White Pittsburgh Cops Seek Another White Jury to Believe whatever they say in Jordan Miles Retrial - Unarmed Black Student Chased & Assaulted in Brain Damaged Police Beating

From [HERE] A handful of bullets and an ammunition magazine that were found in the Homewood yard into which police tackled Jordan Miles would become evidence in a March civil trial if the 3 white police defendants have their way.

Jordan has claimed undercover white officers approached him for no valid reason. Officers chased him when he ran and when they caught up with him they beat him into submission by delivering violent blows that left his face swollen and distorted. Police also used a stun gun and pulled out a chunk of his hair. The officers put him in handcuffs, and repeatedly shoved his face into the snow, causing a piece of wood to impale his gums. He is 5-foot-6 and 150 pounds and was unarmed. No weapons were found. As a result, he suffers from permanent brain damage. [MORE]

In August 2012 a nearly all white jury (7 whites, one black) ruled in favor of the white cops on Mles' claim for malicius prosecution and a mistrial on two other counts. Seting up the present retrial on whether the officers falsely arrested the young Black man and used excessive force. [MORE]

In 2012, U.S. District Judge Gary L. Lancaster didn't allow any reference to the bullets or magazine at the first trial resulting from Mr. Miles' lawsuit against officers Michael Saldutte, David Sisak and Richard Ewing. After Judge Lancaster's death, the case was transferred to Judge David S. Cercone, and the officers' attorneys asked him Monday to reconsider the decision.

"Right where this took place, they found the magazine. They did not find the firearm, though," said Bryan Campbell, attorney for Officer Saldutte, who signed the motion along with James Wymard, representing Officer Sisak, and Robert Leight, attorney for Officer Ewing. "People normally wouldn't carry a magazine without a firearm."

Attorney Joel Sansone, representing Mr. Miles, called the motion "another attempt to smear a fine young man who has no criminal history of any kind."

Mr. Miles, then a viola student at the Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts High School, was approached by plainclothes police on Jan. 12, 2010, on Tioga Street. When he ran, police tackled him into the yard of Monica Wooding.

A day later, according to the motion, Wooding reported that there was a magazine in her snow-covered yard.

Mr. Campbell said the magazine and bullets were not checked for fingerprints.

Prior to the 2012 trial, Mr. Miles' legal team argued that Wooding's yard was not a controlled crime scene between the time of the incident and the discovery of the magazine and bullets. The items could have been placed there before or after the incident, they suggested, and any discussion of them could confuse the jury. Judge Lancaster agreed.

The first trial ended with a defense verdict on a malicious prosecution count but hung juries on false arrest and excessive force counts. Most of the jurors favored the officers on all counts.

The officers' attorneys are now arguing that the materials could indicate that Mr. Miles was armed, as the officers contended from the time of the incident. The officers have said that they were motivated to arrest Mr. Miles in part because of a bulge in his coat, which could have been a gun or a soda bottle.

In the alternative, the presence of the items could reflect on Wooding's credibility, according to the motion. She testified for Mr. Miles in 2012.

Mr. Sansone said that the lack of any evidence of a firearm on Mr. Miles or on the scene strongly suggests that the magazine and bullets were in no way related to the incident.

Mr. Miles "has no history of any kind involving any weapon. There was no evidence that my client ever handled this magazine," said Mr. Sansone. "If he was armed with a magazine, what was he going to do: Throw the bullets at them?"

He said that the late Judge Lancaster's rulings also kept the plaintiffs from introducing allegations that the officers had histories of violence. He said he will try to get evidence of the officers' past actions into the trial testimony.

Mr. Miles has replaced the lawyers who represented him in 2012 with Mr. Sansone and Michigan attorney Robert M. Giroux of the nationally known firm Fieger, Fieger, Kenney & Johnson.

Officers Saldutte and Sisak are still members of the Pittsburgh police. Officer Ewing left for another department.

Comments

[BigWill]

If Black people possessed courage they would ambush these devils as they slept during the night, show them what real terror feels like.