Criminal defense attorney Mike Cavalluzzi talks about the murder charges filed in Albuquerque, New Mexico against two officers in the shooting of homeless man James Boyd, 38, who was camping in hills on the outskirts of the city.
Cavalluzzi views police footage captured from the incident - for which two SWAT team officers have been charged with murder - before giving his opinion about the outcome of the case. “They’re going to get acquitted of this, I promise you, they will not get convicted of murder in this case,” Cavalluzzi said.
“I just think there is almost a refusal by the public at large to call cops murderers, they don’t like that, they don’t want to do it, it takes much more than this video – and you know that I think it’s horrific,” he added.
Cavalluzzi says he thinks the problem with the public seems to be with the word murder, so he brings up the possibility that officers involved in fatal shootings should not face these charges, but something lesser that still reflects wrongdoing.
“I think that’s something that really needs to be looked at – and that is – perhaps we shouldn’t be charging the cops with murder in cases like this. As much as you and I might be offended by it, and might think that it’s murder, perhaps there has to be a realistic approach, like excessive force.”
Watch the full episode for a discussion of freedom of speech issues related to the provocative cartoons by artists of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo – site of the recent deadly terror attack in Paris.
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