“It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America -
mentally unstable cops”
As images of
the battered face of Kelly Thomas were shown in an Orange County courtroom
Tuesday, the homeless man's father stood up and walked out of court, unable to
look at the gruesome photos.
The autopsy
photos were shown during testimony from a county coroner's pathologist, who
said Thomas died of brain death, acute bronchial pneumonia and blunt force
cranial injury.
But the cause
of Thomas' death after he was beaten by police outside a downtown Fullerton bus
depot has come under scrutiny during a preliminary hearing to determine whether
Officer Manuel Ramos and Cpl. Jay Cicinelli should stand trial -- Ramos for
second-degree murder, Cicinelli for involuntary manslaughter.
Testifying in
the preliminary hearing for the Fullerton police officers, the pathologist, Dr.
Aruna Singhania, showed the graphic images of the dead man -- pointing out
bruises and wounds on his body.
When the first
photo went up, Thomas' father left the courtroom. Ramos watched the images
projected on a screen. Cicinelli never looked up.
Singhania
testified that she reviewed medical records and came to the conclusion that
Thomas had died because of chest compression. Singhania said that finding was
based on hospital records, the video and her own examination.
Under cross-examination, she acknowledged initially not knowing what the
cause of death was beyond an enlarged heart and pneumonia. But a microscopic
examination, she said, confirmed that the bruises were the same age and that
Thomas' heart did not show signs of disease.
"I only
make a decision after getting everything together," she said.
Defense lawyers
asked if the coroner's staff agreed on the cause of death.
"There was
never a disagreement on the cause of death," Singhania said.
Had enough? Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal
hearings into the police problem in America.
Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a
permanent DOJ office on Police
Misconduct.