I absolutely love what State Attorney Bill Cervone said as to why he decided to drop both charges against Antonio Morrison and wish police officers actually did show the restraint Cervone states was missing: "Having reviewed the law and the evidence, specifically including the video of what occurred, I have today filed a dismissal of all charges against Antonio Morrison related to his arrest on July 21 for interfering with a police dog and resisting an officer. This dismissal is based on the lack of evidence to warrant much less legally sustain those charges and the complete inappropriateness of pursuing court action against Morrison, or anyone else, under the circumstances involved. To be fair, law enforcement officers are not lawyers or fully aware of what the courts require. Nonetheless, and fair or not, their decisions must meet those standards. The charge of interfering with a police animal requires malice, and none exists. It also requires that the animal be engaged in some official duty, and it cannot be said that sitting in the back of a police cruiser in case he is needed constitutes being engaged in such activity by a police dog. As to the charge of resisting an officer, I challenge anyone who looks at the video of the incident to find any resistance, physical or otherwise, beyond questioning the actions of law enforcement, which is not illegal. Certainly, I see nothing that would allow or persuade a jury to convict. In taking this action I wish to commend Sheriff Sadie Darnell for her comments about this situation as reported in the media. Those comments are candid, responsible, and appropriate. I disagree only as to whether any crime occurred. In my view, no arrest should have been made in this case, whether technically sustainable or not. In my office, I teach and we attempt to practice restraint. The power to do something as profound as depriving another person of liberty and subjecting him to all of the consequences of an arrest or prosecution cannot be abused, even when one’s patience is thin. After nearly 40 years as a prosecutor I understand the pressures that officers on the street deal with. Those pressures simply cannot be allowed to override common sense and the law, as they may have in this situation. Finally, and to answer other question that may be asked, Morrison’s deferral agreement in his previous case will remain in effect. Because his arrest and potential prosecution for this new incident are in my view legally inappropriate there are no grounds to revoke that agreement. To anyone suggesting that he has received special treatment due to his status, I would say review the police video and associated reports. Doing so with an unbiased, legally rigorous analysis can only lead to the conclusions I’ve reached. I would expect that Morrison has learned that being out at that hour of the night under those circumstances is setting himself up for a situation where he could risk and lose a great deal. However, counseling him about where he was and whatever he was doing is not the function of my office. I can only concern myself with his criminal culpability, of which there is none. The rest I leave to Coach Muschamp, as I leave to Sheriff Darnell dealing with any training issues or questions about handling problem locations and events of this sort."
Posted on: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 21:43:18 +0000
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