RE: [Peace-discuss] Fw: Re: Adding Insult to Injury: State’s Attorney Releases Medical Records of “Toto” Kaiyewu

Thu Jun 4 11:13:31 CDT 2009

Leaving all other issues pertaining to this situation aside and focusing on the questions pertaining to why they could shoot at a pit bull dog and merely wound it  but not do the same with respect to a human being, it appears that some unrealistic assumptions are being made here. 

 First it assumes that the police deliberately shot at the dog merely to wound and not kill it and that they deliberately shot to kill the human.  The former being based, according to your quote on the statement of Jayme Melchi – who I believe was an observer – and said, “They ended up shooting the pit bull without killing him.”  This statement describes what happened but does not speak to the officers’ intent when taking the shot.  For all we know, the cops may have been shooting to kill the pit bull dog. Similarly, in the case of Kaiyewu, the cops may have been aiming for a body shot or even not aiming at all and wound up hitting the victim in the head. In either case, the officer’s intent really turns out to be irrelevant as compared to the result of action, which itself may be a random result (i.e., if the target was killed or merely wounded) based on the poor marksmanship of the officers involved.

Secondly, it assumes that cops are good marksmen who can hit precisely what they aim at so as to pick and choose where they are going to shoot their target.  Most cops are not that good a marksman even at ten feet and certainly are often lucky if they hit their target at all – even at ten feet.  In fact, this lack of marksmanship ability among police is not only one of the reasons why departments tend to discourage the use of firearms unless deemed absolutely necessary (stray bullets open the department up to law suits by unintended victims and may also endanger other officers); but it is also one of the arguments that can be made against such so-called less than lethal tasers (i.e., cops are bad shots and cannot be sure of hitting non vital areas of the body despite all the training in the world and all the policies against aiming for those parts of the body).

As I noted in the beginning, I am not going to address the other issues involved in the two cases or any other cases except to say that all such cases raise many issues and questions and some of them are far more important than if the cops should have shot to wound in the case of the human or shot to kill in the case of the dog.  

From: peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net [mailto:peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] On Behalf Of Jenifer Cartwright
Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2009 9:20 AM
To: Peace-discuss
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fw: Re: Adding Insult to Injury: State’s Attorney Releases Medical Records of “Toto” Kaiyewu

--- On Wed, 6/3/09, Jenifer Cartwright <jencart13 at yahoo.com> wrote:

(This story further adds insult to injury -- the highlighting is mine)

Sooo... how was it that police were able to WOUND a pittbull that was actually in the process of attacking, but claim they had no choice but to KILL a human being who was brandishing a sharp object??  

Lots more work to be done before this one is put to rest...

 --Jenifer

Victim or Aggressor

Reported by: Jenny Gastwirth/ WCIA 3 News

Wednesday, Jun 3, 2009 @10:08pm CST

Please Select a Bandwidth (X)High | ( )Med | ( )Low 

CHAMPAIGN--We first reported Tuesday night that a man fought a pit bull and mixed breed off a child. It happened outside the Tuscany Ridge Apartments in Champaign. Now some witnesses are calling the victim the aggressor. They say the dogs were never violent. They believe they were provoked and went into defense mode. But the man others call a hero says thank goodness he was there.

Randy Grafton's body is covered with what he calls "battle wounds." He got seven stitches after getting between a little boy and two big dogs. "I tell ya I feel like I was up against one of those professional boxers after going through it," he said. But he adds his pain is worth it. It's a small price to pay for keeping children safe. "When a dog is off a leash and it's chasing a kid, somebody's got to do something to protect that kid.." Others say this is a case of over-reacting. "The kids they run up and down every day past that dog," said Jayme Melchi. "They're out there, they pet it [and] the dogs lick them." Melchi says it's a shame police were called in for help. They ended up shooting the pit bull without killing him. Animal control had to later put him down. The other dog is being quarantined. "I've been around pit bulls all my life and I've yet to see one just turn back and go crazy for no reason," said Melchi. "I mean honestly it's got to be a protect issue or they're feeling threatened."

Grafton says there's a reason states have leash laws and the community is lucky he's the only one who got hurt.. "If they had gotten a hold of him, they would have ripped him apart," he said about the little boy.

Police haven't released the dog owner's name. No word on if any charges will be filed. Again the little boy is okay. 

<< Back

--- On Wed, 6/3/09, Brian Dolinar <briandolinar at gmail.com> wrote:

From: Brian Dolinar <briandolinar at gmail.com>
Subject: [Peace] Adding Insult to Injury: State’s Attorney Releases Medical Records of “Toto” Kaiyewu
To: "Court Watch" <announce at communitycourtwatch.org>, stop at iresist.org, coalition at iresist.org, "AWARE peace" <peace at lists.chambana.net>
Date: Wednesday, June 3, 2009, 8:47 PM

On Monday, June 1, 2009, local press received a 320-page report on the police killing of “Toto” Kaiyewu which included medical and mental health records normally to be kept sealed from the public. Beyond objectively analyzing the facts of the case, this was an attempt of Vermilion County State’s Attorney Randy Brinegar to further discredit Kaiyewu and justify his killing by police on April 6.

At a press conference held last week, Brinegar said he would not release the medical records. An audio recording of his comments can be heard here: 

 <http://ucimc.org/content/states-attorney-brinegar-and-vermilion-county-press-conference-05-27-09-regarding-death-tot-0> http://ucimc.org/content/states-attorney-brinegar-and-vermilion-county-press-conference-05-27-09-regarding-death-tot-0 

I spoke on the phone with Brinegar and questioned him about his change of decision. He admitted to earlier promising to not release medical records. He said he changed his mind after comments made to the media by Abbey Kaiyewu, Toto’s mother. Yet he admitted he had not spoken with the Kaiyewu family to gain their permission before releasing the medical reports. 

Despite claims by local authorities that this case should not be tried in the media, this is precisely what Brinegar has done. These documents―released two months after the incident―were given to the media before anyone else. The Kaiyewu family or their attorney Jan Susler still have not received the documents. That Brinegar did not have the courtesy to provide this information to the family before the media reveals his intentions to sway public opinion in favor of the police account of what happened that tragic night. 

Of course, there is a conflict of interest in the Vermilion County State’s Attorney investigating this case in which the Vermilion County Sheriff’s Department was involved. Brinegar has a working relationship with the local Sheriff’s Department, relies on Deputies to testify in cases he is prosecuting, and requires their cooperation. Charges against police could potentially threaten this otherwise harmonious relationship. 

The narrative constructed by the local authorities about Toto Kaiyewu is of a crazed lunatic wielding a machete who the police had no other option but to gun down. The release of his medical records is an attempt to further cement this account. It has been reiterated by the local media, eager to get the scoop in this story, without a critical murmur. 

When I spoke to Brinegar, he promised to also provide the Public i, newspaper of the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center, with the full 320-page report. 

The message this sends to the community is clear. This could happen to anybody―a friend or a family member―and the police are more quick to protect themselves than to provide a clear and forthright explanation. 

Local community groups led by Champaign-Urbana Citizens for Peace and Justice are calling for police to release their written policies regarding the use of force in this and related incidents. 
BD
-- 
Brian Dolinar, Ph.D.
303 W. Locust St.
Urbana, IL 61801
 <http://us.mc449.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=briandolinar@gmail.com> briandolinar at gmail.com

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