But I have jerry-rigged the old unit with an ethernet cable and am laborously using a pain in the butt keyboard to type this out.

I just read a legal analyst of MSNBC saying she thought it was a good decision.  I think she is full of shit.

To those that may not know, my background is both a criminology degree (with many courses in legal opinions regarding both constitutional as well as procedural limits on police action) and many years as both a cop and a law enforcement professional.

The emphasis seems to be on the 'over kill'  - the number of shots fired,  with the acceptable explaination that cops are trained to kill, not wound.  BUT, this 'cop' who fired 31 shots emptied his automatic, reloaded and emptied again saying he thought his weapon jambed.  'This cop' was a detective, not a street cop possibly new on the force with limited firearms experience.  He did NOT not know his weapon had discharged 15 times into that van?  BULLSHIT - recoil, sound, visual track of shots fired . . . what a MORONIC defense.

Shooting the van - I'm sure there are better details, but popular media says nothing about the van ramming any vehicles, merely hitting them as it tried to get away.  Where is the 'mortal danger' that allows officers, no, DETECTIVES to open fire on a van?

Victims criminal history was NOT KNOWN to the detectives, so has NO bearing on the legitimacy of the shoot.

So we have a comment outsiden a club, not an action, that suggested someone was, or would be armed.

The detectives followed them AROUND A BLOCK and did not feel a need to take action?

The detective(s) then allowed the perps to gain the sanctuary of a lethal weapon?  ie :  the van.

Some detective, at 3 a.m., saw MOVEMENT INSIDE A VAN? that suggested the perp was reaching for a weapon?

What part of TRAVESTY doesn't this MSNBC "expert" or the judge, understand?

If you can believe it, the judge said : "Questions of carelessness and incompetence must be left to other forums."   Uh, careless discharge of a weapon resulting in death IS for the criminal court, NOT "other forums".

God Bless the victims family and the people of New York.  I pray they maintain their cool and let the lawyers bring it through the appeals process.  NYC police and courts should be ashamed AND held accountable.

Not murder by any means, but those detectives, as far as the information I have seen, are dead guily of manslaughter or at the least, reckless manslaughter.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/04/24/nyregion/20080424_BELL_GRAPHIC.html