Open Thread | What Is Possible With Progressive Prosecutors

Posted on October 11, 2019 by rikyrah

 

I felt like crying, reading this story. For so many reasons.

3CHICS has long been a supporter of Ms. Mosby. We watched as she took so many hits trying to get justice for Freddie Gray. We thought that we knew what she was up against during those trials. But, it took the police scandal for me to realize just how treacherous trying to do the right thing in Baltimore could be for her.

But, she has come through it, and her enemies have been exposed for what they are. And now, Ms. Mosby is being responsible, and doing the logical thing concerning justice once you’ve found out that the police trusted to gather the right evidence are crooked as a winding road. IF they are crooked, then cases that they’ve touched are suspect, and what they brought to the cases can’t be trusted.

This is what you hope for, with the justice system, when you bring in progressive prosecutors. They see a wrong, and decide to try and correct it. It’s not easy, because so many are invested in the status quo, but, I hope that Ms. Mosby and others realize that there are a lot of us out here that support what she and others are trying to do.

Bringing JUSTICE to the Justice System….instead of JUST-US.

https://www.theroot.com/baltimore-s-top-prosecutor-marilyn-mosby-moves-to-throw-1838937932“>Baltimore’s Top Prosecutor Marilyn Mosby Moves to Throw Out Nearly 800 Cases Involving Tainted Cops

Anne Branigin

28 minutes ago

In the wake of a massive police scandal, Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby is asking the courts to toss out nearly 800 criminal cases linked to Baltimore cops her office believes cannot be trusted.

Prosecutors are hoping to wipe out 790 convictions linked to 25 police officers, including eight convicted in Baltimore’s Gun Trace Task Force scandal. As the Baltimore Sun reports, the DA began asking courts last week to move forward with erasing the tainted cases.

In the wake of a massive police scandal, Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby is asking the courts to toss out nearly 800 criminal cases linked to Baltimore cops her office believes cannot be trusted.

Prosecutors are hoping to wipe out 790 convictions linked to 25 police officers, including eight convicted in Baltimore’s Gun Trace Task Force scandal. As the Baltimore Sun reports, the DA began asking courts last week to move forward with erasing the tainted cases.

Mosby’s action follows the trial of eight former officers serving on the Gun Trace Task Force, in which Baltimore cops admitted to stealing money from citizens, planting evidence, lying on paperwork, and milking the city for overtime pay for hours they hadn’t actually worked, the Sun reports. Two of the crooked cops were convicted of racketeering at the trial, six pled guilty. While the scope of the trial focused on only eight cops, other Baltimore officers were implicated during the trial.

There’s no difference between the eight officers convicted, and the other cops named during the trial, Mosby told the Sun, adding that her office had no choice but to clear the compromised cases.

“When you have sworn police officers involved in egregious and long-standing criminal activity such as planting guns and drugs, stealing drugs and money, selling drugs, making illegal arrests, and bringing false charges, our legal and ethical obligation in the pursuit of justice leaves us no other recourse but to ‘right the wrongs’ of unjust convictions associated with corrupt police officers,” Mosby wrote the Sun in an email.

At least 10 of the 25 tainted cops have resigned. Three remain with Baltimore Police, a department spokesperson confirmed.

The vacated convictions are just one component of the work the city faces in cleaning up after the crooked cops’ mess: an avalanche of lawsuits tied to their cases is expected to cost the city tens of millions of dollars.

And, good news from Philadelphia:

https://www.inquirer.com/news/willie-veasy-released-conviction-overturned-undisclosed-larry-krasner-20191009.html

 

North Philly man cleared of murder after 27 years in prison, the 10th exoneration under DA Larry Krasner

by Chris Palmer,

 

Updated: October 9, 2019- 6:37 PM

Willie Veasy walked out of the Center City courthouse just before 4 p.m. Wednesday, his sister on his left arm, his mother by his side.

He had new clothes. New shoes. And for the first time in 27 years, he no longer could be labeled a murderer

A judge in the morning had vacated Veasy’s conviction in the 1992 shooting death of a North Philadelphia man. Prosecutors said they believed he was likely innocent and would not seek to retry him.

Exiting the courthouse, Veasy was soft-spoken but smiling as he took in his surroundings.

 “I get to walk out of here the same way I walked in,” he said. “An innocent man.”

Veasy’s exoneration marked the 10th time since District Attorney Larry Krasner assumed office last year that prosecutors in his Conviction Integrity Unit have helped reverse a murder conviction.

“Innocent people shouldn’t be sitting in jail cells,” Krasner said at a news conference hours after the order by Common Pleas Court Judge Leon W. Tucker. “It’s not that hard. The system should be just. It should be fair.”

Sworn in on a promise to transform the District Attorney’s Office, Krasner last year expanded his Conviction Integrity Unit and broadened its ambitions. He also appointed Patricia Cummings, formerly based in Texas, to lead the unit that examines inmates’ claims of wrongful convictions.

Cummings said that in 22 months, the unit has reviewed requests involving about 200 cases, most of which prosecutors have left intact. Still, Krasner said that 10 exonerations means that investigators determined 5% of those cases were marred by fundamental errors.

This IS good news.

 

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58 Responses to Open Thread | What Is Possible With Progressive Prosecutors

  4. eliihass says:
    October 11, 2019 at 5:37 pm

    Someone needs to find this demon fast, or this beautiful baby will be dead in no time.. how can anyone do this to a baby.. how..??!!

    https://twitter.com/1mtheresa/status/1182748075724627969?s=20

    Reply
  6. SouthernGirl2 says:
    October 11, 2019 at 3:47 pm

    My little cousin’s reserve champion heifer was auctioned off for $16,500!

    Reply
  8. rikyrah says:
    October 11, 2019 at 10:39 am

    Miss me with your misogynoir (@rwcogito) Tweeted:
    Let’s speak truth:

    When you say “I don’t remember” whether or not you ever opposed someone else’s civil rights, it means either:
    1) you’re lying, and you did; or
    2) their rights are so insignificant to you that you never bothered to consider them at all until it was expedient. https://twitter.com/rwcogito/status/1182679025812000769?s=17

    Reply
  10. SouthernGirl2 says:
    October 11, 2019 at 10:30 am

    He painted a picture of Barack Obama, with a bicycle tire, upside down

    Reply
    • Liza says:
      October 11, 2019 at 9:15 am

      Interesting. I can certainly remember POC being referred to as yellow, brown, and black.

      But here’s something else that I remember. In my Catholic school (in the Deep South), race was about black and white. We had Mideastern families (there was a large Catholic Syrian community in Jax, FL) and Asian families. There was a very prominent Filipino family in my parish. And there were always Hispanics, of course. These folks racially identified as white and were thought to be white by the white people of European descent.

      Reply
  19. rikyrah says:
    October 11, 2019 at 7:27 am

    Sofa King (@BillyWarpinjur) Tweeted:
    “Turkish military officials planned the assault over the past few weeks they were provided with American surveillance video and information from reconnaissance aircraft. Information like this useful in picking out targets for airstrikes.“
    https://t.co/SojcAed2U5 https://twitter.com/BillyWarpinjur/status/1182407747549171712?s=17

    Reply
  20. rikyrah says:
    October 11, 2019 at 7:18 am

    Bernie has a lot of toxic staffers that would not be picked up by other campaigns. They need that check 😒😒😒

    https://twitter.com/Selena_Adera/status/1182395097901666331

    Reply
  23. rikyrah says:
    October 11, 2019 at 7:12 am

    We’re Not Going Back (@raising_hill) Tweeted:
    Call me old-fashioned, but I remember when the custom was to wait until you won the nomination before you started shopping for VPs. https://twitter.com/raising_hill/status/1182438002494189569?s=17

    Reply
    • Liza says:
      October 11, 2019 at 9:20 am

      I would like for Andrew Gillum to be prominent in the next Democratic administration, but I’m not sure VP is best. But it’s certainly not a bad strategy for winning Florida’s 29 electoral votes.

      Reply
  28. rikyrah says:
    October 11, 2019 at 6:58 am

    RozieK (@kenner3616) Tweeted:
    Charles Fried saying that he fears Trump when he and his family fled the Nazis should frighten us all. America is in a dark, dark place. @allinwithchris https://twitter.com/kenner3616/status/1182461362246578176?s=17

    Reply
  30. rikyrah says:
    October 11, 2019 at 6:38 am

    Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) Tweeted:
    “He was only a good vice-president because he knew how to kiss Barack Obama’s ass.”
    Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States.
    And his people answer by chanting, “USA.” https://twitter.com/CharlesPPierce/status/1182464728276361217?s=17

    Reply
  33. rikyrah says:
    October 11, 2019 at 6:36 am

    They have been dumping migrants in cities WITH NO NOTICE

    https://twitter.com/Jacob_Frey/status/1182477764965863424

    Reply
  34. rikyrah says:
    October 11, 2019 at 4:08 am

    Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) Tweeted:
    SCOOP: Indicted pro-TRUMP Ukraine researcher LEV PARNAS told people he paid RUDY GIULIANI hundreds of thousands of dollars to work for his firm, Fraud Guarantee.

    Giuliani first seemed to admit working for the firm in 2018, then said he couldn’t confirm. https://t.co/ddobriVzff https://twitter.com/kenvogel/status/1182481848515121152?s=17

    Reply
  35. rikyrah says:
    October 11, 2019 at 3:54 am

    NBC News (@NBCNews) Tweeted:
    Former Steelers RB DeAngelo Williams sponsors 500 mammograms to honor mom who died of breast cancer. – @TODAYShow https://t.co/2ozJU8uTcT https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1182434437709074432?s=17

    Reply
  36. rikyrah says:
    October 11, 2019 at 3:53 am

    John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) Tweeted:
    “I tried to reach Giuliani to discuss the arrests. When I called, a woman claiming to be his communications director answered. I could hear a voice resembling Giuliani’s shout ‘asshole’ in background. ‘Oh, sorry,’ she told me. ‘He was talking to the TV.’ “ https://t.co/FoLzSgUwMI https://twitter.com/JohnJHarwood/status/1182418473982615553?s=17

    Reply
  45. rikyrah says:
    October 11, 2019 at 3:40 am

    Good Morning, Everyone 😄😄😄

    Reply

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