Black police officer shot 28 times by 4 white officers, then sentenced to prison.

BoldChild

They destroyed the evidence before it could be presented in court, including the van Morgan was driving.
They had it crushed while he was in the hospital, additionally the gear the officers were wearing that night mysteriously vanished.


http://www.theeverlastinggopstoppers.com/2014/12/black-police-officer-howard-morgan-shot-28-times-white-police-officers-yet-hes-guilty/

The first time Morgan was put on trial, the jury acquitted him in 2007 of aggravated battery and discharging his weapon, but was deadlocked on four attempted murder charges. That, the Post reports, lead to a retrial, and on April 5, 2012, Judge Clayton Crane sentenced Morgan, 61, to 40 years.

In this instance, the jury was not allowed to hear that Morgan was acquitted of the other charges.

In 2009, a three-judge appellate panel reviewed the evidence and made some interesting findings.

Let’s just say that if this case were a bridge, you couldn’t walk on it. There are Grand Canyon sized holes in it, based on the judges’ discoveries.

What were some of the holes, you ask?

Let’s start with the Huffington Post:

Before it could be tested for finger prints, bullets, and other evidence from the confrontation, police crushed the van that Morgan had been driving.
No fingerprints were found on Morgan’s gun.
The bullets that struck two of the officers weren’t recovered. The officers testified that they didn’t see Morgan fire the bullets and admitted that they were in each other’s line of fire, which means that a jury could reasonably conclude that the officers may well have been hit by “friendly fire.”

The case of the “Now you don’t see it, now you do” bullet

This particular bullet, which became a major focal point in the case against Morgan, seems to have magic powers. Discovered at the hospital when it “fell” from the protective vest of another officer who was at the scene, the officer later claimed that he saw Morgan fire the bullet. It must have lodged in the vest, the officer said, per The Huffington Post. A ballistics expert testified that the bullet wasn’t shot by any of the officers’ guns, which means friendly fire wasn’t its source.

So where did this bullet come from? The ballistics expert wasn’t able to match it to Morgan’s gun, the appellate review found. Yet somehow, with all of the jostling during the shooting, it wasn’t dislodged when the officer claimed he ran for cover. It also didn’t fall from the vest when the officer probed to determine how bad his injuries were. It even remained intact during the ride to the hospital.

Strange.

In fact, the bullet didn’t materialize until three witnesses saw it when the officer undressed at the hospital.

The vest in question?

Police failed to inventory it and prosecutors weren’t able to produce it at the trial. Morgan’s lawyers didn’t fail to point this out, the Post reports.
Now, for the rest of the holes

Courtesy of The Grio:

Charice Rush is the only eyewitness who came forward. She testified at Morgan’s 2007 trial that she saw the officers “snatch” Morgan from his van and “force him onto one knee.” She said she also heard one officer say “oh ? , he has a gun.” Then, she said, they opened fire while Morgan was on the ground.

She said she never saw Morgan fire a gun.

Police evidence technicians took photos of Morgan’s van, and every single photo showed the van was parked with its lights on.

Two Chicago police officers—Richard Pruger and Tom Mitchell–arrived on scene after the shootings. Both testified that the van’s headlights were on. So did Chicago police forensic investigator Maurice Henderson.

Morgan was never tested for gun residue to confirm if he fired a gun.

Benjamin Crump, the attorney representing Rosalind Morgan told The Grio that Morgan’s van was riddled with bullets. The walls of nearby houses and furniture within were absolutely riddled with bullets. Because the van was destroyed, the jury never got the chance to see the evidence.

illedout

WTF !!!!!!!!!
That's a wild ass story..

Trillaaaaaa

? wake up call #5,037

Allah_U_Akbar

Didn't read the article yet.... But....

Are you telling me that a human being survived after being shot 28 times?

VIBE

I'm confused as ? ..

who wrote this ? article?

cobbland

HOWARD MORGAN RELEASED FROM PRISON AFTER QUINN COMMUTES 40-YEAR SENTENCE

Wednesday, January 14, 2015 04:53PM
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Of the 43 clemency petitions that former Gov. Pat Quinn granted on his final day in office, the case of Howard Morgan was one of the most unexpected and most controversial.

It's a case that involves the incendiary mix of race, politics, a man who nearly lost his life, and four cops who came close to losing theirs, and now, a decision that has no "public" explanation from the man who made it.

Howard Morgan walked out of prison Wednesday afternoon after his 40-year sentence for the attempted murder of four Chicago police officers was commuted by former Gov. Quinn.

Morgan's freedom has his family and supporters rejoicing, but has outraged others, among them Chicago Police Officer John Wrigley. Wrigley was one of three cops shot by Morgan in a fateful encounter 10 years ago next month.

Police and prosecutors didn't know Quinn was even considering clemency for Morgan, and they likely will never know why.

"I was never asked any questions, never given a chance to give my side of the story or tell the facts of the case, the true facts of the case," Wrigley said.

What began as something of a traffic stop, turned into a scuffle and then gunfire 10 years ago. Police say that Howard Morgan, a former Chicago cop, was immediately belligerent, went for his gun, and fired first, and what followed was an exchange of dozens of shots fired. Morgan claimed that the police were the provocateurs, shooting without reason, but a jury convicted Morgan. Now the former governor has ordered him freed, and Pat Quinn is under no legal obligation to explain why.

"The governor has absolute power to make decisions on clemency whenever he wants, for whatever reason he wants and it's been tested in the courts," said Former Prisoner Review Board Chair Jorge Montes.

Montes says controversial decisions are a sign of leadership, and he applauds Quinn for tough choices. But police and prosecutors call it a choice done behind their backs, and they have questions for Quinn.

"Why do you think he needed he needed to be released? Why do you think he deserved to be released? Did you sit in on the trial? Did he look at the details of this case? I don't think he did," Wrigley said.

There have been legal challenges in the past to the governor's executive clemency powers, most notably when George Ryan granted blanket clemency to everyone on death row at the time, over a decade ago. The courts ruled then that the governor's clemency authority was a constitutional absolute.

http://abc7chicago.com/news/howard-morgan-released-from-prison-after-quinn-commutes-sentence/475319/#videoplayer

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2015/01/14/former-cop-howard-morgan-walks-out-of-prison-after-sentence-commuted-by-quinn/

DIXON, Ill. (WLS) -- A former railroad officer sentenced to prison for attempted murder will be released from prison.

Howard Morgan is one of several inmates to have their sentences commuted by former Governor Pat Quinn during his final hours in office, an action that not everyone agrees the former governor should have taken.

DOCUMENT: FOP statement on commutation of Howard Morgan sentence

In his last day in office, the former governor approved more than three dozen clemency requests. One of the more controversial involves an inmate held in Dixon.

Ten years ago next month, Howard Morgan, a railroad cop and former Chicago police officer, was stopped driving the wrong way on a one-way street. Morgan and the four arresting officers had words, then gunfire. Three of the officers were wounded.

Morgan was shot 28 times, but survived. He was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 40 years, essentially a life sentence.

Monday, outgoing Governor Pat Quinn granted 43 clemency petitions, including one from Morgan, which means he goes free, quite likely Wednesday once paperwork clears.

Morgan's family and supporters have argued for years that he was the victim of overly aggressive cops and overzealous prosecutors, but his release has infuriated State's Attorney Anita Alvarez who contends the executive clemency process is without any explanation or consideration.

She calls it a "...last minute secretive maneuver that puts the rights of victims of crime and their families at the bottom of his list of priorities."

Fraternal Order of Police President Dean Angelo also condemning the decision as
"...an 11th hour decision that's a slap to the faces of the officers wounded that night."

The former governor's aides have said that Quinn spent a lot of time carefully weighing the clemency requests and that his decisions are sound. He did not explain them on his last day. The process does not require him to do so.

http://abc7chicago.com/politics/quinn-commutes-sentence-of-man-convicted-of-attempted-murder/473720/

"After being left for dead, he survived and was then charged with attempted murder of the four white officers who brutalized him," Occupy wrote on their website, adding that Morgan was found not guilty on three counts, including discharging his weapon. The same jury that cleared him of opening fire on the officers, however, deadlocked on a charge of attempted murder -- and another jury found him guilty in January.

That jury was not allowed to hear that Morgan had been acquitted of the other charges.

Protesters and Morgan's family say the second trial amounted to double jeopardy, and claim officers have gone to great lengths to obstruct justice in the case:

Howard Morgan's van was crushed and destroyed without notice or cause before any forensic investigation could be done.
...
Howard Morgan was never tested for gun residue to confirm if he even fired a weapon on the morning in question.
The State never produced the actual bullet proof vest worn by one of the officers who claimed to have allegedly taken a shot directly into the vest on the morning in question. The State only produced a replica.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/03/howard-morgan-ex-cop-shot_n_1399834.html