People who wear earphones/headphones/earbuds (whatever you want to call them) when they are driving - don't you think that it is dangerous not being able to hear what is going on around you??

Perfectly safe.

 

Getting shot in your own apartment!
https://ca.yahoo.com/news/white-officer-indicted-murder-killing-black-man-200407081.html
Max.

 

Getting shot in your own apartment!
https://ca.yahoo.com/news/white-officer-indicted-murder-killing-black-man-200407081.html
Max.

There was outrage over the fact that the police officer wasn't arrested immediately.

 

Motorcycles and other vehicles with Loud or no mufflers!
Edit for Ron

 

Motorcycles and other vehicles with no mufflers!

Motorcycles have mufflers, they are lust loud mufflers in some cases.

Ron

 

Getting shot in your own apartment!
https://ca.yahoo.com/news/white-officer-indicted-murder-killing-black-man-200407081.html
Max.

I've heard of people getting lost in a multi-floor parking garage and go to the wrong car thinking that's where they had parked..

But I'm wondering how in Hell can someone accidentally go into the wrong apartment thinking it was theirs and fatally shoot the legitimate resident? How did the cop get access - was it through a locked door? When the cop got inside, wasn't it apparent that she was in the wrong apartment (such as different furniture, different layout, different lighting)?

Something sounds really fishy about this incident.

 

How did the cop get access - was it through a locked door? When the cop got inside, wasn't it apparent that she was in the wrong apartment (such as different furniture, different layout, different lighting)?

The door was unlocked. Apparently she thought it was her apartment and started giving the person who lived there verbal orders; which he ignored because it was his apartment.

The eventually charged her with murder.

 

The door was unlocked. Apparently she thought it was her apartment and started giving the person who lived there verbal orders; which he ignored because it was his apartment.

The eventually charged her with murder.

Why didn't she see whether it was her apartment or someone else's in the first place? I can walk into my apartment with all the lights turned off and immediately know whether it's mine or someone else's.

Furthermore, there must have been some conversation between the actual resident and the cop prior to the shooting. What was her excuse for firing a gun? Also, was she wearing a body camera with audio recording? Was the building equipped with a security camera?

 

Why didn't she see whether it was her apartment or someone else's in the first place? I can walk into my apartment with all the lights turned off and immediately know whether it's mine or someone else's.

I read something about long shifts that the police were working contributed to her confusion.

Since they charged her with murder and not manslaughter probably means something about her story didn't pass the smell test.

 

I read something about long shifts that the police were working contributed to her confusion.

Since they charged her with murder and not manslaughter probably means something about her story didn't pass the smell test.

I find it rather suspicious that someone can fatally shoot someone for such an obscure reason. Civilians who were in their bedroom when their home was being burglarized and shoot the intruder have to undergo rigorous investigation.

In fact, here in San Francisco I've had burglars climb over a fence between my second floor patio and the patio of the building next door and I doubt that I could just whip out a gun and blast them into eternity without risking being charged with a crime.

 

I read something about long shifts that the police were working contributed to her confusion.

Since they charged her with murder and not manslaughter probably means something about her story didn't pass the smell test.

I don't know enough about the specifics of this case to do anything but talk in generalities -- I'm not attempting to defend or explain her specific actions.

I can envision someone being so exhausted from long shifts (probably many in a row) that they aren't thinking very cogently when they get home -- the fact that she walked into the wrong apartment might support that claim. If the floor layout of the building for her apartment and the victim's apartment were identical, then getting off the elevator or exiting the stairwell on the wrong floor could easily have led her to think she was at her door and once that belief is in place it can take rather strong hold, particularly if she were exhausted only only thinking of how she was finally home and can now crash. If she is confronted by the victim immediately upon entering the apartment, she is probably focused on him and so isn't even paying attention to the surroundings, particularly if she is exhausted -- one of the first things that goes when mentally or physically fatigued is the ability to maintain situational awareness and assess one's environment appropriately (or even at all). Now, a private citizen would normally be expected to disengage from a situation like this and go call the cops -- but cops are not trained to disengage but rather to step up and deal with situations. So she probably isn't listening to what he is actually saying, but rather trying to order someone whom she sees as a perpetrator to surrender -- which he arguably should have done (and argue the situation later) but which most homeowners would be unlikely to do (I don't know how I would react -- I could certainly see it going either way). Was she in uniform at the time? I would probably surrender more quickly to a uniformed officer that broke in my house that someone else -- even though a part of me would be wondering if the uniform was real or not. Another factor would be whether my family was home at the time.

Now, that's all very general and the specific details of that specific situation may easily turn all of that on its head. But even if everything above is on the money, it begs the question of the wisdom of working people such as police officers (i.e., armed and trained to resort to lethal force at some point) to a point of exhaustion where their judgement becomes this impaired (if, in fact, that's what happened).

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/marsto...os-angeles-teacher-arrested-punching-student/

 

I don't know enough about the specifics of this case to do anything but talk in generalities -- I'm not attempting to defend or explain her specific actions.

I can envision someone being so exhausted from long shifts (probably many in a row) that they aren't thinking very cogently when they get home -- the fact that she walked into the wrong apartment might support that claim. If the floor layout of the building for her apartment and the victim's apartment were identical, then getting off the elevator or exiting the stairwell on the wrong floor could easily have led her to think she was at her door and once that belief is in place it can take rather strong hold, particularly if she were exhausted only only thinking of how she was finally home and can now crash. If she is confronted by the victim immediately upon entering the apartment, she is probably focused on him and so isn't even paying attention to the surroundings, particularly if she is exhausted -- one of the first things that goes when mentally or physically fatigued is the ability to maintain situational awareness and assess one's environment appropriately (or even at all). Now, a private citizen would normally be expected to disengage from a situation like this and go call the cops -- but cops are not trained to disengage but rather to step up and deal with situations. So she probably isn't listening to what he is actually saying, but rather trying to order someone whom she sees as a perpetrator to surrender -- which he arguably should have done (and argue the situation later) but which most homeowners would be unlikely to do (I don't know how I would react -- I could certainly see it going either way). Was she in uniform at the time? I would probably surrender more quickly to a uniformed officer that broke in my house that someone else -- even though a part of me would be wondering if the uniform was real or not. Another factor would be whether my family was home at the time.

Now, that's all very general and the specific details of that specific situation may easily turn all of that on its head. But even if everything above is on the money, it begs the question of the wisdom of working people such as police officers (i.e., armed and trained to resort to lethal force at some point) to a point of exhaustion where their judgement becomes this impaired (if, in fact, that's what happened).

I like your analysis, especially because I see same happening in healthcare. The horrible part in healthcare is that medical professionals (doctors and nurses) take pride in working extreme hours often talking about how well they can handle it, meanwhile the patients are paying the price of their mistakes. The world today is operating by backwords principles it seems...

 

I had a neighbor who had a deputy break into his house. The deputy thought he had cause and my neighbor greeted him with a drawn handgun. Fortunately, the deputy was able to defuse the situation.

If someone broke into my house and I was armed, I'm not sure I would have taken the chance.

 

it begs the question of the wisdom of working people such as police officers (i.e., armed and trained to resort to lethal force at some point) to a point of exhaustion where their judgement becomes this impaired (if, in fact, that's what happened).

Agreed! But with the caveat that psychiatric 'vetting' procedures Re: candidates for such positions are in need of radical revision! -- 'Exhaustion', etc, is neither an excuse nor -is justice to prevail- a defense!

Best regards
HP

 

I had a neighbor who had a deputy break into his house. The deputy thought he had cause and my neighbor greeted him with a drawn handgun. Fortunately, the deputy was able to defuse the situation.

If someone broke into my house and I was armed, I'm not sure I would have taken the chance.

If someone breaks into my house and I see a gun I shoot first, if I do not see a gun I hold them at gun point. I want to see hands. Now if I see a uniform I may or may not deviate from what I would do and yes, I am armed so that isn't even a part of it for my house.

Since I wasn't there in the police woman shooting like anyone else we can only speculate. Only two people really know what happened that night and one of them is dead leaving us only one story. The forensic peoples can try to figure things out and see if her story rings plausible or not. They will know things like what if any available lighting was available, the floor layout, shot distance and all the other factors.

I guess it is a matter of waiting and seeing how it plays out in court.

Ron

 

I can envision someone being so exhausted from long shifts (probably many in a row) that they aren't thinking very cogently when they get home -- the fact that she walked into the wrong apartment might support that claim.

/-/
I guess it is a matter of waiting and seeing how it plays out in court.

Ron

For the most part, I have stopped paying much attention to these tragedies. There is enough tragedy in life to be occupied with it all the time. In this case, I did pay attention. Maybe because I had a jury summons a few days ago (they didn’t need me). I have a fear that I would be put in a position where it is my duty to make a judgement call of incredible impact – who wouldn’t?

Just a few years ago, I went out to the parking lot to get into my car in the morning. All very usual, but I was mentally working on a problem and was completely engrossed in what I was thinking about. I was on autopilot. As I approached my car, I hit the remote unlock and heard the familiar click and reached for the door handle without even looking up. At that time, I notice that a woman is in the car and is obviously upset. In a moment, I realized that my car was right next to hers and was the same color and model (likely the same year). I felt so bad that I had startled her and, fortunately, she could quickly see the mistake that I had made as I entered my car. We chatted about it for a few seconds, largely with me profusely apologizing about it and her saying that she understood.

Many years ago, I got out of an elevator with two guys ahead of me in the early evening. They walked straight to my apartment with me walking behind them. They stopped right at my door and one of them took out their keys. The other guy saw me standing behind them and asked, “May I help you?” I smiled and said, “What floor do you guys think you are on?” Then they noticed the unit number and were beside themselves with apologies. We had a laugh about it.

So, my point is that we don’t really need to invoke fatigue as a rationale for making mistakes that we can all make at any time. This is not to say that fatigue and particularly sleep restriction has not been associated with cognitive decline. It very definitely has and it is a very big issue in commercial driving and military operations and many other areas.

What happened next, rather than whether it is plausible that one could mistakenly think they were at their home rather than a neighbor’s. In my view, it could happen, but what subsequently happened is the issue.

As I understand it, three days after the incident, the officer was charged with manslaughter. Then, the case was given to a Grand Jury and that resulted in the charge of murder. We don’t get to see the evidence that the Grand Jury looked at. It isn’t even clear to me that the defense gave any evidence to the Grand Jury.

You can glean a bit by looking at what was subpoenaed and what search warrants were issued. For example, I have read that the officer placed a key card into the electronic lock and that action revealed that the door was ajar – that is what I have read and I don’t know if that was, in fact, her statement. I have also read that a neighbor reported someone banging on the door and yelling, “Let me in!” If true, it could suggest that the door might have been locked and that the deceased might have opened the door to find out what was going on. Still another “witness report” was that some loud verbal exchanges were heard. That is something consistent with the officer’s report that she issued commands after entry. Were the witnesses reporting the same thing? This would make a huge difference to me.

They took the electronic locks to both the deceased and the officer’s door. The implication is that they might be able to figure out when the deceased’s door was locked and unlocked. If they had that information, it sure makes a difference to me. It would also make a huge difference if the officer’s door was unlocked shortly before the incident, suggesting a different explanation (it has been rumored – and with absolutely no evidence that I read - that she went to the deceased’s door to complain about something and that happened after she came home).

As has already been mentioned, any of these and many more factors can make a huge difference. What is so amazing to me is how we, as humans, just have to try to make sense of it. It is, literally, unpleasant to not know and not be able to reach some kind of judgement and right away. I am no different, but it is amazing nonetheless. We just can’t seem to wait for the facts and the trial. Of course, the constant media blasting that we get all the time does not help.

Boy, I am glad that I will not be on that jury!

 

As I understand it, three days after the incident, the officer was charged with manslaughter. Then, the case was given to a Grand Jury and that resulted in the charge of murder. We don’t get to see the evidence that the Grand Jury looked at. It isn’t even clear to me that the defense gave any evidence to the Grand Jury.

Exactly! Now correct me if I am wrong but I thought only the prosecution (prosecutor's office) presented a case to the grand jury and the defense only comes into play when the grand jury brings an indictment? We have had several cases here in Cleveland where a case went to a grand jury, no charges were brought, and following protest a civil suit resulted. Some were a real mess in the national spotlight. However, as you mentioned and nailed it perfectly we (the public) do not see what the grand jury sees. We only know what we read in newspapers and many times we can read two newspapers and come away with two distinctly different ideas of exactly what happened.

I have friends who have sat on jury duty including a few high profile murder cases. After decades I got a jury duty notification and was actually sort of excited about it. I always wanted to watch the judicial system actually work. Never got picked for a case but had a fun week meeting new and interesting people and getting paid $25 a day which covered parking and my lunch. That was about 8 years ago and I never was called again.

Of course, the constant media blasting that we get all the time does not help.

The media likes to have the case tried in the media. Don't even get me started on that. It is as if by the time the case goes to trial the media has already tried the case, we have a local newspaper which thrives on that.

Ron

 

If this cop tries to use the "Fog Of War" excuse that she was totally exhausted and suffering from "Diminished Capacity" (-IE- not thinking clearly), that's not going to get her off the hook.

Using the diminished capacity/temporary insanity defense in a fatal shooting is like defending drunk driving and it would result in an involuntary manslaughter conviction in lieu of murder. However, it will also result in a sentence to serve time in a psychiatric prison.

I've also analyzed many criminal trials involving police officers and I've found that the government has it's "Thumb On The Scales" and the prosecution just makes a wimpy softball toss case against the defendant. I've also been summoned to serve on a jury, but I've been dismissed every time. The prosecution/defense wants your "Average Joe Couch Potato" shallow thinker on the jury, but definitely not want anyone with analytical skills.

 

Radio or TV reporters who pronounce abbreviations literally such as "Inc." (abbreviation for incorporated) is pronounced "Ink". Examples Microsoft Ink, General Motors Ink.

I'm waiting for some idiot to pronounce "Co." (Company) as "Caw" and St. (Street) as "Sit" or "Ste. Then there are the abbreviations for the 50 U.S. states, such as N.Y. is "Neeya", Kansas is Ks. or "Cuss" and the list goes on and on.