Former officer Michael Rosfeld found not guilty in death of Antwon Rose
This is the latest in a long line of cases where a "Black" young man ("Yoot"), Antwon Rose, was shot and killed by a cop under extremely questionable circumstances, and was later exonerated by a jury. FWIW, there were three African Americans on the jury, and the foreman was a 71-year-old Black man.
The acquittal has sparked relatively large demonstrations in Pittsburgh, which is interesting in itself. The shooting was done, and the officer was employed, in a borough called, "East Pittsburgh" which does not even abut the City. The demonstrations were mainly in my old neighborhood of "East Liberty," which has nothing in common with the site of the shooting, other than the word "East" being in their names. Pittsburgh had nothing to do with this incident, the city of Pittsburgh government had nothing to do with it, and certainly, the Pittsburgh police had nothing to do with it. Go figure.
It appears that the saving factor for Officer Rosfield was a provision of Pennsylvania law which permits the use of lethal force on a fleeing person when the Police Officer reasonably believes that the fleeing person poses a serious danger to the community. [Maybe the Legislature should take a second look at this law]. The deceased was (at least) a passenger in a car that was involved in a drive by shooting a little while before the incident in question. It has not been definitively publicized whether the deceased or his friend fired the shots from the car. The car matched the description that was sent out to Police, and one of the windows of the car had been shot out, thus leading the Police Officer to conclude that the shooters were indeed in that car. A gun and two magazines were later found in the car, although the Police Officer could not have known about that at the time when he shot Antwon. The Police Officer claims that he saw something indicating that either the deceased or his comrade were holding a gun and getting ready to shoot him.
Given that the Prosecutor cannot appeal a jury acquittal under these circumstances, the criminal prosecution of the case is dead - unless the Feds decide to try the Officer under Civil Rights laws, which is a real possibility. Otherwise, it looks like a civil suit for wrongful death is in the offing. The Officer himself is probably judgment-proof, so it will be a lawsuit by someone suffering no actual financial loss (the mother) against an innocent (and broke) municipality and the insurance company and its policy-holders. Although Rosfield was exonerated, I don't suppose he could get his job back. His life is, for the moment, ruined.
An informal "death penalty" was not appropriate for this little thug (who, of course, is being remembered as a virtual "choir boy"), but still, I'd feel more sympathetic if it was actually an innocent kid coming home from the grocery store, rather than a participant in a drive-by fleeing the scene of the crime in an illegal taxi.
This is the latest in a long line of cases where a "Black" young man ("Yoot"), Antwon Rose, was shot and killed by a cop under extremely questionable circumstances, and was later exonerated by a jury. FWIW, there were three African Americans on the jury, and the foreman was a 71-year-old Black man.
The acquittal has sparked relatively large demonstrations in Pittsburgh, which is interesting in itself. The shooting was done, and the officer was employed, in a borough called, "East Pittsburgh" which does not even abut the City. The demonstrations were mainly in my old neighborhood of "East Liberty," which has nothing in common with the site of the shooting, other than the word "East" being in their names. Pittsburgh had nothing to do with this incident, the city of Pittsburgh government had nothing to do with it, and certainly, the Pittsburgh police had nothing to do with it. Go figure.
It appears that the saving factor for Officer Rosfield was a provision of Pennsylvania law which permits the use of lethal force on a fleeing person when the Police Officer reasonably believes that the fleeing person poses a serious danger to the community. [Maybe the Legislature should take a second look at this law]. The deceased was (at least) a passenger in a car that was involved in a drive by shooting a little while before the incident in question. It has not been definitively publicized whether the deceased or his friend fired the shots from the car. The car matched the description that was sent out to Police, and one of the windows of the car had been shot out, thus leading the Police Officer to conclude that the shooters were indeed in that car. A gun and two magazines were later found in the car, although the Police Officer could not have known about that at the time when he shot Antwon. The Police Officer claims that he saw something indicating that either the deceased or his comrade were holding a gun and getting ready to shoot him.
Given that the Prosecutor cannot appeal a jury acquittal under these circumstances, the criminal prosecution of the case is dead - unless the Feds decide to try the Officer under Civil Rights laws, which is a real possibility. Otherwise, it looks like a civil suit for wrongful death is in the offing. The Officer himself is probably judgment-proof, so it will be a lawsuit by someone suffering no actual financial loss (the mother) against an innocent (and broke) municipality and the insurance company and its policy-holders. Although Rosfield was exonerated, I don't suppose he could get his job back. His life is, for the moment, ruined.
An informal "death penalty" was not appropriate for this little thug (who, of course, is being remembered as a virtual "choir boy"), but still, I'd feel more sympathetic if it was actually an innocent kid coming home from the grocery store, rather than a participant in a drive-by fleeing the scene of the crime in an illegal taxi.
