A grand jury non-fail

[MajGenl.Meade]

CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - A white former police chief in Eutawville, South Carolina, has been indicted on a murder charge in the 2011 shooting death of an unarmed black man he was trying to arrest, according to records released on Thursday.

The indictment of ex-chief Richard Combs came on Wednesday, the Orangeburg County Clerk of Court said, on the heels of decisions by grand juries in New York City and Missouri not to indict white police officers involved in deaths of unarmed black men this year.

Combs fatally shot Eutawville resident Bernard Bailey, 54, in the town hall parking lot in May 2011 after they argued and scuffled over a traffic ticket previously issued to Bailey's daughter.

Combs had already been indicted in August 2013 in connection with the shooting on a misconduct in office charge, with a grand jury finding that his use of deadly force was unjustified, according to court records.

The former chief has argued he shot Bailey in self defense, but a judge recently rejected his "Stand Your Ground" claim in the earlier case.

Wally Fayssoux, one of the lawyers representing Combs said Bailey put Combs in "an impossible situation," adding "he had no choice."

A trial is tentatively schedule for January, he said.

Solicitor David Pascoe, whose office is prosecuting the cases, declined to comment through a representative.

Carl Grant, the Bailey family's lawyer, said they attended Combs' court hearing on Thursday, where a judge ordered a $150,000 bail.

Grant said the prosecutor's office had indicated more than a year ago that it was considering a murder charge against Combs, which Bailey's family felt the case warranted.

"The family was simply looking for some sense of justice that represents what actually happened, in their mind," Grant said. "This indictment for murder is not something the solicitor decided to do at the last minute or in light of today's media."

The murder indictment against Combs was issued on the same day that a New York City grand jury opted not to bring charges against a white police officer in the chokehold death of an unarmed black man.

[Lord Jim]

Boy, this story has sure been dominating the news...

Impossible to miss....

[BoSoxGal]

Have you ever bothered doing any research into the number of civilians killed by police every year, the number of complaints of police brutality, and the number of prosecutions of police?

[rubato]

The records were released on Thursday so it has had barely 1 day to make the news.

yrs,
rubato

[Lord Jim]

The records were released on Thursday so it has had barely 1 day to make the news.

yrs,
rubato

The murder indictment against Combs was issued on the same day that a New York City grand jury opted not to bring charges against a white police officer in the chokehold death of an unarmed black man.

Have you ever bothered doing any research into the number of civilians killed by police every year, the number of complaints of police brutality, and the number of prosecutions of police?

Well, if it's that unusual for a cop to be indicted for the killing of a civilian, all the more reason that it should be getting a lot of press attention, since generally it's the unusual that gets the most media coverage...

But not when it comes to this, apparently...

[Crackpot]

it's because the media moguls in New York won't stand for being upstaged by the south in the area of racial justice.

[rubato]

"...

Well, if it's that unusual for a cop to be indicted for the killing of a civilian, all the more reason that it should be getting a lot of press attention, since generally it's the unusual that gets the most media coverage...

But not when it comes to this, apparently...

reuters news service being a tiny closet operation that hardly anyone has ever heard of. Good thing you ferreted that story out of obscurity!


yrs,
rubato

[Lord Jim]

So you think an online report by a wire service is equivalent to the 24/7 wall-to-wall coverage on cable and broadcast news, and continuous coverage by all the major print and electronic media that the non-indictments are getting?

You are a moron.

Like I said, understatement of the year...

[rubato]

Oh brother. You lost. Give it up asshole.

That was Ann Coulter's "BIG LIE" too. She lied and said that the NYT had ignored Dale Earnhardt's death, which was a story of interest to "true Americans" but they hadn't, it was on the front page the same day it was everywhere else. She lied. Just like you lied here.

Like this story was on the news wires. Go lie to mean, stupid children and Republicans who believe your shit.

yrs,
rubato

[Lord Jim]

LMAO

Once again, rube rises to defend his title as Dumbest Humanoid Life Form In The Alpha Quadrant....

You really don't get the difference do you?

Nah, he's not a moron, he's actually a very bright fellow who has some clever reason for wanting people to think he's a moron...

[wesw]

so rube, you hate children too?

[rubato]

LMAO

Once again, rube rises to defend his title as Dumbest Humanoid Life Form In The Alpha Quadrant....

You really don't get the difference do you?

Nah, he's not a moron, he's actually a very bright fellow who has some clever reason for wanting people to think he's a moron...

Go lie to stupid people. Like you.

The better informed know you are crap.


yrs,
rubato

[Lord Jim]

(You know, I'm actually beginning to give some credence to the theory that rube really likes me and he deliberately posts what he does just to give me a chuckle...)

Okay rube, I'll bite...

When I say that the media coverage of Ferguson and this latest Grand Jury decision in NYC, (which I've made pretty clear I don't agree with) has vastly outstripped the media coverage of the murder indictment of the white cop indicted for murder in Charleston...(which occurred on the same day as the Grand Jury decision in the Garner case)...

just what exactly am I "lying" about?

Is it your position that the media coverage has been comparable?

I anxiously await all the links you're going to provide to all the news stories posted on YouTube from the cable news networks, and the links to all the stories published by the major print media that prove me a liar...*









*Okay, I am lying about that...

I'm not really anxiously awaiting that...

What I expect is that you'll either post some non-responsive ad hominem crappola ("Liar" "Hater", etc.) or slink away from this exchange without responding at all....

[MajGenl.Meade]

I'd indict you both for littering this thread with ad hominem. Get a room.

[BoSoxGal]

I'm not sure I understand the implication . . . surely not that because one grand jury got it right, that means we should draw an equivalence with all that's wrong and being protested over Ferguson and Staten Island?

[oldr_n_wsr]

I'm not sure I understand the implication . . . surely not that because one grand jury got it right, that means we should draw an equivalence with all that's wrong and being protested over Ferguson and Staten Island?

I believe that the implication is that while the Ferguson and Staten Island cases have been front page news especially the GJ decisions, but the GJ that did return the inditement ended up on page 30.
of course I could be wrong

[Lord Jim]

BSG, I don't expect the Charleston case to get the level of media attention that the Ferguson and NYC cases have gotten. For one thing, a large part of what's driving the media focus is the public reaction. When an event (in this case the non-indictment in NYC) unleashes protest marches in multiple US cities, that is BIG news by any definition. The protests, (both non-violent and violent) both in this case and over Ferguson also create e the kind of visuals (and ratings) that are going to attract large amounts of news coverage. I get all that.

On the other hand, as you know I'm a news junkie and in all the cable news coverage I've followed (and yesterday's Sunday news programs) I have not heard the Charleston grand jury decision mentioned (let alone discussed) even once. Not by a single pundit, not by a single reporter not by a single "expert" or activist. (Not even conservative ones, or on conservative media.)

Not a word about the reaction of the victim's family, let alone any interviews with the relatives...

I would guess that if you were to take a poll, this story has been so under-covered that probably not more than 10% of the public is even aware it happened...

In the atmosphere we're in at the moment where cops being charged in cases where minorities are killed has become the central focus of a national dialogue, this story certainly deserves more coverage than it has received. Especially since it occurred on the exact same day as the Garner Grand Jury decision.

I think the news media has collectively really fallen down on the job and is doing the public a disservice by providing next to no coverage on this. And I have to wonder why that is.

[MajGenl.Meade]

On the other hand, as you know I'm a news junkie and in all the cable news coverage I've followed (and yesterday's Sunday news programs) I have not heard the Charleston grand jury decision mentioned (let alone discussed) even once. Not by a single pundit, not by a single reporter not by a single "expert" or activist. (Not even conservative ones, or on conservative media.)

Not a word about the reaction of the victim's family, let alone any interviews with the relatives...

I would guess that if you were to take a poll, this story has been so under-covered that probably not more than 10% of the public is even aware it happened...

I have a feeling that this is true or not very far from it. Amongst my younger Facebook contacts (mostly via my progressive young granddaughter but also other flaming liberals), there are so many "Ferguson/Cleveburg/NYC posts and not one pointing to the exception - which is worth pointing to because it IS an exception.

[Econoline]

In other words...there have been so many man-bites-dog news stories lately that when a dog bites a man it ought to be front-page news. (You know, just to keep the dogs from feeling nervous...)

[MajGenl.Meade]

Right, Econo. That's exactly the thing I was thinking. Sometimes the dog bites back. I just had some doubts about referring to white cops shooting black guys as "man bites dog". Thanks for breaking the ice!