Ex-NFL player shot dead by Calif. cops

Source: Associated Press

July 11, 2011 11:08 AM
Ex-NFL player shot dead by Calif. cops

(CBS/AP) Former Cincinnati Bengals running back David "Deacon" Turner is dead after a confrontation with deputies outside a Bakersfield convenience store.

Kern County sheriff's officials say deputies were called to the store a little before 1 a.m. Sunday after getting a report that a group of juveniles were trying to get adults to buy liquor and cigarettes for them.

When deputies arrived, they detained Turner as he left the store carrying alcoholic beverages, accompanied by his 19-year-old son and a 16-year-old.

Sheriff's spokesman Craig Rennie says Turner was cooperative at first, but then hit one of the deputies in the back of the head with a bag containing canned beer that he was carrying.




Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31751_162-20078413-10391697.html

Our police are completely out of control and we need to jerk their leashes up tight nationwide.

:eyes:

Don't ya think the force used was just a little bit excessive, here?

I don't have enough information.

I will note that California state law has some pretty clear definitions on when deadly force can lawfully be used. I'll refer you to the Penal Code, and would appreciate any comments you would make in that light.

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=pen&group=00001-01000&file=187-199

Scroll down to Section 195 and read from there through the end.

ETA you might find the sections dealing with assault and battery to be relevant as well.

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=pen&group=00001-01000&file=240-248

Go hand-to-hand?

HTH

"Our judicial system might be breaking down, but as long as every American carries a video camera, things will be okay." - Sociologist Marge Simpson, back in the 1990s.

Ex-NFL player dies after early-morning fight with Sheriff's officers
BY JAMES BURGER, Californian staff writer
jburger@bakersfield.com | Sunday, Jul 10 2011 01:54 PM
Last Updated Sunday, Jul 10 2011 09:40 PM

David “Deacon” Turner was a star running back at Shafter High School, Bakersfield College and the San Diego State University before he played three seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals from 1978 to 1980.

But he’d been down on his luck since then — out of work and repeatedly in trouble with the law throughout the ‘80’s, 90’s and 2000’s according to Kern County Superior Court online records.

On Sunday morning, the man that his former Bakersfield College coach Gerry Collis said looked like boxer Joe Frazier, got into an altercation with Kern County Sheriff’s deputies that ended when Deputy Wesley Kraft fatally shot the former NFL player outside an east Bakersfield convenience store.

“He’s the best running back I coached at BC, but heck I only coached there 27 years,” Collis said.

More:
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x481155738/Man-dies-after-early-morning-fight-with-Sheriffs-officers?utm_source=widget_16&utm_medium=popular_entries_widget&utm_campaign=synapse

Holy Cow do I need :sarcasm: ??????

...being hit in the back if the head by a bag of beer bottles by a presumably strong man can be fatal.

If he had not assaulted the cops, he might be alive.

The guy was an idiot. /shrug

:eyes:

False cries of "racism" don't work.

The fact is if he had continued to cooperate, he would have been fine. He assaulted an officer - who knows what would have happened if they let it continue.

cops have shown themselves to be at least as capable as anyone of being a scumbag.

Right off hand, I'd lean toward the killer that killed.

They can use wooden medicine or stun guns, that's it. They can only shoot someone with a weapon, such as a knife or another gun. A bag of liqueur doesn't count.

Moral of the story? Raising the liqueur age to 21 has been a tragedy. Who cares if someone under that age drinks? I certainly don't, it's not the government's business.

You are not a lawyer, obviously.

I don't even know what "wooden medicine" is.

That being said, any cop (and any citizen), can use lethal force to counteract lethal force. A bag of liquid counts, a car counts, a trebuchet counts, etc.

Wooden medicine is their club. They can use that. A bag of liqueur is not lethal force. If that's the case, how about a 79 year old lady hitting them with her groceries. Lethal force required?

Odd.

Cops are under no obligation to take a beating or only respond with less than lethal force if their opponent is unarmed. A 200lb unarmed man whaling on a 120lb female officer is going to get his ass shot, and there would be no law broken. An ex-NFL player swinging a 5lb bag of metal containers is going to face the same consequences.

at 1am at a convenience store buying more booze before the cut-off, or like this, also in Bakersfield, CA:

http://www.bakersfield.com/blogs/breaking_news/x481155674/Joey-Porters-dogs-get-loose-kill-neighbors-dog?utm_source=widget_16&utm_medium=popular_entries_widget&utm_campaign=synapse

There's evidence aplenty for both.

Again, I will initially blame the person who actually did the killing, until the whole story is known.

See how that works?

Yeah, I see how that works.

i will wait to here what the family has to say, and I am sure it will be a lot different than this crap.

Two cops with night sticks, tazers and pepper spray needed to kill him because his beer can was a deadly threat?

Sorry that story makes no sense my guess is that the cops are liar and he never even hit them with a beer can.

I had the pleasure to be a black man with a BWM before I switched into a prius and let me make this clear I didn't even speed and I was pulled over and harassed all the time. One time I went to my car to grap my backpack and run back to a friends house when I was tacked and beaten for being a minority "stealing" from a rich white guys bmw. Stop resiting they yell as you lay on the ground while the kick and punch you. Of course after it is all over and I produced proof that it was my car I was told to watch my back and that I'm lucky that they aren't taking me in anyway.

Of course now it isn't only minorities that the police abuse constantly so perhaps there is hope that people will wake up and put cops back in their place, to protect and serve.

Obviously not all cops are bad people, but I went to two high school and I know eery kids from them that went on to become a cops. As a rule they were the most violent stupid kids who with few friends and no social skills, none of these kids had a dream of going to college because they were so fucking stupid and lazy and they were to a person the most flagrant drunk drivers and fuck ups. Now these guys are all cops with guns (except one who is on suspension for stealing coke from criminals and selling it himself)

All cops should have a video camera on their person to record with sound everything they say and do at all time, it is the only way we will ever be any safer from them.

http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x481155738/Man-dies-after-early-morning-fight-with-Sheriffs-officers?utm_source=widget_16&utm_medium=popular_entries_widget&utm_campaign=synapse

That's almost three pounds.

And somehow I knew what the guy would look like before I clicked the link.

As redneck and bigoted as any place in the deepest red Texas. :puke:

...courtesy of racist white cops.

Sounds like a very big man started fighting and attacking cops.


Not every action is racist. Plus - since there is no record of what race the cops were (you DO know that there are a lot of black cops?) - it is YOU that is being racist.


Oh....how many black men were murdered last week by other black men? No one seems to care about their pain and suffering. Unless a black man is killed by a cop - no one cares.


However, I will say that this shooting does seem suspect. I hope more details come out to better clear the air.

riiiight. :eyes:

Just another day in the USA. So goes the story..

:eyes: i assume he has been a black man in america a lot longer than you have, so i will wait until the real comes out. this smells like bullshit for simi valley type acquittal.

just checkin'

on the drive from Northern CA to Southern CA. Stopped/stayed there on many occassions. The town has a fairly huge Latino farm labor population, but overall it is just like being in N. Texas (a place I have spent serious time in) in almost all respects. Seriously rednecky -- the politics, the attitude, the music, the dress -- made of the same cloth.

making you a bigot. Actually there aren't that many more blacks in this country than Texans. So saying "all Texans are this way" is not fundamentally different than saying "all blacks are this way".

B) he assaulted a cop with a potentially deadly weapon. That was unwise.

C) if anyone had attacked those cops with a potentially deadly weapon that person would probably be dead right now. You don't really think white idiots get a pass on assaulting cops do you?

visiting North Texas, specifically the Denton/Lewisville/Dallas/Ft. Worth areas. Sorry to burst your bubble but it is one of the most casually bigoted places I have ever had the misfortune to travel to.

Does that mean if a klan member says he's spent a lot of time visiting the predominately black inner cities of this country and "sorry to burst your bubble" but they really are lazy and shiftless, that means you'd agree with him?

/California has more recognized hate groups than Texas.

Which was the point I was making in the first place. :eyes: The southern and central parts of California are full of bigoted assholes, just like northern Texas.

Like convincing a klansmen to renounce his racist ways by saying "oh well hispanics are almost as bad as blacks!"

You're still using Texas as the reference point for whatever you deem to be evil and comparing situations back to that entire state.

Given CAs high rate of hate crimes/groups it would be more fair to say a city/region/state is almost as bad as California when something horrible happens there.

:eyes:

Choosing an improvised flail as your deadly weapon is probably not a good move.

It will be interesting to see what more details come out as time progresses.

Former NFL Player Killed By Sheriff in California
July 11, 2011 10:20 AM EDT

~snip~
According to the Kern County Sheriff's Office, they received a call that teenagers were talking adults into buying alcohol and tobacco products and when they arrived, Turner, his son, 19 and an unknown 16-year old youth were coming out of the store. The deputies detained Turner and then Turner tried to leave and an altercation took place between the deputies and Turner. During the altercation, a Turner allegedly hit a deputy in the back of the head with a bag with two 24-ounce cans of beer. After this, the officer drew his gun and fired twice at Turner. The shots hit Turner, he was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after.

The incident is under investigation. There is no word on the condition of the injured deputy. Had the officer been seriously injured or killed by the blow to the back of the head, it would have been the headline to this story. So it is safe to assume the deputy is recovering from his injuries.

The former NFL player, 56, was a running back and is in the Hall of Fame for his alma mater, Bakersfield College was described by friends, family and former coaching staff as an all-around great guy who lived for his family. Family said he had no history of causing trouble.

This only further confuses the incident. Was Turner buying alcohol for minors? Why did Turner walk away from the deputies? Why did the officer fire his weapon at Turner with children around for this offense? These questions and many more must be answered. A child is without a father, a man is dead and had he not been a former NFL player, would we have heard about this shooting in mainstream media?

http://sports.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474979611004

I visit DU since 2003 and I've lost count how many times I've read about these "incidents". And nothing has changed since 2003. I agree with the poster who said that the police should record all their actions.

that these are "isolated incident" for which we must "wait for all the facts".

Then, when the facts come out that, yes, in fact, that's really all there is to it... you never hear a peep from them.

Lots of Authoritarians on DU these days. Such people are bad for humanity as a whole.

That said, I do agree with others above who suggested the cops be monitored more carefully as they very often do abuse their power and probably ate racist on average.

:(

Whom are above the law.

What's next from you? Holocaust jokes? :thumbsdown:

If he was white, they would have tazed him

How tazing was an inappropriate level of force, etc.

he'd be equally dead.

Yeah, that is some privilege.

This is yet another case of a human being acting like an idiot and dying for it. And he did it in front of his kid which makes it even worse.

White Male Privilge: Most people don't "get it"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=439&topic_id=1435158

"And yet another case that proves White Privlege"

at least learn to spell. Jesus.

is a bad joke.When will our courts start dishing out justice for all Americans,this shit has been going on too long,you damn right there is a pattern here,the white officer kill a black person,he is out on desk duty for 48 hours with pay,the police investigate themselves always with the same results,it was a good shooting,justice was served.I can read where there are many of you think the officers were correct in murdering yet another black man,shame on all of you that feel that way.One sunny day justice will come to America and you upholders of the law will see true justice.Police lies,so whats new?.

violence. Three or Four officers could have taken him down. The officer shot him twice. The officers are trained to physically take down suspects.

I am sure there is more information, the children will have a view of what happend.

One other question would be why did the situation escalate to a level of violence? Did he antagonize the police or did the police antagonize him?

Too many questions not enough information.

but if i were a betting man, i'd wager on the "official" police story being less than 100 percent true...

he was doing fine until that point.

n/t

i'll wait for the real story because i don't believe this version.

Evidence-free conclusions are the easiest kind.

"Murderous fucks"...down below...

One thing I do agree is too often here at DU about everyone has a knee jerk reaction to breaking news, but when ever it is cops here it's automatically proven the cop is guilty.

That is all through this thread...

or Taiesha Miller or Eula Mae Love or countless others. I most certainly DO NOT believe the police version of this story because I went to high school with Ronnie Settles.

my point is, wait until all the information is in. There is nothing wrong with being scrupulous or suspicious, but too many times here at DU I have seen many, many posters jump to conclusions too fast.

And next time you want to misinterpret my point, have the courtesy to ask first.

one could say it is "standard procedure"...and since it happens so often, i think it behooves any thinking individual to be suspicious when it happens again. i have been writing about these coincidences since the 70s, so color me very skeptical of the official version of events. the point is: so-called fng liberals should have some consciousness about the problem of police murdering black people, especially black men, and lying about it. this case could be different, but i doubt it, since police are routinely acquitted of murder or abuse of black people (and others), even when caught on tape, as in the rodney king beating, and oscar grant murder here in oakland.

i do not believe the official version of events because of the history of ACCEPTANCE of police abuse of black people as "standard procedure," as evidenced by some replies to this thread. IF this version of events is proven to be true, i will accept that, but i have a deep understanding of why it happened, even if the police version is true. he probably just got tired of being harassed because he WAS a black man.

so please...do not lecture me. i agree with you, with one caveat: i am totally suspicious of the official version of events involving this "standard procedure" because i know, first hand, just how prevalent it is in america. and so should you.

You've made your mind up, that is clear. I'm not going to debate you on it or try to change your mind. My point was simply too many people here jump to conclusions before all the information is in (how about Anthony Weiner - before he made his confession, I suggested he did what he was accused of and was hammered for it). Not once did I advocate not being suspicious or scrupulous of the report. What I suggested was to wait until more information is available.

Frankly, this is why we have a legal system.

As for Rodney King - clearly you have no idea why he was acquitted in state court. And as for Oscar Grant, that case was blown because prosecutors applied the incorrect charge - his death did not meet the legal definition of murder.

So don't lecture me.

and shifts the burden on to tax payers when the families of victims sue...and win, as did rodney king. as will grant's family, and now this man's family. thank god for your legal system.

and shifts the burden on to tax payers when the families of victims sue...and win, as did rodney king. as will grant's family, and now this man's family. thank god for your legal system.

Deputies detained Turner and the two teens while they investigated the situation. According to reports, Turner first complied with deputies’ directions but then attempted to leave the area.

When deputies tried to stop Turner from leaving, he fought with them, Sheriff’s reports stated.

During the scuffle Deputy Aaron Nadal, who has worked for the Sheriff’s Department for three years, was reportedly hit in the back of the head with a bag containing two 24-ounce cans of beer.

Deputy Wesley Kraft, a four year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department, responded by drawing his handgun and firing at Turner twice.

http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x481155738/Man-dies-after-early-morning-fight-with-Sheriffs-officers?utm_source=widget_56&utm_medium=photo_entries_teaser_widget&utm_campaign=synapse

Looks like he was trying to leave when he assaulted the officer. I'd be interested in knowing where on his person he was shot.

i think given the history of police abuse, i remain skeptical of the official version of events. if he was wrong, it cost him his life. if he wasn't, the taxpayers will pay the price, as they always do.

I don't believe it at all. i'll wait to hear what the victim's children have to say, since they witnessed his killing.

Bring charges against the coward murderers!

I've noticed liberals are just about like everyone else when it comes to breaking stories - sides are taken before all the facts are out there, especially when the group-think is in lines when it comes to thoughts about those not liked or who are perceived as the left's enemy.

Sheesh...will we ever take lessons and learn them.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Would you have retaliated by shooting the man?

I didn't think so.

...time and time again if you do anything of the sort, especially if your skin is darker than the color of a brown paper bag, don't be surprised if they shoot you dead. As the ACLU says, the time to plead your case is in front of the judge, not in front of the police.

People don't seem to get this concept, but it's imperative to understand.

PB