Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire The cops should have just shot him

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Defendant Ira Hadley Jr. talks with attorney Michael Mitchell during the jury�s deliberation. (Photo by Mark Thornton)

Hung jury in officer shooting case
A Jones County jury deliberated for a little over an hour Thursday before declaring that they were �hopelessly deadlocked� in the case against a teenager who was accused of shooting a Laurel police officer on Dec. 29
Ira Hadley, 18, was found guilty of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and Judge Billy Joe Landrum sentenced him to the maximum 10 years on that charge. But the jury � made up of six black women, four white women and three white men � was unable to reach a verdict on the aggravated assault of a police officer charge.
A day earlier, jurors saw a videotaped confession in which Hadley admitted to shooting Detective Kim Stewart in the foot during a struggle and say, �He got what he deserved for trying to play hero.�
Hadley had a different tone when he took the stand on Thursday morning, saying, �I would like for Mr. Kim Stewart to forgive me ... the incident was my fault.�
The shooting stemmed from a tip that Stewart received on the morning of Dec. 29 that Hadley � who had escaped from the Jones County jail two months earlier � was hiding out at 317 W. 17th St., which is his mother�s house. Stewart and a group of officers went to search the house and found Hadley hiding in a closet. When they ordered him to come out, Hadley told them he had a gun and he threatened to shoot them, Detective Michael Reaves testified. Officer Rob Norman attempted to tase Hadley, then Stewart rushed and grabbed him, leading to a struggle for the .38 revolver Hadley was holding.
�(Stewart) was trying to get the gun so no one would get hurt,� District Attorney Tony Buckley said.
While they were wrestling for control of the revolver, the gun discharged and a bullet went through Stewart�s foot before Hadley was taken into custody.
Buckley pointed out that the bullets in the .38 had been filed down �to create more damage to flesh,� but Hadley testified that he filed down the bullets so they would fit in his gun. Buckley also noted that Hadley carried bullets that were held together by a rubber band, a contraption that�s referred to as �a �hood reload.� Officers also found a shotgun, a rifle and a mattress in the attic of the home, with a hole leading down to the closet Hadley was in.
�He had no intention of giving himself up,� Buckley said in his closing argument.
Hadley testified that he had the long guns because �I like hunting� and that he kept the revolver for �protection from wild animals.�
In his closing argument, defense attorney Michael Mitchell said that his client �may have been in an emotional state� when he said that Stewart got what he deserved. He also complained about not being able to cross examine the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation investigator who gathered evidence at the scene of the shooting.
�You can�t get into a Mexican standoff with the police and say it�s not your fault,� Buckley said in his closing. �The attitude and anger of that young man ... he is dangerous. His only defense is sympathy, and that has no part in a trial.�
Buckley also said that Stewart and other local officers put themselves in harm�s way to protect the public.
�What Kim Stewart did, on a Laurel police officer�s salary ... he did that for me and you,� Buckley said.
During their deliberation, the jury sent out two questions � one asking why officers didn�t send in a police dog to get Hadley, the other to ask the court�s definition of �accident� and �reckless.�
An hour and eight minutes after going into deliberation, the jury foreman reported that jurors were �hopelessly deadlocked,� and unable to reach a decision. Buckley said it was �one or two� jurors who believed that the shooting was an accident.
�I�m outraged,� Buckley said after the trial. �We�re not finished yet. We�re going to try it again.�
Stewart praised his co-workers and said �I did what I had to do at the time,� to get Hadley off the streets and he said that�s what he would continue to do to keep the city safe.
His brother and Assistant Police Chief Tyrone Stewart admitted that he was upset by the decision.
�If not for officers like Kim Stewart, Rob Norman, Kevin Flynn and Michael Reaves, no one would be safe to go anywhere in this city,� he said.
Hadley was already serving a 20-year sentence for two counts of armed robbery and the 10-year sentence will be tacked on to that. He still faces a charge of escape.
� By Mark Thornton/revieweditorbellsouth.net

[bleep]. It does not surprise me though.

Dink

I have no problem with the decision of the jury. Just rememeber that when it swings the other way when a cop is found not guilty for shooting the POS between the eyebrows during a violent crime later.

Should have put him down right then.

So, an escaped, armed felon won't drop his gun & they went hands on while trying to taze him? Damn, seems like a crystal clear authorization of deadly force. Lucky the officer and/or his partner weren't killed. Shoot the $hithook next time.

Now he will go back to jail and brag about shooting a cop and getting away with. We don't need them to get that kind of encouragement...just causes more prob.'s later. For his NEXT victim's family.

This tells me a lot about it all. It turned on "intent" which is a big element in assault cases, and also what the police might have done instead. The second thing is becoming an increasing problem with juries. I tried 2 jury trials this past week, both DUIs. One jury hung at 7 for Guilty, 5 Not Guilty. After they were released from their service, one of the jurors, telling me he was sorry and that he had been one of the ones for Guilty, said "It might have gone another way if you'd have just shown us the dash cam video. We might could have talked those others in to believing the officer." No evidence was offered to show the officer was lying about anything, aside from the fact that he is a police officer I mean. It wasn't that we didn't show a video...there wasn't one, but the jury assumed there was. The defense nor the I even once hinted a video, or the lack of one...it was never mentioned. Why did they just assume? TV I guess. It wasn't that there wasn't one because the camera malfunctioned, or the tape got lost or the digital copy destroyed...there was no camera in the car of the part time officer working for a small, poor rural department. And because they assumed there was one I didn't show, then they assumed the officer or I must have something to hide. Juries are funny things...never shocked by ANYTHING they do, despite the evidence.

Well, if the police had shot the guy, I predict at least three separate threads about jack booted thugs mowing down innocent poor underpriviledged folks that they (LEO) had , prejudged because of his felony record and blah, blah, blah . . . . You all are familiar with the drill by now.

Bull. An armed, escaped felon who won't drop his weapon... Smoke 'em. Some of the actual thuggery (Madison, WI, Dearborn, MI, etc..) that goes on is in no way comparable to this. Your chip must weigh heavily on your shoulder.

It is not only a surprise... but a SHOCK.

This is the real problem� not the punk criminals� we will always have them.

When we the people can�t tell the difference between right and wrong or won�t stand up for what is right� this is what you get.


If things don�t change with US we are PORKED

All that's necessary for some these days. TRH.... for a PRIME example, well, him and his idiot savant lover Jason.

HUGE +1.

Of course, when you do know the difference and stand up for it, you'll have such actions called reprehensible by the culls...

That's interesting, regarding your situation. It's getting to the point that if it isn't on tape either video or audio, it didn't happen. I remember working before dashcams etc. Sometimes it was easier, i wished i'ld of had one at times.

But now it's become an almost mandatory piece of equipment. I'm not surprised that some Fed. ruling will come out, that all LE vehicles are required by law to have one. There's grant money out there for them, every agency needs them, if nothing else to protect the officer.

Taser Inc. even makes a camera now, built into the Taser, to catch the actions of the person to be Tased, prior to Taser deployment.. There's even small camera's that fit onto an LEO's uniform to record every incident he/she is involved with, that the dashcam doesn't get. As i work in plain clothes, i'm wired with a digital recorder, if i ask anyone a question about an incident or crime, they're being recorded, as to their response.

I think this was just as important:



The odds of six black women finding a young black man guilty, are generally pretty poor.

You are right... but we must change that... our lives depend on it

Open to suggestions as to how, though I'm afeared the only real way to do so.... ain't NEAR PC.

When I was still a working Deputy he would have been shot and with justification unquestioned as he was a convicted felon escapee and armed. TILT GAME OVER for him.

But yes, today all the panty wetters would be screaming police brutality, over reaction by the cops, too much force, Etc, Etc, Etc. In my best Yul Bryner voice.

Hunter1960 I just talked with our insurance rep the other night and he said that the insurance company is going to pay for tazer cams and the officers personal cameras to worn on the uniform. Its coming.

Dink

Jim:

Sounds like something you can cover in voir dire in the future.

"Are you going to hold it against the State that the police department doesn't have the budget to put a video camera in Ofc. Jones' car?"

- Tom

Had a similar problem on my jury this week.