Verdict in the Killing of Kelly Thomas

Jan 13

Posted by

A jury has found officers Ramos and Cicenelli not guilty on all counts.

I’m speechless.

Kelly Thomas

Posted on 01/13/2014, in Uncategorized and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 93 Comments.

  1. Rachael | 01/13/2014 at 6:41 pm

    WTF???!!!! Please, please, PLEASE tell me you are kidding! I was trying to work, now I am crying so hard I can’t see, partly from such a deep sadness for humanity and partly from RAGE!!!!! How can this BE??!!!

    Like

    • Xena | 01/13/2014 at 6:51 pm

      Rachael,
      Now you know why I’m speechless. Juries seem to operate from a Gestapo frame of mind; i.e., if the victim is represented as imperfect, then it justifies their murder to remove them from society.

      Like

    • Yahtzee | 01/13/2014 at 6:56 pm

      I am crying uncontrollably……this is a nightmare.

      Like

  2. Xena | 01/13/2014 at 6:47 pm

    Ron Thomas, Kelly Thomas’ father, said he was stunned by the verdict, saying he’d never seen such a miscarriage of justice.

    Thomas also suggested that federal authorities should look into the case.

    Ramos’ attorney, John Barnett, told reporters: “These peace officers were doing their jobs…they did what they were trained to do.”

    Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas said prosecutors would not pursue charges against a third Fullerton officer accused in the Thomas case. That officer’s trial was pending.

    “I don’t intend to proceed with another trial when the two officers here were acquitted,” he told reporters.

    The jury took less than a full day of deliberation to reach the not-guilty verdicts.

    The coroner’s office determined that Thomas died of brain damage from lack of oxygen caused by chest compression and other injuries sustained during his struggle with police.

    http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-live-verdict-in-kelly-thomas-police-murder-case-20140113,0,5661959.story#ixzz2qKTYgL6k

    Like

  3. Two sides to a story | 01/13/2014 at 6:50 pm

    I am also speechless and appalled. I should have been on that jury. It would have been hung all week and forever.

    My deepest sympathy to the Thomas family.

    Like

    • Two sides to a story | 01/13/2014 at 6:55 pm

      Justice for Kelly Thomas protest starting now @ Fullerton Police Department 237 West Commonwealth Avenue:

      Like

  4. Yahtzee | 01/13/2014 at 6:52 pm

    /large

    Like

  5. Yahtzee | 01/13/2014 at 6:54 pm

    I am sick and deeply troubled over this verdict.

    This is so overwhelming for me…..

    Like

  6. Yahtzee | 01/13/2014 at 6:57 pm

    one of my posts in in moderation

    Like

  7. Xena | 01/13/2014 at 7:00 pm

    Justice is no longer based on facts and evidence, but on how juries perceive victims. All it takes is for the defense to paint the victim as someone who is a burden on society.

    Like

  8. Xena | 01/13/2014 at 7:06 pm

    Like

    • Yahtzee | 01/13/2014 at 7:22 pm

      This horrific video is graphic and horrific to watch. I was shaken and I trembled when I watched it.

      Everyone needs to see this no matter how hard it is too watch IF we are going to advocate for people who have been brutalized.

      This video shows Kelly Thomas being beaten and tortured to death. You can hear him crying for his daddy.

      Like

  11. Xena | 01/13/2014 at 7:12 pm

    Like

  12. racerrodig | 01/13/2014 at 7:38 pm

    This is beyond belief……

    Like

  15. mindyme62 | 01/13/2014 at 8:09 pm

    I am in shock. No way, no way could they be found not guilty.

    Like

  16. towerflower | 01/13/2014 at 8:12 pm

    I’m stunned by this.

    Like

  17. Yahtzee | 01/13/2014 at 8:30 pm

    I mourn for you Kelly

    You suffered
    tortured
    beaten
    alone
    helpless
    crushed by the agonizing torture
    without breath as your brutalization continued
    without your daddy whom you cried out for
    alone
    alone
    alone

    If I could move through time to the moment of your beating, I would embrace you and shield your body with mine from the horrific beating and torture being inflicted upon you.

    Like

  18. Xena | 01/13/2014 at 8:41 pm

    Searching for answers on how to heal the broken hearts in America; when victims are convicted and their killers set free.

    Like

  19. Xena | 01/13/2014 at 9:03 pm

    As the not-guilty verdicts were read for two former Fullerton police officers, Kelly Thomas’ father leaned back in his seat and shook his head.

    “I just don’t get it,” Ron Thomas said, moments after an Orange County jury acquitted former police officers Manual Ramos and Jay Cicinelli in the beating of his son, who died five days later. “I’ve never seen such a miscarriage of justice.”

    “They got away with murdering my son,” Cathy Thomas said.

    http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-kelly-thomas-verdict-father-20140113,0,1631508.story#ixzz2qL21W649

    Like

    • Yahtzee | 01/13/2014 at 9:20 pm

      The jury have proclaimed Manual and Jay NOT GUILTY.

      BUT the spirit world KNOWS that Manual and Jay are SINNER MEN who committed an EVIL, HEINOUS, DEPRAVED act of torturing and beating to his death a helpless man who was pleading for his life.

      Oh, sinner man,
      Where you gonna run to?
      Oh, sinner man,
      Where you gonna run to?
      Oh, sinner man,
      Where you gonna run to
      All on that day?

      Run from the light,
      Satan’s gonna see you.
      Run from the light,
      Satan’s gonna see you.
      Run from the light,
      Satan’s gonna see you
      All on that day.

      Don’t make a sound,
      The Devils’ gonna hear you.
      Don’t make a sound,
      The Devils’ gonna hear you.
      Don’t make a sound,
      The Devils’ gonna hear you
      All on that day.

      Oh, sinner man,
      Where you gonna run to?
      Oh, sinner man,
      Where you gonna run to?
      Oh, sinner man,
      Where you gonna run to
      All on that day?

      Run to the Lord.
      Lord, won’t you hide me?
      Run to the Lord.
      Lord, won’t you hide me?

      Run to the Lord.
      Lord, won’t you hide me
      All on that day?

      Lord said: Sinner man,
      you should’ve been a prayin’,
      Lord said: Sinner man,
      you should’ve been a prayin’,
      Lord said: Sinner man,
      you should’ve been a prayin’
      All on that day.

      Oh, sinner man,
      Where you gonna run to?
      Oh, sinner man,
      Where you gonna run to?
      Oh, sinner man,
      Where you gonna run to
      All on that day?

      The Devil said: Sinner man,
      step right in!
      The Devil said: Sinner man,
      step right in!
      The Devil said: Sinner man,
      step right in!
      All on that day.

      Like

  20. With Love Glenn | 01/13/2014 at 11:11 pm

    Sadly I’m not shocked about the verdict. The police are almost never charged for their crimes.

    Johannes Mehserle’s conviction for killing Oscar Grant was a VERY rare conviction, and he was released early. He’s out free after murdering Oscar Grant.

    Like

    • Xena | 01/13/2014 at 11:31 pm

      Glenn, I hear you, but there’s always that positive side of me that keeps hoping that people will put their biases away and decide justly. We once thought that getting evidence on tape was sufficient to convict, until the Rodney King case. It appears that there are defense attorneys who really don’t “win” acquittals for defendants but rather, appeal to the biases of juries that victims were burdens on society so, what’s the big deal?

      Like

      • Yahtzee | 01/13/2014 at 11:53 pm

        How many times can a JURY turn its head
        And pretend IT just doesn’t see?

        Yes, how many times must a jury look
        Before it can really see the lie?

        Yes, how many ears must a JURY have
        Before IT can hear Trayvon cry?

        Yes, how many deaths will it take till IT knows
        That too many people have died?

        The answer my friend is blowin’ in the wind
        The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

        Our children need to know the answer….their safe future depends upon it.

        Like

  21. Xena | 01/14/2014 at 12:15 am

    Like

  22. Justice4All | 01/14/2014 at 12:29 am

    I no longer believe in the justice system. OJ, Casey, Jodi, GZ & now this case. WTH do our laws protect? I can’t even feel anger over this, only sadness & shame. I had respect for the system & police & Judges, etc..and that’s gone. This man was beaten as he begged for his life, just as Trayvon was shot as he begged for his life & all three killers walk away.Casey’s daughter is found in the woods & she walks away. OJ is sick & wants to go home & Jodi is hoping to find a jury that won’t read her tweets.
    This is justice? Where the hell do they find these jurors? There’s no explanation for this, no excuse for the disregard of human life & the support of these killers. How do these juror’s sleep at night knowing they let 2 pigs that killed a defenseless man go free? Since when is that NOT a crime….oh yeah, must be another one of those cop perks. Laws are just for certain people & this trial was a waste of time & money & an insult to the family.

    Like

    • Xena | 01/14/2014 at 12:57 am

      Justice4All. I feel you.

      Where the hell do they find these jurors?

      That is who I hold responsible. Juries are basing their decisions on whether victims are a burden on society because there is no other way that evidence is recorded and can be disregarded otherwise.

      Like

      • Dr. Rex | 01/14/2014 at 11:24 pm

        I feel too!! My stepson is a police officer. I was talking to him about this tonite. As he expressed, he wasn’t there … but almost 9 minutes of fighting, tazing and 6 cops trying to control this man …. he was talking about the steps that take to slowly escalate the “pressure” or intensity of police involvement.
        I wish he would have seen the video …. I don’t mean to condone this at all …. I’m just relaying that he said the police point of view should be considered.

        I still totally think this was deadly excessive force and uncalled for. The system really failed this young man ALL the way.

        So sorry!!! 😦

        Like

        • Xena | 01/15/2014 at 11:27 am

          Horty,
          Cops have a hard job. They never know what they’re walking into. They are trained to restrain without causing injury while protecting themselves. What was done to Kelly Thomas, David Castellani and Ethan Saylor, is not in any law enforcement training manual. It was intentional abuse.

          Like

          • Dr. Rex | 01/15/2014 at 11:58 am

            I agree with you, my friend.
            I could sense Robert’s position …. other side of the coin.

            This was bad!!

            Any chance that this could be “undone”?

            Like

          • Xena | 01/15/2014 at 12:35 pm

            Hey Horty!
            A not guilty verdict cannot be undone. The feds had an open investigation waiting for the result of the state’s trial and now state they will look at the evidence. There might be potential to charge the former cops with violating Kelly’s civil rights.

            Like

  23. dreamer | 01/14/2014 at 2:36 am

    For some reason I keep hearing “I think he has a good heart, he just went alittle to far.”

    Like

    • Xena | 01/14/2014 at 2:25 pm

      dreamer.

      For some reason I keep hearing “I think he has a good heart, he just went alittle to far.”

      HA!! Followed by, “They were frustrated with all the mentally ill homeless people in the neighborhood.”

      Like

  24. Yahtzee | 01/14/2014 at 8:41 am

    How many more will die before I act and successfully stand up for those who have faced injustice and inequality?

    How long will our nation turn its head, as it has, in NOT acknowledging and repairing the damage of its heinous acts of the past…..the genocide of the Native Americans……the four hundred years of the killings and brutalization of African Americans…and more?

    When will we see such true brotherhood and community that we, as a nation, begin to lift up, carry, and rescue the brutalized, the marginalize, the mistreated, the impoverished,the victims of racial hatred…(there are so many)?

    Like

  25. Rachael | 01/14/2014 at 9:12 am

    After a night of sleep, it still makes no sense. I understand a police officer pulling out a pen and saying he is going to write a ticket is in the line of duty, but putting on gloves and saying he is eff someone up? How can that EVER be okay?

    Like

  26. Dr. Rex | 01/14/2014 at 9:16 am

    Oh, m’lord!!! Speechless!! …. and the got off? Unbelievable!!!
    Reblog!!!

    Like

  27. Dr. Rex | 01/14/2014 at 9:18 am

    Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
    There IS something wrong in this country!!! How can it be changed? What can be done? Who are those supposed to care for us???

    Like

  28. Yahtzee | 01/14/2014 at 10:02 am

    UPDATE:

    FBI to Examine Kelly Thomas Trial Evidence After Officers’ Acquittals

    http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/FBI-to-Examine-Kelly-Thomas-Trial-Evidence-240043431.html

    Like

    • Rachael | 01/14/2014 at 12:26 pm

      Thank GOD!!!! Except I don’t know if I expect too much. They are on the same side. Sigh. But dang, it is SO obvious. There seems to be SO much police BS, someone has to be able to clean it up – I would, but I don’t know how.

      Like

  30. Dr. Rex | 01/14/2014 at 1:37 pm

    I do hope this is reviewed!! That is just preposterous that they were acquitted.

    Yathzee …. take a look at my post.

    The video with the medical evidence should have been more than needed for a guilty verdict. The evidence is right there ….. broken facial bones?? The ethmoid plate?
    With the butt of the tazer?

    There is no doubt there!!

    Like

    • Yahtzee | 01/14/2014 at 3:59 pm

      I did check out your post…..You did a great job!

      I wish every blog in existence would cover this story.

      Like

      • Dr. Rex | 01/14/2014 at 4:06 pm

        I agree with you!!! Are you the same Yahtzee ….. different avatar!!!

        Like

        • Yahtzee | 01/14/2014 at 4:44 pm

          Yes. Because these are generic avatars given out by WordPress, you get whatever avatar is available when you sign up to each different blog. If I personalized my avatar with a picture or photo that would not happen.

          Let’s see…does the word “synergy” help in proving who I am?

          Like

        • Xena | 01/14/2014 at 4:57 pm

          Horty, excuse the butt-in. 🙂
          For Word Press blogs, for those not having “gravatars,” avatars will change from blog to blog depending on the setting selected by the blog administrator. On your admin side, under “settings” and “discussions,” is an option to choose for those posting comments who do not have a “gravatar.” It should be at the bottom of the screen. I’ve chosen “Retro” for this blog.

          Like

  32. Dr. Rex | 01/14/2014 at 11:25 pm

    Xena …wished we lived closer … you would be my mentor!! 🙂

    Like

  33. Dr. Rex | 01/15/2014 at 2:38 pm

    You sure can’t see that in Florida … LOL!! It’s getting cooler today. Tomorrow will be COLD!!!
    Anyway …… stay warm!! Up there ….. 🙂

    Like

  35. Yahtzee | 01/15/2014 at 7:53 pm

    http://kpbs.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2014/01/14/7690276380_44994a6790_b_t600.jpg?4326734cdb8e39baa3579048ef63ad7b451e7676

    “Emotions Flow As California Police Acquitted In Death Of Homeless Man”

    http://www.kpbs.org/news/2014/jan/14/emotions-flow-caliornia-police-acquitted-death-hom/?utm_campaign=none&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=headline/

    Outside court, Thomas’ parents condemned the verdicts.

    “Just horrified,” Cathy Thomas said. “He got away with murdering my son.”

    Ron Thomas said the verdict gave police “carte blanche” to brutalize people.

    “All of us need to be very afraid now,” he said. “Police officers everywhere can beat us, kill us, whatever they want, but it has been proven right here today they’ll get away with it.”

    Like

  38. Yahtzee | 01/15/2014 at 8:55 pm

    Kelly Thomas pleaded for his life.

    Okay sir
    I’m SORRY dude
    I’m SORRY
    I’m SORRY
    Okay Okay Okay Okay
    Okay I’m SORRY
    I’m SORRY dude
    Ouch
    I’m SORRY dude
    I’m SORRY I’m SORRY
    Okay Okay
    Ow I’m SORRY
    Okay I can’t breathe
    Okay I can’t breathe
    Please I can’t breathe
    Okay ooaagh
    Ow I can’t breathe
    Okay please
    aoah! aaaaooo
    I can’t dude
    I’m sorry aaaaaah
    (cries of pain)
    Okay man I can’t breathe
    I can’t breathe sir
    Okay, I can’t fucking breathe
    I can’t please
    Man, I’m sorry man
    aaa okay okay
    Okay I’m sorry
    ow okay okay
    I’m sorry owwww
    I’m sorry dude I’m sorry
    I’m sorry aaaa I’m sorry
    (Repeated cries of pain)
    (cries of pain become more horrible)
    (repeated tasseling)
    Okay pleease
    aaaaaaaaagaa
    owwwa aaaaaooowwaawow
    OAAAAAOOWOOWAAAAAAAAA
    AAAAAAOOOOAAAOAHAOW
    NOOOOO
    DAD DAD ODAD DAD DAD DAD DAD HELP ME HELP ME
    DAD OAW DAD DAD OOW OOW
    DAD DAD OOW DAD
    OUCH DAAAAAD HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME
    DAD HELP ME
    HELP ME PLEASE DAD OOW OW
    I CAN’T BREATHE DAAHD
    HELP ME DAD HELP ME DAD
    OKAY HELP ME PLEASE AGG NOOO NOOO
    NOOOO AAAAAG AAAAGHHHH AAAAGHHH help me g
    aaaaaah ooo ooooo uuuunnnn oooo aaaagggg

    Like

  40. Yahtzee | 02/12/2014 at 8:54 pm

    Cop In Kelly Thomas Beating Run Out Of Fullerton Denny’s

    http://laist.com/2014/02/12/cop_in_kelly_thomas_case_gets_run_o.php

    Like

  41. Yahtzee | 07/09/2014 at 8:22 pm

    Father Of Man Beaten To Death By Fullerton Police To Have Night Of ‘Reflection’
    July 5, 2014 3:43 PM

    http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/07/05/father-of-man-beaten-to-death-by-fullerton-police-to-have-night-of-reflection/

    Like

  1. Pingback: Video of mentally ill Kelly Thomas beaten to death by Fullerton Police | Oppression Monitor

  2. Pingback: Who is Kelly Thomas? A story that needs to be told ….. | It Is What It Is