There is no way, no way in hell that he is convicted of any of the charges. Perjury? He would have to admit he lied. Otherwise, the established defenses of the Cop are going to be all he needs.
As has already been mentioned, there are two civil court decisions that the Supreme Court handed down. In both of them, the Supreme Court ruled that the police have no constitutional duty to protect. It is why you no longer see To Protect and Serve on the sides of cop cars. I am sure the lawyers felt that such a statement in public would create the image of an implied contract or some such shit.
So the fact that kids died because of his inaction is not going to be a criminal act. The last charge, Perjury, is going to be taken care of as well. For decades, the police stories have differed from the stories of witnesses. When Video came about, and the video contradicted the cops story, a new defense strategy came into being. Perception.
The argument goes like this. The cop expects someone to be reaching for a gun, s/he is trained to watch for it, to expect it. The individual makes a move, if only in the mind of the cop, and then the cop fires his weapon in self defense to nothing more than a delusion. It isn’t even “temporary insanity” but an understood reaction of a cop who has been trained to react that exact way. The cops argue often in court that they just don’t have time to wait, a fraction of a second hesitation and they will be dead.
So even if he said he rushed to the sounds of the guns, while standing around confused, the argument will be he believed what he was saying was true, even if contradicted by the video, and there are tons of precedent that this is totally acceptable in the world. Hell, a Supreme Court Decision even allows cops to enforce non existent laws, if they believe they are doing the right thing.
This is a stupid action by the Prosecutor. Done for political reasons, not anything approaching Justice. Right now, Peterson’s lawyers are filing motions to get the charges dismissed under established precedence.
Cowardice is a crime in the Military. It isn’t a crime in the civilian world. And all those who scream that any restrictions on cops is going to be a death sentence. You know, the idea that cops should wait to see the gun before shooting the suspect so full of holes that he looks like Swiss Cheese. That is always claimed to be the things that will get cops killed. This prosecution is one that will get cops killed. Because now, if they don’t rush to the guns, prepared or not, properly supported or not, they know they will face prison. And so will everyone else who wants to do a mass shooting. They know that the cops will have to rush in heedless of any considerations, or face prosecution.
Even in the Military, Cowardice does not mean you have to charge heedless into a situation. It just means you can’t turn and run away.
