Defense attorney Mike Cavalluzzi discusses recent police shooting cases involving videotape of the incidents, and why the existence of footage still makes it nearly impossible to get an indictment against a police officer.
“We’ve also seen that juries come down in favor of the police even when videos clearly contradict them. That’s one of the big fears that I think people have – those of us watching this closely – is, what stops the police from engaging in this type of behavior if videotaped evidence doesn’t.
“We are constantly highlighting cases where the person is unarmed. We have to question why there are this many police shootings of unarmed people,” he said. “I think we are owed at least the responsibility of police officers to ensure that somebody is armed.”
Cavalluzzi also addresses whether he believes information about past criminal history should be considered in shooting incidents involving police.
“To my mind, the issue isn’t whether or not someone has a criminal record. It’s the relevance that that record has on what’s going on at the moment the police encounter the person. If the person has a violent history, that may be relevant to when police have contact with them. If the person has a drug history, that could be relevant in their contact with the police.”
He said in the case of John Crawford - the young man shot and killed in an Ohio Walmart while brandishing a toy gun - there is certainly no relevance to bring prior history into the case.
Watch the full episode to also hear an in-depth discussion about the recent retraction by Rolling Stone of its article detailing an alleged horrific gang rape at the University of Virginia.
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