Per the Ruling: Two juries have communicated as much after lengthy deliberations that produced thoughtful questions and, ultimately, deadlock. The Court has no reason to expect a different result in a subsequent trial given the totality of the evidence that the parties have provided. The Government has had two full and fair chances to obtain a conviction; it will not have another.
Let's recap:
Madison police last week roughed up a 57-year-old Indian citizen who was walking on the sidewalk outside his son's home, leaving the older man temporarily paralyzed and hospitalized with fused vertebrae.It's the victims fault the police treated him like a skinny black guy in America.
"He was just walking on the sidewalk as he does all the time," said his son, Chirag Patel, this morning. "They put him to the ground."
No crime had been committed. Madison Police on Monday issued a statement saying the department had suspended the officer and were investigating the use of force in this case. The police statement wished the man a "speedy recovery."
The first trial deadlocked in a mistrial 10-2 in favor of acquittal along racial/gender lines.Defense attorney Robert Tuten this time told the jury that the escalation of force was largely the fault of Patel."When you come to the U.S. we expect you to follow our laws and speak our language," said Tuten. "Mr. Patel bears as much responsibility for this as anyone."
The jury that couldn't reach a verdict in the criminal trial of police officer Eric Parker was split 10-2 along gender lines, according to one of the holdout jurors.
Ten men wanted to acquit the officer who slammed down a 57-year-old Indian citizen during a sidewalk stop, leaving the man partly paralyzed.
The two women on the jury thought Parker was guilty of the federal civil rights charge, deprivation of rights under the color of law. The charge carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
When contacted by al.com, one of those two women explained the two-day deliberation that ended in frustration for both sides. "I was the one saying he was guilty," said the juror, who asked to withhold her name.
The juror, who is retired from the U.S. Army, said from Thursday morning through late Friday no jurors changed their minds and extra time seemed unlikely to alter the deadlock. "It was 10 to 2. I wasn't changing my story."
The jury also appeared to split along racial lines. Both female jurors were black. None of the 10 male jurors were black.
U.S. District Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala today ordered that, unlike during the first trial, media will not be allowed to report or blog from the courtroom. Reporters will be allowed to take handwritten notes and report after they leave.
The second trial deadlocked in a mistrial.
The new jury was flipped, packed with nine women this time and just three men. The new jury had four black members, including the foreman.There will be no third trial because the judge was troubled by the federal focus on race.
"I said to you at the first trial, and I don't think I said it explicitly at this one, but I did say that I did not want there to be racial issues in this trial," said Haikala.She said the discussion came up during jury selection, as the government used all its strikes to block white males from sitting on the jury.Blame it on the media
She said the "all lives matter" comment and the talk of shooting an unarmed man from behind "is right on point with all of the racial discussion that is going on," said Haikala. "The court finds it troubling that the government is resorting to those sorts of tactics."
But Judge Haikala mentioned a news story on al.com, a story she had brought up in transcripts before. The story contained interviews with jurors from the first trial. The first jury deadlocked along racial and gender lines, with 10 white men finding Parker innocent and two African American women voting guilty.So now we know. If someone calls police to complain of a skinny black guy who is just kind of walking around close to the garage, the police have the right to reasonably assume that the individual was involved in a burglary. But it's not racial.
"The media coverage portrayed this as a racial issue and so I thought I was very clear about the fact that it be improper for race to be an issue at any level in this case," repeated Judge Haikala.
Later on Nov. 4, after the second jury announced they could not reach a consensus, the defense moved the judge for an acquittal.
"This is the second jury that's obviously had a hard time reaching a decision in this case," said Tuten. "I think that speaks to the proof and lack of proof that has been offered by the government and I think it illustrates that have not made a prima facie case."
Listen to the call to Madison Police about the Indian grandfather and tell me it's not racial.
