From nbcnews.com:
“A special prosecutor filed second-degree murder charges Monday against two police officers accused of killing a mentally ill homeless man in Albuquerque last year.
The shooting death of James Boyd, 36, was captured by a police helmet camera and triggered large protests in a city where officers had killed more than two-dozen people in four years, and where a U.S. Justice Department investigation concluded last year that the Albuquerque Police Department engaged “in a pattern or practice of excessive force.”
The two officers accused of murdering Boyd, Dominique Perez and Keith Sandy, shot the man to death on March 16, 2014, after a several hour standoff when he refused to leave his campsite.
Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg, who filed first-degree murder charges against the men earlier this year, withdrew from the case after her office was disqualified over an appearance of a conflict of interest, NBC affiliate KOB reported.
Brandenburg appointed a special prosecutor, Randi McGinn, who filed the second-degree murder charges. Perez and Sandy are also accused of voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter, as well as aggravated assault and aggravated battery, respectively, according to documents filed in Bernalillo County District Court.
A lawyer for Perez, Luis Robles, told NBC News that the officer was “relieved” that the first-degree murder charges were dropped. In court, Robles added, Perez will show that “he did what he was supposed to do and acted in conformity” with the law.”
Grrrrr.
At least for Keith Sandy, Brandenburg’s first degree murder charges should have stood. He was accidentally recorded on a dashcam having an exchange between Sandy and State Police Sgt. Chris Ware during which Sandy made a comment about shooting Boyd in the “pecker” hours before he and Perez gunned Boyd down.
Updated: From the abqjournal.com, additional and more precise information:
“On Monday, special prosecutors Randi McGinn and Kevin Holmes filed a criminal information, a charging document that will lead to a probable cause hearing by a judge, against Keith Sandy, a former Albuquerque Police Department detective, and SWAT team member Dominique Perez on charges of second-degree murder.
The language of the documents say it was Perez “who did kill James Boyd without legal justification” and Sandy “who did kill or aid and abet in the killing” of Boyd.
Of the new charges, Robles said, “It all comes down to the idea, ‘Are the actions of the officers authorized by law, policy and training,’ and if we can show that it’s a defense to all these charges. It almost becomes like a civil case in that sense.”
Robles successfully has defended many police excessive force cases, particularly those involving federal civil rights claims.
Sandy’s lawyer Sam Bregman said there was no justification for charging his client with any crime.
“He was a police officer protecting a fellow officer when he shot a mentally unstable man wielding two knives. There is simply no criminal intent,” he said.
Filing of any charges by the special prosecutors was deferred earlier while a ballistics expert in California using 3-D technology reviewed evidence, McGinn said.
They were able to file the charges after getting results from the ballistics.”
Given those lies, it’s time to bring the video again, I reckon.
“McGinn said Monday that second-degree murder charges often are filed when there’s an imperfect self-defense claim. “You can’t claim self-defense when you create the dangerous situation or when you start the fight,” she said.
A preliminary hearing in the case has been scheduled for Aug. 3-6 before Pro Tem Judge Neil Candelaria, a former police officer who was a judge in Metropolitan Court and the criminal division of District Court before his retirement.”
‘New York City to get 1,297 new police officers by next year, mayor announces’
DeBlasio’s reasoning?
‘According to the mayor’s office, reducing the overtime costs of the New York City’s police force will generate $70m after all the new hires begin.’ Ah, cost-saving. Note the photo: two black female cops, one holding a large sunflower. Peace and love!
In NYC last night:
Keegan says that the young black man was simply bicycling past the protest when he was attacked by NYPD ‘protectors and servers’.
No news has come yet from Cuyahoga County prosecutor Tim McGinty as to any (ahem) grand jury proceedings in the drive-by assassination of Tamir Rice. His parents continue to hold press conferences full of endless grief and outrage as they seek some small measure of justice. Tamir would have turned thirteen years old on June 25. His father Leonard Warner said that Father’s Day was “just another reminder of the worst day of my life.”
The NYCLU has appealed to a three-judge panel to release Grand Jury testimony in the police murder of Eric Garner. No decision has come down yet.
davidly
Greyson Smythe
LeMoyne
juliania2
ohiobarbarian
stephenadavis1
wendyedavis
café babylon 
Clearly police nationwide are out of control. This just yesterday:
We need nationwide reform.
If only we had a black president. I bet he would take some kind of executive action against this epidemic of police murder.
jeezum crow; i clicked thru and the whole video title is: “…Then They Literally Blew His Brains Out”
he’s dead and they’re cuffing him? i guess we have seen that before: ‘best policing’ rulez.
Ché had brought the guardian version of the HRW report; i’d wondered if any US media had er…noted it. good on rt.
yes, a black prez might help…but the likely third black prez has her focus group tested speech on ‘institutional racism’ down pat now, and is heading to the ‘environs of ferguson’ today to schmooze them. wish i thought it would fail, but ‘hope springs infernal’…or something.
when or if you’re ready, nomad.
but how ’bout this? dude broke the cardinal rule: ‘don’t get caught!’
‘Alabama Cop’s White Supremacy Speech Caught On Video‘ oh, the two cops are on ‘administrative leave’, as they believe the League of the South is what, a philanthropic organization?
As for the
new/ revised charges against Perez and Sandy in the Boyd killing, hmmm….Brandenburg’s information was an open count of murder, which included first degree but encompassed all the lesser possible charges as well; McGinn is going for a 2nd degree (unpremeditated) highest charge together with all the lesser possible charges…
Given Sandy’s unforced error wrt what he was going to do to Boyd once he got to the scene, it does seem somewhat odd that 1st degree murder is no longer applicable.
Additionally, there are some things about the judge who will be handling the preliminary hearing:
Which of course means the whole thing could end right then and there.
There will still be grounds for a civil action, and I’ve been betting all along that Boyd’s estate and surviving relations will get a BIG payout from the city, possibly more than the Torres payout for the APD killing of their son Christopher ($6m I believe).
Then this news came in overnight:
Mary Hawkes’ boyfriend/fiance Mario Romero — who was more than a little distraught and out of it the night of her memorial — was reported to have committed suicide when confronted by deputies on a burglary call on Sunday.
http://www.kob.com/article/stories/s3832837.shtml#.VYnPjUbUU4X
And then there’s the APD monitor who has finally been persuaded to make remarks in public.
http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S3833384.shtml?cat=500#.VYnRE0bUU4X
He’s been so very coy until now, and all the signs are he intends to keep his own counsel throughout the “four year process” he envisions for the reform of APD. This has led to more than a little annoyance…
Stay tuned…
i couldn’t figure out why you’d added those paragraphs from the journal report; i’d even put them in in bold. just checked, as i had them on my word document. it’s an Xfile; in both chrome and firefox, they’re included under the video. no amount of Update clicking makes them appear in the post.. must be some juju laid on by da Judge, eh?
so thank you so much for bringing it.
but how tragic about romero’s suicide.
from mr. ginger: mega gibberish, except that i loved this all to hell:
“During this site visit, Ginger said his team will begin learning more about APD and where they keep their records.”
but hey; it’s a fixed price contract, his bid was the lowest, and anyway, he’s not here (once in awhile) to tell the apd how to police….and doesn’t have to say a word, nanny, nanny, plllltt…:-P
‘n goddam to you yobs: “this is a MARATHON, not a SPRINT!”
Again from the Real News this is pertinent:
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=14083
very kewl, and i’d forgotten that it was glen ford day on trnn. ché had brought the guardian print version, and nomad the Rt interview version, but i look forward to hearing ford’s precise diction and ‘take no prisoners’ take on the report.
as i scanned the transcript, several bits stood out, but this seemed very pithy and key to me:
“Amnesty International is making some very modest requests of the U.S. government. They’re asking the Congress to pass laws that would bring the states into compliance with international law. They’re asking that the President create a national task force on policing and on crime, something that Obama will claim that he’s already done. President Obama certainly is not going to, however, push for these measures based upon international law, because he breaks every law in the international book every Tuesday when he selects persons to be targeted for assassination by him by drones and other measures.”
of course he breaks other international laws every day, damn his soul.