California’s Supreme Court reveled in racism rhetoric in overturning a drug and weapons case of a black defendant who hid from police because, in the court’s words: “attempting to avoid police officers reflects, for many people, simply a desire to avoid risking injury or death…all out of fear of how an officer with a gun will react to them.”
The facts before the court showed that LAPD officers were on patrol at night in an area with documented high drug and gang activity. They spotted a man, subsequently identified as Marlon Flores, duck down behind an illegally parked vehicle as the officers drove up and began what the officers thought was to pretend to tie his shoes to justify his trying to duck out of sight. Officers immediately placed Flores in handcuffs and apparently hit the key fob in his pockets causing the lights to blink on the vehicle next to him indicating that it was Flores’ vehicle. Using a flashlight, the officers observed what appeared to be drug paraphernalia, subsequently finding methamphetamine and a handgun.
Flores objected to the introduction of the evidence but the lower court denied his motions saying that Flores’ activity was “more than enough” to warrant his detention. He was sentenced to probation on the gun charge. California’s Supreme Court sent the case back to the trial court, so the ultimate outcome is yet to be determined.
In its decision, the high court cited a list of people killed or injured by police including Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, Stephon Clark, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. It should be noted that Michael Brown incontrovertibly committed a strong armed robbery before being contacted by police wherein he assaulted and attempted to disarm the officer. The tragic case of Tamir Rice occurred when officers arrived at a public park to a report of a man pointing a gun at citizens. The gun was an airsoft toy with the orange tip removed, and Rice did not respond to officers’ commands and appeared to raise the gun toward them. Rice was 5’7’ and 195 pounds but just 12 years old. A grand jury and the FBI investigation found the shooting to be reasonable.
The Freddie Gray case was an in-custody death for which six officers were criminally charged. One officer’s trial resulted in a mistrial, three officers were acquitted, and charges were dropped for the other two officers. The prosecuting attorney, Carol Mosby was criticized for using the case for political gain but she did not survive a reelection campaign for a third term amid charges that resulted in conviction on perjury and fraud charges.
Stephon Clark was seen by staff in a police helicopter in the backyard of a residence. He was holding what was later determined to be a cell phone. Police were on the alert for suspects in a series of window smashing incidents and responded to the air unit’s call. Officers perceived that Clark was pointing a gun at them upon contact and presented deadly gunfire. The district attorney found that the officers had probable cause to stop Clark and were legally justified in using deadly force.
Breonna Taylor died by gunfire during a police raid after her boyfriend shot as police entered the residence to serve a warrant related to drug activity, wounding one officer in the thigh. One detective fired errant rounds into a neighbor’s house. That officer was charged for those rounds and pled guilty to reckless endangerment. Another officer was charged federally in what resulted in a hung jury but is expected to be retried this year.
George Floyd was a known drug addict who resisted being contacted while being investigated for passing counterfeit currency. All of the principal officers involved in the case were sentenced on federal charges.
While not claiming purity of police conduct in these illustrative cases, it is clear that the court relied on media narratives of the martyrdom of individuals killed by police, disregarding the precipitating conduct and subsequent scrutiny and accountability of the officers involved. The court’s decision will ironically only allow more victimization of its citizens. In the words of LAPD’s Police Protective League “For most residents living in high crime neighborhoods that’s called good police work, yet, in their infinite wisdom, California’s out-of-touch Supreme Court overturned two lower court rulings that found the officers acted lawfully and sided with the drug and gun possessing owner of the illegally parked car to further cement California’s criminal justice system as the joke it is.”