Thursday, April 29, 2010

Critical Mass Assault and Battery--An Acquittal

Here on Bad Lawyer I've been telling you about the assault and battery by the NYC cop, Patrick Pogan who was caught on video shoving a cyclist off a bike and onto the pavement during an organized protest by the group Critical Mass.  I embedded the video courtesy of the New York Post for you to see for yourself. 

Amazingly, the Post is reporting that a NYC jury acquitted Pogan of assault and battery.  You want to know what jury nullification is, go watch the video at the first link (above.)

Fortunately, Pogan was convicted of two counts of falsification relating to preposterous made up assault and battery charges filed against cyclist Christopher Long.  Pogan still faces jail time.  It's a good thing the jury convicted Pogan on at least a couple of counts because this bad cop was telling the press that he was planning on seeking reinstatement with the NYPD upon his projected acquittal.

10 comments:

  1. Thanks for following this BL...a few corrections.

    1. Critical Mass is semi-spontaneous (intentionally non-organized), and not necessarily a protest.

    2. Chris Long is the cyclist. Chris Lloyd played Dr. Emmey Brown in Back to the Future.

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  2. damn, that is Dr. Emmet Brown! Wow, we are all so fallible. But assault is assault, except if you are a cop. Then it is justice!

    Keep it up!

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  3. Thanks for the correction, I was mentally mashing together stories and names while I hustled my update.
    BL

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  4. Re "jury nullification": You believe the jury believed Pogan guilty of assault and they decided to acquit anyway? Why not go all the way and vote not guilty on the false police report as well?

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  5. Yokota--
    I do believe that the jury saw with their own eyes what we see in the video--and if they are reasonably sensate they know that this was assault and batttery. But reading between the lines I am convinced that the defense which was predicated on what a piece-of-shit Christopher Long is (he is apparently a real jerk), impacted the jury's decision. On the otherhand, I think the verdict was a compromise between those who wanted a conviction and those who wanted an acquittal. My guess is that those in the latter category were outnumbered by those in the former category. It's a real head-scratcher.
    BL

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  6. Thanks BL -- I learn something new every day! I'll post about this tomorrow on my own blog.

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  7. I guess we're behind the times here in Ohio... I didn't see this story until now... we've had our share of goofy juries here too... lady gets 60 days for killing a cyclist on TOSRV, for example! Keep up the good work!
    Steve Magas

    www.OhioBikeLawyer.com

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  8. Thanks for all the posted comments, Steve you might want to look at the Christopher Thomas coverage from last year and January. This of course refers to the Laurel Canyon attack on cyclists that was beautifully covered at Velonews by among others my friend Charles Pelkey.
    BL

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  9. Do Not Hire This Guy
    Bob K.

    S Daniel Hutchison Law Office
    This attorney is an arrogant, ambulance chasing, liar. He told me over the phone via a consultation that he was politically connected and would make my traffic violation go away. When I set an appointment to meet him in person, he did not have the decency to meet with me, but instead had his partner meet with me.

    In a nutshell, he bungled the case and I spent 10 days in jail for a traffic violation!!! When I asked him about his promises/sales pitch, he denied ever saying it in a self righteous, bullying manner. On top of this, when I asked him to postpone the case until I could get my affairs in order, he told me he would have to charge me more money (ironic because he talked me out of going with another attorney because of the money the other attorney was charging me).

    Do not hire this guy. He lacks knowledge, is unprofessional, and does not care about people - he only cares about the almighty dollar.

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  10. Councilman Daniel Hutchison Law Office
    This attorney is an arrogant, ambulance chasing, liar. He told me over the phone via a consultation that he was politically connected and would make my traffic violation go away. When I set an appointment to meet him in person, he did not have the decency to meet with me, but instead had his partner meet with me.

    ReplyDelete