Guilty verdict for Ohio cop who shot unarmed motorcyclist in back.

Thanks to a jury in Ottawa Hills, Ohio, former police officer Thomas White is facing up to 11 years behind bars: plenty of time to think about the unarmed motorist he paralyzed with an unprovoked bullet more than one year ago.

After just six hours of deliberation, the jury found White guilty of felonious assault with a gun specification, according to WTOL CBS 11 in Toledo. Sentencing is scheduled for later in June.

Days earlier during the trial, a police dashboard video was played in court, depicting officer White pulling over two motorcyclists, one of them his unwitting victim, 24-year-old Michael McCloskey.

McCloskey and his companion sped away from an intersection as the officer pulled in behind them, leading White to believe the men were running from him. Though both men pulled over almost immediately, McCloskey apparently did not hear the officer's commands to put his hands up, instead turning slightly to face White while still atop his motorcycle.

Instead of repeating himself, White fired a round into his victim's back.

During opening statements, Assistant County Prosecutor J. Christopher Anderson said that the state intended to prove that Officer White 'was not justified' in the shooting and that 'excessive force was used,'" the Toledo Blade reported. Defense Attorney Jerry Phillips countered that the situation was 'tense and fluid' and that Officer White 'was doing his job.'"

you know, i always try to give cops the benefit of the doubt, but more often than not, in experience, they do their best to prove me wrong. i never feel bad for trigger happy, power-tripping, meat heads with badges that get what they deserve. reading this story, i thought "good, its about time", but i looked into it and found a video. this is a news report that shows the officer's dash cam; it may be a little disturbing: http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0515/guilty-verdict-ohio-cop-shot-unarmed-motorcy...

I do admit that the riders were acting a little suspicious. they hammered on it from a stop and when the cop pulled them over, the one hopped a curb and nearly wrecked. when the victim stopped, he did exactly what i do in the same situation: put the bike in neutral and put my hands on my thighs. the cop jumps out of his car, starts to yell something that is incoherent over the siren, and as the biker is turning, he SHOOTS AN UNARMED MAN IN THE BACK. the cop didn't even get a full sentence out before he fires. the lawyers try to justify it by saying that as he turned, his arm pulled back like he was drawing a gun. but there was no gun. he did not make any quick or violent movements.

this is a tough case, but it all comes down to the fact that the cop overreacted (as they often do) and paralyzed a man for the rest of his life over a traffic stop. i'm glad that the jury found him guilty, but i think it should be attempted murder (he was shot above the waist after all). hopefully this will make cops realize that they are not impervious and must be held accountable for their actions. probably not though. they'll probably start cracking down on motorcyclists or something. but thats just, like, my opinion, man.

-G

Watched the Clip..... SOB Cop was just to jumpy.....
could not even here him tell the guy any tjing untill the shots were fired.
String him up
dude on the bike can now sue the City for hiring that Trigger happy SOB

i agree that it is instinct to go for center of mass. thats where i always aim (on targets of course...), and i guess instincts and training paid off 'cause he hit him square in the spine. I think cops need to be trained better on how NOT to use deadly force. keep that thing in the holster as long as possible. they'd be less intimidating that way and less likely to provoke reciprocative violence than now when they come out yelling and hiding behind a gun.

$.02

The dude abides.

Not that this isn't current event (it's 3 years old)
But it is due some updating...

https://news.yahoo.com/sc-cop-indicted-shooting-shrouded-mystery-083958497.html

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/09/cop-asks-for-mans-license...

Guess what folks... we have some stupid people out there... some wear badges and carry guns.  When the 2 meet up, it ain't gonna be pretty.

I watched the full unedited version of the video which didn't have audio, but I can possibly see now why he got shot, especially if he wasn't following the officer's orders to raise his hands.  It was just after 2am in a sleepy area which makes it obvious as to why the policeman started following the two bikers. At one point the guy who got shot swerved quite abruptly making it appear that he may be intoxicated. Then the two bikers stopped at an intersection leaned in talked and abruptly took off from the stop, the cop threw his lights on to pull over and they sped away faster with the second biker hitting a curb or something and almost loosing control. That's the point where the biker who got shot was caught directly in front of the police car stopped.

I'm not saying justified, but seeing the entire footage and under the circumstances I can see and understand how it came to the outcome.