I Am So Pissed Off About The Death Of Freddie Gray
And I am even more particularly pissed off about one particular charge against the police.
The driver of the van was charged with second-degree murder while the others were charged with INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER along with a few other charges.
Seeing as the five other cops were charged with second-degree assault & the driver wasn't, I can only assume the driver was the only one who did not partake in the beating & breaking of Freddie's back. So I wondered to myself, Why is the driver being charged with second-degree murder while the others got involuntary manslaughter?
I then realized there were two definitions to the act of second-degree murder.
1. An intentional killing that is not premeditated or planned, nor committed in a reasonable "heat of passion"
2. A killing caused by dangerous conduct and the offender's obvious lack of concern for human life.
Due to the driver's negligence in getting Freddie the medical help he needed, I agree with his second-degree murder charge under the second definition of the word.
But in that case, weren't the other cops just as much to blame as the driver, if not more so? At least for the same negligence that caused Freddie's death?
The definition for involuntary manslaughter: Involuntary manslaughter often refers to unintentional homicide from criminally negligent or reckless conduct. It can also refer to an unintentional killing through commission of a crime other than a felony.
In the case of the five other police officers' case, I don't agree with the "involuntary" part of the definition. Why? Because not only was it very clear that Freddie required medical attention immediately, he pleaded for it on several occasions & not only did they deny him any medical help as much as the driver, they didn't help matters by shoving him around, dragging him & forcing him to try to stand after they broke his back seeing that Freddie couldn't even walk. They had several chances to prevent his death & they refused them all. So how was his death unintentional? Sure, they might not have had the exact intention of killing him but clearly they didn't give a shit what happened to him. It may not have been voluntary manslaughter, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it involuntary manslaughter either. If you ask me, that was second-degree murder by the second definition of dangerous conduct & the offenders' obvious lack of concern for human life. And that's what the charge should have been for ALL of them, not just the driver. And of course, the ones who beat Freddie do deserve more charges than the driver for the assault & false imprisonment as they were the primary reason for Freddie's condition & they do have those additional charges on the side. So I can't say anything about that. It's just the "involuntary manslaughter" charge that I strongly believe should be changed to second-degree murder.
The driver of the van was charged with second-degree murder while the others were charged with INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER along with a few other charges.
Seeing as the five other cops were charged with second-degree assault & the driver wasn't, I can only assume the driver was the only one who did not partake in the beating & breaking of Freddie's back. So I wondered to myself, Why is the driver being charged with second-degree murder while the others got involuntary manslaughter?
I then realized there were two definitions to the act of second-degree murder.
1. An intentional killing that is not premeditated or planned, nor committed in a reasonable "heat of passion"
2. A killing caused by dangerous conduct and the offender's obvious lack of concern for human life.
Due to the driver's negligence in getting Freddie the medical help he needed, I agree with his second-degree murder charge under the second definition of the word.
But in that case, weren't the other cops just as much to blame as the driver, if not more so? At least for the same negligence that caused Freddie's death?
The definition for involuntary manslaughter: Involuntary manslaughter often refers to unintentional homicide from criminally negligent or reckless conduct. It can also refer to an unintentional killing through commission of a crime other than a felony.
In the case of the five other police officers' case, I don't agree with the "involuntary" part of the definition. Why? Because not only was it very clear that Freddie required medical attention immediately, he pleaded for it on several occasions & not only did they deny him any medical help as much as the driver, they didn't help matters by shoving him around, dragging him & forcing him to try to stand after they broke his back seeing that Freddie couldn't even walk. They had several chances to prevent his death & they refused them all. So how was his death unintentional? Sure, they might not have had the exact intention of killing him but clearly they didn't give a shit what happened to him. It may not have been voluntary manslaughter, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it involuntary manslaughter either. If you ask me, that was second-degree murder by the second definition of dangerous conduct & the offenders' obvious lack of concern for human life. And that's what the charge should have been for ALL of them, not just the driver. And of course, the ones who beat Freddie do deserve more charges than the driver for the assault & false imprisonment as they were the primary reason for Freddie's condition & they do have those additional charges on the side. So I can't say anything about that. It's just the "involuntary manslaughter" charge that I strongly believe should be changed to second-degree murder.
31-35, F
