by Tim Cushing
The trial for two of the three Fullerton police officers charged in the beating death of mentally ill homeless man, Kelly Thomas, has begun. Manuel Ramos, the officer who first approached Kelly Thomas and delivered most of the damage, is facing charges of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. Officer Jay Ciccinelli, who arrived on the scene moments later, is facing charges of involuntary manslaughter and use of excessive force.
Ramos' lawyer, John Barnett, sought to have charges against his client dropped last year, claiming the 10-minute-long ordeal that Thomas suffered through before lapsing into a coma (first, attempting to tell officers he couldn't breathe and, towards the end, crying out for his father) was a direct result of Thomas' reluctance to be further hassled by the officer.
When a "recalcitrant" Thomas did not comply, Ramos was entitled to use force and the threat of force to complete his arrest, Barnett contended in his 80-page motion.The recording shows Ramos relied almost exclusively on "force" rather than the "threat of force." As mentioned earlier, Ramos approached a seated Thomas before the beating commenced and said, "You see these fists? They are getting ready to fuck you up." That, I suppose, would be considered a "threat of force." Ramos wasn't kidding. His fists, along with his nightstick and additional abuse from a handful of other officers, completely "fucked up" Kelly Thomas, leaving him in an irreversible coma. Jay Cicinelli contributed in his own way, beating Thomas' face with the butt end of his Taser. (Cicinelli is captured on Ramos' mic stating that he "smashed [Thomas'] face to hell.")"Rather than use actual force, Officer Ramos employed a lawful, conditional threat, to use force," he wrote. "The death of Kelly Thomas was not the natural and probable consequence of that lawful threat."
[You can go to this link to see a picture taken by Thomas' father after his son's arrival at the hospital -- but we warn you that it's gruesome.]
There's really no questioning what happened. Security camera footage, synched to Ramos' mic, paints a brutally clear picture of how much Thomas went through before his body and mind gave out. Even the coroner's report notes the death wasn't accidental, listing "mechanical suppression of the thorax" as the cause of death. [The recording is 33 minutes long. The "altercation" begins about 15 minutes in. Five minutes later, there are six officers restraining Thomas. Warning: video, especially Thomas' anguished screams, is Not Safe For Life.]
John Barnett is still defending Officer Ramos. He's decided to top his earlier claims that the officer's actions were lawful and appropriate.
Ramos? attorney? told jurors that the officers who beat Thomas on a summer night in 2011 not only didn?t use excessive force in the incident, they ?weren?t using enough force.?Watch that tape again (or for the first time) and see whether it appears the cops are "losing the battle." Thomas, who weighed 135 pounds, was subdued by six Fullerton officers. The recording clearly captures him telling officers he can't breathe. Thomas was homeless and suffered from schizophrenia. While he wasn't cooperative with Ramos' instructions before he was beaten, he was still pretty far from being a threat. Last year, Barnett claimed the force was "appropriate." Now, he claims it was "too little." Officer Ramos apparently has no idea how to deploy an appropriate amount of force, despite his training.The officers were forced to call for backup because they could not subdue an out-of-control Thomas, John Barnett said. ?They?re losing the fight,? Barnett said.
Barnett continues:
?This case is not about a homeless, helpless, harmless mentally ill guy, this case is about a man who made choices in his life, bad choices that led to his tragic death,? Barnett said.No one's arrest should end in death -- no matter what "choices" they've made -- not when six officers are looking to control one person. And for Barnett to claim that somehow choices the mentally ill Thomas made earlier in his life contributed to his death is not only disingenuous, it's genuinely sickening. If that's the case, then bad choices made by Officers Ramos and Cicinelli in their lives led to them being charged with manslaughter and murder.
This isn't about Kelly Thomas' life choices. This is about the choices made by a handful of officers -- choices that resulted in the death of a man whose life, what there was of it, came to a sudden halt because he ran into Officer Ramos and his backup.
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If that was my kid those fuckers would be shiting into bags and eating thru straws or fucking worse and to include them rat fuck lawyers for the the fucking pigs. If I recall correctly, when the cop killed Tarika Wilson, because his comrades shot the dog on the backyard so he thought it's him being shot at, some either attorney, or expert, also testified that cop's only mistake was that he shot not fast enough.
The priority of officer's safety is not just higher than the life of a civilian; it completely wipes the latter out of consideration.
This defense attorney is a scumbag. He needs to be exposed for the POS he andhisclient really are. Retribution against the pig nation is coming... shows the true mentality of many cops and the cop suckers who call them heros which a very few are as most are just zeros proffesionally and personally. sad state of affairs. people actually call these scum fuck assholes heros. what is wrong with americans? completely brainwashed and unable to think for themselves. Jail is to good for these assholes.time to step America and take your country back from the Nazis.
This scenario is repeated by police 1000's of times across the landscape of America. Usually the costumed criminals are rewarded with a paid vacation, and unless a camera catches them in the act of murder and assault, their crimes go unpunished. Don't be fooled by this sacrificial arrest and charges. More often than not, police either get off entirely or receive only a small reprimand. These cocksuckers found a vulnerable young man on the street and murdered him. They should be electrocuted to death, slowly, in full public view. And those other officers who helped them should be fired, indicted, arrested, tried and sentenced to prison for accessory to murder. too bad Hammurabi's laws aren't still in effect, eye for an eye, death for death..This site contains copyrighted material the use of which in some cases has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available for the purposes of news reporting, education, research, comment, and criticism, which constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. It is our policy to respond to notices of alleged infringement that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (found at the U.S. Copyright Office) and other applicable intellectual property laws. It is our policy to remove material from public view that we believe in good faith to be copyrighted material that has been illegally copied and distributed by any of our members or users.
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