New York Police Officer Hugh Barry Found Not Guilty For Killing Deborah Danner

This is becoming the norm for America.  The dead cannot testify, and defendants testify what he or she thought the deceased was going to do that caused them to use discretion to take human life.

Hugh Barry, 32-years old, had been charged with murder, manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide for the killing of 66-year old Deborah Danner who was in a mental health crisis.

I followed the trial at this post.

Deborah Danner

Barry opted for a bench trial.  There was no jury and the judge was the only person hearing evidence and deciding the case. Justice Robert A. Neary of State Supreme Court presided over the trial.

Prosecutors argued that Barry created the conditions that placed him within a distance of Deborah Danner that he claimed caused him to feel threatened when Deborah picked up a baseball bat.  There were witnesses at trial that testified not seeing Deborah swing the bat at Barry as he claimed.  There were also witnesses that testified that they were following their training to calm Deborah down when Barry came into the apartment, walked past them, and entered Deborah’s bedroom.

Barry testified that he could not back away from Deborah because of other officers being too close behind him.

Trial Starts For Former St. Louis Officer Jason Stockley

Anthony Lamar Smith with his daughter

On December 20, 2011, 24-year old Anthony Lamar Smith was pulled over by St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley on suspicion of making a drug deal. Anthony took off in a rented Buick.   Against policy, Stockley shot at the fleeing car.  Dash cam video shows that Anthony slowed down.  Stockley called for another officer to “hit” the car driven by Anthony, and that officer, Brian Bianchi, did just that.

Footage from three recordings obtained by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch shows Stockley walking to Anthony’s rented Buick.  One recording was from a cell phone, and at least one other was from a store’s surveillance camera.

The impact of being hit by the police SUV resulted in the Buick’s side curtain air bags engaging, blocking part of the view from the dashboard’s camera.  Bianchi is seen reaching into the Buick with his gun still in its holster.  Stockley is seen with an AK=47, and his head is bobbing up and down as if he was lifting the curtain as well.

Stockley shot 5 times.  Officer Bianchi suddenly backed away as if he was not expecting the gunshots.

Backseat of police SUV where Jason Stockley’s personally owned AK-47 is seen on the right.

Stockley is seen taking his personal AK-47 back to his SUV and putting it into the backseat. Stockley then returned to the Buick that was driven by Anthony.  St. Louis Today reports that according to officials, Stockley was not authorized to carry the rifle, which he personally owned.

Inside dashcam recorded Stockley going into a duffle bag in the back seat, and subsequently leave the SUV with nothing in his hands.