Vengeance, they name is Paul Howard
DA Paul Howard of Atlanta took overcharging to a whole new level in his press conference on Officer Rolfe, who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks.
Shipwreckedcrew at RedState has written at length on this in several posts. From the first one:
The idea that the elected District Attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, would prostitute himself to the mob by filing idiotic felony murder charges – which carry a potential death sentence under Georgia law — against Atlanta PD Officer Garrett Rolfe would be hysterically funny if it wasn’t so outrageous.
But the words that came out of DA Paul Howard’s mouth in explaining the rationale behind the charges reveal him to be a duplicitous, money-grubbing, vote-hungry, and allegedly a thief and lecherous sexual harasser who recognizes Garret Rolfe as the “meal ticket” by which he might hold on to his position come August. Within the last couple hours the Georgia Bureau of Investigation — who Howard had asked to conduct the investigation of the shooting — issued a public statement that it was unaware that a press conference was going to take place, and it was not consulted on the filing of charges. GBI stated that its investigation is still ongoing.
What follows at that point is a description of the trouble Howard himself has been in well before the killing of Brooks. I’ll skip all of that; you can go to the link to read it. Later on:
I’ve watched the 45-minute press conference from earlier today. I can’t believe other prosecutors were willing to stand behind him while he embarrassed them all. But it might just be the case that they all know their positions in the office ride on the back of him winning re-election in 9 weeks so it’s just a matter of their own self-preservation.
Basically, Howard misrepresented Brooks’ demeanor by leaving out the facts that he resisted arrest by starting a physical fight, grabbing a taser and using it – you know, those little details. He also reminded everyone that Rolfe now faces the death penalty.
In the second post in the series, shipwreckedcrew writes:
As I sat down to write what was going to be Part 2, I continued to watch the press conference where DA Howard said things I would not be surprised to hear coming out of the mouth of a first-year law student — but only if that law student was in the process of flunking his/her Crim Law or Evidence classes — or both. I then had a chance to catch the interview of the attorneys of the second officer, Devin Brosnan, by Fredo Cuomo on CNN, and later the interview of Off. Rolfe’s attorney on the Laura Ingraham show. What they added to the factual puzzle here made the commentary of DA Howard during his press conference even more farcical. Rolfe’s attorney is going to chew up any Assistant District Attorney who tries to bring this case to court.
It’s almost impossible to write coherently about this story because the comments and explanation by DA Paul Howard in the press conference were legally incoherent. I don’t know which of his idiotic statements to deal with first. Or do I deal with his fabrications?
True, and I also saw that interview with Rolfe’s attorney on the Ingraham show.
This egregiousness and obviousness of Howard’s lies are so blatant that I faced a similar feeling of being overwhelmed in trying to deal with writing about them. That’s really why I’m relying heavily on shipwreckedcrew, who’s done his/her homework and also knows more about the details of the law than I do. But one thing I do know is that our legal system is now hopelessly compromised, and that a DA can stand there and recite such misleading propaganda with a straight face – and not have anyone but the right criticizing him – is evidence of how far gone it is.
More from the link:
The second officer involved in the incident, Devin Brosnan, has now been charged with one count of aggravated assault, and two counts of failure to comply with his oath. DA Howard could not have been more clear or direct in his statement that Officer Brosnan had agreed to “cooperate” and become a “State’s Witness”. He said that Off. Brosnan was going to put out a statement in a few days about Off. Rolfe’s conduct, but he was not emotionally prepared to do so today. Near the end of his comments, DA Howard came back to this point and said Off. Brosnan would be “one of the first APD officers willing to testify against someone in his own department.”
CNN’s Fredo Cuomo’s interviewed the two attorneys for Brosnan. When asked about Howard’s claims, their disgust at DA Howard’s comment was evident. They said Brosnan had given a statement to investigators and had met with the DA’s office for an interview on Tuesday. Fredo Cuomo asked if a deal had been made for his testimony, and the attorneys were incensed. They said Brosnan should not have even been charged, much less talk about whether he should cut a deal. They said he is not a “State’s Witness” and they have no agreement with DA Howard or anyone else. They said “He’s a witness. He’s given a statement and voluntarily sat for an interview.” They said he’ll continue to do both for any legitimate investigation. If subpoenaed he’ll testify. But to say he was testifying for one side or the other was just a lie.
One of so many lies told by Howard it would be hard to list them all.
Another interesting fact from that link:
[Officer Brosnan’s lawyers] also claimed that Brosnan had been diagnosed with a concussion suffered during the fight with Brooks prior to Brooks escaping with Brosnan’s Taser. They then added a new fact that I hadn’t seen reported yet — during the fight, Brooks was able to use the Taser on Brosnan, causing Brosnan to collapse forward, landing on his head, and that was how Brosnan suffered the concussion. Brosnan told other officers and paramedics at the scene that he was still dizzy and seeing stars. He said in his statement that when he was following behind Rolfe, he didn’t know who was firing when he heard gunshots. He ducked behind a car in the drive-thru lane for cover, and then made his way over to where Brooks was laying in the parking lot with Rolfe standing over him. The attorneys said that Brosnan’s statement was that he didn’t even realize at first that Brooks had been shot because of his head injury. All he remembered was that Brooks had fought with them, he ran off, and then seeing Brooks collapsed in the middle of the parking lot. The attorneys said DA Howard and his office were uninterested in Brosnan’s medical records showing he’d been diagnosed with a concussion during the Tuesday interview.
Much more at the link. And see also this.
Guess what? There are a lot of elected officials in the Democratic Party who are malicious criminals, and street-level Democrats are content with that. This will not end well.
Related:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/06/keep-breathing-body-cam-footage-contradicts-da-officers-administered-cpr-rayshard-brooks/
BBC gave the whole Howard talk. Why does the world care about this, unless of course it is a way to promote its anti-Americanism. The whole world is now fighting racism in America.
If Paul Howard is found dead in the street, murdered, who’s going to perform the investigation?
Casting aside your own integrity is an open invitation for others to cast aside theirs. I don’t think Paul Howard has thought this through…
“The whole world is now fighting racism in America.”
As an 18-year-old tourist in Finland in 1967, I sat in someone’s living room and watched their news outlets cover the Detroit riots. This included video of H. Rap Brown declaring that the disturbances were the beginning of an attempt to exterminate black people in the U.S. The people I was watching with had absolutely no context or background or sense of what kind of person Brown was. They weren’t the first that summer to ask me why “your government is trying to kill all the Negroes.”
I often think that experiences like that, seeing absolute falsehoods about the US propagated without challenge, kept me from going even further into left radicalism than I did.
So the DA on-the-way-out overcharges the cop in a desperate attempt to garner political support and votes for the election in a few months.
If re-elected, the resultant legal mess results in the cop getting off because the charges are too severe for the incident. Years down the road.
If not re-elected, what’s to stop the new DA from withdrawing charges and re-filing more appropriately? Legal neophyte here, it’s a serious question. But again, the outcome would be moved to years down the road.
Both cases, the DA is safe from blow-back and the cop (and the community, and quality-of-policing in general) suffers.
My feeling is that Americans in general are becoming better informed and more politically astute and that the last election cycle will be seen as a bad one (in future history) for electing really awful, politically-motivated and professionally deficient DA’s. Maybe wishful thinking……
I’ve been beside myself keeping up with this case. Wondering what is happening on the ground in Atlanta as we speak because I’m told the MSM is doing its best to keep a lid on the Blue Flu raging through the city. And there are reports the same is beginning to happen with the LAPD.
No one sane will work in a career where they face prosecution for felony murder for doing their job. And by all legitimate reports and viewing of the video, the officer did his job. In so much as there can actually be such a thing as a Good Shoot, this was a Good Shoot.
I’m hearing from friends and acquaintances around the country who are cops or deputies and the mood is grim. Very, very grim. There’s a mass exodus coming. Heck, I’m contemplating it myself. The wife and I started seriously discussing a move to Tennessee. We’ve been careful with our money and I am not beholden to my pension. Law enforcement is looking to become a far more dangerous line of work and our home state of New York is looking less and less viable.
“If Paul Howard is found dead in the street, murdered, who’s going to perform the investigation?”
Me! Me! Chose me! I’ll make sure to hand out the Medal of Freedom.
Mac,
In 1995, I was an exchange student in the Netherlands and I was shocked by how much the European Press focused on American news even then, when things weren’t as tumultuous as 1967.
It really is no wonder the Europeans believe the USA to be the root of all evil in the world. And so many of them do. They also believe nationalism , with American Nationalism as the prime example, to be the greatest threat to peace and prosperity. In the history classes there, nationalism was the prime driver of the WW1, WW2 and the holocaust. Not National Socialism or racism.
I was either lectured every day on the evils of my American nationalism or I was talked about in other languages when they thought I didn’t understand (I picked up Dutch quickly so they would speak in French, not realizing that I had taken 8 years in High School and college: They assume we don’t speak many or any languages besides our own).
A Russian student, before I had the chance, came to the defense of the USA in a lecture by pointing out that we had saved them all and then went over like a fart in church. The ejected him from their afternoon soccer game for it.
This looks to me like a justifiable police shooting. The victim had assaulted two police officers, wounding one and stealing his weapon, and was fleeing in a crowded area, discharging the stolen weapon at the officer who followed him. There is video of this same Atlanta DA calling the taser “a deadly weapon.”
And, while I share the disgust along with everyone else who looked at the Minneapolis police video, I have read analysis that points out Derek Chauvin might not be convicted, at least not of either second or third degree murder. Minneapolis police training specifically included the neck hold for persons who appeared to be under the influence of drugs and who resisted normal control measures (which Floyd did). The Minneapolis training, according to what I read, recommended the neck hold should be maintained until EMS arrive.
I was either lectured every day on the evils of my American nationalism or I was talked about in other languages when they thought I didn’t understand (I picked up Dutch quickly so they would speak in French, not realizing that I had taken 8 years in High School and college: They assume we don’t speak many or any languages besides our own).
Sounds like you were hanging with a real attractive bunch of people.
BBC gave the whole Howard talk. Why does the world care about this, unless of course it is a way to promote its anti-Americanism. The whole world is now fighting racism in America.
Which should persuade us to keep our dealings with Europe strictly transactional.
Art Deco,
If you call attending school and classes “hanging”. That was all classroom or lecture hall behavior.
While there, I ended up befriending a couple of Russians and a guy from France. I found most of the Europeans I met in the Netherlands to be insufferable. It was considered an “international” college so there were a lot of nationalities represented. The French were nowhere near as rude and standoffish as the Dutch and the Danes. Nowhere near what I was expecting from them. At least in my experience.
I have read analysis that points out Derek Chauvin might not be convicted,
He’d detained a man who had coronary artery disease, was intoxicated with fentanyl, and had three other street drugs in his system. The county pathologist found no injury to the deceased’s windpipe and the officers on the scene called the EMTs. With what would you suggest Derek Chauvin be charged.
I have read analysis that points out Derek Chauvin might not be convicted,
He’d detained a man who had coronary artery disease, was intoxicated with fentanyl, and had three other street drugs in his system. The county pathologist found no injury to the deceased’s windpipe and the officers on the scene called the EMTs. With what would you suggest Derek Chauvin be charged?
When some criminal is killed by the police have you noticed the media always try to turn the criminal into a saint?
The French were nowhere near as rude and standoffish as the Dutch and the Danes. Nowhere near what I was expecting from them. At least in my experience.
In my experience, the French prefer to underpromise and overdeliver in the realm of human relations.
There’s one positive I can see for Rolfe in this, is that it’s going to be nearly impossible, even in Atlanta, to get a conviction for murder for this. If the DA had gone for a lesser charge, he might have been able to make it stick, which would have sucked.
This way, Rolfe is likely acquitted. His life will be ruined, though, so the liberals can be happy about that part.
” … to underpromise and overdeliver …”
LOL. So – off topic – but apropos of the phrase… a couple of cousins and I were experimenting around surveying and sampling the cheapest drinkable whiskeys available. The only criterion being, from my point of view, that it could not be caramel colored brown vodka with 51% whiskey, or a cheap “Canadian” blend of equally mysterious components. Apparently I am not the first to think of it, and it’s “a thing” some people do to amuse themselves, as I later discovered. [I feel less alone – or stupid – now.]
Well there are really only a very few as I recall. One being the famous Old Crow. Another was “Early Times”. It has one of those cringe inducing names that carries all the cachet of a plywood, souvenir shop imitation of a fence board sign with the words “Welcome Pardner” burned into it.
Nonetheless, screwing up my courage I entered a large wine and liquor shop and after buying a couple of 30 something buck bottles as cover, I asked for a bottle of it.
The guy asked me why. I told him. He said, “This should cost more, it overdelivers” Well, I don’t know about that. But is was not too bad for a low proof, but apparently straight, whiskey.
Good enough for what we were doing. And my cousins don’t deserve any better anyway.
“Overdelivers”. First time I had ever heard the word used.
In my experience, the French prefer to underpromise and overdeliver in the realm of human relations.</i
Things for Americans changed radically in Paris about 1990. I love France and have been many times. After the Gulf War and France’s role in the oil for food thing, there must have been a big drop in American tourism. I was there with teenagers in 2006 and all was sweetness. The RER attendant even had little signs in English in her booth. Of course, I had to warn the kids that they should not step on newspapers in the passageway between cars as there was human feces there beneath.
He who must not be named, has written a column about the charging of the Atlanta police officer:
https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/06/brooks-shooting-the-political-prosecutor-caves-in-to-the-mob/
“It’s almost impossible to write coherently about this story because the comments and explanation by DA Paul Howard in the press conference were legally incoherent. I don’t know which of his idiotic statements to deal with first. Or do I deal with his fabrications?” – shipwreckedcrew
Maybe he’s trying out for a seat on SCOTUS?
“I often think that experiences like that, seeing absolute falsehoods about the US propagated without challenge, kept me from going even further into left radicalism than I did.” – Mac
That’s an interesting reaction, since it appears many more people followed the path charted by the media.
The problem I have with the NR report linked by om is the headline.
Howard did not cave to the mob; he was part of it.
Kind of like what Bloom said of the Cornell provost in this other post today.
https://www.thenewneo.com/2020/06/18/theyre-still-trying-to-cancel-william-jacobson-at-cornell/
I don’t think Bloom was the only person calling attention to the slide into anarchy back in 1967, and even earlier, although he is one of the more eloquent; however, those few who listened were unable or unwilling to stop the Gramscian march to the left, and thus we have the disasters we’re witnessing now.
Old Testament readers will recognize the clear pattern of prophetic warnings that the Israelites ignored, or actively resisted, and always with the same result: destruction that could have been avoided if they had repented and given up their corrupt behavior. Looking at what they usually were doing to warrant chastisement, it looks an awful lot like the behaviors of the political & social elites of today, lacking the cell phones and internet, of course.
The Lord generally gave them a lot of time to correct course before leaving them to suffer the natural consequences of their choices (IMO, it’s redundant to inflict any additional punishment, but YMMV).
The US, and the world, has been on notice for around a century now.
Minutes until Google tries to take down Gatewaypundit….
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/06/wow-atlanta-equity-prime-mortgage-fires-stepmother-officer-garrett-rolfe-incident-rayshard-brooks-video/
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/06/black-georgia-sheriff-says-rayshard-brooks-shooting-completely-justified/
Police are evil racists who must be disbanded — unless we need them.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/bronsonstocking/2020/06/18/watch-california-deputy-saves-baby-at-police-brutality-protest-n2570922
This is more about Floyd than Brooks, but the principle is the same.
https://hotair.com/archives/jazz-shaw/2020/06/17/cant-order-police-officers-die-politics/
It’s like the controversy over the restrictive ROEs Congress and Presidents often mandate for the military when political reasons take precedence over supporting the troops in doing the job that Congress and Presidents sent them out to do.
Interesting remarks about the Dutch. It seems the Netherlands American Cemetery is the only one in the system which is fully subscribed. That means there’s a Dutch family looking after each of the 8301 American graves, and there’s a waiting list.
Three towns have renamed streets after my father’s division (Timberwolfstraat). One guy who ran a little museum in the area asked me, when I was checking the on-line info, if I had anything of my father’s that I could send him.
Surprising. But, I suppose, not. Nobody’s as arrogant as an undergrad. Or knows more.
Now that the Senate GOP has begun the process of rolling out their own version of a “police reform” bill
GOP legislators never miss an opportunity to waste time, waste effort, and irritate their voters in service to fashion.
Neo, I believe you are partially off-base on this one. While Brooks never should have resisted, Rolfe clearly harassed Brooks and escalated the situation by screwing with him. See: http://www.mikesmithenterprisesblog.com/2020/06/dying-because-you-fell-asleep-in-your.html
There are too many terrible cops out there. It is time to hold them accountable.
Rolfe clearly harassed Brooks and escalated the situation by screwing with him.
Let go of the moderator’s leg.
Mike Smith:
Here is your quote that reveals you to be a fool:
“The policeman’s behavior, which does not appear to be racist, does set the stage for the tragedy.”
Mr Brooks chose to drive drunk, fight with the police, take one of the policeman’s tazers, fire that tazer at the officer who shot him, and somehow the officer started the chain of events? Did the officer force Mr Brooks to drink and drive too? Could be, it isn’t on video.
Who will hold you accountable for your malicious stupidity?
This isn’t an exact parallel and may not be relevant, and I may be misremembering it. It’s also a bit of a conspiracy theory.
All of that being said :
During the Vietnam War, US forces committed a massacre at Mi Lai. At first the incident was covered up, but eventually charges were brought against both the Platoon Leader involved, and against his Company Commander.
The Company Commander, a man named Ernest Medina, was not actually present on the scene and was not accused of ordering the massacre. Even so, it seems self-evident that he should have taken some kind of action after it occurred, which he failed to do. Therefore a charge of dereliction of duty would seem appropriate.
Instead he was charged with murder, based on the uncorroborated testimony of a single witness. This was well short of the standard of proof required by military law, since shooting people on a battlefield is not in and of itself a crime. Even if the prosecution could prove that Medina had shot someone, they’d still need to prove that the victim was not a legitimate target and that Medina knew that.
Which raises the question of why they opted to use a charge which they couldn’t prove, and which they had to KNOW that they couldn’t prove.
Possibly because they didn’t really want him to be convicted ?
And BTW… he wasn’t.
Mike Smith,
I read your blog post. I have also watched the videos multiple times.
You are taking issue with the officer’s conduct in the questioning, stating that Rolfe clearly harrassed Brooks. Unless the harassing behavior happened in the edited time (something I doubt, else it would not have been edited out; because it seems to be edited by a pro-Brooks individual as opposed to a pro-police individual), there was nothing about Rolfe’s questioning that was harassing.
In your blog post you mention a number of things:
1)Your own experience in Wichita.
2)The fact that Brooks’ BAC would have been legal a few years ago.
3)That Brooks was parked and trying to sleep it off.
4)That you believe the 20 minutes of questioning and field sobriety testing was harassing.
As to #1, I don’t know you, don’t know what happened and only have your description of the Wichita events. Plausible. Don’t know. But your experience there is only relevent here in that it makes you biased. Rolfe was not the officer in Wichita. You are not Brooks.
#2- Irrelevant because that is not what the law says now.
#3- What you either were not aware of, or that you ignored (I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume unaware) is that Brooks hadn’t just parked to sleep it off. His car was in park, still running while it was blocking the drive-thru lane of the Wendy’s. Brooks was asleep there.
Also, it depends on the states and municipalities, but in many (and I am not aware of Georgia or Atlanta) it is still illegal to be drunk behind the wheel of a parked car. In some it depends on the key being in the ignition or not. In some the car does not have to be ‘on’ at all. But in Brooks’ case, it easy enough to see from the video that he had stopped the car and fallen asleep while blocking the drive-thru, which is why the police were called.
Not only is your point #3 irrelevant but it doesn’t appear that Brooks was doing as you implied: Parking his car to sleep off his drunkenness.
#4- 20 minutes of questioning is really not much time at all in the questioning of DUI. Often, a road stop for speeding or other traffic violation can take 10-15 minuets depending on numerous factors*. Officer Brosnan was not certified to make the DUI call, and he had to wait until Rolfe arrived, who was certified. Additionally, something that you probably don’t realize is that while the officer is questioning (“harrassing” in your words) there are likely warrant checks and such being performed. These all take time and do not happen near instantaneously like in the TVs and movies.
Additionally, if you have ever had to try and speak with or question someone who is intoxicated, the conversation can often travels in circles. My thought is, without being able to get inside the mind of Brosnan and Rolfe, that they spent that time trying to get Brooks to agree to the breathalyzer. They could have made the arrest before that but it looks to me like they wanted his consent for the test, helping to insure his conviction on the DUI later.
Watching the videos, there was nothing unprofessional that I saw in their interactions with Brooks. In fact, I thought Rolfe did a good job in that as soon as he said that Brooks was under arrest, he went to handcuff him. Many officers delay the handcuffing which almost always ends up making the situation worse for all involved. It gives the person time to think about what is happening and decide to fight. No one wants that. As we see from the video, people often still fight anyway and the results are horrible.
If there was anything I took issue with, it was Officer Brosnan allowing Brooks to drive his car to a parking spot. He smelled alcohol and had a pretty good idea he was drunk. Letting him drive the car again was a bad idea but in this case, wasn’t really the crux of the issue.
*How busy the dispatch is, how backed up other officers or supervisors are, etc.
richf. Charging felony murder, first degree murder, any of the most serious degrees has two motivations
1. It satisfies the mob.
2. When the acquittal comes, or the charges are reduced after complex courtoom proceedings, it infuriates the mob and we have riots.
Win-win But in this case, we have a third issue. The DA is in a lot worse trouble than Nifong was with an election coming up. Win, lose, or draw, he’s coating himself with Teflon.
reveal him to be a duplicitous, money-grubbing, vote-hungry, and allegedly a thief and lecherous sexual harasser who recognizes Garret Rolfe as the “meal ticket” by which he might hold on to his position come August.
Worked for Janet Reno.