Many readers know that I live in Brazil. The following case points to one of the many reasons why: Extreme color-aroused anti-minority injustice is so pervasive in the United States' judicial system that I simply could not expect to be treated as a white person would be, if I were accused of a crime in the United States.
Sometime in the recent past, when a white female immigration lawyer was convicted under an anti-terrorist statute for having improper discussions with her clients, I realized that even a successful Black male lawyer could not assume he was safe from color-aroused injustice at the hands of the criminal law authorities in the United States.
I think it is foolish for any Black man in the USA to assume that he is safe from color-aroused injustice, even if he is an undercover police officer (who may be shot by his white colleagues), or the son of a retired police officer (who may be subject to assault and battery by police-operated taser electrocution devices, in spite of his father's contributions as a New York Police Department supervisor). Even famous football players may be subject execution on their own front lawns, because they are driving an SUV that "blacks aren't supposed to have," which is an example of the extremely color-aroused anti-Black policing behavior in the USA, even as practiced by Black police officers.
Now, I've received the following correspondence and I don't know what to do with it, except post it so that readers can review it, offer more links, and express their opinion, perhaps even suggestion action steps if appropriate:
Dear Francis,
I know this individual [who was convicted in the Tic Toc shooting reported below.] I must confess that he's not an innocent person; like a huge percentage of our [B]lack men, he's made poor choices.
His family has wondered whether he was being railroaded due to the fact that he successfully sued the same police department that did an investigation years ago. What advice would I have to tell the family in terms of seeking justice?
[Here's what one Pennsylvania newspaper says about the case:
Tic Toc Family Restaurant shooter Terrence Fitzpatrick's appeal denied
Friday, March 12, 2010
By SARAH CASSI
The Express-Times
The state Superior Court has denied Terrence Fitzpatrick's claim that there was not enough evidence to convict him of attempted murder in the 2006 Tic Toc Family Restaurant shooting.
Fitzpatrick and Brandon Fleming were both found guilty in Northampton County Court of attempted murder and related charges.
They were sentenced in June 2008 to 20 to 40 years each in Pennsylvania state prison for the Nov. 25, 2006, shooting of Marvin Dowe and Nataki Bryan at the Palmer Township restaurant.
Both men appealed their convictions to the Pennsylvania Superior Court.
Attorney Eric Dowdle claimed Fitzpatrick's conviction was based solely on Marvin Dowe's testimony, while other witnesses' testimony cleared Fitzpatrick.
In the March 8 opinion, the judges said Northampton County Judge Anthony Beltrami, who presided over the trial, "properly concluded that Fitzpatrick's issues lack merit."
The judges upheld Fitzpatrick's sentence and relinquished jurisdiction of the case.
Fleming's appeal is still outstanding. Attorney Robert Patterson claims a photo of a shoe print from the restaurant men's room toilet tank was unfairly suppressed from the defense until the trial was under way.
Patterson also argues the prosecution failed to provide an interview conducted with an informer who said he heard Fitzpatrick and Seneca Rogers were involved in the shooting. Fleming was not mentioned in the interview.
Reporter Sarah Cassi can be reached at 610-258-7171 or scassi@express-times.com. Talk about issues in your town at lehighvalleylive.com/forums. ]
What upsets me the most is that he's rather large in stature, and all eye witnesses deny he was at the scene of the crime. The white girl who witnessed the shooting claims she would have seen someone like that because they'd obviously stand out. So, I don't understand what he's been convicted on and how this is justice
Sincerely,
AKA ********
Here's another article on the shooting, the alleged lack of evidence, as well as alleged police, prosecutor, and judge anti-judicial and illegal procedure and behavior:
Tic Toc Family Restaurant shooter Terrence Fitzpatrick's appeal denied
Friday, March 12, 2010
By SARAH CASSI
The Express-Times
The state Superior Court has denied Terrence Fitzpatrick's claim that there was not enough evidence to convict him of attempted murder in the 2006 Tic Toc Family Restaurant shooting.
Fitzpatrick and Brandon Fleming were both found guilty in Northampton County Court of attempted murder and related charges.
They were sentenced in June 2008 to 20 to 40 years each in Pennsylvania state prison for the Nov. 25, 2006, shooting of Marvin Dowe and Nataki Bryan at the Palmer Township restaurant.
Both men appealed their convictions to the Pennsylvania Superior Court.
Attorney Eric Dowdle claimed Fitzpatrick's conviction was based solely on Marvin Dowe's testimony, while other witnesses' testimony cleared Fitzpatrick.
In the March 8 opinion, the judges said Northampton County Judge Anthony Beltrami, who presided over the trial, "properly concluded that Fitzpatrick's issues lack merit."
The judges upheld Fitzpatrick's sentence and relinquished jurisdiction of the case.
Fleming's appeal is still outstanding. Attorney Robert Patterson claims a photo of a shoe print from the restaurant men's room toilet tank was unfairly suppressed from the defense until the trial was under way.
Patterson also argues the prosecution failed to provide an interview conducted with an informer who said he heard Fitzpatrick and Seneca Rogers were involved in the shooting. Fleming was not mentioned in the interview.
Reporter Sarah Cassi can be reached at 610-258-7171 or scassi@express-times.com. Talk about issues in your town at lehighvalleylive.com/forums.
I encourage readers to read and research more about this case and contribute in some way to the defense of these two Black men, if readers believe that the defendants are not being treated with at least as much justice as a white person would be under similar circumstances. It is my belief that, whether a Black person is guilty or innocent, s/he should receive the same protections and due process that a white person would under similar circumstances.
If some whites are committing unlawful acts with virtual impunity or leniency while Blacks are being prosecuted to the fullest possible extent of the law for the same sort of crime, that might help to at least partially explain why so many more Blacks (and Latinos) proportionately are in prison or under criminal supervision.
Because injustice can occur in the police investigation process, the prosecutors charging behavior, the courts rulings on the admissibility and inadmissibility of evidence, as well as in jury color-aroused ideation, emotion and behavior, and then in sentencing. If at any point in these processes Blacks and Latinos are not being treated as whites would be under similar circumstances, then that's a serious problem.
