Watch: Video, Pictures Convince Public, But Not Jurors, in Kelly Thomas Case

A jury has acquitted two officers on trial for the beating and
death of Kelly Thomas, a homeless man with schizophrenia, as

Scott Shackford notes below.

Reason TV has covered the case extensively for years, not only
because of the brutal, horrific nature of Thomas’s death, but also
because of the integral role that new media and the democratizing
effect of technology has played in the perception, coverage, and
visibility of the incident.

A picture snapped on a cell phone and surveillance footage
uploaded to Youtube both fueled and sustained public outrage in a
case that might have otherwise gone unnoticed. To many, the
picture, the video, and the audio provided incontrovertible
evidence of police abuse. The
images and sound, accessible to anyone who looked for it, were
enough to lead to the
first murder trial of a police officer in Orange County
history.

In this case, those same images and sound were not enough to
convince a jury to convict the officers of 2nd degree murder,
involuntary manslaughter, or excessive force.

Regardless of your feelings about the outcome, Reason TV’s
original documentary, produced only months after the beating
occurred, is a must-watch video for anyone interested in this case
or in the role technology is playing in the ever-evolving
relationship between the police and the citizenry: