So the jury let ex-cop Aaron Dean off with a mere manslaughter conviction for killing Atatiana Jefferson in her home as he snuck around unannounced at 2:30 in the morning.
“Put your hands up! Show me — BANG — your hands.”
I said three years ago that he should be convicted of murder, and I respectfully disagree with the jury and still say it was murder.
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Generally a murder conviction requires the prosecutor prove intent of some kind. Not easy to do. Manslaughter only requires he prove the defendant’s action resulted in a death. Much easier to prove. And it’s never easy to obtain a conviction for anything when it comes to the state’s hired thugs. At least justice was served even if to a lesser degree.
If you’d taken a look at that “three years ago” link, you might have noticed that I rather specifically addressed “intent.”
Dean clearly intended to shoot Atatiana. His defense was based on a claim that shooting her was justified, not unintended.
Contrast that with Alec baldwin’s killing of Halyna Hutchins. Given currently available info, Baldwin is a negligent idiot, who did — and failed to do — things that led to her death. But it was negligence, not an intent to discharge a bullet her way.