CINCY OIS: Bodycam released after local DA throws cop to lynch mob

by John Boch

America’s latest “black suspect killed by white cop miscarriage of justice” incident has heated up with the murder charge against the University of Cincinnati cop who fired a fatal shot at a motorist on a traffic stop.

Over at Legal Insurrection, Attorney Andrew Branca looks at the case and dissects the video.

It looks like the latest “rush to judgement” is just that.

Here’s the video.  It’s all relevant, but things heat up shortly after 1:45.

And the complete, unedited video.  (Caution:  Bloody.)

(Legal Insurrection) …On July 19, just 10 days ago, UC police officer Ray Tensing shot and killed motorist Sam DuBose in the course of a traffic stop, according to reports by CNN and others. Today, prosecutor Joe Deters announced that Officer Tensing had been indicted for murder in the killing.

Officer Tensing claims that he shot DuBose because the driver began dragging the officer with his car. Certainly, dragging someone with your car is conduct likely to cause death or grave bodily harm, and thus warrants the use of deadly force in self-defense.

Indeed, there is corroborating evidence that this dragging occurred.

…Note also the span of time we’re talking about–a mere two seconds.

In addition, witnessing police officers attested to the dragging of officer Tensing, as documented in the police incident reported (embedded at the bottom of this post).  In particular, Officer Phillip Kidd stated that “he witnessed the Honda Accord drag Officer Tensing,” and Officer Eric Weibel, who produced the incident report, noted that:

After speaking with Officer Tensing, he complained of pain to his left arm. Officer Maxwell was on scene and was instructed to stay with Officer Tensing until CFD could evaluate his injury. Looking at Officer Tensing’s uniform, I could see that the back of his pants and shirt looked as if it had been dragged over a rough surface.

One is the speed of the indictment–ten days from shooting to indictment strikes me as remarkably fast.

Second is the somewhat strange conduct of Prosecutor Deters in this case.  WCPO news reports that in reference to Officer Tensing pulling DuBose over for his failure to have a front license plate on the car he was driving, Deters argues that the stop itself should never have happened, and indeed Deters reportedly characterizes it as “a chicken-shit stop.”

It leaves one to wonder how traffic cops are supposed to know which of the laws passed by their superiors are “legitimate” and thus worthy of a traffic stop when violated, and which are “chicken-shit.”

It’s also notable that once again the groundwork for violence during a traffic stop was laid by the outright non-compliance of the suspect, here Sam DuBose.  Once stopped it turns out that DuBose is driving without a license, that apparently the car is not his but “my sister’s” (although the audio is hard to hear at that point), and that he’s driving with a pint of gin at his feet (although to my eyes the bottle appears full and as yet unopened).

Further, DuBose is persistently unresponsive to Tensing’s repeated inquiry as to whether DuBose has a license on him, taking a full minute-and-a-half to finally concede that he doesn’t have his license on him.  DuBose also claims to know the traffic laws better than the officer, which while certainly possible would seem unlikely, and in any case unproductive during the stop itself.

Finally, when Tensing asks DuBose to step out the vehicle, which the officer is fully authorized to do, especially now that DuBose has conceded he is driving without his license on him, DuBose grabs the car doors and pulls it shut after Tensing has begun to open it.  Thus DuBose becomes physically non-compliant to Tensing’s lawful orders.  This, of course,  warrants Tensing’s escalating his use of force to compel compliance.

Have we seen this movie before?

The good news is that with competent counsel, the officer will likely be acquitted.  The officer’s body camera may indeed save him from a conviction.  It provides ample evidence towards justification for his actions.  And while the U of C has fired him, if acquitted, he’ll probably get his job back along with back pay.

Remember the legal principle:  detached reflection is not demanded in the presence of an upraised knife.  Further, under Tennessee v. Garner, an officer’s (deadly force) actions don’t have to be perfect, they merely have to be reasonable.

In my opinion, this prosecution is faulty, and it’s been offered in appeasement to the “BLACK LIVES MATTER” crowd of social justice warriors.  While I don’t think it’s likely to result in sanctions against the prosecutor (unlike the case in Baltimore), it nevertheless is a “chicken-shit” prosecution, to use the words of the prosecutor himself.

Now, some additional information that I’ve saved for last so as not to prejudice your thoughts while you evaluated the evidence and the legal principles involved.

The suspect in this case has numerous arrests and served time in prison.