United States Department of Justice

“ We believe that it is the concept of an intervening independent act of a free will—the defendant, as a human being, can choose to speak or to remain silent—which furnishes the rationale for the rule (which pertains generally in state and federal courts) that a statement or confession voluntarily made during detention, without compulsion and without undue delay in arraignment, is not rendered inadmissible by the illegality of the original arrest. ”

“ As detailed below, Wilson has stated his intent in shooting Brown was in response to a perceived deadly threat. The only possible basis for prosecuting Wilson under 18 U.S.C. § 242 would therefore be if the government could prove that his account is not true—i.e., that Brown never punched and grabbed Wilson at the SUV, never attempted to gain control of Wilson’s gun, and thereafter clearly surrendered in a way that no reasonable officer could have failed to perceive. There is no credible evidence to refute Wilson’s stated subjective belief that he was acting in self-defense. ”

“ While it is the rule that, if the evidence sought to be introduced is the true product of illegal government action it is excludable, it is not the rule that the mere fact that there has been illegal government action at some prior point is sufficient. ”

“ There is no allegation in the indictment that any American was a knowing participant in the alleged unlawful activity or knew they were communicating with Russian intelligence officers. There is no allegation in the indictment that the charged conduct altered the vote count or changed the outcome of the 2016 election.
Everyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. At trial, prosecutors must introduce credible evidence that is sufficient to prove each defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, to the unanimous satisfaction of a jury of twelve citizens. ”

“ The history of warfare makes clear that electronic surveillance of the enemy is a fundamental incident to the use of military force. A crucial responsibility of the President—charged by the AUMF and the Constitution—is to identify enemies who attacked us, especially if they are in the United States ready to strike against our Nation. We are at war, and al Qaeda is not a conventional enemy. Since the September 11 attacks, it has promised again and again to deliver another, even more devastating attack on America. ”

“ Never before have so many heavily armed and totally committed individuals barricaded themselves in a fortified compound in a direct challenge to lawful federal warrants, and to duly authorized law enforcement officials. ”

“ Di Giovanni cautioned that, absent a personal examination of Koresh, his opinions could only be regarded as speculative. Dr. Di Giovanni stated that Koresh's use of religion seemed designed more to legitimize his thoughts behavior and his desire to live apart from society than to form a basis for martyrdom. Because Koresh had established a community in which "he took the money, the children, the women, the comfort and the relative luxuries rather than sharing in the discomfort of his followers . . . he might be more willing to sacrifice others than himself." ”

“ The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. ”

“ In recent years, FPD has moved away from the modest community policing efforts it previously had implemented, reducing opportunities for positive police-community interactions, and losing the little familiarity it had with some African-American neighborhoods. The confluence of policing to raise revenue and racial bias thus has resulted in practices that not only violate the Constitution and cause direct harm to the individuals whose rights are violated, but also undermine community trust, especially among many African Americans. ”

“ Take the spoil of gold for there's none end of the store and the glory out of all the pleasant furniture. She's empty, void and waste, the heart melted, the, the knees smite together, and much pain is in all loins and all faces of them shall get a blackness. ”

“ Thus, under Graham, we must avoid substituting our personal notions of proper police procedure for the instantaneous decision of the officer at the scene. We must never allow the theoretical, sanitized world of our imagination to replace the dangerous and complex world that policemen face every day. ”

“ The first element, in point of time, in the composite of elements that led to Toy's arrest was the statement of informer Hom Way that he had obtained an ounce of heroin, the night before, from Toy. In appraising the weight of that one statement, one cannot determine its reliability solely upon the basis of whether Hom Way had or had not previously furnished information to the agents. We think that, in stressing this factor, the court of appeals unduly emphasized what is only one element in the determination of an informer's reliability—the receipt of prior information from him. ”

“ One FPD officer estimated that about a quarter of the Ferguson community distrusts the police department.
A growing body of research, alongside decades of police experience, is consistent with what our investigation found in Ferguson: that when police and courts treat people unfairly, unlawfully, or disrespectfully, law enforcement loses legitimacy in the eyes of those who have experienced, or even observed, the unjust conduct. ”

“ Krofcheck and Van Zandt believed (contrary to Dr. Miron's view) that Koresh was "willing to kill, to see his followers die, and to die himself." They reasoned that for Koresh to give up the power and omnipotence he enjoyed inside the compound for a life in prison would be like "a crack cocaine addict who gets a sexual-like high from crack, to give up his habit cold turkey and obtain a meaningful job and accept the responsibilities of society." ”

“ The Law Governing Uses of Deadly Force by a Law Enforcement Officer The federal criminal statute that enforces Constitutional limits on uses of force by law enforcement officers is 18 U.S.C. § 242, which provides in relevant part, as follows:
Whoever, under color of any law,...willfully subjects any person...to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States [shall be guilty of a crime] . ”

“ For instance, if an individual arrested without probable cause while walking on a busy street blurts out at once in remorse—before the officer says anything more than "I arrest you"—that he is guilty of stealing certain goods and will make restitution, it would seem unwise to bar that volunteered confession or the evidence of larceny obtained as a result of the confession. ”

“ Increasing a police department's racial diversity does not necessarily increase community trust or improve officer conduct. There appear to be many reasons for this. One important reason is that African-American officers can abuse and violate the rights of African-American civilians, just as white officers can. And African-American officers who behave abusively can undermine community trust just as white officers can. Our investigation indicates that in Ferguson, individual officer behavior is largely driven by a police culture that focuses on revenue generation and is infected by race bias. ”

“ Witness accounts suggesting that Brown was standing still with his hands raised in an unambiguous signal of surrender when Wilson shot Brown are inconsistent with the physical evidence, are otherwise not credible because of internal inconsistencies, or are not credible because of inconsistencies with other credible evidence. In contrast, Wilson’s account of Brown’s actions, if true, would establish that the shootings were not objectively unreasonable under the relevant Constitutional standards governing an officer’s use of deadly force. ”

“ Even when the underlying fine has been assessed, a person in jail may still be forced to make a bond payment instead of a fine payment to secure release if court staff are unavailable to determine the amount the person owes. And when a person attempts to resolve a warrant before they end up arrested, a bond payment will typically be required unless the person can afford to pay the underlying fine in full, as, by purported policy, the court does not accept partial payment of fines outside of a court-sanctioned payment plan. ”

“ Where, at the time and place of an illegal arrest or an illegal search, a defendant makes statements which are themselves evidence or which lead to other evidence, the situation lies between those we have just discussed. On the one side, the illegal official action is still occurring and its effects may, to a greater or less degree, still be operative. On the other, the statements, if not coerced, do represent an independent intervening act of free will on the part of the defendant. ”

“ Witness 101 told county and federal investigators that Brown told Wilson, "Get the fuck off me. We're not doin' anything wrong. Leave us the fuck alone." However, Witness 101 explained that even though Wilson had his grip on Brown, Brown had the upper hand both because of his stature and his physical position relative to the car. As Witness 101 told investigators, Wilson would have to be "superhuman" to "overpower" Brown. Witness 101 told the county grand jury that Brown was getting "the best of the officer" because Wilson was only using his left hand. ”

“ African Americans experience the harms of the disparities identified below as part of a comprehensive municipal justice system that, at each juncture, enforces the law more harshly against black people than others. The disparate impact of Ferguson's enforcement actions is compounding: at each point in the enforcement process there is a higher likelihood that an African American will be subjected to harsher treatment; accordingly, as the adverse consequences imposed by Ferguson grow more and more severe, those consequences are imposed more and more disproportionately against African Americans. ”