Cop Accused of Beating Transsexual in Court
Memphis, Tn – If a surveillance video hadn’t existed would fired former Memphis Police officer, Bridges McRae still be a wearing a badge? If there wasn’t the video could somehow the still unsolved shooting death 9 months later of the late transsexual, Duana Johnson, have been avoided?
But, for a federal jury chosen on Tuesday to determine the guilt or innocence of McRae based on the February 2008 Shelby County Jail surveillance tape, conjecture about those hypothetical questions are moot. It is their duty over the next five to six days of trial to determine if McRae’s apparent beating of Johnson with fists and handcuffs after her arrest on prostitution and possession of drug paraphernalia charges violated her civil rights.
A prosecution that proceeds with only the haunting words of a deceased victim to describe the incident and a tape which captures a few excruciating moments in time, “It was real viscious. I felt like an animal getting beat.”
Federal Judge Thomas Anderson hoped to sift through the jury pool of more than 80 juror prospects. Mcrae, flanked by his Washington-D.C.-based attorneys had very little expression, occasionally glancing at family members who came to the courtroom.
Originally scheduled to begin in January, the trial had to be delayed until April when some difficulties arose in selecting a jury. Thomas said he hoped to have a jury of twelve picked by the end of the day with testimony to begin on Wednesday.
Prosecutors will rely heavily on the surveillance tape. Even as the trial begins, attorneys who represented the late Johnson, who was found murdered in November of 2008, insist they still plan to file a million dollar lawsuit against the city on behalf of their former client. An action, which in the wake of Johnson’s untimely death, would seem to serve as an attempt to memorialize a life of tragic torment.
April 6, 2010
cerebraldiva
Fresh off the heels of a fantastic weekend box office for her film “Why Did I Get Married Too?”, Janet and the rest of the Jackson clan were headed to court as they waited to see whether or not Dr. Conrad Murray’s license would be revoked as a result of M.J’s death. 
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