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Edited on Sun May-16-10 10:11 PM by happyslug
The problem is NOT the knife (Through the woman holding the knife is an added factor) but that the film itself DOES NOT show the actual incident. One minute you see the Officer approaching the elderly woman, the next minute the camera is all over the place and you can NOT see what is happening except that they is mass confusion, then you see the Officer squatting over the elderly woman. The actual fall of the woman is NOT able to be seen in the video. She might have been tossed, she might have fell, I can NOT tell what happen by this video. Unlike the Rodney King Video (Which clearly showed the Police Officer beating Rodney king while he laid on the ground) this video does NOT show the actual abuse. Now the Rodney King Video was attacked in court on the grounds it did NOT show the whole incident just the actual abuse (Which was enough for Rodney King to prevail on a Civil Abuse action, but the criminal action failed), but it clearly showed the abuse. The police won the criminal case against them do to a lack of context (The person making the video was to far away and started filming AFTER Rodney King's Two passengers were already in handcuffs, a fact that can NOT be seen in the King Video). On the other hand the abuse was clear enough for Rodney King to win a Civil Lawsuit (The standard of proof is different for a Civil Lawsuit and a Criminal Action, Civil lawsuit is preponderance of evidence, the criminal element is proof beyond a reasonable doubt, the lack of context meant it was possible for the Officer to hit Rodney King under some conditions that could occur. Civil Litigation is simple, what do you believe what happened with the only proof needed being that the Jury finds one side more believable then the other (And the Rodney King Video clearly showed that, yes, it was possible for the Officer to have had to bear Rodney king, but it was unlikely and thus they were liable).
I bring up Rodney King for the overall video of the actual incident is better in the King Video then this one. The overall quality of this video is better then the Rodney King Video (Mostly the result of the vast improvement in recording technology since the days of VHS Tapes) BUT the view of the incident is LOST as the Video Taker get so excited that he loses the Elderly Woman at the time she either was knocked down or fell. Even in Civil Litigation you have to have EVIDENCE that something wrong happened. The fact the elderly woman was up one minute and down the next proves nothing for it could be the result of something the officer did OR something the elderly woman did. The Video would have been better if the video taker had just sat still, the problem with the video is when he or she moved the camera to get a better view of what was happening.
My point is the video is BAD if you what it to show police abuse, it does NOT clearly show abuse, something happened and people were excited (Including the video maker) but what happened can NOT be seen in this video. Maybe if someone would reduce it to a frame by frame picture show we may be able to see something, but as it is it shows nothing.
Now I was able to get to a better video screen and review the video again, the problem remains that the video maker moved his camera to much at the time we needed a stable video, but a clearer picture of what happened can be seen. The Officer, after asking the woman to drop the knife, appears to have tried to grab the arm with the knife in it trying to twist the arm so the elderly woman would drop the knife. In the scuffle that follows the elderly woman seems to have fallen. The Officer appears to try to secure the arms of the woman, with a passer by holding onto the elderly woman's left hand (The passer by seems to lose the arm and it almost hits the officer who then secures both hands). A little rough, and I suspect more then the officer expected, but given that the knife was in the elderly woman's hand almost standard police behavior (Secure all weapons, either by getting them your self OR making sure any other party can NOT ready get at them).
As I said before the screen I first view this on, combined with the movement of the Camera I could NOT see the interconnection of the Officer and the elderly woman. Switch screens, and I can make out the actual contact and again I see nothing that raises to abuse. The elderly woman ended up on the ground, but it is clear that the officer was going after the arm with the knife NOT the woman herself. The elderly woman subsequently fell, but that happens in such situations. The actions of the officer appears to be more to secure the weapon then any actual attack on the elderly woman, the problem was the act to disarm unbalanced the elderly woman and she fell. Again NOT up to the level of misconduct, you need more the what happened here to have misconduct.
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