Charlottesville magistrate issues warrant for black victim of parking garage beating

[n2doc]

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Deandre Harris, a black man whose brutal beating at the hands of Charlottesville white supremacists was captured on video, is now wanted on charges of unlawful wounding in connection to the Aug. 12 incident.

A magistrate, not the police department, issued the warrant, although a news release said police officers had verified other video that led to the arrest. Harris is accused of attacking a man in the group that beat him.

Harris' attorney, Lee Merritt, who called the charge a "clearly retaliatory" effort from white supremacists after Harris used social media to identify suspects in the beating, said his client would turn himself in within 24 hours.

more (warning bloody image at link)

http://www.wcpo.com/news/national/charlottesville-police-charge-black-victim-of-parking-garage-beating

Cracker magistrate. Bet he has a hood at home

[shenmue]

1. WTF

[ck4829]

2. His blood got all over a white supremacist beating him, how dare him.

[Lee-Lee]

3. I want to see this "other video"

Did it happen before the attack we have all seen? After?

Virginia is not a duty to retreat state, that's where I would have expected this to come into play when I first saw this, so I'm very curious what this "other video" shows.....

[octoberlib]

4. If somebody's attacking you it's unlawful to defend yourself?

Is that what this is about? Or are they trying to say he started it?

[Wounded Bear]

23. Didn't click, but from the quoted text, that's what it sounds like...

Supposedly he attacked a group of white guys and their beat down was retaliation.

I'll wait to see more real evidence before I make any declarative statements.

[Lee-Lee]

25. I don't know what they are saying but

Defending yourself varies based on states.

There are two broad categories. "Duty to Retreat" and "Stand Your Ground".

In a "Duty to Retreat" state you first must look for any available means to retreat away from your attacker and attempt to retreat and can only defend yourself if retreat isn't possible. In a DTR state you can be charged for defending yourself if retreat was possible, and also sued in civil court by your attacker if you injure them. So if running away is possible and you don't but try to defend yourself in a DTR state you are in the wrong legally.

In "Stand Your Ground" states you can defend yourself without first trying to retreat, as the attacker is considered to be responsible for any harm that comes to them from a person defending themselves.

VA looks to be a SYG state, so that is out.

Now, it can be more complicated. For example if the attack on him was over and his attackers had ceased hostility and were walking away and he went after one of them, then it is no longer self defense. The attack on him had ended and then when he initiated force he became the attacker and the roles were reversed. If that happened then this charge could be legally viable. I've actually charged both parties in a fight with assault before because Party A hit Party B first, but then Party A ceased attacking and walked away and Party B followed them and hit them- in this case it was legally two seperate assaults.

I don't know where they are going. If tape exists of him assaulting somebody before the assault on him we all saw that changes the legal aspects a good deal.

[octoberlib]

27. Thanks for the info!

[maxrandb]

28. Apparently

it's illegal only if your black and wearing a hoodie.

[cwydro]

7. I agree.

No real information in that link.

I can't understand why they're charging this guy.

[bathroommonkey76]

12. From WaPo

.

A local magistrate on Monday issued an arrest warrant for DeAndre Harris on an unlawful wounding charge after an accuser, whom police did not identify, claimed to have been injured by the 20-year-old during the brawl, authorities told local media.

S. Lee Merritt, a civil attorney for Harris, told The Washington Post the charge was “clearly retaliatory” and described the accuser as a member of a white supremacist group. He maintained that Harris did not instigate the fight.

“We find it highly offensive and upsetting, but what’s more jarring is that he’s been charged with the same crime as the men who attacked him,” he said.

Merritt added that it was “highly unusual” for the warrant to come from a magistrate rather than police, and suggested that the accuser had previously tried to implicate Harris in the violence without success. He said his client would turn himself into police in the coming days.

Read more:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/10/10/black-man-beaten-at-white-nationalist-rally-in-charlottesville-faces-felony-charge/?utm_term=.c0d54878697e

[Hortensis]

6. Don't like, but let's wait this out. Reportedly other video shows Deandre Harris

hitting a man with a flashlight after the man tried but failed to spear a third person with a flagpole. This isn't new information, and if there is video showing him assaulting someone without need... Then those six nazis chased and beat Harris.

Harris may have been carrying a flashlight around in the daytime for self defense, but a judge, perhaps jury, is apparently going to decide whether he was justified in using it as a weapon in this case.

We may not like Harris being arrested, but even a violent nazi thug should be able to obtain justice for being attacked unnecessarily by a black man -- IF that's what happened.

[Yonnie3]

11. There were a lot of video and stills being shot.

I saw many of these on Facebook, since I am local. The one snippet of video that the supporters of the Nazi are sharing is only of the blow from the flashlight. I have seen videos that start about 20 seconds earlier showing the flag stabbing at people. There will be lots of such evidence to look through in court. As you say, whether or not the flashlight hit was justified as self-defense will have to be decided by a court.

The ones who beat him will also have to justify their actions. I think they will have a difficult time doing that. Stopping him is one thing, but beating him in retribution is another.

[Not Ruth]

40. Stopping him is one thing, but beating him in retribution is another.

Ironic considering that the prison system exists to inflict retribution

"Two main purposes underlie all criminal punishments. The first is retribution, which punishes the crime because it's fair and right to do so. Retribution is backward-looking and can be remembered as an 'eye for an eye.' The second is prevention, which punishes wrongdoers in order to prevent future crimes.Nov 12, 2014"

[maxrandb]

30. Horseshit!

"but even a violent nazi thug should be able to obtain justice for being attacked"

The only thing a "Nazi" should be able to obtain in this country is an ass-kicking!

We have a moral obligation to punch these fuckers in the face.

This is not Repub-Dem, Black-White, Liberal-Assclown CONS. These are "fucking Nazis".

We lost hundreds of thousands fighting these pricks. Europe lost MILLIONS!

THEY NEED TO BE AFRAID TO SHOW THEIR FUCKING FACES IN AMERICA.

[Hortensis]

32. Our founders knew universal education was critical to democracy,

but even then they must have known it doesn't always take.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Martin Luther King, Jr.

At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst. Aristotle

[mythology]

45. Some people would say the same about abortion providers

People are allowed to have abhorrent beliefs.

[maxrandb]

50. And those " some people"

Are entitled to nothing but an ass kicking too.

Jesus the shit we've normalized in this country is Fucking madness.

Nazis marching in our Fucking streets and people blowing up innocent medical providers... and people on DU have the "both sides" decease.

Certain people...say... like NAZIS, should be violently confronted every time they show their faces.

BTW - I feel the same about Confederate slavery defending ass clowns.

They don't need to be understood.

They don't need to be reached out to.

They need to be so frightened to come out in public that they NEVER come out in public

[MindPilot]

49. A punch in the face at the very least.

and the same should hold true for any judge, lawyer, or cop who protects or defends them.

[dalton99a]

8. Betcha he'll spend more time in prison than the Nazis that beat him

[catrose]

9. Can we donate to his legal fund?

He needs to know we're with him. So does the magistrate.

[Not Ruth]

10. What is the name of the magistrate?

[Bonx]

13. "Cracker magistrate." Nice.

[Yonnie3]

14. How do you know this? n/t

[Bonx]

15. How do I know what?

[Yonnie3]

16. That the magistrate is a cracker.

[Bonx]

17. I don't. I was quoting the OP. And commenting on his quote.

[Yonnie3]

18. I see.

I did not catch that in the original post.

I doubt that our local magistrates are crackers and have hoods at home.

Not "nice".

[Bonx]

20. RE: "Not "nice". Correct.

Sarcasm.

[Yonnie3]

19. "Cracker magistrate. Bet he has a hood at home"

On what basis do you make this accusation?

[n2doc]

21. If it isn't obvious to you I can't help. n/t

[Yonnie3]

24. So it's obvious to you.

Just to be clear, I don't think the charge will stand up in court and I hope Harris's attackers rot in jail.

The magistrate acting on a complaint that had confirmed evidence doesn't necessarily make them a cracker or a hood owner. The magistrate had no choice.

I deplore violence and racial slurs.

[LanternWaste]

26. I hear that allegation quite often

"I deplore violence and racial slurs..."

I hear that allegation quite often when slurs are directed at Caucasians.

However, I do wish that as a white man, I too could maintain a pretense of oppression over the use of cracker, but I just can't bring myself to that level of acting.

[Judi Lynn]

44. You found just the right words. It really is obnoxious seeing people attempting to be injured.

That any of them still try it is a testament to their general resentment of post Civil War realities.

[ATL Ebony]

31. "The magistrate had no choice. " -- WTF???

Charges should have been brought by police if warranted, NOT the magistrate. Apparently, no charges were warranted by the police against Harris and I seriously doubt the magistrate saw a video that police did not view.

I deplore blind injustice and pretentious outrage of racial inequality.

[Yonnie3]

33. Yep.

The outrage I have is that those low life white supremacists keep coming to my town and one of them killed a friend's granddaughter.

[Lee-Lee]

34. That's not actually how it works

The police can make an arrest, or the police can take evidence to the magistrate to get a warrant issued, or a private citizen can take evidence to the magistrate directly and get a warrant issued.

The police are not a gatekeeper to who gets to see the magistrate or who the magistrate chooses to issue a warrant for. The police not making the call serves no indication of how legitimate or not it is.

And often police will punt it to the magistrate. If I was a cop and something was iffy or outside my area of expertise or just likely to be controversial and it wasn't an immediate on the scene judgement I would tell the parties to take it direct to the magistrate and let them make a decision. If I was a cop there and someone brought me a tape of him attacking someone my response would certainly be to send them to the magistrate.

Now as far as the magistrate goes, he or she has to act based on what evidence they are presented as the law dictates.

[Yonnie3]

35. Yes, Lee-Lee

You can go to a magistrate and swear out a warrant in Virginia.

Here is an ironic example from here in Charottesville.

Jason Kessler (the organizer of the rally) swore out an assault warrant after an argument with a man who disagreed with him. This was well before the rally. Kessler is now facing felony perjury charges for swearing that warrant. After a review of surveillance video, the prosecutor dropped the charges and charged Kessler with assault and with perjury.

[Lee-Lee]

36. Yep- you better be honest in what you do or it will backfire

When I worked just domestic violence cases I saw this all the time- people (sometimes crappy lawyers) would tell women that it would help their divorce case to go to the magistrate and make an accusation of domestic violence. Since the magistrate is just getting one side that is being sworn to them as truth they issued a protection order and/or a warrant. Then I got to go try and figure out what the truth was.

[Yonnie3]

38. A false warrant can also open you up to big civil liability. n/t

[mythology]

46. In other words, there's no evidence to back up your bigoted term

You are right. You can't help me learn to use racist slurs. You might want to consider what that says about you that you are willing to do so at the drop of a hat.

[n2doc]

47. Congrats

You are on ignore.

[kcr]

41. Did you miss the story in the OP? n/t

[Yonnie3]

42. No. I heard and read about locally as well. n/t

[kcr]

43. Oh, I see. n/t

[raven mad]

22. WTF?

I swear, everyone should move up here.

[The_Casual_Observer]

29. If you watch carfully the old beared kkk bastard with the confederate flag charged those guys

with the flag pole. He got his ass kicked for it. That was enough for those kkk/nazi criminal fuckers to cut loose and beat Harris.
I don't know what a magistrate is, but this whole thing sounds like kkk bullshit.

[Weekend Warrior]

37. "A magistrate, not the police department, issued the warrant"

I don't think it is possible for a police department to issue a warrant.

[Lee-Lee]

39. It's not

[Weekend Warrior]

48. That whole paragraph leaves a lot to be desired. nt.