Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Police Body Camera Used As Evidence To Indict Cincinnati Police Officer On Murder Charge

It was a routine traffic stop for a 25-year old University of Cincinnati police officer ten days ago. Officer Ray Tensing stopped a car driven by Samuel DuBose because the car lacked a license plate on the front of the car (Ohio, unlike Indiana, requires license plates be displayed both on the front and rear of a vehicle). The conversation between Officer Tensing and DuBose as captured by the officer's body camera was very non-confrontational. The problem arose when DuBose was unable to produce his driver's license.

DuBose, growing agitated and believing he did nothing wrong, starts his engine rather than exiting the car as Tensing requested he do. Fearing DuBose was going to flee, Tensing appears to reach into the car, at which point DuBose appears to put the vehicle in drive. Officer Tensing's gun can be seen pointed at DuBose and fires as the vehicle begins to accelerate. Tensing is thrown to the ground as DuBose's car appears to speed away. His foot may have actually been stuck on the accelerator as DuBose suffered a fatal headshot wound, which likely killed him instantly.

Today, the Hamilton Co. Prosecutor Joe Deters shocked the public when he announced a grand jury had returned an indictment for murder against Officer Tensing. Deters' office released a full, unedited video of the traffic stop, including the shooting and the aftermath, as captured by Officer Tensing's body camera. The full video can be viewed below. It includes very graphic scenes so please view with caution.

Tensing claimed he fired at DuBose because he feared he was going to run him over. Tensing is clearly thrown to the ground as DuBose's car speeds away, but it doesn't appear to show him in any danger of being run over by DuBose's vehicle. DuBose's vehicle traveled nearly a block down the street before crashing and coming to a stop. Tensing's video shows DuBose slumped over the driver's seat with blood splattered inside the car from the gunshot wound. Another officer near the scene appeared to support Tensing's account, but the grand jury obviously wasn't convinced and chose to indict the police officer for murder. Tensing is the first Cincinnati police officer charged for murdering a person while in the line of duty. 


UPDATE: I see that the actual charges filed by the prosecutor includes a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter, in addition to the first degree murder charge. That's a charge that's more likely to stick with a jury.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

We need the Mack Long body camera video released so we can burn Indy down.

Quit hiding the video. It belongs to the people.

Gary R. Welsh said...

The Mack Long shooting video has been released. It was just so heavily edited you couldn't make heads or tails of it. Quite a contrast from the explicit, full-length video the Hamilton County prosecutor in Ohio released, which included all of the before, during and after conversations of police officers. And it took ten days from the day of shooting to get a grand jury determination, not nearly 3 months as occurred in the Mack Long shooting.

Anonymous said...

Gary did you have the video turned up while watching the Mack Long video? In the Mack Long video that I saw on the news you could clearly hear the officer screaming "HELP ME HE'S GOT MY GUN!" as the second officer is running up to the confrontation. If you don't want to be shot by the police, don't grab their guns.

Anonymous said...

Annon 10:07 "We need the Mack Long body camera video released so we can burn Indy down." When you start burning Indy down please start at 30th and Sherman and work your way Northeast to 42nd and Post.

Anonymous said...

"To serve and protect" the 1% - all others are murdered or imprisoned with impunity. This is why the Government Occupation Force should be disarmed. The People should rise up against the occupation forces.

Anonymous said...

I was taught to obey a policeman. If he tells you to stop. Stop. If he asks for something. Give it to him. If he tells you to get out of the car, or to be quiet. Then do it without argument. This is the way we were raised in Bloomington. Today, in the inner city, it seems that no one is taught these lessons. I was shocked to find out how many people flee when a police car turns on their lights to stop them. I was taught to pull over immediately. I would never argue with a policeman in the exercise of his duties. I think people who do argue immediately set off the situation, put the cop ill at ease, and make him believe something is afoot or dangerous. I have viewed this video. The man tries to pull his door back shut when the officer tries to open it. He tries to drive away. He doesn’t produce his identification. His car didn’t have a front plate. The cop felt nervous, and for good reason. If the black community fails to teach their children how to interact with police, then these situations will arise over and over. Dubose should never have gotten behind the wheel of a car without a valid plate and without his license on him. When he was stopped he didn’t behave normally. And when he tried to drive off he must have expected trouble, even gunfire. In a million years I would never run from a policeman, and if I did I would expect he would shoot at me to stop me. I just think people fail to learn these lessons in the home and at church and at school and so these situations end badly over and over. I would never indict this police officer. I blame the deceased. And if I were on the jury I would vote to acquit the cop, who was just doing his job. If you run from the police you expect to be shot.

Gary R. Welsh said...

Like I said, I don't know what the Mack Long video showed because it was so heavily edited. The prosecutor did not release an original copy of the video. What we saw was a recording of the heavily edited version IMPD played at its press conference. The first police officer had already shot the fleeing man once before the second police officer wearing a body camera arrived and pumped two bullets in him, killing him instantly. We can't see what the second officer saw when he fired those two shots. What is clear is that Long was at least a good six to seven feet away from the second officer when the camera is refocused following the second shooting. No version of the bystander's version was ever released in any form to the public, and our local media was just fine with that. With the video the Hamilton Co. Prosecutor released, I can advance the video frame by frame and get a pretty good picture of what occurred. You can't do that with the Mack Long video. If the grand jury had bought what this police officer was recorded saying as he fired the fatal shot, it would have never indicted him.

Anonymous said...

Gary, when you did the frame by frame, could you determine how the vehicle was put in gear? (the officers arm or the subjects own actions?)

Many of these incidents seem to be the results of continuing to poke the bear. Just like 10:07 wanting to burn Indy down and 2:18's 1% attitude. Poke - Poke !!

Gary R. Welsh said...

A person can believe the victim here was wrong in refusing the officer's request to step out of the car and also agreed the officer was wrong to use deadly force to stop him from driving away. If the victim had been using his car as a weapon against the officer, he would have been justified in shooting him. For example, if the officer's arm actually became entangled in the victim's safety belt and he was being dragged down the street as he claimed, he would have been justified in shooting him. The problem here is the video seems to show the police officer had already used deadly force before the vehicle became a danger to him. It appears the victim's foot reflexively accelerated the car after he was shot, at which point the officer was dragged a short distance. Even the controversial former LAPD officer Mark Fuhrman agreed the police officer was in the wrong here. What we can't see in the photo is the actual point the officer drew his weapon. That may have been why the victim panicked. He may have seen the officer draw the weapon when he tried to open his door and feared he was going to be shot.

Gary R. Welsh said...

The officer's left arm only appeared to grab the victim's safety belt. It was not inside the vehicle far enough to reach the driver's gear shift console. The victim's hand appears to be on the gear console at that point.

Gary R. Welsh said...

Let me add that I think the prosecutor will have a difficult task in getting a conviction of the officer, primarily because Ohio law didn't allow him to file a homicide charge requiring less than an intentional killing act.

Anonymous said...

i've supported the cops in nearly all of the recent high profile incidents, and still do. i have no doubt with video i still would. however, the cop in this video panicked, as many inexperienced cops do, and he should be sent to prison. the victim was in the wrong by not allowing cop to open door, but using that excuse to excuse the cops actions isn't right either. the cop needs to serve time and never again be allowed to carry a weapon.

frustrated public servant said...

What on earth was he thinking .

Josh said...

The bottle of gin sealed the deal.

LamLawIndy said...

QUESTION: Can the DuBose family file a Section 1983 claim against Univ. of Cincinnati? There's obviously a wrongful death suit coming, but I wonder -- since Officer Tensing had police powers & was ostensibly acting under color of law -- whether a Section 1983 claim is available even though UC is not a government body.

Gary R. Welsh said...

The family already has hired an attorney. A wrongful death lawsuit will be filed, and I would fully expect the university to quickly settle it for at least several million dollars.

Anonymous said...

Not Shocked - am in agreement with the grand jury.

Anonymous said...

I'm not an attorney, but why are prosecutors quick to jump to murder vs manslaughter ? Even if it is second degree murder, where's the malice aforethought ? It was a traffic stop, granted the victim was uncooperative, but I'm not sure if that would be suffice to meet that definition vs. voluntary manslaughter.

Rick said...

I recall an incident similar to the one in Cincinnati maybe 40 years ago when an IPD officer was directing traffic at Monument Circle.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad the prosecutor called it a chickens%%t stop. It's about time people started being honest about these cops' attacks on America. We need to stop police from wasting taxpayer time and dollars by thinking they can just pull a chickens%%t stop just because something is in a statute. Lots of things are so-called "laws," but you don't get to hold up your boss or steal money from your boss by "enforcing" chickens%%t rules.

Get back to doing real work, cops. Stop the chickens%%t stops, and you won't get yourselves in trouble.

Anonymous said...

Since when is a state-funded government university not a government actor, Lam?

Why is modernity so close to Indianapolis in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Chicago, but Indianapolis is still a Good Ole Boy, Deep-South, rights-hating, power-abusing backwater?

Why do people here take this level of crap off cops?