Homeless schizophrenic Kelly
Thomas, 37, was beaten to death by police in Fullerton, California,
in 2011. Two officers, Manuel Ramos and Jay Ciccinelli, were
charged in Thomas’ death, but were found not guilty by a jury in
January.
Thomas’ father, Ron, has filed a
wrongful death suit against the Fullerton police for Thomas’
death, alleging assault and battery, negligence, and civil rights
violations.
But there’s a new problem. The federal government is
investigating the beating as well, and now Ramos is asking for
immunity from federal prosecution before being deposed in Ron
Thomas’ civil suit. From the
Los Angeles Times:
Because of the potential for being prosecuted by the federal
government, Ramos filed a motion on March 20 asking for immunity
regarding any statements he made during the deposition about his
violent confrontation with Kelly.If Ramos isn’t granted immunity, he likely will ask a judge to
limit the scope of questioning.
Ramos’ attorney said that subjecting Ramos to questioning about
what happened the night of Thomas’ death would essentially violate
the former officer’s 5th Amendment rights.
To sum up, Ramos doesn’t want anything he says in a civil trial
to be used against him in a possible federal trial because it would
be a roundabout way of getting around his right not to incriminate
himself. As loathsome as we may find Ramos, is it hard to disagree
with that logic?
Katherine Mangu-Ward noted recently that in the wake of the
acquittal, Ramos attempted a visit to
Denny’s only to discover the community not very hospitable.
Ciccinelli has also been tracked down coaching
Little League baseball.
Below: Reason TV’s report on the Thomas case and the power of
filming police abuse. Needless to say, the video was produced
before Ramos and Ciccinelli were found not guilty:
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