Crutcher: the eyes have it
In reports on the Crutcher case, I couldn’t help but notice a certain detail I haven’t seen anyone else remarking on, which is that some of Betty Shelby”s distrust of Terence Crutcher appears to have been based on his lack of eye contact, on his shifty eye-gaze:
Wood said that Shelby then said to Crutcher, “Hey, is this your car?”
Crutcher didn’t respond, simply dropping his head while continuing to look at Shelby, “kind of under his brow,” (“which she thought was unusual” according to the video at the link) Wood said. Crutcher then began to put his hand into his left pocket,
Another description of the same exchange is this:
Her attorney said the man’s head lowered but he locked his eyes on Shelby “so he’s looking right out underneath his eyebrow which she thinks is really weird.”
“It’s like a thousand-mile stare,” Wood said his client recalled.
Later:
Shelby tried to get Crutcher to talk to her, but he simply mumbled something unintelligible and stared at her, Wood said. He then turned and walked to the edge of the roadway and turned to look at her, his hands still in the air, Wood said…
The eyes are one of the ways we judge people’s character—the way they look at us is a basic part of human interaction. Is their gaze straightforward or evasive? If the latter, maybe they’re hiding something. We respond to a thousand cues, subtle and not-so-subtle, often without even realizing it, and they help shape our view of someone’s character and our ability to predict what they might do next.
We now learn of Crutcher, about a previous traffic stop in 2013 (for speeding and DUI):
Once confronted, Crutcher was slurring his speech and had “the extreme odor of an alcoholic beverage” on his breath, the affidavit states. The patrolman found an open can of Steel Reserve beer in the vehicle’s center console.
The cop also noticed one of Crutcher’s eyes did not appear to be functional, according to the police report.
When pressed, Crutcher confirmed “that he had a fake eye.”
The trooper proceeded to book Crutcher, citing the “very droopy, heavy eyelids” of “Crutcher’s good eye” and noted that he “seemed to be disoriented and confused,” the affidavit states.
I haven’t seen the fact that Crutcher had a false eye reported elsewhere—and maybe I’m the only one who finds it possibly relevant anyway. And I’m certainly not saying that this is the whole reason that Officer Shelby became so suspicious almost from the start. But it probably didn’t help, and she probably never realized that Crutcher had a false eye that may have affected his gaze and his “thousand-mile stare.”
Very interesting. I always learn more from you than anyone.
Gerry Spence got a guy acquitted based on the “murderous gaze in his eyes” defense. It can work.
There are no crowd issues yet in Tulsa – there are rallies for the police as well as pro Crutcher. Let’s hope that all remains calm.
Other points that I have not heard about during this situation – the low light situation (dusk) and did it impact on what everyone saw – remember that the copter cameras tend to be very good and adjust for light conditions. 7:45pm on that date was getting kinda dark. I’m in OKC (90miles west) and it was iffy at that time. The location was rural, plenty of trees and no street lights. I don’t that area in Tulsa, but was it a high crime rate area and she was going to a domestic dispute call. So, did that raise the tension level?
We haven’t heard about the communications between the officer and the main station as well as the communications between the officers at the scene. How much info did the officers have about the car, the owner, the 911 calls, the search for history and the variances in the reported name of the individual. There are so many issues that I am still holding off opinions.
We also haven’t heard about why the police copter was in the area – was it called to that area, or was it in the air checking things out and responded to the 911 calls? In OKC, I see the copters up a lot of times, but I also know someone in that division and they just fly to be available at certain times. Friday evenings at late rush hour, early evening activity may have been that time.
According to Crutcher’s twin sister, he was also hard of hearing in his right ear. Hard of hearing people often turn or dip their heads one way or the other to hear better. This whole thing just gets sadder and sadder.
America was once a Christian nation based on taking care of your neighbor. Now it’s about self serving excuses on how to outsource executions of criminals to the police, as if citizens are too busy doing better things.