Didn’t take long for this to happen, did it?
Some of the contents of Sam DuBose’s car at the time of his death have been identified.
WLWT has confirmed through CPD’s search warrant inventory document that four bags and a jar of marijuana were in Dubose’s car at the time of the July 19 traffic stop that ended in former UC Officer Ray Tensing fatally shooting DuBose.
However, multiple sources have told WLWT officers found a little less than 2 pounds of marijuana.
No officials were immediately able to confirm the amount of marijuana found.
According to reports, the marijuana was found in the car’s center console, under the front passenger seat and on the floor behind the driver’s seat.
Police sources said the street value for the amount of marijuana found in DuBose’s car is anywhere between $2,000 and $5,000 depending on the quality and the demand.
Police said any marijuana weighing more than two pounds is considered a felony.
Officers said the search warrant was obtained two days after the deadly shooting.
Because a police state that murders people certainly isn’t above planting evidence after the fact, even if having pot was worth justification for Sam DuBose’s summary execution by Ray Tensing, or that it had anything at all to do with Tensing pulling the trigger. Because of course a black person killed by a white cop had pot on them, right? Michael Brown, Sandra Bland, Sam DuBose, yadda yadda forever and ever amen. Always do, ya know.
So now thanks to the Cincinnati media that bungled this story from day one, accepting the police report that Tensing was being dragged and didn’t think to question it until after the bodycam footage surfaced, we have the same media accepting this police report, a warrant executed two days after the shooting, by cops that we already know lied to the media in the first place. It’s not like they’d have any motive to make DuBose look like a felon or anything.
The stenography goes unquestioned again around here. Good job, guys!
Cervantes
Shameless is what they are.
Bobby B.
It might well have been WEAPONIZED MARIJUANA! That’s what the police call it and they know their drugs!
Helmut Monotreme
Great. Sam DuBose was allegedly selling pot. And that is supposed to be the after-the-fact justification for shooting him in the head? Pot? The fact that the police department of the University of Cincinnati thinks anyone would care is astonishing. I mean, not to get all “arc of history” here but the public is waking up to the complete failure of the drug war. It’s use is legal in several states. One or two more join them every election cycle. What kind of “excuse” is yeah, we murdered him right in the brainbox, but in our defense after searching his car for two days, we have decided to state he was doing something so heinous that it’s totally legal in Colorado or Washington state?
Belafon
I doubt it will matter much to the DA, and if it doesn’t matter to the DA, he’ll be able to deal with it.
japa21
Over/under on number of comments before Knowbody shows up to display his lack of ignorance. I am going with 12.
cokane
no offense dude, but wtf is the local press supposed to do here? how the fuck are they going to independently confirm that the marijuana was planted there or not? and whether you like this development or not has no bearing on its newsworthiness, the fact alone that you’re writing this post shows that it’s newsworthy. why don’t you get off your high horse for a second about what the media is supposed to do or not supposed to do?
MomSense
This whole thing smells of cover up especially since we know that the officers on the scene tried to do just that from the beginning with the bogus story about the cop being dragged by the car.
I’m still trying to wrap my head around the article I read in the NYT about the psychologist/pseudo scientist who has been training law enforcement to shoot first. I looked at the website and there is so much disturbing content I can’t believe this guy has been operating in daylight all these years.
Please, someone FP this story. I’ve only seen it at a few places.
Training Officers to Shoot First, and He Will Answer Questions Later
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/us/training-officers-to-shoot-first-and-he-will-answer-questions-later.html?_r=0
Benw
Thank God for America’s free press. They are indeed our truth troops.
This cop executed an unarmed man at point blank range. Stick that in your fucking news article and smoke it.
NorthLeft12
Okay, this is where your typical “Low Information Voter” [LIV] will chime in that the hero in blue was damn lucky he shot him [that FELON!] when he did, because they all know how the wackee tabackee gets people all riled up and murderous. Especially those people.
This stinks on so many levels. I wish the cops would put that much energy into investigating any other crimes, you know, to gather evidence against the actual perpetrators of crime and not the victims.
japa21
Here is the thing. The argument is not that the possession of MJ is supposed to justify the shooting. Rather it is that this shows what low-life scum of the earth DuBose was, the world is better off without him, so what is all the fuss about?
One of the problems in Chicago is that many of the shootings are gang shootings. It only really makes big time news, and the police really only put out an effort when an innocent bystander, specially a little kid, is the victim. Otherwise, I suspect the mentality is, let them kill each other off.
cokane
A. the cops that found the marijuana aren’t the organization that employed the shooter, you’re conflating this for your readers (i.e. being very dishonest) while slamming members of the media for not doing their job.
B. this development is unlikely to affect Tensing’s conviction.
Mudge
I don’t remember any case where the police story corresponded with the video. The police lie all the time, which is becoming very obvious. It is tribal.
Lit3Bolt
I’ll believe drugs are a problem when police start executing white fraternity boys in their cars. Not before then.
Emma
@cokane: I tell you what is supposed to do, because it has been done before, so we know it can be done. It’s called investigate. Find out about this man’s life. Find out the history of the cop. Track down similar incidents. What is the department’s history? Sheesh. It ain’t hard. They used to do it all the time.
cokane
@Emma: and you know that the cincy media aren’t doing that?
NorthLeft12
@NorthLeft12: Just to be clear, I don’t give a flying eff if that marijuana was Mr. Dubose’s, he was executed in broad daylight for the sin of disobeying a cop.
Oh and Zandar, good luck trying to prove that the stash was planted by the cops. They are well practiced at this and have basically already accomplished what they wanted to do; smear the victim.
Mike P
Of course there was weed…it’s just like Dave Chappelle said…you don’t want leave any mysteries, so just sprinkle some (in his joke, crack) around all’s well!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rtl4YgB2zbw
different-church-lady
It wouldn’t matter if he had 400 pounds of weed hidden everywhere in the car — a cop still doesn’t have the right to summary street execution.
Elizabelle
Also, didn’t the bottle of “gin” turn out to be air freshener? (Coroner confirmed that. Mr. DuBose told the cop it was.)
FWIW: even if the marijuana belonged to DeBose, and who knows if it was planted or not, would he have had the right to refuse to a search of his vehicle? Was he in any legal status that allowed the cop to search (ie. on parole, etc)? Asking because I have not been following story.
At any rate, possessing marijuana in the United States is not grounds for summary execution.
beltane
The cops really showed a lack of creativity here. Why not plant a copy of the Koran just to be on the safe side.
NorthLeft12
@cokane:
Well, I would not bet my house on that. japa21 nails it for me in that this information is to prep the likely jury that Mr. Dubose was a bad guy, drug dealer and user, who Tensing had a reasonable fear of. Justified homicide. Done deal.
Elizabelle
@NorthLeft12: I don’t know how much the “smearing the victim” will work here, because it’s marijuana — which is now legal in several states (although sale is meant to be regulated).
Foxbots may be glued to their seats. Others will say “this guy got killed for nothing, and the cops lied about the circumstances of the shooting.”
Also: Mr. DuBose was stopped near a college campus. Is there a better source of customers for marijuana, or possibly even his source? (Assuming the mj found was even Mr. DuBose’s and did not materialize after his murder?)
Zandar
@cokane: A) Right, because there’s a massive difference between the two when it comes to the Thin Blue Line and covering for a cop.
B) Tensing testifies that he thought he saw the pot in the car at the time, that DuBose was a dangerous drug dealer, and that he feared for his life.
Stop trolling or I’ll stop it for you.
john b
@cokane: The Cincinnati media has been all over this story (and sadly other similar stories) from the start. I think they were anticipating much more violent reaction from the masses given the pretty recent race demsontration/riot/protest in 2001 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_riots_of_2001)
cokane
@NorthLeft12: well it’s not something that can ever be mentioned in a trial of Tensing. But good luck with these Alex Jones level conspiracy thoughts.
Furthermore, the majority of US citizens support marijuana legalization. If they wanted to plant something, why not plant cocaine or heroin? Seriously crazy how ppl on here will indulge in same kind of Fox News viewer logic about conspiracies to hand wave away news developments they don’t like.
You guys realize that Cincinnati Police found the marijuana? But that Tensing is not a Cincinnati police officer, right?
Botsplainer
@john b:
14 years. Just two short of the 16 that separated Reagan’s campaign kickoff in Philadelphia MS from the murder of the civil rights workers.
Tokyokie
I believe a black person shot by a white cop will sometimes have crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia instead of pot.
Knowbody
@Zandar: wow, who is the fascist pig now?
You’re incapable of taking even the most valid criticism from people. cokane is right, you *did* conflate the Cincinnati PD with the Campus cops.
It’s not my fault you’re a shitty clickbait artist, and I’m not the only one calling you out on it.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Elizabelle: The presence of whatever.quantity. of.weed in the car (and how it got there) is immaterial to the fatal shooting because the UC clown copper had no way of knowing about it at the time.
The media focus on it demonstrates the standard approach of smearing the victim. Same story, different city and media organization.
Kay (not the front-pager)
Jesus effing Christ on a pogo stick. Marijuana again!!1??? I never realized until the BLM movement started bringing these murders into the mainstream consciousness that marijuana use was such a Black stereotype among cops. It’s like they want to make marijuana use a “Black thing” so people will stop wanting to legalize its use and start wanting to impose stiffer sentences or something. It’s really depressing.
MomSense
@cokane:
Do you know what the chain of custody of the vehicle was? Two days is a long time. How long did the university police have custody of the vehicle before turning it over to the Cincinnati police? Was it kept in a secure location? Who had the keys? Who had access to the keys? Why report this now if it will all come out at trial and be subject to cross examination or the scrutiny of expert witnesses and testimony under oath?
We have already seen a conspiracy in this case that was only exposed because of video that didn’t corroborate the police report. It is not like this case doesn’t fit a pattern of LEO covering up their crimes.
CrustyDem
100 points for the first GOP candidate to suggest putting Ray Tensing in charge of pre-crime.
beltane
@Kay (not the front-pager): Nothing new there at all. In fact, the myth of marijuana being a “black thing” helped make the substance illegal in the first place. Much of the Reefer Madness hysteria stemmed from fears that cannabis use would lead to “race mixing” and the like.
lowercase steve
@Zandar:
He’ll say he thought he smelled marijuana and the air freshener will be used as evidence that the driver was trying to mask it. Therefore the driver was in a panic and was trying to flee….police officer “sincerely thought” he was doing to be run over/dragged/his life was in danger….fired on hoodlum.
Am not holding out hope for a conviction.
lowercase steve
@beltane:
If you randomly killed 1000 white males aged 16-34, I wonder how many would have “marijuana in their system.” I am guessing 80-90%
beltane
@lowercase steve: I don’t have a link, but I’ve seen studies showing that cannabis use is much higher among whites than any other group. Still, reality is no match against Narrative in this country. Wingnuts must have their precious fairy tales to believe in.
Emma
@cokane: Maybe they are. But very often they ignore everything and become police stenographers.
Kay (not the front-pager)
@japa21: 27. More than twice the number you bet. Maybe he was in the bathroom?
Redshift
@cokane:
What a stroke of luck it’s been widely broadcast in the local media then, eh? Or are you claiming that Tensing’s lawyers will not be allowed to say that he was in fear for his life because he thought the suspect was a drug dealer, a claim the jury may be predisposed to believe because of this story? Why couldn’t they?
CONGRATULATIONS!
@Kay (not the front-pager): Hey, it worked the first time. My tribe – the white folks of America – eat that shit up. First thing, marijuana, next thing, those black bucks are stoned and out there raping our women. We will buy that story every damn time.
I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the three states that have legalized pot are extremely white demographically. Hard to get folks in Oregon or Colorado riled up about the pot-smoking Negro menace when there’s no Negroes to be seen.
Living in the United States is getting pretty demoralizing, I gotta confess.
debbie
No news of weed in the car here, but I did hear that a bottle of what was thought to be alcohol turned out to be something else:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/04/us-usa-police-ohio-idUSKCN0Q82DS20150804
TS
And why are they searching the car 2 days after he was killed. The car didn’t kill him.
Kay (not the front-pager)
@beltane: You’re right. I had forgotten.
It just seems that marijuana is the go-to smear for killer cops these days. It’s just so insultingly thin. Like they don’t even try to make the smear believable. The arrogance and contempt for those they “serve” is galling.
Kay
@debbie:
They’ll use the air freshener against him:
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-8th-circuit/1153606.html#sthash.OlQwzqmJ.dpuf
I;m by no means an expert but there’s a bunch of indicators like this- I remember one of them I read in one case was “fast food wrappers on the floor” and “luggage in the back seat”. I do both of those things when I drive long distance so I thought it was odd they’re an indicator of anything.
Kay (not the front-pager)
@CONGRATULATIONS!: Word. As the young folks used to say.
HRA
It’s a very sad situation the should have never happened at all. Mr. DuBose was never a threat to Tensing. I get aggravated every time I hear this kind of outcome in a situation like this one. There certainly were better options to follow.
You all know the marijuana story is the beginning for stacking the jury. It’s nothing new.
Omnes Omnibus
@TS: Inventory search.
Chuckles
I was never particularly deep into that world — never bought my own — but from what I know, two pounds is an outrageous amount of weed to be driving around with. Actual dealers know the exact amounts that would get you which offense. Ounces were treated with extreme seriousness, and only well-trusted customers would even be allowed in a house where there was a felony-level stash. This was 15 years ago, and things may have changed, but even if DuBose were a dealer, it strikes me as extremely fortuitous that he was transporting his stash just then, or he was an extremely stupid dealer that carried his stash around in the open where K-9s needed a lot less evidence to search than at his home.
Of course this is not the central issue at all, but it’s implausible on its face. If it’s not completely made up, he either had a 1/4 ounce like a typical user, or maybe he had 4 bags and a jar that weighed around pound empty, and had a very small amount of actual marijuana in these containers.
japa21
@Kay (not the front-pager): Yeah, really had me fooled.
Another Holocene Human
@Bobby B.: Bratton’s a joke and a dinosaur. DeBlasio needs to be shopping for his replacement.
mb
If he’d had 2 lbs of pot in his car, it would have reeked. That would have been the first thing any cop would have noticed when he was stopped, but that’s not apparent from the video.
I once had a 1/4 lb buried in a giant can of coffee in my car. I could still smell it. 2 lbs stuffed in your console could have been smelled a block away.
satby
@CONGRATULATIONS!:
Quoted for truth. I had hoped for better in my 6th decade. But we seem to be swirling into a vortex of stupid that gets stronger every year.
Elizabelle
@Chuckles: Good point.
The Thin Black Duke
Bottom line, once the video came out and revealed what a crock of shit the “official” police report was, the police lost the benefit of the doubt. Plant evidence? Sure, why not? It’s already been established that they’re damned liars.
Kerry Reid
Considering how little the bottle of booze in the car seemed to bother Tensing as opposed to his Rainman-like perseverations on Dubose not having his license available, I also question this story. Also — TENSING SHOT A MAN IN THE HEAD IN COLD BLOOD FOR NO GODDAMN REASON AT ALL!!!
Another Holocene Human
@Helmut Monotreme: First of all, Tensing didn’t know he had pot in the car or anything of the sort.
Secondly, we’re supposed to give a fuck he had ditch weed in the car? Yeah, I’m sure that was some primo shwag in a jar under the passenger’s seat. Presumably he was selling … who gives a fuck?
The war on weed has always been racially tinged. That’s why pot is classed up there with much more addictive and dangerous drugs (meanwhile tobacco avoids any such classification despite ample justification).
No, I can’t find I give a damn if he had weed, and if the cops are planting evidence they need to step up their game, obvs. (We know they plant evidence. And “lose” evidence.)
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Omnes Omnibus: Thanks. My lunch conversation with a judge (on the same bench but entirely unconnected to the case) and a retired prosecutor last week featured a consensus among us (all former prosecutors) that the UC copper fucked up, period, the end. An additional consensus was that you’ll have to give a reckless homicide charge to the jury.
Another Holocene Human
@cokane:
@MomSense:
Seems like the local media could ask authority a few more pointed questions. They could carry the NYT story, for one. (I don’t know if they did, but looking at front pages the last few days I’m not seeing it pop up on local papers.)
Brendan in Charlotte
Marijuana has become the new boogieman with regard to non-whites. We’re going through the same thing here in Charlotte: White police officer shoots unarmed black man…10 times.
Black man had just been in an accident at ~ 2am, and was banging on a white woman’s door.
Policeman actually gets brought up on charges. Now on trial.
First thing brought up by defense was that slain man was smoking weed with a friend earlier that night.
Next the bring up fact that officer had mark on face and cut inside mouth – saying slain man struck him.
At the time of the incident, it was reported that his fellow officer(s) on the scene struck him for shooting the man.
C.V. Danes
@MomSense: Maybe, but what do they hope to cover up? It might explain why DuBose tried to drive off, but last time I checked possession of pot wasn’t an executable offence.
Another Holocene Human
@NorthLeft12:
Maybe our murder rate would finally come down to industrialized country level. Have you ever looked up the murder rate of Japan? Now compare that to Texas.
Kerry Reid
@beltane: Just as the Womens Christian Temperance Union used the myth of black men blind with booze raping white women as part of their talking points. At least until Ida Wells told Frances Willard to stuff it because she was aiding and abetting lynch mobs.
Flukebucket
@cokane:
There will not be a conviction. This will turn out to have been a brilliant career move for Tensing. Like Darren Wilson he will be able to retire using the money contributed to his holy cause and spend life just hanging out with like minded people.
Another Holocene Human
@japa21:
Cops in Boston openly said this when I was growing up.
This is why you have the “contradictory” position of these communities, yes, we need to cops to actually get in here and stop crime, no we don’t want cops harassing us.
Stopping crime means INVESTIGATING crime. Somehow non-Black officers who live in segregated enclaves twist that into traffic stops, stop’n’frisk, and other assholery. And then when their “contribution” is not valued, jump to the reaction-defense: let them all kill each other.
C.V. Danes
@satby: I don’t think the stupid has gotten any worse. I think the Internet and the 27/7 news cycle just floats it more prominently to the surface.
Patricia Kayden
Even if DuBose had 1,000,000 pounds of illegal drugs in his car, that would not justify his murder or the lying of the cops to cover up the murder. I personally know White guys who have been stopped with illegal drugs in their car. They’re all alive.
Another Holocene Human
@Mudge:
That’s a problem when you select for personality disorders and lost souls who were spanked too much as kids: the whole force is made up of compulsive liars. They can’t imagine not lying. They can’t help themselves.
scav
@Kay (not the front-pager): I’ve been getting rather annoyed with the toddler level of rote justifications too. How many police cameras somehow weren’t working? etc. “MommyMommyHeStartedIt,” “HeHirMeFirst!” The Nobody did it Oh is it broken? Ingenue look. Either they think so little of public intelligence that they think this is all plausibly airtight to our peabrains or they really are arrogent enough by predisposition and getting away with it for so long that they assume that this is all that’s needed for the press — what’s really concerning is if this in their leval of behavior and evidence for courts and juries. And I do believe we’ve got all three options going in far too many jurisdictions, especially given the existence of shrill public support for some of the ham-fisted efforts: some publics don’t want to believe there’s a problem as that’s simply too upsetting to the cozy worldview.
Another Holocene Human
@Elizabelle: I never believed that gin story from day one. Jesus! I guess Tensing is double plus stupid, because you’d think cops would know air freshener is what you use to cover the grody scent of … weed. And SCOTUS thinks it’s a fine pretense for a search. “Stay right there, citizen, we’re bringing the K9 unit.”
Reminds me of Michael Moore doing some street theater on Amadou Diallou, hawking safety orange wallets to Black dudes, so their wallet doesn’t “look like a gun”.
(Whatever happened to Michael Moore? Did he lose what was left of his mind during the Iraq War?)
eta: very pointed comments on that article (yes, I’m reading the comments, doesn’t look troll-fested yet)
Steve From Antioch
A large amount of pot in the car might explain why he didn’t get out of car and, depending on how you analyse the video, attempted to drive away.
Not that either justifies the officers conduct, of course.
mai naem mobile
I don’t mean to sound stupid but 1/ why do you need a search warrant after the guy is dead? Who are you serving the warrant to? 2/wouldn’t they have caught this when they looked at the car right after the shooting?
Thunderbird
@Another Holocene Human:
I think he’s got a new movie about the military-industrial complex coming out soon, actually.
Ajabu
About 3 years ago, my then 26 year old son was stopped while visiting us in Georgia.
It was a trumped up DWB stop – in a gas station – and he was arrested for having “paraphernalia” in his vehicle. (a scale or some such shit). No drugs of any kind.
To be “fair”, he did have dreads which fit the profile.…
As soon as Mom & I bailed him out (and the charge was thrown out) he took his Black ass back to California and won’t be returning to the south.
As Charlie Pierce says, “This is your democracy. Cherish it.”
SFAW
@cokane:
Oooh, a special variant of Cokie’s Law!
Gee, you’re right. Because nothing like that has ever ever ever been investigated in the past, so how could they? On the other hand, maybe they should check to see if DuBose had granite counter tops in his kitchen, or perhaps in the back seat of his limousine. The Cincy press should be able to figure out how to check that, without having to resort to serious investigative journalism.
Mike in NC
@Brendan in Charlotte: Every time there is an incident where a white cop shoots or kills an unarmed black person, the local paper will run a bunch of letters defending the police because “we need them to protect us from the animals”. Go figure.
Another Holocene Human
@Chuckles: Good point. I just found it implausible that a perpetually broke dude like DuBose had $5000 of weed under the passenger seat. A) that would pay a lot of bills and B) he would conceal it better than that.
I suspect you’re right for the reasons you enumerated.
Kropadope
You killed someone and need an escape route??? Assassinate his character too!!! Not like he’s using it.
Another Holocene Human
@satby:
The lead tailpipe babies are entering their prime jury duty, voting, and running all the shit years. The derp’s been building for a while. There’s also been a 30 year campaign to smash up everything that made America great so you have a disaffected white underclass that votes their resentment if they vote at all … and who become cops and correctional officers, because of the good pay and benefits and “status”.
Another Holocene Human
@Brendan in Charlotte:
Whaaaaaaa…???
Lie. Ars.
Another Holocene Human
@Ajabu: Ugh. I’m glad he didn’t get hurt.
Another Holocene Human
@Mike in NC:
I hope the paper’s editorial staff feels real great about choosing to print bilge mail that uses a not even thinly veiled version of the n-word.
Many papers would decline to print such letters (online comment sections are another matter–too expensive to moderate).
Amir Khalid
As a foreigner, I don’t have any insight to contribute to this. But I too am suspicious that the police found all that ganja in Sam DuBose’s car after one of them shot and killed him for no reason. Especially since commenters have noted that no casual user would have such a quantity, almost a kilo, and no sane dealer would be carrying around that much. I must ask, though: did DuBose have any previous convictions for dealing?
Elizabelle
OT and much happier news: Richard Mayhew gets a shoutout in the Los Angeles Times yesterday. From their Pulitzer-Prize winning business columnist, Michael Hiltzik. Pleasure to find this in my FB feed.
Another benefit of Obamacare you probably didn’t know about
Maybe prepare for fresh readers? And fresh trolls?
Frankensteinbeck
A lot of folks here are sceptical that ‘finding’ weed will make a difference, since the U.S. is getting more tolerant of the drug. I guarantee you, it will. I grew up in the 80s in the South. It was just understood that black men were drug dealers as a general rule, and that drug dealers were vicious murderers. My mother, devotedly liberal, still thinks marijuana makes people violent. Everyone with even a bit of racism is going to slot DuBoise into a certain profile, hearing this. His life will seem much less valuable, and claims he was threatening more believable. A lot – a LOT – of them will assume he was also dealing coke and heroin, because that’s what every 80s movie told them happens. The media eats it up, because to the racists there, the whole story Makes Sense once you know about the drugs.
rikyrah
@Kay (not the front-pager):
You nailed it.
debbie
@Amir Khalid:
Much like all that marijuana found its way into Sandra Bland while she was in jail.
Kropadope
@Another Holocene Human:
Right? No one selling thousands of dollars worth of drugs got there by being sloppy.
Kropadope
@Elizabelle: Oh, for a like button.
burnspbesq
@Elizabelle:
“Plain view” is a well-known exception to the warrant requirement. Don’t know whether it was in plain view or not, but if it had been, then a search would have been completely proper. But that’s all hypothetical, and irrelevant to the bigger issue.
Knowbody
Nothing quite like a mob of people who are already convinced of a murder conspiracy that it’s somebody else’s responsibility to complete due diligence on the facts of the case.
Kropadope
@Knowbody:
Because, you know, that certainly isn’t in the job description of either police officers or reporters.
Paul in KY
@mb: Yours was not properly wrapped. Vacuum sealed 3 times is standard for large amounts.
MomSense
@C.V. Danes:
I think they tried to cover up the shooting with the bogus claim that he dragged the officer with his vehicle.
Now I think they are trying to plant in the minds of potential jurors that DuBose was a drug dealer and attack his character.
Betty Cracker
@Amir Khalid:
IIRC, he had been arrested for dealing many times, but I don’t know if he was convicted. Since the cops have proven themselves liars in this and many other cases, it’s understandable for people to jump to the conclusion that this is a setup; it could be. IMO, it’s also entirely possible DuBose DID have a shitload of pot in his car.
But it’s irrelevant in light of that video. The cop was consciously narrating the stop, and if he thought he smelled pot, he would have said so. And even if there was dope up to the gunnels in plain view, there was no justification for summarily executing the guy.
Brachiator
@cokane:
This is an absurd statement. Someone might have noticed that the man had a broken toenail. If you subsequently wrote about it still wouldn’t have a damn thing to do with anything.
kc
@Zandar:
I hope you’re not going to start banning people for disagreeing with you.
burnspbesq
@mai naem mobile:
You especially need a warrant when the guy is dead; you can’t very well argue exigent circumstances or search incident to arrest. The car would become part of his estate, so you would serve the warrant on the executor if one has been appointed, or on an obscure public official (typically called the “public administrator” or something similar) if not.
kc
@Elizabelle:
Yeah, I don’t care if he did have pot, or how much . . . doesn’t justify shooting him for driving off.
Knowbody
@Kropadope And it applies even less to the mob that believes that the legal presumption of innocence no longer applies to white cops, huh.
Much easier that way.
shell
Dont you know, all cops have X-ray vision.
Elizabelle
@MomSense: And may it backfire spectacularly.
The smarter among the potential juror pool might think:
“It’s not enough they shot the guy in cold blood and lied, now they’re planting evidence too.”
Knowbody
@kc: SPOILERS: It wouldn’t be the first time.
He’s a thin skinned child, frankly.
burnspbesq
@Flukebucket:
How much are you willing to bet on that?
Elizabelle
deleted; I was miffed with someone who was agreeing with me, on closer reading!!
But I am thrilled about R Mayhew. In the LA Times.
burnspbesq
@Elizabelle:
Or the jury may never hear about it. The prosecution will likely move to suppress the dope (who says irony is dead?).
kc
Zachary Hammond (white kid) shot in the back for a small amount of pot.
Chris
@Knowbody:
As always, cops are the real victims.
Kropadope
@Knowbody: Point…missed.
Look, the main officer involved was already caught in a clear lie about incident. The only information that we here have to go on is what is published in the newspapers, given our lack of investigational resources and access to the evidence.
There is nothing wrong with us speculating regarding the behavior of the police, especially when the speculation is consistent with the known patter of behavior. tell us why we’re wrong, don’t tell us not to do it.
cmorenc
@Elizabelle:
QUERY: How many FoxBots does ex-officer Tensing need on the jury to avoid conviction? Answer: just one – because Ohio requires unanimous verdicts to convict in criminal cases. Given the typical demographics of who usually winds up actually serving on jury panels (rather than ducking out with an excuse) and who actually gets disproportionately selected to be a juror for a trial (older retired folks) – the odds of getting at least one FoxBot (perhaps a stealth FoxBot) on a jury are pretty damn high.
Belafon
@Knowbody:
Is that what shooting a man in the back of the head on a video is alled?
Belafon
@Belafon: Called.
JustRuss
I have no problem believing that DuBose was a rather sketchy dude who sold some reefer, and panicked when the cop told him to get out of his car. Doesn’t matter, you don’t draw your weapon and kill somebody for trying to get away from you. The fact that behavior seems to be SOP is nuts, and that half our population thinks it’s OK is nutsier.
Elizabelle
@cmorenc: True that. Worrisome.
Although we will hear from the jurors, after the fact, and if we had a spoiler, we will hear.
Cold comfort for justice or Mr. DeBose, true. I think his family will fare well with their wrongful death suit (assume there will be one) …
boatboy_srq
@Betty Cracker: Agreed. The video takes the case out of “dangerous suspect, afterwards proven d0p3-dealer, shot by police” territory and straight into “cop shoots niCLANG because all niCLANGs are dangerous murderous dr4g-dealing uppity scum and deserve to be popped for disrespecting popo’s authoritah” regardless of what the vehicle search turned up.
dmbeaster
@mai naem mobile: Why the search warrant?
Probably an overabundance of caution, or else some local practice. Impounded vehicles such as this one can be legally searched to do an inventory and to secure the vehicle. Whether that also allows poking into every nook and cranny is never clear, and depends on local practice somewhat (i.e., what the local courts are willing to put up with).
What is probable is an inventory search turned up some of the pot in a more obvious location, and they pulled a search warrant to justify a more thorough search of the whole vehicle. The affidavit in support of the warrant would detail those facts.
It is bizarre that the bottle of gin was in fact a car freshener, and DuBose says that to the Tensing when asked about it. I think the video shows him starting the car to drive away, although he was shot before the car moved one foot. The pot suggests why he might have been acting in that manner — it should make no difference to the charge against Tensing. I also think that the probable verdict is some lesser form of homicide (whatever that might be in Ohio), although the strong argument for murder is that he pulled his gun out and shot immediately in one motion with no justification for it. Both of DuBose’s hands are clearly visible — one is starting the car, and the other closing and holding the door. There is no justification for the shoot.
RSA
@beltane:
The numbers quoted here have marijuana use being about the same across different racial classifications (a few percentage points difference) but with black people being arrested up to ten times more frequently than white people. It’s a shameful, racist scandal.
Keith G
It is still very early in this story arc. There probably isn’t any need to get all worked up over things that might, or should, or might not happen but still nothing stops people from doing it.
And I am in the camp of folks thinking that if the police officer does not receive a conviction that it was not because of the weed found in the victim’s vehicle.
chopper
@Tokyokie:
this whole story reeks of “let’s just sprinkle some crack on him”.
Paul in KY
@kc: That one sounds terrible too.
Omnes Omnibus
@Knowbody: Somebody doesn’t understand how the legal presumption of innocence works.
Kropadope
@Omnes Omnibus: Is it I? I’m the one, aren’t I?
cokane
@Zandar: disagreement is “trolling” jeezus, you’re a pretty dishonest person
cokane
@Zandar: also if you watched the Deters press conference or read any local media coverage of this issue, you’d realize that there is NO love between the University police and CPD. CPD despises UC cops, the disgust from Deters was pretty obvious. There is no thin blue line here. Just your conspiracy theories and threats to ban people who criticize your lying ass.
Steve
@cokane: Yeah, this pretty much. Wishing away unpleasant reality isn’t going to help your cause, whatever it is.
Knowbody
@Steve: cokane has just proven he knows far more than the subject that Zandar is currently clickbaiting.
Seems to me the problem is Zandar and not the people nailing him for being a lying sack of shit.
Matt McIrvin
@Another Holocene Human:
Sicko was in 2007, and while I never saw it myself, at the time it seemed to generate a lot of goodwill for health-care reform.
burritoboy
Big differences between a guy using or doing minor dealing, and a guy who’s supposedly moving major weight like this. A dealer moving major weight will have every license plate, tail lights, his license, registration and everything else pristine, precisely because he doesn’t want to give the police any reason to pull him over and go through the car. Second, when you move major weight, you have a gun on you because you’re worried about getting jacked. Third, to transport in volume you often bring an (armed) homey (or more than one), again, because that scares off the jackers. Fourth, somebody moving this much weight inside of Cincy is either a longtime gang member, or at least is damn well trusted both by high-ranking gang members and at least one major, major wholesaler (probably one doing at least 5 million of business a year, if not much, much more). At minimum, somebody moving pounds through Cincy is a real player who is a highly respected professional criminal, who’s trusted enough to do major business with very sharp people who know how to protect themselves.
None of this sounds like what happened. DuBose was driving without his license at his fingertips, was unarmed and was traveling with his 9 year old son (like thats going to scare the jackers?). None of his history sounds like he was ever even a mid-level dealer, much less someone who would be playing at a high level. If the organized crime or anti-gang task forces in Cincy don’t have a thick file on Dubose, it becomes even more unlikely.
Matt McIrvin
…hmm, Moore seems to have a movie coming out in the fall called “Where To Invade Next.” He’s also started executive-producing documentaries by other people.
A guy
Did the dead guy have a criminal record?
burritoboy
Yeah, he has a record of a lot of minor maryjane possessions and various traffic violations. Doesn’t sound like a guy you would ever trust to be together enough to do some real transport.
Duane
@Kerry Reid: