- Kansas City Killer Cop Acquitted -
ofr...@hotmail.com
Date: Nov 21 2000 19:10:27 EST
From: "ofr...@hotmail.com" <ofr...@hotmail.com>
Subject:
- Kansas City Killer Cop Acquitted -
Subject: -Cop acquitted in fatal car crash
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2000 23:07:26 -0800
From: Michael Novick <part...@usa.net>
Police officer found innocent in fatal traffic accident
Nov. 16, 2000 | 12:18 p.m.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A police officer was found innocent Thursday
of
two counts of involuntary manslaughter in a fatal traffic accident that
occurred when his speeding patrol car hit another vehicle.
Officer Travis J. Holbrook was charged after an Oct. 11, 1999, accident
that killed Willie S. Samuels, 81, and Anita Spencer, 45, of Kansas
City.
Jackson County Circuit Judge Jay A. Daugherty, who heard the case
without a
jury, said he had not been convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that
Holbrook's action met the legal standard for criminal convictions in
the
case.
``The court believes that in this case, the defendant may have been
civilly
negligent, but it cannot find beyond a reasonable doubt that any such
negligence rose to the level of criminal negligence,'' Daugherty said.
Testimony at the trial indicated that Holbrook drove a patrol car that
collided so hard with Samuels' pickup truck that the truck spun 360
degrees
and flung its occupants onto the street. Neither of the victims was
wearing
a seat belt.
Holbrook testified that he and his partner were responding to a police
call
for help in a stolen-car case. They were not in pursuit and had no
reason
to use sirens or flashing lights, he said.
Holbrook said that he was probably speeding, and that he last
remembered
seeing the light was green when he was a block east of the
intersection,
despite a witness who claimed the light had turned red before the
crash.
Dave Fry, assistant county prosecutor, asked on cross-examination:
``You
didn't think (the light) would turn red before you got to it. You
miscalculated that, didn't you?''
``It's possible I made a mistake,'' Holbrook said, adding that he was
going
over the 35 mph speed limit but ``not by much.''
Tracy Revels of Kansas City had testified that the police car ran a red
light and was going so fast he described it as flying.
Assistant prosecutor Dawn Parson said during her closing argument that
Revels had a few felony convictions, but ``that doesn't have anything
to
do
with his ability to observe.''
Defense lawyer Mark Komoroski countered that Revels hated police and
testified that the light was red because of that hatred.
Was the light really red? Komoroski asked.
``Only if Tracy Revels is believable -- he is not.''
AP-CS-11-16-00 1315EST
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material
is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a
prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only.
--
- Outlaw Frog Raper -
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