Trial ordered for 2 California police officers in beating death of homeless man

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**d-usa**

Via CNN:

Santa Ana, California (CNN) -- A California judge ordered Wednesday that two Fullerton police officers stand trial in the beating death last year of Kelly Thomas, a homeless man with a mental illness.

Officer Manuel Ramos is charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, and Cpl. Jay Patrick Cicinelli is charged with involuntary manslaughter and felony use of excessive force.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Walter Schwarm scheduled the next hearing in the case on May 22.

Schwarm's ruling came after a three-day preliminary hearing that ended Wednesday.

Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, who's prosecuting the case, told reporters that he expected defense attorneys to challenge Wednesday's ruling in a motion and possibly an appeal.

Rackauckas said the case "was a terrible incident, and we're going to proceed forward and get justice."

"This is a hard thing to file, a case of this nature against police officers, because we have tremendous law enforcement in Orange County," Rackauckas told reporters. "This kind of incident is very damaging to the community -- to everybody, the police, the community -- because it erodes that trust.

"It brings down the image of the entire community," the county's elected prosecutor said.

Ron Thomas, the father of Kelly Thomas, told reporters after the ruling that the Fullerton Police Department "is full of good officers."

"It's just this band of criminals, these hoodlums," Ron Thomas added.

Ron Thomas noted he and others in his family have worked in law enforcement for "generations."

He said his son would have "never thought a police officer would beat him to death

(more at the link)

Warning: Graphic picture of victim

Spoiler:

**Chowderhead**

For the love of god, D-USA, please put that in a link!

No gore on dakka, FFS.

**d-usa**

Chowderhead wrote:For the love of god, D-USA, please put that in a link!

No gore on dakka, FFS.

Sorry, added spoiler tags with warning.

**biccat**

Good. There should be more of these trials.

That doesn't change the fact that the article is incredibly poorly written.

**d-usa**

It's CNN, I think half their writers are interns.

Guys like those make it very hard for the vast majority of good cops out there. Hard to build community goodwill if you have fethers like them on the loose.

**Frazzled**

d-usa wrote:It's CNN, I think half their writers are interns.

Guys like those make it very hard for the vast majority of good cops out there. Hard to build community goodwill if you have fethers like them on the loose.

No notation why the hobo got the attitude adjustment. Whats the reason for the shindig?

**streamdragon**

From his Wiki page:

On July 5, 2011, at about 8:30 PM, officers of the Fullerton Police Department responded to a call of someone vandalizing cars near the Fullerton Transportation Center. While investigating, they encountered the shirtless and disheveled Thomas and attempted to search him. According to statements given by the officers, Thomas was uncooperative and resisted when they attempted to search him, so backup was called. The officers then repeatedly shocked Thomas with Tasers, beat him with the butts of the Tasers and flashlights, and slammed him into the ground.[11] A video of the event surfaced, and Thomas can be heard repeatedly screaming in pain while officers tasered him (up to five times according to a witness statement) in the video, and screaming "Dad! Dad!".[12] Six officers were involved in subduing Thomas, who was unarmed and had a history of mental illness. Thomas was initially taken to St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton but was transferred immediately to the UC Irvine Medical Center with severe injuries to his head, face, and neck.[13]

Orange County district attorney Tony Rackauckas gave a detailed account of the events during a press conference on September 21, 2011. Using digital audio recording devices carried by the officers, surveillance video from a pole camera at the Fullerton Transportation Center, and other evidence, Rackauckas provided evidence that Thomas did comply with orders from Officer Ramos, who had put on latex gloves and asked Thomas "Now see my fists? They are getting ready to feth you up."[14] Rackauckas went on to describe how Thomas begged for his life, before being beaten to death.[15]

He was homeless and suffered from schizophrenia. 6 officers beat him to death, despite repeated pleas for help and mercy; there's even video of the event. I'm hoping that the other 4 end up in jail right alongside these two, but I doubt that will happen.

I'm generally on the side of police. I recognize that despite all the news coverage of bad police, despite a few poor experiences with police myself, that the vast majority are good people doing a very difficult job that few people want to do, and are generally underappreciated for it.

Scumbags like these guys, on the other hand, are just about as low as it is possible to be.

Edit: The wiki article says "vandalizing cars", but that's not quite correct. Someone called police because Kelly was "trying car door handles".

**Frazzled**

So he was trying to break into cars, when caught by police he reisted arrest?

Meh, Frazzled care not.

**d-usa**

At what point is a pulp pulpy enough to no longer be considered resisting?

**Frazzled**

d-usa wrote:At what point is a pulp pulpy enough to no longer be considered resisting?

The moment after they stop resisting.

If he's schizo we need to see when he stopped resisting. Crazy people are, you know, crazy and may not stop when normal people stop.

the immortal bard once said: Smelly bum should not resist angry cops with night sticks.

**mattyrm**

Maybe they were trying to swat a bee and he got in the way like on that really awful Martin Lawrence movie?

**Frazzled**

mattyrm wrote:Maybe they were trying to swat a bee and he got in the way like on that really awful Martin Lawrence movie?

They were swinging their sticks in a windmill fashion and walking forward. if he gets hit well its his fault.

**Hazardous Harry**

steamdragon hit the nail on the head here.

I don't think even Frazzled can argue against this one, despite his jokes.

**streamdragon**

Frazzled wrote:So he was trying to break into cars, when caught by police he reisted arrest?

Meh, Frazzled care not.

Not quite. The cops said he resisted. However, the evidence all proves otherwise:

Rackauckas provided evidence that Thomas did comply with orders from Officer Ramos, who had put on latex gloves and asked Thomas "Now see my fists? They are getting ready to feth you up."

I was just going to make a "lol texas mindset" joke, but figured I'd actually answer.

**Frazzled**

streamdragon wrote:
Frazzled wrote:So he was trying to break into cars, when caught by police he reisted arrest?

Meh, Frazzled care not.

Not quite. The cops said he resisted. However, the evidence all proves otherwise:

Rackauckas provided evidence that Thomas did comply with orders from Officer Ramos, who had put on latex gloves and asked Thomas "Now see my fists? They are getting ready to feth you up."

I was just going to make a "lol texas mindset" joke, but figured I'd actually answer.

Well if he complied then he's not resisting. AKA morale has improved so the beatings do not have to continue.
I think the essential question we have to ask is, was he wearing a hoodie?

**d-usa**

I am kinda amazed that It seems like these idiots don't realize that a vast majority of the public now has video cameras in their pockets. And how do these guys forget about the dash cam in their cars and the microphone some of them are wearing?

**Chowderhead**

This...

This is insane. Only one man is charged with Murder. Someone should charge the other with Accessory.

**streamdragon**

According to the Wiki, all the officers involved have been arrested for the event, but thus far only those two have actually been charged.

**Samus_aran115**

Some asshat cops beat up this poor old DC homeless guy. They threw him OUT OF A WHEELCHAIR, where he fell face first on the concrete. For fething nothing. I'm surprised it didn't cause a national scene. It was disturbing.

I can't stand police brutality. Especially against those that pose absolutely no threat, or are defenseless.

**KcK**

d-usa wrote:I am kinda amazed that It seems like these idiots don't realize that a vast majority of the public now has video cameras in their pockets. And how do these guys forget about the dash cam in their cars and the microphone some of them are wearing?

it's amazes me how often the dash-cams "fail", or have "technical issues", especially when there is the possibility of recordings being used as evidence against the police.....and of course, law enforcement doesn't particularly like it when citizens (even journo's) observe/ film them. it could lead to obstruction of justice charges, or worse...

on topic: who is the real criminal here? the mentally ill homeless man, or the men with badges & guns??

**rockerbikie**

That is pretty amazing. They need stricter punishment for Police which misbehave. It make all Police look bad.

**Chongara**

I've seen the video. His "Resisting" consists of taking too long to put his hands on his knees, and then trying to walk away. At which point the first officer breaks out his club and smashes the guy in the back of the knee, causing him to go down like sack of potatoes. He is then tackled by 2 more officers, then tazered, another 6 cops or so come and help beat him until he dies as he begs for his life.
See for yourselves : http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KU0Imk2Bstg#t=800s

EDIT(Yet again): NSFL warning on the video.

**dogma**

That's quite the "Oh, feth." moment when they realize how badly he's bleeding.

**Lynata**

Oh, is this the guy they tazered and beaten to death with rifle-butts and flashlights? I've seen this on a German news site. Honestly, if they wanted to kill him, they should've just shot him in the back of his head - it would have been more humane than this.

I'm usually pro-police when it comes to debates about using force, as society and its less decent members have become more violent over the past decades. However, seeing reports on incidents like these, witnessing the amount of careless brutality dished out, and then reading about how the local police department attempted to cover this up makes me doubt these convictions - these officers at least are nothing but thugs with a badge.

If just two of them are going to be charged (and I wonder how the actual sentences will turn out to look like), this just tells me the entire system has been eroded.

**MeanGreenStompa**

Frazzled wrote:So he was trying to break into cars, when caught by police he reisted arrest?

Meh, Frazzled care not.

I have just listened to that man lying on the floor, calling to his dad. He suffered from a mental illness and was homeless on the street. Whether or not this mentally ill homeless person was trying to break into a car to steal a radio or just ranting, he most certainly did not deserve to be beaten to a bloody corpse by the people who we pay money to 'protect and serve'. The entire thing is horrific and brutal and sadistic. 6 men beat a mentally ill man to death. They were not 'fighting crime', they were murdering a vulnerable member of the society they are supposed to be policing.

Frazzled, your comment is repulsive.

You have repeatedly claimed to be a Christian.

Christ would have advocated caring for the man, forgiving any sins and helping him. Go reread your Bible. Christ walked with the homeless, the lepers, the unloved and the poorest of society, he worked with them and helped to life them up. Your attitude is the antithesis of this. Your casual comments about this murder are mind-blowing.

**Melissia**

Goddamn, these are some serious scumbags here... they make police look bad...

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also? Frazzled, you should be fething ashamed of yourself.

**Crablezworth**

The video is very hard to watch...

**Palindrome**

Frazzled it may be a good idea for you to research topics that you make blase little 'jokes' about beforehand. It would save you looking like a complete cock.

**Alexzandvar**

Frazzled wrote:So he was trying to break into cars, when caught by police he reisted arrest?

Meh, Frazzled care not.

Your so cool Frazzled with your "Screw everyone" Texas attitude, I bet all homeless people are like that because they didn't work hard enough! And the occupy movement is just unwashed hippies who should get a job!

**Necroshea**

Yeah, this is pretty messed up in all sorts of ways, and I'm with everyone else in that Frazzled, your piss poor attempts at humor has made you out to be quite the arse. The more you know about people...