Denver Colorado
As I understand the story:
Altercation. One guy (1G) shoots the other guy (OG). OG goes to hospital to die, the 1G never speaks to police, sits in jail for a year awaiting trial on 1st degree murder.
1st day of trial, prosecutors notice for first time in body cam footage that OG was had a tactical pen in hand when shot. DA decides they can’t disprove self-defense, dismisses case. (The linked story and a couple news videos on this do NOT indicate the defense brought this up).
I took defensive training courses from John and Vickie Farnham of Defense Training International. John, who had been a police officer for years, told us (as I recall) police are not our friends, they are looking for bad guys, good guys, and information as to what happened and who is who - especially who needs to be taken into custody. Cops are human and can make mistakes like overlooking evidence. He urged us to to keep our mouths shut when police arrive on scene with the following exception: claim victim status, point out any evidence of your opponent(s) attack, and tell them you’ll be happy to make a full statement when you’ve had a chance to talk to your attorney.
“I’m the one who called the police. That man on the ground tried to kill me. His gun fell under that car. His partner ran that away and dropped a knife into the bushes. I’ll be happy to cooperate and make a full statement after I’ve talked with my attorney.”
This Colorado case sounds exactly like the situation he was talking about.
defense-training.com
As I understand the story:
Altercation. One guy (1G) shoots the other guy (OG). OG goes to hospital to die, the 1G never speaks to police, sits in jail for a year awaiting trial on 1st degree murder.
1st day of trial, prosecutors notice for first time in body cam footage that OG was had a tactical pen in hand when shot. DA decides they can’t disprove self-defense, dismisses case. (The linked story and a couple news videos on this do NOT indicate the defense brought this up).
According to the department, the defendant did not provide a statement to investigators and did not indicate the victim had an object in his hand at the time of the shooting. He also did not assert a self-defense claim, DPD said.
The officer who moved the pen was in his 2nd week of field training.As paramedics lifted the victim onto a gurney to be transported to the hospital, the DA's office said an officer on scene moved the object that had fallen from the victim's hand. The tactical pen was underneath several items that had been taken from the victim's pocket, according to the DA's office, and therefore the crime scene unit didn't photograph the pen.
I took defensive training courses from John and Vickie Farnham of Defense Training International. John, who had been a police officer for years, told us (as I recall) police are not our friends, they are looking for bad guys, good guys, and information as to what happened and who is who - especially who needs to be taken into custody. Cops are human and can make mistakes like overlooking evidence. He urged us to to keep our mouths shut when police arrive on scene with the following exception: claim victim status, point out any evidence of your opponent(s) attack, and tell them you’ll be happy to make a full statement when you’ve had a chance to talk to your attorney.
“I’m the one who called the police. That man on the ground tried to kill me. His gun fell under that car. His partner ran that away and dropped a knife into the bushes. I’ll be happy to cooperate and make a full statement after I’ve talked with my attorney.”
This Colorado case sounds exactly like the situation he was talking about.
Defense Training International – Defense Training International, LLC
![defense-training.com](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fdefense-training.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F03%2FDefense-Training-International-Logo-1.jpg&hash=591316dfd186ca691f7fdff069d61db8&return_error=1)