http://www.mcclatchydc.com/…

Khadija Hassan still shrouds her body in black, nearly three years after the deaths of her four sons. They were killed on Nov. 19, 2005, along with 20 other people in the deadliest documented case of U.S. troops killing civilians since the Vietnam War.

Eight Marines were charged in the case, but in the intervening years, criminal charges have been dismissed against six. A seventh Marine was acquitted. The residents of Haditha, after being told they could depend on U.S. justice, feel betrayed.

“We put our hopes in the law and in the courts and one after another they are found innocent,” said Yousef Aid Ahmed, the lone surviving brother in the family. “This is an organized crime.”

No one disputes that Marines killed 24 men, women and children in this town in four separate shootings that morning. Relatives said the attack was a massacre of innocent civilians that followed a roadside bomb that killed one Marine and injured two. Marines say they came under fire following the bomb.

Nonetheless, military prosecutors filed charges that ranged from murder to covering up a crime. Three Marines were relieved of their duties then, and U.S. Rep. John Murtha, a former Marine, famously called the incident “murder” on television.

One by one, the cases fell apart. American and Iraqi witnesses provided conflicting accounts. The investigation began months after the incident, and many Iraqis who could have testified were unable to travel to the United States. Furthermore, several Marines were granted immunity.

As Butler Shaffer over at LewRockwell.com/blog said: The acquittal of Marines for having killed 24 Iraqi civilians should come as no surprise. Do the Crips ever convict their fellow gang members for drive-by shootings that kill innocents?

http://wcbstv.com/…

A new report on the NYPD’s firearms training done in the wake of the Sean Bell shooting was drawing fire Monday night.

The report recommends arming the entire department with a controversial weapon.

Police firearms training came under heavy criticism in the aftermath of the Bell shooting when 50 shots were fired at Bell and his friends.

On Monday, a new report had a surprising recommendation to prevent such multi-shot incidents.

The outcomes might have been different if the officers had less than lethal devices other than pepper spray,” said Dr. Bernard Rostker of the Rand Corporation.

The Rand Corp. is a non-profit organization that helps improve policy and decision making through research and analysis. Rand offers its insight to companies and civil services in business, education, health, law and science, according to its official Web site.

Rand experts recommend that the NYPD issue Taser guns to more of its patrol officers so they can stun victims instead of shooting them.

“Tasers reduce injuries to citizens, reduce injuries to police officers and reduce the use of firearms,” Rostker said.

Given that in the Bell murder the men were inside a car the tasers would have been completely useless. Also considering the amount of lead that flew that night it seems obvious to me that the cops were past the point mentally where tasers would have been an option. I think it’s been shown time and time again that the belief that tasers are harmless mixed with police arrogance and aggression leads to misuse and abuse of the tool. Instead of wasting $12m+ on tasers plus the cost of training why not train the officers not to be so rash. How about teach them to shoot to incapacitate instead of kill?

This was cross posted to Serf City.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…

Former Prince George’s County homeland security official Keith A. Washington was sentenced to 45 years in prison yesterday for fatally shooting one unarmed furniture deliveryman and wounding another at his Accokeek home last year.

Circuit Court Judge Michael P. Whalen said the evidence contradicted Washington’s claim that he was under attack by the two larger men when he opened fire. “There wasn’t one discernible injury [on Washington] to any of the medical personnel who examined him,” said the judge, who imposed a term five years longer than prosecutors had sought.

Washington, who was also a county police officer at the time of the shooting, addressed the court for more than 10 minutes, apologizing to his family and friends for putting them through what he called a “spectacle.” He spoke of his effort to live with “courage and integrity,” and he cited historical figures, including Sojourner Truth, W.E.B. DuBois, Crispus Attucks, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington.

Washington, 46, admitted no wrongdoing. At one point, he turned to Marilynn Clark, mother of slain deliveryman Brandon Clark, and said, “I did not murder your son.”

Several months after the shooting, Washington left his homeland security post, and he was later granted medical disability from the police force. His disability benefits and police pension are not affected by his convictions, county spokesman John Erzen said.

We get to pay for him to stay in prison and we get to pay his family his pension. The victim’s family victimized twice more.

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http://www.ktar.com/…

AKRON, Ohio - A medical examiner must change her autopsy findings to delete any reference that stun guns contributed to the deaths of three people involved in confrontations with law enforcement officers, a judge ruled.

Friday’s decision was a victory for Taser International Inc., which had challenged rulings by Summit County Medical Examiner Lisa Kohler, including a case in which five sheriff’s deputies are charged in the death a jail inmate who was restrained by the wrists and ankles and hit with pepper spray and a stun gun.

Kohler ruled that the 2006 death of Mark McCullaugh Jr., 28, was a homicide and that he died from asphyxiation due to the “combined effects of chemical, mechanical and electrical restraint.”

Visiting Judge Ted Schneiderman said in his ruling that there was no expert evidence to indicate that Taser devices impaired McCullaugh’s respiration. “More likely, the death was due to a fatal cardiac arrhythmia brought on by severe heart disease,” the judge wrote.

Schneiderman ordered Kohler to rule McCullaugh’s death undetermined and to delete any references to homicide.

The judge also said references to stun guns contributing to the deaths of two other men must be deleted from autopsy findings. Dennis Hyde, 30, died in 2005 after a confrontation with Akron police, and Richard Holcomb, 18, died the same year after being hit with a stun by a police officer in suburban Springfield Township.

It was unclear what affect Schneiderman’s ruling may have on the upcoming criminal trial of the five sheriff’s deputies. One of them, Deputy Stephen Krendick, is charged with murder. Other deputies face charges of reckless homicide or felonious assault. All have pleaded not guilty.

Krendick’s trial is scheduled to begin June 16. A spokesman for the Cuyahoga County prosecutor’s office, which is handling the case, said its lawyers are prepared to go forward.

Steve Tuttle, vice president of communications for Taser International, said the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company is pleased with Schneiderman’s ruling.

“Taser International believed from the beginning that these determinations of cause of death must be supported by facts, medical research and scientific evidence,” Tuttle said.

John Manley, a Summit County prosecutor who represented Kohler, said the judge’s order went too far. The county is considering an appeal, he said.

“Taser is quite a force to be reckoned with and does everything to protect their golden egg, which is the Model X26,” Manley said.

Wouldn’t a high voltage shock from a taser possibly aggravate “severe heart disease”? Exactly how is it that judge knows better then the medical examiner?