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My GUESS is that his relatives would have traded his life for $5,000.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oildog
They were trying hard not to smile when the verdict came out. They will buy an elaborate marker for him, then some Escalades.
It's disgusting that people would even think like this. I seriously doubt anyone [this family included] would want this to happen to them. Even if a wrongful death payout was made.
So what. So a career criminal, who wasn't very good at it if the truth were told, who had been arrested and convicted multiple times for dealing heroin (bit a national problem right now) is worth $6.4M. Part of which I, my family and the rest of the law abiding residents of Maryland and Baltimore City, will pay for. It doesn't matter what I spend my money on.
Does that truly make sense to you?
If you are so upset with the city of Baltimore who has agreed to this settlement maybe you should take it up with them instead. Mr. Gray suffered reckless negligence & death by the Baltimore police officers who arrested him.
What does Mr. Gray's past criminal history have to do with his homicide at the hands of so called " Law abiding" officers?
If you are so upset with the city of Baltimore who has agreed to this settlement maybe you should take it up with them instead. Mr. Gray suffered reckless negligence & death by the Baltimore police officers who arrested him.
What does Mr. Gray's past criminal history have to do with his homicide at the hands of so called " Law abiding" officers?
As the thread continues, let me make something absolutely clear: continue with the racist trolling and you risk a ban, regardless of how many posts you have or how right you feel you are. Act like respectful adults not like brain dead propagandists that simply cannot stop from adding insult to injury.
Yac.
If you are so upset with the city of Baltimore who has agreed to this settlement maybe you should take it up with them instead. Mr. Gray suffered reckless negligence & death by the Baltimore police officers who arrested him.
What does Mr. Gray's past criminal history have to do with his homicide at the hands of so called " Law abiding" officers?
Mostly because the payment, prior to any civil suit being filed, has so polluted the jury pool that any hope of a fair trial is likely gone.
The defense attorneys are arguing today for a change of venue, this gives them even more ammunition for it.
Couple that with the Mayor more or less admitting the payment was done in order to forestall any more unrest (it won't work) then you have a problem.
While the insurer (LGIT) will not be on the hook for the entire amount the decision will cause an increase in rates to all the Counties and municipalities in Maryland.
First, let me say I live in Baltimore and work not far from the intersection of Pennsylvania & North Ave, where the CVS was burned, don't live in Sandtown-Winchester, but have been thru there (there is a plumbing supply house on Pennsy I patronize), did the bulk of my Christmas shopping at Mondawmin Mall.
Quote:
Originally Posted by thecoalman
Here is what I would suggest based on the facts we know. He was holding heroin(numerous arrests for drug possession with intent to deliver). As he was being chased by the police he swallowed it and the baggie or whatever he was using to hold it burst.(he tested positive for opiates). This apparently happens quite a bit and it would explain his actions while being taken to the van. Once in the van he probably stood up, van came to a stop or took off and he did a header into the side of it(other prisoner indicated he was banging around).
It's very difficult to stand in a vehicle in stop and go traffic let alone bent over in a van with your feet and hands shackled presumably under the influence of narcotics. Once you start going you can't even put your hands up to stop yourself.
This fits the facts as we know know them. In this scenario the only negligence is they didn't strap him in.
This above seems not to far off from what I am hearing/thinking. FG's death was a terrible accident. But, even though the policy was emailed out to staff 3 days prior, a very short time for it to fully filter thru the rank&file, wagon riders are supposed to be strapped in. So this is negligence, will be very hard to successfully argue otherwise. Arrest means taking someone's liberty, thus becoming responsible for them because they now lack free will, responsible for their care.
I doubt there was malice involved, more like poor training and confusion, but still FG was mortally wounded somehow during his arrest and wagon ride. Apparently the wagon drove to the Western District because medics were tied up, couldn't get there fast enough (waiting for verification, the trial will disclose, our FD and PD are stretched thin and its amazing things aren't more delicate here). The high number of ambo runs in cities like this say a lot about our municipalities, our trade and educational/workforce policies, and our national health care priorities.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimj
No claim was filed so there is no other rational basis to provide a settlement except to avoid a legal cap to what the family gets.
See the answer above. To add to that what the city did was to prejudice any potential juror who thinks along the lines you're giving here.
See how well that worked for the city? Just so y'all know, they don't give a rats behind about those cops. What they DO care about is the riots busting out and burning,looting (again) making their city the laughing stock of the nation and completely destroying any chance any tourist would go there. Oh, they also don't want to be called "racist" or "bigoted" against poor people (even though they burned through millions upon millions in federal aid and didn't help anyone but themselves)
I know that while my family and I enjoyed our vacation in Baltimore and rode all around/walked all over the good and bad parts I'll never,ever risk myself and my family's safety by returning.
Sad because I found several places I'd love to go back to like a wonderful Italian bakery, a great old school deli, a wonderful looking soul food place as well as the port/little Italy area.
MODS: this is not a advertisement, I hope the old couple that owns this place have survived as they have the BEST Italian pastry I've ever eaten. Piedigrotta Bakery - Home
No, it's obvious to the city that they need to pander/pay/hope their way out of further destruction from the cabal that inhabits the area.
They've just set a very dangerous precedent being that any person who's even bumped by a cop will be on the hunt for a lotto ticket punch. The ghetto theme song will now be "claim to get hurt by a cop and you'll be movin' on up, to the east side, to a deluxe apartment in the sky"
At first blush, $6.4M seems high, sure. But what this money represents is that the city is acknowledging the decades of poor treatment, disenfranchisement experienced by our poor (Baltimore literally wrote the book on real estate segregation - read Antero Pietila's Not in My Neighborhood, interesting for a city that was once home to the largest population of free blacks prior to the Civil War). There are long standing wounds that need to begin healing somehow and it seems to me that this is a start. This frustration and anger is being seen in poor communities around our country; as our economy shifts and macroeconomic forces squeeze folks even tighter, more frustration will be seen. Hopefully at some point we as a nation will figure out a workable solution. We value money and the $6.4M says "we hear you." Our society as a whole has to acknowledge something is wrong; we will get these reminders until we meaningfully address this.
The riots were awful to behold. The mayor (who I am supremely disappointed with) let this escalate and become a curfew with long reaching effects. Gratefully no one died in the riots/looting/burning and the mayor hangs her hat on that, saying her decisions avoided deaths. But it didn't have to go this way. The issues around FG and aftermath are more nuanced than Ferguson appears to be, not as absolute in racial terms, more class overtones.
I listened to the entire George Zimmerman trial online while working (I am self employed) - the trial was fascinating, the most thorough rendering of the facts available, as it should be. Having listened to the trial with an open mind, I was not surprised by the verdict. The media storm around Zimmerman and Martin then and now was/is intense and biased, one cannot in good faith make reasoned opinions on that
without having digested the whole trial. Unfortunately Baltimore does not broadcast trials, so short of attending the whole thing (cannot do, got to make a living), we outside of the courtroom will have to settle for media spin.
I do not consider myself a SJW, I am socially liberal, fiscally conservative, self employed, product of 20th C immigrant families and public schools (back when they weren't bad, my kids go private, wife was a public school teacher for 15 years, we gave it an honest chance). There has been too much suffering and death here (and many other places). I don't know how to fix Baltimore's problems, the impacts of our world upon our big town/small city, but I do know that something has to change in a positive direction because things are at a critical point, the issues behind FG's life and death are impacting more than just those in that tough life. So in that sphere, teh $6.4M pre criminal trial settlement doesn't seem that unreasonable. If you've lived here or places like here and know anything of the realities of the two Baltimores, you on some level get this.
FG's death is a tragedy, same with all the murders Baltimore has each year. Something has to be done, not sure what, but the recent events have opened a lot of eyes. We can't go on like this.
I doubt the verdicts for the police trials will be very hard on them; all first offenses, all pretty much acting under orders/policy except for not buckling FG in. The SA here has made a mess with this and has political aspirations. People in the poor communities will be mad. But what Baltimore needs is healing, not more riots etc. Sure - protest, sure - demand better from our government, agencies and ourselves, but lets be constructive with this. Eyes are opened, lets move forward. Acknowledge and address the angry people's concerns, make this a better place to be, inclusive rather than exclusive. I don't know about payouts, reparations etc (I'm fiscally conservative), but some real measures in good faith have to be made or things will spiral out worse. We as a people have more in common than not.
Believe it or not, if you are not in the distressed neighborhoods, Baltimore is fairly safe. I bike all the time to work and events, walk the dog, cart kids around to schools and activities, know many, many neighbors. I live her safely, don't see vacationing as a problem. Thanks for teh shout out for Piedigrotta - I remember when they were in a little rowhouse shop on Central Ave, killer food, wonderful people, warm, loving Italians! One of the best Christmas masses I ever attended was at St Leo's, around the corner. There are problems in Charm City, but there is a lot of good, lot of love here too.
Unfortunately, the cop who caused his death won't have to pay a dime.
Which one would that be?
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