How Do You Charge an Unarmed Man with Shooting People? Get the NYPD Involved.

[roo_ster]

http://reason.com/blog/2013/12/05/how-do-you-charge-an-unarmed-man-with-sh
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/05/nyregion/unarmed-man-is-charged-with-wounding-bystanders-shot-by-police-near-times-square.html?smid=re-share&_r=2&

In September, New York Police officers responded to an emotionally disturbed man causing a ruckus at a Times Square bus terminal by opening fire on him while they were surrounded by crowds and traffic. They missed him and hit two innocent bystanders (one of whom was in a walker). Police said at the time they thought the man, Glenn Broadnax, was reaching for a gun, but he turned out to be unarmed.

    The man, Glenn Broadnax, 35, of Brooklyn, created a disturbance on Sept. 14, wading into traffic at 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue and throwing himself into the path of oncoming cars.

    A curious crowd grew. Police officers arrived and tried to corral Mr. Broadnax, a 250-pound man. When he reached into his pants pocket, two officers, who, the police said, thought he was pulling a gun, opened fire, missing Mr. Broadnax, but hitting two nearby women. Finally, a police sergeant knocked Mr. Broadnax down with a Taser. …

    Initially Mr. Broadnax was arrested on misdemeanor charges of menacing, drug possession and resisting arrest. But the Manhattan district attorney’s office persuaded a grand jury to charge Mr. Broadnax with assault, a felony carrying a maximum sentence of 25 years. Specifically, the nine-count indictment unsealed on Wednesday said Mr. Broadnax “recklessly engaged in conduct which created a grave risk of death.”

    “The defendant is the one that created the situation that injured innocent bystanders,” said an assistant district attorney, Shannon Lucey.

“....recklessly engaged in conduct which created a grave risk of death.”  I forget, was this in reference to CrazyMan or the NYPD?

Next up:
"LEO bangs woman against her will in her auto, prosecutor charges her with rape because her auto was illegally parked."

[geronimotwo]

nuts............

[Tallpine]

Them jaywalkers are tough characters.  At least the officers went home safe.

[Gowen]

you don't understand, that man had a pocket sized air AR-15 AK-47 (kind of like a air guitar).  He was just waiting to shoot up some talking air heads.  If there hadn't have been so many witnesses, they would have found a gun on him.  The official investigation will find that, he cheats on his taxes and his wife, a tea party member, gambles in overseas casinos and is racist against Obama.

[zxcvbob]

They'll try to send him up the river for 20 years to deflect their own liability for recklessly shooting the bystanders.   

[Scout26]

250 lbs is a pretty big dude.  That's got to be what, three or four Jamis' stacked up?  And they couldn't hit him.  At at no more than 15-20 yards distance.


Good thing they tasered him though.  Probably should have done it four or five more times.   So yeah, charging him with shooting innocent bystanders will teach him.



        [/sarcam] (if not blatantly obvious.)

[HankB]

If I were on a jury where an unarmed man was charged with shooting people . . . I'd hang the jury before I let him be convicted of anything, since in my eyes the prosecution would have ZERO credibility.

[roo_ster]

Holy sheep dip Batman:

http://www.popehat.com/2013/12/05/nypd-baby-you-know-we-love-you-why-do-you-make-us-angry-like-that/

As long as you ignore the fact that the shooting victims were innocent bystanders, hitting two people with three shots represents unusual excellence in marksmanship for the NYPD, matching another recent incident in which skilled NYPD officers were able to hit their target and nine bystanders with only 16 bullets. Overall the NYPD usually requires about 331 rounds to hit 54 targets, of which 14 will be innocent bystanders, 24 will be dogs, and 16 will be people the NYPD was actually aiming at. Statistically, if you aren't a dog, it is slightly more dangerous to be the person the NYPD was shooting at than a bystander (16 people out of 331 shots for intended targets for a 4.8% hit rate vs. 14 people out of 331 shots for bystanders, a 4.2% hit rate.) NYPD has a better success rate for other weapons, and certain factors, like shooting unarmed people in the back, tend to increase hit rates.

When NYPD officers fire 331 shots, and hit 16 targeted people, 24 dogs, but also 14 bystanders, there is a problem.

That problem is the people who are making the NYPD think they need to open fire.

That's why the District Attorney has indicted Glenn Broadnax, the mentally ill homeless man who created the disturbance in Times Square back in September.

That's why I say always have an agenda or some slightly naughty ulterior motive.  Being an innocent bystander is a dangerous occupation.  Especially in NYC.

[Tallpine]

That's why I say always have an agenda or some slightly naughty ulterior motive.  Being an innocent bystander is a dangerous occupation.  Especially in NYC.

Nobody is innocent in NYC.  I'm sure they can find something to charge them with.

[Blakenzy]

Yeomen of Bloomberg's Royal Guarde and their actions are always above reproach.

In the same spirit as a highschool bully who asks his victim "why are you hitting yourself?", innocent bystanders must ask themselves... "why am I shooting myself?" when in the presence of the NYPD.

[230RN]

And "they" call "us" "paranoid?"

[T.O.M.]

 A 4.2% hit rate???  Wow, their firearms instructors must be proud.

As to the OP, I was all about creative prosecuting back when I did that job, but this is something else...

[roo_ster]

A 4.2% hit rate???  Wow, their firearms instructors must be proud.

As to the OP, I was all about creative prosecuting back when I did that job, but this is something else...

No, you've got it all wrong.  The 4.2% hit rate was for innocent bystanders.  The hit rate for targets the police intend to hit was a much more respectable 4.8%.  See, all the difference in the world.  Or at least 0.6% difference.

==============================

I am reminded of the Amadou Diallo case, where an unarmed man was shot several times by several veteran NYC policemen.  Which sounds decent, hit rate-wise, until you recall several of them did mag dumps and ended up with a very tiny hit rate.  About the same time, a buddy on a police force in a very southern city had a hostage situation with one veteran and two rookie cops.  The goblin, in this case, was hit with ~75% of shots fired and resembled something more like "goblin pate" then human afterwards.  Also, none did a panicky mag dump, just 3-7 rounds/officer and they stopped when the goblin was no longer a threat.  I imagine their firearms instructor WAS proud.

[Ned Hamford]

IIRC, NYPD Officers are instructed to empty the clip at center of mass.  Spray and pray being the only way to go if you don't actually want them to become familiar with the firearms they carry.

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

IIRC, NYPD Officers are instructed to empty the clip at center of mass.  Spray and pray being the only way to go if you don't actually want them to become familiar with the firearms they carry.

Is part of their instruction shutting their eyes while doing so? 

It's an indictment of the department as a whole. I don't expect cops to be gunnies, I just expect them to be competent with the tools they are given - like a car, a gun, and a radio.

[RevDisk]

IIRC, NYPD Officers are instructed to empty the clip at center of mass.  Spray and pray being the only way to go if you don't actually want them to become familiar with the firearms they carry.

Ahhh... I've seen them with G36's and M4's. That makes me decidedly nervous.

Short of something out of Aliens, I was taught to hit the center of the target until it's no longer a threat. To conserve ammo, and ensure that no invalid targets are hit by negligence. Now, there is a time and place for "zOMG, KILL IT WITH FIRE". We call it "All batteries, fire for effect, suggested munition W48"

[T.O.M.]

IIRC, NYPD Officers are instructed to empty the clip at center of mass.  Spray and pray being the only way to go if you don't actually want them to become familiar with the firearms they carry.

Last firearms training I went through with LEOs, the echnique they were teaching was to out three rounds on target, then three more as necessary.  I know of one officer involved in a shooting that employed this technique.  He only hit 66.67%...the suspect who pointed a rifle at him dropped after taking a pair of 155 grain .40s to the chest, and the third round hit the side of the building behind him.

Shoot to slide lock?  Maybe they should call the Combat Weapons Team up at West Point and ask for some assistance...

[Blakenzy]

How about just issuing hand grenades to ensure hits on target... for officer safety?... of course with the obligatory NY triggers pins installed. Safety first