Cleveland activists aim to force murder trial with obscure law in Tamir Rice case
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Version 0 of 1. As the investigation into the Cleveland police’s shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice continues, community leaders on Tuesday are planning to employ a scarcely used Ohio law to bring murder charges against the officer who killed the child, according to the New York Times. Ohio is one of a few states where such a law exists, that allows anyone with “knowledge of the facts” of an incident to request a judge file an arrest warrant – without approval from the police or prosecutors. The decision to employ this legal tool comes as activists across the country challenge excessive use of force by police, particularly in communities of color. Officer Timothy Loehmann shot Tamir in November, within two seconds of exiting his police vehicle. He was responding to a 911 call from someone who said that the toy gun Tamir had was “probably fake”, though it is unclear if that information was shared with the officers. As activists nationwide call for improved relations between police and the communities they serve, the process of prosecuting officers has also come under increased scrutiny. Days after Tamir was killed, a Missouri grand jury declined to indict Ferguson officer Darren Wilson, who killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown. The following week, a grand jury in New York decided not to indict the police officer who put unarmed black man Eric Garner in a chokehold, which the city’s medical examiner said caused Garner’s death. Last month, a white Cleveland police officer was acquitted of manslaughter after firing 49 rounds at a car in which two unarmed, black occupants sat. Timothy McGinty, the Cuyahoga County prosecutor who is examining the Rice case, brought charges against Brelo in that trial. But on Monday, the police officer who shot unarmed black man Walter Scott in South Carolina was indicted on a murder charge. And six officers in Baltimore are facing charges for their role in the death of a black man in police custody. Before these cases could be brought to trial, a grand jury had to decide whether to indict the police officers involved. The prosecutor exercises considerable control in the situation and some believe there is a conflict of interest in police shooting cases, because a police department is, like the prosecutor, part of the municipal criminal justice agency. Walter Madison, the Rice family’s attorney who worked with the Cleveland community leaders taking action, said thiswas why people in Cleveland were pursuing this unusual method of prosecution. “If you look at every other instance, it ends up unfavorable to the families,” Madison told the New York Times. Madison said he did not know of any case where an Ohio judge had ordered the arrest of a police officer under this standard, which exists in Ohio and only a few other states. |