Louisiana prosecutors on Thursday dismissed the most serious charge remaining in the case. Deadly 2019 Ronald Green ArrestA veteran police officer was charged with reduced manslaughter after body camera footage showed him dragging a black motorist by ankle shackles. force him to lie face down before he could catch his breath.
The move comes just a month before Cory York’s trial marks the final conclusion to a case that began in 2022. Five police officers indicted He was charged with various charges related to stunning, punching and pepper-spraying Green after a high-speed chase.
Currently, only two officers are still indicted, and York and another officer are charged with multiple felonies, making the chances of anyone receiving significant prison time on death row all but eliminated. are. It was initially thought that the cause was a car accident..
“It all started with lies and cover-ups and will end the same way,” Mona Hardin told The Associated Press after being informed that charges had been dropped in her son’s death.
AP
“No one wants to be the one to accuse the murderer of a police officer when there is so much evidence,” she said through tears. “They killed my son, and no one will tolerate a rat’s ass.”
Union Parish District Attorney John Belton said in a statement that although the grand jury indicted York on negligent homicide, the evidence was “beyond a reasonable doubt” necessary to obtain a conviction at trial. does not meet the standards.”
Mr. Belton also dropped charges of agency misconduct against Mr. York, who recently retired. Suspicions not yet proven Green said he was also pepper sprayed after being handcuffed.
“It’s clear this case should never have been prosecuted,” York attorney Mike Small said, adding that he is seeking a full exoneration for his client at the Oct. 28 trial. “I am confident that once the jury reviews these videos, they will not see any unlawful contact by Corey York with Ronald Greene.”
Green’s death in May 2019 sparked national outrage and was one of several assaults on Black men by Louisiana police officers, prompting the U.S. Department of Justice to launch an ongoing investigation. It became. Civil rights investigation into state police.
But the dismissal highlights weaknesses in the case that deter the Justice Department from pursuing charges. After years of investigation, federal and state authorities were unable to determine the exact cause of Greene’s death while in custody.
State prosecutors had long been skeptical that an involuntary manslaughter charge could be established, despite an autopsy report that cited “complications from cocaine use” as a contributing factor to Greene’s death. Other incidents included repeated use of a stun gun by officers, “physical struggle, prone restraint, blunt force trauma, and neck compression,” but the Arkansas forensic pathologist who examined Greene said He declined to specify which factor was the most deadly.
The case has been shrouded in secrecy since its inception, but state officials announced to grieving relatives that the 49-year-old man died in a car crash following a high-speed chase near Monroe. This explanation was immediately questioned by the emergency room physician. Focusing on Green’s bruised body, wrote in his notes It means that you were presented with a “different version” of events. Still, the coroner’s report lists Green’s cause of death as a motor vehicle accident, the state police crash report makes no mention of officers using force, and state police have launched an internal investigation. By then, 462 days had passed. a An autopsy was later ordered by the FBI. It turned out that the accident was not the cause of his death.
All the while, officials under then-governor John Bel Edwards and below refused to release body camera footage from Greene’s arrest. That all changed in 2021. That’s when the Associated Press obtained and released long-hidden footage showing Greene raising his hands, begging for mercy and shouting, “I’m your brother! I’m scared!” as police swarmed him. .
The officers repeatedly shook him with a stun gun before he got out of the car, and one of them pushed him to the ground, choked him, and punched him in the face. Images of Green’s body released by his family in 2020 show deep bruising to his face and a cut to his head.
A police officer is recorded hitting Mr. Green over the head with a flashlight and bragging that he “beat the guys who live forever.” That member, chris hollingsworthWidely considered the most culpable of the six officers involved, he died in a high-speed single-vehicle crash hours after learning he would be fired in 2020.
(Louisiana State Police, via Associated Press)
York also played a key role in the arrest. The video shows him pushing Greene’s body to the ground for several minutes, repeatedly commanding her to “shut up” and “do what I say and lie on your stomach!” Use of force experts say the prone restraint may have dangerously restricted Greene’s breathing, and a state police instructor described the officers’ actions as “torture and murder.”
edwards condemned the actions of the police officer After the video was released. He denied any delay in investigating the incident.
“If Mr. Greene had been white, I can’t imagine how he would have been treated the way he was,” Edwards said. Said at a press conference in 2019. “When you see racism, you have to acknowledge it. You have to call it what it is.”
For years, Hardin has campaigned across the country for justice for her son’s death, vowing not to bury him until his remains are recovered. in Appeared on CBS Sunday MorningHardin said he will never give up on his mission.
“I wish I could say these officers were convicted of what they committed that night. But they’re not. I’d like to say justice has been served for my Ronnie, but not yet. That’s not happening. No one is being held responsible for my child’s death,” she said.
“How many black men, women, and children will be killed by police before we make real change? How many black men, women, and children will we watch on camera slaughtered by white police officers?” Should I look at it?” Hardin continued. “Ronnie was a father, brother, uncle and friend to many. He was loved, but he was taken from us far too soon. Our family will never forget him. It’s not the same.”