FULLERTON, Calif., Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Experts say California prosecutors will have difficulty getting convictions of two officers, as jurors are naturally sympathetic toward law enforcement.
Murder charges against on-duty police officers are rarely filed, with very few actually going to trial, the Los Angeles Time reported Thursday.
Grand jurors in Orange County indicted two police officers, Manuel Ramos and Jay Cicinelli, in connection with the death of Kelly Thomas, a mentally ill homeless man who was severely beaten by six officers on July 5 at a Fullerton, Calif., bus depot.
Ira Salzman, a lawyer who has represented police officers, said Orange County prosecutors will have a tough time persuading a jury that officer Manuel Ramos, who is charged with second degree murder, intended to kill Thomas, or consciously acted with disregard for his life.
Jurors tend to give police officers "the benefit of the doubt, especially where you have a fast-developing scenario," said Laurie Levenson, professor of law at Loyola Law School.
Meanwhile, a Fullerton city councilman has expressed dismay at the account of the beating, the newspaper said.
"I am absolutely sickened and my heart is just bleeding for the city, the Thomas family and the Police Department," Pat McKinley said Wednesday in a telephone interview. "I just don't understand how those officers could do what they did."
An 11-week investigation of the incident revealed recordings of Ramos saying "Now see my fists? They are getting ready to f -- you up" to Thomas.
