Reading the Tea Leaves: Parsing the Statements out of the DA’s Office

Attorney Mark Cabaniss has provided us with more expert analysis on the potential prosecution of the Fullerton police officers responsible for Kelly Thomas’ death:

It is getting close to decision time for the DA in the Kelly Thomas case.  While the investigation is still not completed and must be before any charges are brought, if any are brought, some of us are nervous, and increasingly disturbed at the way things are going, or not going, and at the unseemly deference given to the six police.

Unfortunately, in public pronouncements about the case, the Orange County DA’s office has sometimes given the impression that they are on the side of the police, even though the police are the criminal suspects.  This is unusual.  Usually the DA is on the side of the people, and against the alleged criminals.  Usual prosecutorial practice is to charge as many people as possible, with the most serious charges possible, in order to create the most leverage for the DA to get people to plead guilty and settle the case without a trial.  For example, in a case with multiple defendants, the DA might make a deal for one or more defendants to agree to testify against the other defendant(s) in exchange for reduced charges, or even outright immunity.  And in every case the DA charges the most serious charges warranted by the facts, so that he can get the defendant to plead guilty to a less serious charge, in exchange for getting rid of the more serious charge.  But in this case, the Kelly Thomas case, the DA has set a pattern of preemptive surrender, conceding points to the (possible) criminal defense even before any charges are filed, indeed, even before the investigation is complete.

(more…)

More Squeals From Goodrich

UPDATE: Here is Goodrich as reported by Brian Martinez at the Register:

Fullerton police Sgt. Andrew Goodrich said drivers have been holding down their horns continuously for a quarter-mile up and down Commonwealth and Highland. He said the department received numerous complaints from nearby residents, businesses and park-users about the excessive honking and other instances of disturbing the peace such as yelling at and approaching drivers who don’t honk their horns.

Another outright Goodrich lie to the stupid. A quarter mile? Lie. Highland has been blocked off. A quarter mile south would take you under the tracks and past Truslow. A quarter mile east or west on Commonwealth would take you Richman or Harbor, respectively. Of course the trough feeding media are too dumb to even question any of Goodrich’s claims and absurd statements. So we’ll do it for them.

According to Marisa Gerber at the OC Weekly Fullerton cops started handing out tickets to motorists who showed their support for today’s protest. Fortunately some concentrated verbal rebuke from the protesters directly in front of the FPD building resulted in the cops beating a hasty retreat.

Now, for fun, let’s listen in on Ms. Gerber’s conversation with the 2011 Dr. Josef Goebbels Award finalist, Andrew Goodrich, who is, miraculously, still employed by the FPD as a spokesman, and whose lies and quarter-truths are piling up so fast we need wings to stay above his torrent of bullshit:
If you aim low enough you're bound to hit something...
“It’s not just the horn honking, but leaning on the horn,” says Sgt. Andrew Goodrich, spokesman for the Fullerton Police Department, about the people who were cited for “illegal use of horn.” The department issued three citations, one of which the captain voided, Goodrich says. 

Apparently Goodrich believes illegal use of horn merits paying a citation. Of course beating a man to death merits a paid vacation. Here’s more:

Goodrich says the police department has received “numerous complaints from residents and businesses” about the protesters in the past few weeks. The department received a complaint from one motorist who said their kids were frightened by a protester running in the streets.

Numerous? Really Andy? As numerous as the broken bones you claimed were suffered by the FPD killer cops in the “fight” you said they had with Kelly Thomas? I wonder if Kelly was as fearful of Goodrich’s fellow union members as those mythical “kids” were afraid of protesters running into the street. But Goodrich isn’t finished:

“The question was being asked of us why were allowing protesters to flagrantly violate the law,” Goodrich says, adding that the department has worked to give protesters some “latitude”. The police department contacted protest organizers last night, and again this morning, to ask for cooperation, he says.

“Flagrantly violate the law?” Is that phrase (coming from an FPD mouthpiece) supposed to be some kind of sick joke? Come on, Goodrich, who asked that question? Anybody? And were they at all concerned about FPD flagrantly violating the law by smashing a homeless man’s face in, killing him in the process? What’s that, Andy? Not flagrant enough?

And, by-the-way, thanks awfully for “working” to give us “latitude” to exercise our Constitutional rights, Sergeant Slime Trail.

Coming from the department spokesassclown who has deceitfully spun portly pirouettes around all the reports of serial law violations perpetrated by his fellow union brothers and sisters in the past few months, it’s now impossible for any objective person to believe a damn thing that emanates from this baboon’s yapper.

Now, here’s a question being asked of us at FFFF: can the FPD and the City be so detached from reality that they believe the jackass Goodrich is in any way doing them any good? I guess that question really answers itself.

Why is this sack of bovine excrement still employed?

OCTA Uncut

A month ago we posted the OCTA surveillance video that captured the immediate reaction of witnesses after the Kelly Thomas beating.

Here is the full video from OCTA Bus 5599’s DVR on July 5. Perhaps our more observant readers can glean new information from the 18 minute recording. As always, leave your observations in the comments section below.

Update: As suggested by EyeNeverSayNo, I ran the audio through a noise reducer to help clarify some of the conversation. That version of the video his here.

The video shows all seven cameras at once and is best viewed full screen at 720p.

The Fullerton 6: A Death Penalty Case

Here is a guest blog from Mark Cabaniss, an attorney who has worked as both a prosecutor and as a public defender. Mark has written several interesting pieces on the Kelly Thomas case over at GreaterLongBeach.com.

Reportedly, the Orange County DA is waiting for the coroner’s report before deciding whether to file charges against the six Fullerton police in the beating death of Kelly Thomas.  As the medical evidence comes in, it looks increasingly likely that charges will be filed.  But will the charges, if they are brought, be minimal, or will they be serious?  Will they be the most serious charges warranted by the evidence?  We don’t know.  What we do know is that Kelly Thomas died after six Fullerton police severely beat him.  The DA is still waiting for the official cause of death to be determined, but for the sake of this article, I am going to assume that the death came about as a result of the beating.  Now let us make two further assumptions:  First, that the police were committing a crime during the beating leading to the death, and second, that the death was unintentional, i.e., an unplanned consequence of the beating.  If that is what happened, that the police illegally beat Kelly Thomas and he subsequently died as a result of that beating, then there are two ways to charge the case under California law, depending on whether the police were committing a misdemeanor, such as simple battery, or a felony, such as kidnapping or torture.  If the underlying crime was a misdemeanor, then the case would properly be charged as involuntary manslaughter.  But if the underlying crime was a felony, then the case would properly be charged as felony murder.

The difference is simple.  Suppose you get in a bar fight and get your arms around a guy, trying to throw him down.  He stumbles out of your grasp, but, unfortunately for you, (and him,) he trips and falls, smacking his head on something hard, killing him.  This would be a textbook case of involuntary manslaughter, because the death was an unintended consequence of your misdemeanor, i.e., simple battery.  Now consider the same hypothetical, only this time you grab the guy not in a bar fight, but in a kidnapping.  Again, he trips, falls, and dies.  Now this is a case of felony murder, since the death resulted from your felony, i.e., kidnapping.

(more…)

UCI Docs Say Kelly Died From Blunt Force Trauma, Assault

The attorney for the Thomas family released some medical reports from UCI today. They say that Kelly Thomas was brain dead from head trauma as the result of an assault and there were no drugs or alcohol found in his system

View the records

Chris went up to Garo Mardirossian’s press conference today to get the details. Check out the Taser demonstration at the end of the video.

Protest at the DA’s Office Tomorrow, Thursday Sept. 8

Ron Thomas just announced there will be a peaceful protest outside Tony Rackauckas’ office tomorrow from 11:00-2:00. For those of you who haven’t been following along, Rackauckas is the Orange County District Attorney who is dragging his feet while trying to decide if he should bring charges against the six Fullerton cops who beat Kelly Thomas to death.

When: 11:00AM – 2:00PM

Where: 401 W. Civic Center Dr. Santa Ana

Be there!

Be here.

A Closer Look at the FPD’s Handiwork

KTLA has just released imagery put together by doctors hired by Garo Mardirossian. The reconstructed images show that Kelly Thomas suffered from a severely broken nose, a broken cheek, three broken ribs, taser wounds, a collapsed lung and a brain injury from lack of oxygen.

Ethmoid plate fracture
Zygomatic arch fracture
Anoxic brain injury
Taser wounds
Brain scan demonstrating oxygen deprivation
Fractured ribs

Kelly Thomas Medical Records To Be Released

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have learned from Ron Thomas, father of Kelly Thomas, that the medical records of his son who was beaten to death by six Fullerton cops, will be released tomorrow. Thomas’ lawyer, Garo Mardirossian, will present the medical facts of the case plus additional forensic analysis to the media at his offices in Los Angeles at 11:00 AM.

FFFF will be there to record the entire event.

FFFF Exclusive. The Crime Scene Photos that the FPD Forgot to Confiscate

When that cop intimidated Bunny and took her roll of film shortly after the brutal beating of Kelly Thomas, he didn’t realize that Bunny had already used up another roll of film taking pictures of the crime scene. She thought that roll was useless. She was mistaken.

That roll of film escaped the clutches of the Fullerton police and these photos were developed over the weekend:

The pictures are chilling, knowing what we know now about how Kelly died. Yes, we can see light reflected in the pool of blood near the cops feet – right next to the front right wheel of the patrol car. The light pole to the right of the picture is where Kelly’s Memorial has been set up.

The one thing that strikes me most is the way the FPD are not treating this like a crime scene.

Click on the pictures to enlarge.