the director who jumped off a bridge. He had been working with his brother earlier that day, and his brother didn't even notice.

[truebrit71]

61. Tony Scott? He had inoperable brain cancer...

..I think the young lad in the back of the cop car was completely healthy, before he got handcuffed anyway...

[Confusious]

72. Doesn't mean he wasn't suicidal

Young people commit suicide too.

The point wasn't the age, or the disease, it was that even his brother didn't notice he was suicidal, a person who knew him well.

[jberryhill]

70. ...assuming it was not already there in the first place

Police cars are used to transport people who, if they manage to get back there with something they shouldn't have, are motivated to get rid of it before they get to the station.

The "missed it in searching" thing unduly eliminates the possibility that the gun was there from the get go.

[WooWooWoo]

55. no, you're going the wrong way

you don't flip your arms up over your head, you bring your legs up and go butt-first through the hole your tied-up arms create.

[truebrit71]

60. ..and then put them back behind your back after you shoot yourself?

...that's some trick!

[WooWooWoo]

62. yeah

i didn't read that part of the story.

[librechik]

9. they said they searched him twice

I bet they are regretting saying that right now.

[jberryhill]

12. They first put him in the back of the police car uncuffed

They did a quick search and put him in the back of the car uncuffed.

Later, they took him out of the car, searched him again, cuffed him and put him back in the car.

Whether he had a gun that was missed the first time, and which he left in the back seat, or whether he found one left by a prior suspect who ditched it there, is not something that they have opined on.

I'm surprised they are saying "suicide" because a third possibility is that he either found or recovered the gun and was attempting to reposition it when it accidentally fired.

The gun is reported to be a stolen gun, but I haven't seen anything further on from whom it was stolen, etc.

[pscot]

36. He was searched twice

They alledgedly found some marijuana on him.

[renie408]

7. Are they just going to get away with this?

Does anybody believe that somehow this guy shot himself in the head while his hands were handcuffed behind his back? How can this happen? I don't mean to sound totally naive, but DAMN...this is pretty obvious.

[WooWooWoo]

11. i'm sure there were photos of the crime scene

which would indicate whether or not he was actually handcuffed behind the back or if he managed to remove himself from that position.

[jberryhill]

15. They have done hypothetical reconstructions

The fact that it CAN be done, of course, is not a definitive answer to what actually happened. But it is not impossible.

[Poll_Blind]

27. I think this is about where I'm at. It appears from the reconstructions that...

...it's possible. I assume there were powder residue tests on his hands but I haven't come across that information yet, if it is available.

PB

[jberryhill]

31. Do all guns leave powder residues on hands?

It was a semi-automatic pistol. I'm no expert, but "powder burns" classically come from the gap between magazine and the barrel of a revolver. I'd be surprised if someone hasn't come up with a gun that doesn't burn the users hand as a matter of course.

I would also expect that in a confined space, particulate ejecta from a gun gets all over the place.

But, again, I'm no expert.

What does surprise me is that they call it "suicide", as the third possibility is that it was an accident.

I also don't find it beyond the realm of belief that a gun might be found in the back of a police car, given that anyone who finds themselves in one without it having been found would do well to try to stick it somewhere back there.

Remember that guy in the INS holding cell who found meth on the floor?

[Poll_Blind]

38. I don't know what the offical word is but I've fired at least one automatic and...

...felt what I assumed was the sting of powder/gas coming back and out the bottom of the slide as the action was working when firing a round. Super unpleasant experience. I have a Colt .357 Trooper MK (something), which is a revolver, and I don't recall having any painful firing experiences with that, either with .38 or .357 rounds. This is all anecdotal, of course.

I agree with you that it could have been an accident, however so much powder not only on the surface but into the wound would suggest it was right up to his temple. Earlier, I'd written that an accidental discharge or even an accidental discharge and ricochet off the divider between back and front could have caused the wound. This wouldn't seem to be supported by the injuries as described by the autopsy.

I'd also like to see a picture of the actual weapon used. From what I could pull up, the gun would have been pretty small. The company that made the gun primarily produces derringers which are even smaller. However, there are some models which are larger than others and I'm curious exactly how big this gun was.

PB

[jberryhill]

39. .380-caliber Cobra semi-automatic

While there is nothing in that picture for scale, the size of the grip relative to the rest of it suggests it is a fairly small gun.

[renie408]

45. If this is supposed to be the gun that the guy used, isn't is smallerq

than the gun in the reconstruction?

[jberryhill]

51. I don't know if they used the same model

I can't tell. I doubt they did the re-enactment with a real gun of any sort.

[valerief]

17. Are you rich enough to change the ruling? Cuz $$$$ is what it takes.

Palm grease.

Welcome to the USSA.

[valerief]

13. We are the USSA. nt

[sinkingfeeling]

14. What do you think about the recreation with a hand-cuffed officer being able to

reach his head?

[KamaAina]

23. I have seen no such thing

and I imagine law enforcement officers have special training in such matters that Mr. Carter presumably did not.

[Confusious]

28. If you're nimble enough

It can be done. I can reach the back of my neck with my arm behind my back, and I can also sit in the lotus position.

Never taken yoga a day in my life.

[sinkingfeeling]

30. Here it is on YouTube....

[jberryhill]

32. Whether you have seen it or not is hardly relevant

But I'm curious to know about the special training that police receive in how to shoot themselves while handcuffed.

[KamaAina]

34. Not how to shoot themselves

but how to deal with situations in which, for instance, a perp somehow gets hold of their cuffs and puts them on the officer.

[jberryhill]

37. Ah...

They are obviously trained to shoot themselves in that situation.

Quite obviously, anyone's particular ability to squirm around and move their arms into various positions while handcuffed is going to depend a lot on that person's build and flexibility, and I doubt any particular "training" is required.

[1StrongBlackMan]

16. I once heard tell ...

of a sheriff called out to a death scene in the rural jim crow south ...

A Black man was found hanging from a tree, on fire. He had been shoot 200 times, stabbed too many time to count and was badly dismembered.

The sheriff took one look and said: "Worst damned case of suicide I've ever seen!"

Why does that story come back to mind?

I suspect Carter's family will soon be in need of investment advice.

[azurnoir]

19. Link to autopsy report no mention of powder burns there either

http://www.kait8.com/story/19321242/medical-examiners-report-into-the-chavis-carter-shooting

[1StrongBlackMan]

21. Amazingly ...

The autopsy report comes days after police released video recorded the night Carter was shot in Jonesboro, about 90 miles northwest of Memphis. Part of the video showed Carter being patted down and ended before officers found Carter slumped over and bleeding in the back of a patrol car as was described in a police report. Police later released additional video they said came after Carter was found.

No tape was released covering the intervening period.

[mahina]

24. Aloha e Kama

Is there any kind of appeal to this process? I wonder how the family is taking it. I'll go read up later on. Aloha.

[McCamy Taylor]

25. If it's suicide, he shot himself before being handcuffed, the police did not realize he had a

bullet in the head when they handcuffed him and put him in the car. Possible if the bullet missed vital parts of the brain but then caused delayed bleeding.

Alternately, someone else shot him after he was handcuffed. Suspects here include the police themselves or someone outside the patrol car who had a grudge against him and got off a lucky shot as he was being placed in the car.

So, it does not have to be the police----but the theory that he managed to sneak a gun into the car and shoot himself with his hands behind his back is so ludicrous it makes you wonder about the medical examiner.

[PatrynXX]

29. sounds like an episode on CSI

where years later oh duh it wasn't suicide..

[DavidL]

33. Police in that town only arrest contortionists who

can kill themselves while having both arms hand-cuffed behind the back.


They only arrest contortionists like that in that town.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

40. The police made mistakes on many levels.

Not searching suspect carefully, suspect left unattended, not checking police vehicle after each suspect was placed in it.
That's why many departments went to hard plastic back seats so suspects couldn't hide anything in the cushions, also they were easier to clean and check.

[truebrit71]

41. Okay, assuming for a second that it's true that they really missed the gun TWICE...

...why would the perp kill themselves instead of fire at the officers?

I don't for one second think this is legitimate, but the whole suicide thing to begin with is ludicrous...

[jberryhill]

42. They only had to miss it once

After the first search, they put him in the back of the car uncuffed.

Later, they took him out of the car and searched him again before cuffing him.

I don't know why they would have searched him a second time, if they thought they had already searched him thoroughly enough.

As to "why would he kill himself", I don't see where you get that he intended to do that, even if he did have the gun in his hand. It is possible that he may have been trying to reposition the gun, or preparing to try to shoot it at someone else when it went off.

[truebrit71]

49. Where would i get that from? From the fact that he allegedly shot himself in the head...

...I don't see how either of your suppositions, that he was re-positioning it, or preparing to shoot at someone else, can be squared with the fact that he allegedly shot himself in the head. Why would it have been pointed in his direction at all if either of those scenarios are true?

I think it's fairly obvious what happened here, and the verbal contortions being made by some are as ridiculous as the physical ones the cops used to "prove" it was possible...

The simplest explanation is usually the correct one and when dealing with a hand-cuffed victim in the back of a cop car that had been searched TWICE it seems fairly clear what went down...

[jberryhill]

53. And the cops just happened to have a stolen gun handy for that purpose

First of all, I was not there, do not know what happened, and do not consider anything about it to be as "obvious" as your apparent certainty.

But this:

"Why would it have been pointed in his direction at all if either of those scenarios are true?"

Because he had handcuffs on. If he was twisting around with a gun in his handcuffed hands, trying to get to a position to aim it at something other than his head, then he could have accidentally shot himself in the head while doing that. People accidentally shoot themselves in all kinds of places while handling guns, even without handcuffs. Having his movement restricted makes it more likely, not less, that he would shoot the gun in an unintended direction. From the position in the hypothetical re-enactment, it's pretty clear that there's no way to get the gun into a position where he could clearly see where the barrel would be pointing.

[truebrit71]

54. Ummm...was that a serious question?

Okay. Fine. The cops were so fucking incompetent that they couldn't find the gun even though they searched him twice, and he became so despondent about being arrested that he took his magic gun and instead of using it to threaten the cops decided to shoot himself in the head instead.

On the other hand I think it is much more likely that they shot the kid whilst he was in handcuffs and planted the gun on him.

I wasn't there either, but I know which story sounds more plausible...

[jberryhill]

58. They only had to miss the gun once

You keep saying they "they couldn't find the gun even though they searched him twice". They only had to miss it the first time.

They first put him in the back of the car with no cuffs on. Before they did that, they claim they patted him down. That was the only time they had to miss the gun. And it is a small gun.

If he had the gun at that time, he may have stuck it in the seat cushions, because you wouldn't want it on you if you were being taken to the station.

Then, when the situation elevated, they asked him to get out of the car, they searched him the second time (when he didn't have to have a gun), and put him back in the car with cuffs on.

Again, I don't know where you get this "despondent about being arrested" thing. Maybe he was trying to throw the gun out of the window. Maybe he was trying to see if he could get it into a position to use it for something else. People accidentally shoot themselves on a regular basis without handcuffs on. I would imagine that trying to handle a gun with cuffs on is more likely to end poorly than without them.

So I don't know why you go to "instead of using it to threaten the cops". Maybe he was trying to do that, and was unsuccessful.

So, here's your version -

A gun is stolen in Jonesboro. It is reported stolen, and the cops find it. Instead of doing anything with the stolen gun they found, they drive around with it for a month, looking for an opportune time to shoot someone with it. One night, they get lucky. They pull over a vehicle, and put a guy in the back of the police cruiser. They don't bother to handcuff him and give him a brief pat down. They leave him there for a while. Then, when they find evidence of other crimes, they get him out of the car, search him again, and put cuffs on him. At this point in time, having had ample opportunity to shoot him outside of the car, and without cuffs, they decide to go for the difficulty points of saying, "Hey, let's shoot him in the head with a stolen gun while he's cuffed in the back of the car. And then let's go ahead and say we searched him twice." They do that, and all agree to only cover up the shooting part.

I think there are low probability events either way in this incident, but it is impressive how quickly some will prune down the space of possible scenarios simply on the basis of what they want to believe.

[truebrit71]

59. Yup, I'm sure that every gun that is stolen is reported...

...

"trying to throw the gun out of the window"..... While pressing the gun to his temple as indicated in the autopsy report?

It could very well have been his own gun...but that STILL doesn't explain how he managed to successfully commit suicide by shooting himself in the temple whilst handcuffed...

I think the cops are dirty. You don't. Fine.

[jberryhill]

65. "I think the cops are dirty. You don't. Fine."

What is amazing to me is that you can purport to read what I have written, and conclude that I don't think the cops are dirty.

I HAVE NO OPINION ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.

Of the two of us, only you pretends to know what happened.

Yes, the gun WAS reported stolen at the time it was stolen. How that gets a ROFL smiley, I have no idea. But it is a fact.

As to how he 'could' have gotten into a position where the gun was against his head, I gather that the hypothetical re-enactment, where several people are shown cuffed and getting into that position, is some kind of voodoo in your estimation.

But on the basis of your conclusion, a false one I might add, about what I believe, I can only conclude that your critical thinking skills are obscured by your penchant to know what happened without having been there, and your desire to impute false beliefs to others.

[truebrit71]

75. I was making a generalized statement about stolen guns...

It is obvious from your posts that you think the suicide was legit and the cops didn't do it. You have expressly stated your opinions so there is no guess-work involved on my part. You think it was legit, I think it stinks to high heaven. Please point to where I said I "know" what happened. I have suggested what I think happened, I have suggested what might have happened, but NOWHERE did I say "this is what happened and I know that the cops are lying".

It is quite possible that the moon landings were faked, but all of the evidence points to a different conclusion.

[jberryhill]

76. Do not tell me what I think

What is obvious from my posts is that I have little patience for people whose prejudices cause them to jump to conclusions.

[truebrit71]

77. But you get to tell me what I think?

I have ZERO patience for judgmental tossers like you...

[jberryhill]

78. Projection

You told me what you think. You think the cops are dirty. Those are your words.

What I have said is that there are several possibilities here which, IMHO, have not been ruled out.

Rather than explore and discuss them, as rational people might do before arriving at a conclusion, you instead have imputed to me that I have reached one. I have not.

[Bossy Monkey]

46. This shit ALWAYS happens when Cirque du Soleil is in town n/t

[JonLP24]

48. At-least this jurisdiction

uses the medical examiner system over the antique coroner.

That said, I have no idea if they're correct. Just that the recommended system is in place to determine causes of death.

[lsewpershad]

52. Yea right

They did not frisk or search him before they handcuffed him.

[Citizen Worker]

57. Horse puckey!

[CrawlingChaos]

64. And he was left-handed, was he not?

In case this wasn't already ridiculous enough for you - a left-handed man with his hands handcuffed behind his back uses a gun miraculously missed by police and shoots himself in the RIGHT side of the head.

And you STILL get people wanting to give cops the benefit of the doubt! I swear, the authoritarians among us are dragging us all to hell...

[jberryhill]

66. Okay, which officer shot him?

[CrawlingChaos]

71. typical gambit, not gonna work.

[frogmarch]

73. This happens a lot, I guess

Here in Chadron, Nebraska, an assistant math professor at the local college, who was rumored to be gay, and who had barely recovered from foot surgery, one cold winter night walked about 5 miles out of town through hilly terrain in his stocking feet, whereupon he drank a half a case of beer, several pints of whisky, then wrapped himself on a fence post with barbed wire and set himself on fire. Suicide, don't ya know.

[alp227]

74. You don't even need to understand physics to be skeptical of the med examiner's story!

Oh, I peeked at the Freeper thread of this story. Someone even compared Carter to Vince Foster (and of course the knuckleheads on THAT board still think Clinton killed Foster).