Fed Court says White Cincinnati Police Officers Acted Reasonably when they Beat & Suffocated Black Man to Death - on video

From [HERE] A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of Cincinnati police in a fatal struggle that gained national attention and helped push the city to buy Tasers for police to subdue unruly (Black & Brown) suspects.

Six white police officers in the 2003 incident acted reasonably and therefore are immune from being sued, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled. In a decision released Thursday, a day before the ninth anniversary of the death of Nathaniel Jones, the appeals court said a videotape of the fatal encounter outside a North Avondale White Castle restaurant showed the 348-pound man behaving “aggressively” with police as he grabbed one officer’s neck and another one’s baton.

Jones, 41, died Nov. 30 shortly after a confrontation with police in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant. Video from restaurant surveillance cameras and a police cruiser showed that Jones knocked over one officer before others jabbed or struck him more than 24 times with nightsticks. The officers pile on top of him as he screams for air. The 350-pound Jones stopped breathing shortly after he was handcuffed.

But the court said, “Under the rapidly evolving circumstances of that morning, an objectively reasonable officer could not have discerned whether Jones resisted (arrest) in an attempt to breathe or in defiance of commands.” 

After officers realized Jones had a pulse but wasn’t breathing, they sought medical help, the court said.

Jones’ family had sued based on claims of excessive force, failure to provide adequate medical care and wrongful death.

An autopsy done by the Government blamed multiple factors for Jones’ death, including inability to breathe while lying on his stomach, morbid obesity, enlarged heart, history of high blood pressure and intoxicating levels of the drug PCP and cocaine, the Enquirer reported previously.

The ruling could mean the case is finally over, said City Solicitor John Curp. But the Jones family’s lawyer, Randy Freking, could ask the entire Sixth Circuit court to hear the case, Curp said. Thursday’s decision was made by a three-judge panel. The court is made up of 16 judges from four states: Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.

Freking also could try an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. But Curp said he doubts that court would agree to hear the case. Freking couldn’t be reached for comment.

Officers handled the situation appropriately while confronting a large man “who was in a drug-induced state and was violent and resisting the entire time,” Curp said.

Cincinnati bought 1,100 Tasers for city police shortly after Jones’ death, aiming to reduce the number of officers’ violent encounters with unruly suspects. Yet “there’s a movement now against Tasers,” Curp noted. That shows that, no matter what method police use to subdue people, controversy can follow, he said.

 In 2001, there were three nights of rioting after an officer fatally shot an unarmed black man who was wanted on misdemeanor charges when he ran from officers. The officer was acquitted of criminal charges. [more]