Los Angeles Indymedia : Activist News

Defense Attorney John Barnett can add another notch in his breifcase. For the second time in his career, he succeeded in deflecting accountability for a police officer that was caught on tape obviously brutalizing an African American. The first time was when he successfully got a state court aquittal for Theodore Bresino, who was clearly seen stomping on Rodney King during the savage beating.

Attorney, Ron Brower, achieved an aquittal for officer Bijan Darvish for filing a false police report about the assault on the then 16 year old Donovan Jackson. Barnett succeeded in defending officer Jeremy Morse, who can clearly be seen brutalizing Jackson in the video. A hung jury, with 7 jurors voting Morse guilty and 5 not guilty, resulted in a mistrial for the charge of assault under color of authority . Only one juror was Afro-American.

"We got it on video. We get it on tape and STILL NO JUSTICE!" declared one outraged citizen who followed the trial closely. "This is Rodney King all over again!" said another. These community leaders and others have called for "PEACE AFTER THE VERDICT" and, with the police on tactical alert, there have thus far been no major incidents of violence reported by the authorities.

Also like the Rodney King incident, this case isnt over after the first judgement. A hearing is schedualled on Sept 22nd to determine if there will be a retrial. Also like the King incident after that kangaroo court, there is still litigation pending in the civil courts. Morse and Darvish have responded with audacity by filing a racial discrimination suit against the Inglewood police dept. They claim that they are being singled out unfairly because they're white while a black officer present (who did not physically participate in the brutality) recieved more lenient treatment.

The amateur videographer that took the footage, Mitchell Crooks has posted some relevent facts along with biting sarcasm that you will not see in the mainstream media. For more info on the problem of police brutality in Los Angeles, check out a repost of an la imc story and cartoon originally published shortly after the incident in the summer of 2002. Update 8/2/03 Police Brutality in the United States, COP WATCH video