Handcuffed Black Youth Shot Himself to Death, Says Coroner

[joeybee12]

A coroner’s report obtained exclusively by NBC News directly contradicts the police version of how a 22-year-old black man died in the back seat of a Louisiana police cruiser earlier this year -- but still says the man, whose hands were cuffed behind his back, shot himself.

In a press release issued March 3, the day he died, the Louisiana State Police said Victor White III apparently shot himself in an Iberia Parish police car. According to the police statement, White had his hands cuffed behind his back when he shot himself in the back.

But according to the full final report of the Iberia Parish coroner, which was released nearly six months later and obtained exclusively by NBC News, White was shot in the front, not the back. The bullet entered his right chest and exited under his left armpit. White was left-handed, according to family members. According to the report, the forensic pathologist found gunshot residue in the wound, but not the sort of stippling that a close-range shot can sometimes produce. He also found abrasions on White’s face.

And yet, despite the contradictions – and even though White’s hands were never tested for gunpowder residue – the Iberia Parish coroner still supported the central contention of the initial police statement issued back in March. Dr. Carl Ditch ruled that White shot himself, and declared his death a suicide.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/handcuffed-black-youth-shot-himself-death-says-coroner-n185016

You'd think the fucking cops and the fucking coroner could get their damn lies straight, FFS.

[hobbit709]

1. And if you believe that you're even stupider than Louie Gohmert.

[joeybee12]

2. That's pretty dumb...

Amazing that these shithead cops and coroner think they can get away with it...actually, they probably have in the past.

[LiberalArkie]

40. I remember one in my county of Perry here in central Arkansas

Man was found in the woods with his head removed, hands removed and genitals removed. Search dogs found the head with a couple of bullet holes in it about a mile away. The hands and genitals were never found. Coroners result was suicide by multiple gun shots to the head.

[tclambert]

49. "Stupider than Louie Gohmert" cannot be measured due to quantum uncertainty.

Values that small would require something far more accurate than an atomic force microscope.

Plus any head containing a brain stupider than Louie Gohmert could at any moment implode into a black hole.

[TheKentuckian]

60. Nobody believes this nonsense they just pretend to to maintain the broader lie.

[Stellar]

3. It just keeps coming....

I'm f**king tired of it!

[joeybee12]

4. And I'm sure we're not hearing even one half of one percent of all the shit...nt

[Voice for Peace]

16. it's true. but the more we hear, the better, more have to listen.

[yuiyoshida]

39. This!

what you said!

[kiva]

5. So,

the pathologist says that the entry wound was probably not a close-range shot and the coroner says it was "a contact entrance wound". The police say he shot himself in the back, though the wound was front to side. No amount of "body habitus" short of being double-jointed would have allowed this young man to shoot himself in the chest, at an angle from right to left . . .

You're right. The lies are so bad you can smell them through the computer. The Feds need to be involved in this. They can take it on as a civil rights violation - which it certainly was.

[dickthegrouch]

6. And conspiracy to subvert the cause of Justice

Perjury, Conspiracy.

Bring on the Feds.

[conservaphobe]

7. Riiiight. nt

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

8. May 9, 1970 16 year old mentally retarded black boy Charles Oatman had an accidental fall

in his jail cell and died in the Richmond County jail in Augusta, Georgia according to the county coroner. His parents had the good sense to conduct a private autopsy which revealed cigarette burns all over his body and a terrible head wound delivered to his head with a blunt object that killed him. When the truth came out, the black community rose up in protest against the police. Six were shot and killed and eleven others wounded.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

9. And then there was the national scandal over football star Ron Settles in the 1980s

found in his jail cell in the Long Beach jail, hanged to death. He had been stopped for speeding by the Signal Hill Police. The Los Angeles County Coroner determined it was suicide. Despite these findings, at the coroner's inquest, five of nine jurors decided it was not suicide after hearing the evidence. A second autopsy was ordered with Dr. Michael Baden and his colleague Dr. Sidney Weinberg. Baden decided it was definitely not suicide:

http://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/27/us/2d-autopsy-on-hanged-athlete-is-inconclusive.html

"...Dr. Baden said the examination indicated evidence of esophageal hemorrhage that could have been caused by a certain type of choke hold employed by the local police. He said the lack of marks on the skin, the minimal injury to underlying tissue and the nature of the hemorrhage itself were unlike any he had seen in a suicidal hanging.

Dr. Weinberg agreed, saying: ''The most significant finding is a recognition of esophageal hemorrhage. Further investigation is necessary, and, with the information I have, it is not a probable suicide. ..."

[Voice for Peace]

18. Dr. Michael Baden - same doctor!

[ariela.danielle]

63. Article

/Thank you for posting this article. Do you have any other articles on the Settles case?

[me b zola]

10. Police reform NOW!

Black lives matter. Brown lives matter. The lives of people with mental illness matter. Homeless people matter. Working class people matter.

Until the police treat regular people the same way that they treat uber rich white people, we must demand better.

[passiveporcupine]

11. I thought it was common practice

to pat down a suspect, before putting them in a police vehicle. How do you pat someone down and not feel a hidden gun?

[jmowreader]

22. Especially one of them thar FANCY guns that shoots around corners!

Those are pretty big; you'd think the cops would have noticed.

I mean, come on kids: if you're going to murder people and say the victim did it to himself, at least make it LOOK plausible!

[valerief]

12. All they have to do is lie, because, hey, who's gonna challenge them? nt

[Dustlawyer]

13. I was thinking the coroner was worried that he might commit suicide in a body bag!

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

14. No shit

How fucking sad and wrong.

[DRoseDARs]

15. Victor was apparently a wizard. Or possibly a ninja. A contortionist ninja.

eom

[Spitfire of ATJ]

17. "He also found abrasions on White’s face."

"Well Gooooolly there Skeeter,...I didn't know their bruises show. Larn sumthin' new everday."

[Delphinus]

19. Unbelievable!

Where is the investigation? Will the Feds intervene? This is so wrong!

[FreakinDJ]

20. When are the Fucking FEDs going to step in

This is an Epidemic all across the country

[Generic Brad]

34. It makes me wonder if the Feds also support this behavior

If they were opposed to it, it would be a reasonable expectation that they would step in. But they don't intervene. That implies to me that this is condoned.

[uponit7771]

36. +1, if the Feds errored on the side of putting these bastards in jail there would be less of it

[HeiressofBickworth]

21. Police brutality spans ages and races.

My mother lived in Chicago as a young woman in the early 1940's. I recall her telling me that a neighbor of hers, a Chicago policeman, used to laugh and tell her how funny it was that so many people they arrested fell down the stairs at the station, breaking bones. No one race, age or gender was targeted -- just people who could not defend themselves against the police.

So many reports like this, both current and in the past, indicate to me that the police force attracts the type of person who wants the cover of job and badge to commit the acts of brutality that would land them in jail otherwise. It is due to the prevalence of cell phones, and other video recording devices, that the extent of their actions comes to light. And as long as the police are in charge of investigating accusations of police brutality, nothing will change. What's needed is a civilian review board who are completely independent of the police. Not a prosecutor who comes from a family of cops, one of whom was killed on the job, like the prosecutor in the Michael Brown case.

The citizens of Ferguson are understanding that they have the power to change things by the power of their vote. There is a voter registration effort going on. I wish them luck.

[tblue]

23. May his ghost haunt them every day of their lives

All you have to do to murder a black man is become a cop. In many places you only need a gun and a weak alibi.

Black folks have been so patient. So so patient.

[Crunchy Frog]

24. Why should they bother to get their lies straight?

It's not like it's going to make any difference.

[L0oniX]

33. The media will fix it for them.

[americannightmare]

25. The Detroit Chief of Police...

telling his citizens to arm themselves because the police can’t protect them is a perfect illustration of why our whole policing ideology in this country is illogical at best and pernicious at worst. Quite apart from the travesty of a majority white police force “serving” a majority black community, part of any reform should be re-thinking how policing is carried out in the first place. The Detroit example for instance; if everyone is armed, why do we need police? Most of the police work in any community these days is “response”; the police respond to a crime already in progress. Then their presence often escalates the situation, for various reasons, particularly in a minority community where trust is a huge issue. Even if they are patrolling nowadays they are a polarizing force. We need community policing that creates a calming influence; police who are trusted in the community do not need body armor and SWAT equipment, hell, they may not even need guns. Of course, all this is predicated on the notion that we as a society meaningfully address the social issues, particularly income inequality, which are at the core of our problems. As a kid growing up in the 70s, I never saw private security; now it’s everywhere. And we are far more unequal today than we were in those days.

[Live and Learn]

26. Wow, just wow. nt

[damnedifIknow]

27. Crazy

[Kalidurga]

28. Let's pretend that this could actually happen

The police involved need to be fired yesterday for not finding a freakin gun on this kid.

[Enthusiast]

29. K&R! This post should have hundreds of recommendations!

This is a horrible injustice!

Thank you, joeybee12.

[OneGrassRoot]

30. Same thing happened in Durham, NC

Jesus Huerta, 17 years old.

http://www.wral.com/after-further-review-durham-da-says-no-charges-in-jesus-huerta-case/13688962/

[uponit7771]

37. How do you "miss" a .45 handgun?!!?!?! Who in thei rigth mind is going to beleive that!?

[Cha]

31. :(

[L0oniX]

32. Message to the people from the pigs: We know you are all stupid!

[Rex]

35. Yeah cops murder people, probably a daily occurrence.

YAY COPS! THEY ARE THE BESTEST!

[potone]

38. Oh, sure he did!

I thought Houdini was dead.

[KansDem]

41. Just how does one do this?

?

Anyone want to clue me in?

[hifiguy]

42. Apparently reports of Houdini's death

were greatly exaggerated.

Everyone who believes this BS stand on your head.

[drray23]

43. justice dept need to be involved

This is a case of cover up so fragrant that the justice department needs to get involved and start another investigation.

I can not believe they would let it go.

[rickyhall]

44. Easy

Through door window, a few feet away, while suspect yelled, "Don't shoot!" or "I know my rights."

[L0oniX]

45. What's next? Exploding hand cuffs? Crushing cop car back seats? Jail doors that decapitate?

[Jack Rabbit]

46. This one is getting curiouser and cuiouser

It reminds me of this.

[Initech]

47. To quote the movie "Super Troopers":

I'll believe that when me shit turns purple and smells like rainbow sherbert.

[tclambert]

48. Police should be extra careful when handcuffing circus contortionists.

And they shouldn't bother trying to handcuff magicians. A good magician can escape from handcuffs faster than a normal person can open them with a key.

Oh, maybe, too, they should make it a rule to SEARCH people for guns before taking them into custody. (Why do I have to think of everything?)

[WillyT]

50. Un-Fucking-Believable... Literally...

[Exultant Democracy]

51. It used to racist were proud of their executions

Ever see a picture of a crowd for a big lynching. You would think people were headed to the county fair.

[indepat]

52. Execution cajun-style?

[daschess1987]

53. There is no justice. There is no law.

The oligarchs have taken over and we're left with anarchy. They've got the surveillance state, the militarized police, and the drones, but history has shown that money and technology do not always win wars. May those who have done this to us never find peace in their bunkers.

[AverageJoe90]

54. It's a coverup. Does it have to be any more obvious?

I hope that the Obama Justice Department throws the book at these crooked douchebags.

[cstanleytech]

56. Whats been the reaction by the FBI? I mean surely if its a coverup then the FBI

must be investigating it.

[CanonRay]

55. The level of injustice in this country has reached epidemic proportions.

It's something every day.

[MADem]

57. I think the USAG had better not unpack....he needs to head south. nt

[samsingh]

58. sounds like another police murder

[KamaAina]

59. Copycat killing?

Same thing happened in Jonesboro, Ark. a while back.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025441326#post1

[blkmusclmachine]

61. If you believe that, then I've got some ocean front property in Nebraska to sell you!

[TorchTheWitch]

62. weird

Aside from his supposedly being able to get his arms around like a pretzel to shoot himself in the chest, I can't figure where he could have possibly gotten the gun. He was patted down twice and they found pot and cocaine but no gun? How do you miss a gun in even one pat down in which bitty little bags of drugs were located?

Ok, yes, some people are very flexible with long limbs, so I guess it's a possible that this physically could have been done. Why the chest though? If you're going to go through all of that distorting your arms around wouldn't it have been easier and more likely to result in death to shoot yourself in the head? ANd what is meant by "chest"? Was this shot straight into the chest from the front or more like the side area of the chest, and did the bullet go through sideway (like from one side to the other) rather than straight from front to back?

And the abrasions... can't they tell if abrasions or bruising occurred before or after death, or does it matter how much time has passed before death? I suppose he could have gotten an abrasion by falling from an upright position when he allegedly made this shot, but who knows since just identifying an abrasion doesn't really explain anything concrete.

It's the gun that's the biggest issue. After TWO pat downs I find it just impossible it could have been missed especially when they found a bitty little baggie of coke. Though a .22 is small he would have had to have it hidden in his rectum to not be easily found in a pat down.

I just can't think of any possible way he could have gotten a gun of any caliber. Yes, the police don't use .22's, but that doesn't explain how he could possibly have had a gun while he was in the police car. So, maybe the police never patted him down at all or did a cursory job of it? No way. No way is any officer going to put anyone in their car that they don't absolutely know for a certainty that the person can't harm them, and that means a thorough pat down.

I guess I could see how the ME would still believe it was suicide from the physical findings of the body, but it's that gun that's the problem. Everything in the autopsy might be explained if the stars all align correctly, but it's that gun that there is just no way to explain. I've thought of every possible way that he could have obtained the gun while locked in the police car, but not a one of them works. The only one that comes anywhere close is that he was never patted down or it was only very cursory. Nope. Impossible. There's just no way on earth that even the most stupid officer in the world would ever ever ever put someone in the back of their cruiser without making certain they had no weapon.

There is just no possible explanation for that gun. Everything else could possibly be explained but not the gun. I want to know where that gun came from. I mean like the evidence locker or who it's registered to - some kind of trail.

And what about powder residue on the guy's hands? Or is this yet another case where the police just forgot about that all-important procedure? I've watched soooo many episodes of cases on Dateline or 48 Hours, etc. where the one thing that could have nailed a perp would have been gunshot residue on their hands, but woops, police just somehow forgot to do that.