The 'Wrong Apartment' Shooting - A NY Times Scoop

The NY Times has coverage of the 'wrong apartment' shooting in Dallas. There detail about neighbors complaining about marijuana smoke is new to me (and to Google News), and provides a rationale for the seemingly gratuitous marijuana 'smear' of a few days back. My emphasis:

In an echo of past police killings, there has been anger over what seem to be attempts to incriminate the victim: Police released a search warrant that revealed that 10.4 grams of marijuana in multiple baggies had been found in Mr. Jean’s apartment.

“First they assassinate his person, then they assassinate his character,” Mr. Crump said.

Hours earlier that evening, managers at the apartment complex had received complaints from residents that there was a strong smell of marijuana in the fourth-floor hallways. Managers knocked on Mr. Jean’s door and at least five other doors inquiring about the smell, the Jean family lawyers said. It was unclear who on the floor was responsible for the odor.

OK, first, the Times cites as its source "Jean family lawyers", who held a press conference which included denunciations of the marijuana search and coverage. Did the Times get this 'neighbors complaining' detail separately, or did the rest of the media overlook its significance?

And what is the significance? Well, if - IF - Jean had been smoking marijuana and had cracked his apartment door in order to get some cross-ventilation, that would explain the neighbors' complaints and might answer the riddle of whether his door could have been ajar at times during the night, as Citizen Guyger claims. Kind of a big deal.

Other details which might lean a bit towards Citizen Guyger:

Mr. Jean’s relatives, lawyers and supporters all say it would have been difficult for the officer to have mistaken Mr. Jean’s door: It had a large, bright-red, semicircular doormat, lying on a bare concrete floor. Officer Guyger had none. Would she not have noticed?

“My main concern is that she is lying,” said Mr. Merritt, one of the Jean family lawyers.

But Officer Guyger’s supporters say she had her hands full at the time she arrived at Mr. Jean’s door: Officials said she had with her a police vest, duty bag and lunchbox — items she might be expected to carry to her own front door, not someone else’s.

Depending on how she is holding those items the floor and doormat might not be immediately visible. Nor, if she is on autopilot after a long day, would she be checking for prompts and clues as to her whereabouts.

I still believe that if evaluated as a police officer, Ms. Guyger's decision to shoot can not be justified; if it was too dark for her to see anything other than a silhouette, as she claims, it was too dark for her to see a weapon that could have elevated this to a deadly force situation. IMHO police training in de-escalation is woefully deficient but she could have simply stepped back out of the apartment, re-assessed, and called for back-up. My goodness, what if she had been at her own apartment door and the superintendent had been responding to a complaint about a leak and then decided to change a burned out lightbulb in her entranceway? She's going to shoot the guy?

Evaluated as a civilian in her own residence, the standards for the use of a weapon in self-defense are more lenient and a case for self-defense to prevent a robbery could be made (Texas Penal Code 9.31, 9.32). IF she had been in her own home, which of course she wasn't. And since the hallway was available, shooting just seems to me to be a second or third choice. She lived alone, so she had no reason to think anyone inside was in danger. Stand in the hallway and think things over. Count to ten.

Well. Hindsight is twenty-twenty.

AS BEST I CAN TELL: The NY Times stands alone on this, as best I see.

I await developments.

Comments

[Kevlar Kid]

And now this (h/t Dave Burge):

Scary Kentucky Fried Chicken Video 1967

[Clarice Feldman]

http://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/406881-lisa-page-bombshell-fbi-couldnt-prove-trump-russia-collusion-before-mueller

This admission after all that spying and snooping and listening in--no collusion found before Mueller sicced on Trump.

[Momto2]

A lady from S Carolina posted a live video telling of the fabulous response teams in place in her area. She is 200 miles from the coast. She said every parking lot is full of trucks ready to spring into action once the storm moves through. She even said the State Troopers had been instructed to block the on/off ramps so the trucks could speed down the interstate toward the damaged areas.

She credits President Trump with planning and being ready with real force to get help to those in need. She backed up her words with dozens of photos of the responders.

She was just an unknown person on Facebook - her post has over 93 thousand shares - her name is Rhonda Rutherford if you are on Facebook - she posts a lot on the storm so you have to scroll down to Sept. 13th.

Don't know if a link to Facebook will work: https://www.facebook.com/ronda.rutherford.16/videos/pcb.734595290207836/734594553541243/?type=3&theater

[Momto2]

This makes my blood boil!

https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/09/15/attorney-in-mollie-tibbetts-murder-trial-illegal-alien-has-constitutional-right-to-taxpayer-funding/

[matt - deplore me if you must]

So the evidence of a setup is even more damning. The FBI spent 9 months from the date of the election to investigate Trump collusion and came up with bupkis. Then Comey had the chutzpah to set trump up purposely to instigate the Mueller investigation.

Can you say criminal malfeasance? I can.

The body of evidence against the conspirators is becoming overwhelming. This is, in fact, a coup attempt. Further, the midterms are as well.

GOTV my friends. We here in Calicrazy have our own issues, but find out where we can beat them and let's stomp these people down and leave no doubt.

[JimNorCal]

NEW

[Miss Marple (the real one)]

https://www.playboy.com/read/playboy-interview-donald-trump-1990

Thhis is a fascinating read and a window into his thinking. I am about half-way through. It's pretty long.

[Jim Eagle]

I am getting this forboding that there has been a well designed strategy after Trump won the election to insert so many negative actions into the mainstream media that it would discourage his base, independents, and old line GOP from voting in the midterms.

1. Russian Collusion'
2. Stormy and Avenatti (really outliving their 15 minutes)
3. Manafort
4. Woodward
5. NYT OpEd
6. Florence Complicity

There are many others but I do not believe in co-incidence. Just seems so pat to me.

[Old Lurker]

Full Court Press Jack. No doubt about it.

And there should be no doubt if they are willing to use ALL these weapons, there is no chance the stolen vote needle will not be deep in the red zone. They might even know already what the vote counts are. Boxes and boxes, just waiting to be "found".

It might work, too.

I mean, if you are going Commie, as a wise JOM Poster says, go FULL COMMIE!

[daddy]

Christine Blasey Ford has a striking resemblance to Jan from the Brady Bunch:

[Jim Eagle]

She's a Tar Heel. That explains everything and why daddy is so fasinaticed with her:)

If she had only gone to Duke.

[joan]

I'll tell you, this is making me so mad I might have to quit reading about it. Look at what Martosko says:

"If she's telling the truth it's a horrible burden to carry around for decades and he ought to acknowledge it. If she's not, though, how could anyone defend against it? There's no statute of limitations in the public arena. The accusation alone is game-ending."

An accusation alone is game-ending? Since when?!

And, "it's a horrible burden to carry around for decades" ?? and, "he ought to acknowledge it"?!

He did. He denied it.

[joan]

I just emailed our state senators, urging them to support Kavanaugh, as well as asking them to contact Senator Grassley and insist he proceed with the committee vote already planned.

Good grief. This resistance rubbish has to stop, and it won't if people don't start fighting back.