Page 38 - 6-12-15 Frisday's Edition

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Judge Orders Last
C. Grand Jury Indicts Former Cop That Killed Fleeing Black Man
Michael Slager killed Walter Scott after a traffic stop.
Of The Angola
Three Released
The former North Charleston, S.C., police offi- cer who killed a fleeing Wal- ter Scott was indicted by a grand jury Monday on a mur- der charge, the New York Times reports.
Michael T. Slager, who was fired from the North Charleston Police Depart- ment after the April 4 shoot- ing that rocked the nation after a citizen’s video became public, has been held in jail on a murder charge for two months; his lawyers have made no move as of yet to re- quest bail.
Despite the controversy and publicity around the shooting, the local prosecu- tor, Scarlett Wilson, said
Arts Student’s New Year’s Day Death Ruled A Homicide
MATTHEW AJIBADE
SAVANNAH, GA ---A 22- year-old college student who was arrested after a domestic violence dispute and later died in restraints inside a Georgia cell on New Year's Day, died from blunt-force injuries, and his death has been ruled a homicide.
According to the Associ- ated Press, Matthew Ajibade's parents have being searching for answers for months about exactly what happened that led to his death. Investigators have cited an "open criminal inquiry" as the reason they were unable to speak to the family about their son's death.
AP notes that Ajibade, who had bipolar disorder, was arrested after a domestic alter- cation with his girlfriend Jan. 1. Ajibade's girlfriend report- edly gave the officers Ajibade's medication after telling them about his disor- der.
According to police, Ajibade, who lived in Mary- land but was attending school in Georgia at the Savannah College of Art and Design, be- came combative once they ar- rived at the jail, and he was placed in restraints and put into a cell. He was later found dead the same day in the same cell.
Albert Woodfox is the last of the Angola Three. Herman Wallace (right) died days before he was to be released.
that it is possible a local jury could be enlisted: “I feel sure the people of Charleston County can decide this case.”
According to the Times, the prosecutor called the murder charge Slager is fac- ing an “unlawful killing with malice aforethought.” Wil- son said, “As long as malice is proven in the heart and mind, the state has proven its case.”
As the Times notes, there have been two formal com- plaints against Slager in the
past, including one for exces- sive force involving the use of his Taser.
The Times cited police records showing that the for- mer cop had 19 use-of-force episodes during his time as an officer, including his fatal encounter with Scott. Of the 19 reports, 14 involved use of a Taser.
Scott’s shooting death was the only time Slager re- portedly fired his gun while on patrol, according to the Times.
The last of the "Angola Three" inmates, whose decades in solitary confine- ment on a Louisiana prison farm drew international con- demnation and became the subject of two documen- taries, was ordered released Monday.
The ruling would free 68- year-old Albert Woodfox after more than 40 years in solitary, which human rights experts have said constitutes torture.
U.S. District Judge James Brady of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, ordered the release of Woodfox and took the extraordinary step of barring Louisiana prose- cutors from trying him for a third time.
A spokesman for the Louisiana attorney general said the state would appeal Brady's ruling to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals "to make sure this murderer stays in prison and remains fully accountable for his ac- tions."
Tory Pegram of the In- ternational Coalition to Free the Angola 3, who is working with Woodfox's lawyers on his release, said they are all "thrilled that justice has come for our innocent friend."
Woodfox was placed in solitary confinement in 1972 after being charged in the death of a Louisiana State Penitentiary guard in April of that year. The prison farm is more commonly known as the Angola prison and it is Louisiana's only maximum- security prison.
Woodfox and two other state prisoners became known as the Angola Three because of their long stretches in solitary confine- ment at Angola. Other mem- bers of the Angola Three were prisoners Robert King and Herman Wal- lace.
Woodfox and Wallace, who were both serving unre-
lated armed robbery sen- tences, had said they were singled out for harsh treat- ment, including isolation, because of their political ac- tivism. Woodfox and Wal- lace were former Black Panthers and helped estab- lish a prison chapter of the Black Panther Party at the Angola prison in 1971, set up demonstrations and organ- ized strikes for better condi- tions.
Wallace, convicted with Woodfox of murder in the death of guard Brent Miller, died last fall only days after a judge freed him and granted him a new trial. King was released in 2001 after his conviction in the death of a fellow inmate in 1973 was reversed.
Woodfox has been tried and convicted twice in the guard's death, but both con- victions were overturned. Brady said the "exceptional circumstances" of the case had led him to bar the state from seeking a third trial. In his ruling, he cited doubt that the state could provide a "fair third trial"; the inmate's age and poor health; the un- availability of witnesses; "the prejudice done onto Mr. Woodfox by spending over forty years in solitary con- finement," and "the very fact that Mr. Woodfox has al- ready been tried twice."
Woodfox is in solitary confinement at a prison in St. Francisville, Louisiana, awaiting trial. His lawyers were headed there Monday to seek his release. Pegram said Woodfox gets to exer- cise for one hour three times a week during his confine- ment at the West Feliciana Parish Detention Center. He has a television to watch and a shower in his cell, she added.
Of Brady's order for an unconditional release, Pe- gram said, "I call it the uni- corn. It's almost never done."
Officer In McKinney Resigns After Incident
Hundreds of protesters rally in McKinney, Texas, on Mon- day.
The police officer who quit his job after drawing his gun on a group of teenagers and slamming a bikini-clad 15- year-old to the ground let 'emotions' get the better of him, his lawyer said Wednes- day.
Officer Eric Casebolt
quit the McKinney City police lTuesday night amid protests over his actions, described as 'indefensible' by his boss, which was captured on video.
But this lawyer revealed that he was dispatched to the pool party after consoling the widow of an African-Ameri- can man who had committed suicide by shooting himself in front of children at a swim- ming pool, and helping to talk a teenage girl out of taking her life.
She said he had not in- tended to respond to the call when it came through initially as it was simply about 'tres- pass', 'given what he had just been through'.
OFFICER ERIC CASEBOLT
But when he heard a re- port of violence, he decided to go - despite the toll of dealing with two emotionally-drain- ing calls in the course of just over an hour.
His attorney dded: 'He re- signed with a heavy heart. It was not in his best interest, but of his fellow police offi- cers.
'He is hoping that his res- ignation will facilitate co-op- erative relations between the citizens and police officers.’
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