ERIC GARNER, CHOKED TO DEATH BY NYPD

[HairOfTheDog]

Legal Experts Weigh-In on Grand Jury Decision
While legal experts note it's impossible to know how the grand jurors reached their conclusion, they say the Garner case, like Michael Brown's death in Ferguson, Missouri, once again raised concerns about the influence local prosecutors have over the process of charging the police officers they work with on a daily basis.

That is an extremely incestuous relationship. It seems to me that whenever there are questions about an officer involved death, a special independent prosecutor ought to be brought in as opposed to a local prosecutor.

I like the idea of a special prosecutor for contested officer-involved killings.

A special prosecutor has been suggested for the grand jury proceedings in the shooting death of Akai Gurley in Brooklyn last month. But, the D.A. says it's his job and he's the guy to do it. It'll be interesting to see how this case proceeds.

Story:
NEW YORK - Authorities say an unarmed 28-year-old man coming out of his girlfriend's Brooklyn apartment was fatally shot by a rookie cop in a "dimly lit stairwell" in what was likely an accident.

Police Commissioner William Bratton says the officer appears to have fired accidentally. Officers were patrolling the halls of the Pink Houses complex in the East New York neighborhood on a Thursday night when they encountered Akai Gurley. The rookie officer fired one shot. Gurley was hit in the chest. The commissioner called it a "very unfortunate tragedy. Bratton called the victim "a total innocent" who was not engaged in any criminal activity at the time of the shooting, CBS New York reported. (HOTD: Good to see acknowledgement of error in this case.)

Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson has called the shooting "deeply troubling" and said it warrants "an immediate, fair and thorough investigation."

Thompson released a statement Friday afternoon, saying he will conduct an investigation into the shooting and expects to present the evidence to a grand jury.

"As to those who have called for a Special Prosecutor to handle this case, I respectfully disagree. I was elected by the people of Brooklyn to do this job without fear or favor and that is exactly what I intend to do," Thompson said in a statement.

Refs:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/akai-gurley-...stairwell/
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/man-shot-dea...dent-nypd/
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/11/21/n...g-complex/