White officer gets probation in black driver's shooting
Source: Associated Press
White officer gets probation in black driver's shooting
Jeffrey Collins, Associated Press
Updated 4:34 pm, Monday, April 11, 2016
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) A white South Carolina police officer who was charged with a felony for shooting and killing a black driver at the end of a chase took a plea deal Monday and was sentenced to three years of probation.
Justin Craven, 27, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor misconduct in office, multiple media outlets reported. A prosecutor wanted the North Augusta police officer charged with voluntary manslaughter, which carries up to 30 years in prison, but a grand jury refused to indict Craven. He was later charged with a different felony.
Craven's plea comes amid a nationwide debate over the use of force and how white police officers treat black people, fueled by high-profile incidents including the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Freddie Gray's death after he was injured in a Baltimore Police van.
Craven shot and killed 68-year-old Ernest Satterwhite in his driveway after a slow, 15-minute police chase in February 2014. Craven shot after Satterwhite reached out of his widow for the officer's gun, Craven's lawyer Jack Swerling said after the plea hearing.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/White-officer-gets-probation-in-black-driver-s-7241692.php
[center]
Justin Craven
Ernest Satterwhite
Rest in Peace. [/center]
2naSalit
(86,751 posts)"...he was reaching for my gun" argument is so overused, I hope it doesn't sway the judicial process on this one.
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(108,136 posts)FailureToCommunicate
(14,020 posts)psychopomp
(4,668 posts)It's been open season for the police, who are never punished for gunning down black folks across the country and there is little outcry.
TexasProgresive
(12,157 posts)Cops have had free reign to abuse their power for my whole life. Grand Juries routinely no-billed cops. If they got indicted juries set them free.
"Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely." - John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton
laserhaas
(7,805 posts)Where's the Blue Wall of Cover Ups and silence
When a gotta kill me one..gun happy officer...needs them?