The Sculptors and the Marble

[XLFD]

"The sculptor produces the beautiful statue by chipping away such parts of the marble block as are not needed - it is a process of elimination."  -- Elbert Hubbard

A Michigan State Police Trooper shot a retired schoolteacher, William Marble, while this 68 year old man was at his home late on the night of January 14, 2014 with his wife.  According to police, he confronted the trooper with a gun in his hand after police were dispatched to check his residence regarding a 9-1-1 hang-up call, prompting the shooting.

 

The day after, the commanding officer of the Hart MSP post, Lieutenant Kevin Leavitt, stated the reports and the recordings from the officer's collar microphone would be ready for the prosecutor the following Monday (January 19).  He stated that there would be an investigation conducted by the MSP concerning the incident, and then after January 15, over three weeks ago, the information stopped coming, until today.

Various media outlets earlier today were finally sent the prosecutor's 18 page opinion that the shooting was justified.  In this decision, the prosecutor makes some points about an earlier incident near Thanksgiving involving two UPS deliverers having Marble have a gun out and pointed while they delivered to his house.  The initial-response officer, who we finally learn a name of, James Luttrull, along with his partner, Alexander Hammerle, felt a bit more threatened by Marble, with Luttrull pulling his gun out of his holster to drop Marble with one shot, which appears to have hit Marble's right hand index finger and gun before lodging itself into Bill Marble's chest.  Here is the full 18 page opinion.

The prosecutor's statement is precise and develops a story that looks as if it was a rather straightforward case of self-defense by the officers, concerned for their safety and Marble's wife's safety.  It is thus fairly odd to me that the details have taken so long to come out, and that even now, the state police are not freely willing to give us further evidence to support their claim, allowing the prosecutor to lay the case based on their findings.  I still believe there is a bit more to this story that the public is not being spoon-fed by a friendly summary of the agency that did the deed.  This is not some inner conspiracy-theory part of my psyche coming to this conclusion. 

If the case, as stated, is accurate, then you have no real reason to wait over three weeks to come clean with a press release that has the 'prosecutor's opinion' be the final say.  The MSP investigators presented a case to the prosecutor where they developed a scenario where their guys would be able to be seen in the best light, without conflicting with the evidence that they gathered and presented.  Prosecutor Spaniola, in making his case of justifiable homicide, had the same goal.  If either of those two found otherwise, given the plausible deniability of the evidence gleaned, they would be betraying their comrades in the justice system.  Bill Marble, despite what his actions were, would be the fall guy, and everyone would be okay with that because it is the official word.

"Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor."  --Alexis Carrel

I offer my own evidence of wrongdoing on behalf of the Michigan State Police in this case, and whereas it does not prove they overreacted at the Marble residence, it does prove they believe they are above the law.  On January 16, 2014 I sent a FOIA request to them asking for the following in electronic format:

"The electronic file of the audio and video of the in-car recording system(s) on the initially responding MSP officers' car (or both cars, if available for both responding officers) when they went to check 9-1-1 hangups at the residence of William Marble at the corner of Hansen and Dennis Roads in Mason County on the night of 1-14-2014 at roughly 2300 hours.  Include all video and audio from at least when they arrived on-scene until it was turned off, or the responding officer(s) cleared the scene."

Yesterday, I received a letter with just a page with writing on front and back:

As you can see, the audio and video of this incident, which probably amounts to less than an hour's worth of action, costs over $100 to receive.  Now granted, if the file is too large to send through E-mail or Dropbox functions, I am willing to pay for the CD being mailed to me.  (CD cost: $.14 each) + (Mailing a CD: cost $.66) = eighty cents.  So what is the extra hundred dollars for?  

By the FOIA, a fee can only be charged for incremental costs of copying, for mailing, and for 'labor'.  As regards the latter:  MCL 15.234 (3), "A fee shall not be charged for the cost of search, examination, review, and the deletion and separation of exempt from nonexempt information unless failure to charge a fee would result in unreasonably high costs to the public body because of the nature of the request in the particular instance, and the public body specifically identifies the nature of these unreasonably high costs."  Emphasizing that last phrase, if there were to be any 'labor' costs they need to specifically identify that high cost.  They don't, because there isn't any unreasonably high costs to the MSP to provide this material.  They translate a file from their computer to a  blank CD.  They supplied it to the prosecutor well over two weeks prior.

Still, I have sent a check for $100.58 out to the MSP yesterday, along with a letter giving a stern notice as to what may happen if they decide to cash it.  We will see how their evidence holds up to scrutiny once it is received.

"Life is made up of marble and mud."  --Nathaniel Hawthorne

[Sherman Jackson]

It doesn't matter if it's a 911 hang up call or someone that is talking to the dispatcher until Police arrive. All 911 calls should be treated the same way. If it's a 911 hang up call it should be treated with more importance due to the fact that you have no contact and someone could be hurt or deceased, especially if there is no answer on call back from the dispatch center.

[XLFD]

Art,

Give me your address then and whenever one more of your posts make me worry about your sanity, I'll send the police to check up on you and tell them they can investigate around your house (or institution) for a half hour, just to make sure nothing else odd is going on.

The autopsy hasn't been posted at MCP just the prosecutor's opinion primarily backed by hearsay from Trooper Luttrull's fellow trooper's unrevealed investigation.  Your ability to give away your inalienable property rights and privacy rights shows everyone that respects themselves and their rights what a sheep you are. 

But, you may just be a wolf in sheep's clothing because your rationales seem unclear to anyone other than someone who has some of that police power themselves or otherwise fosters it, and don't have to worry about fellow bluecoats bothering you, as long as you toe the line.

[Sherman Jackson]

Art Dean I think we're beating a dead horse here. It's obvious that people have no idea what they're talking about when it comes to proper Police procedure. The more we attempt to explain it to them the more they twist things around to suit their own needs for argument. I will end with this; If or When they need assistance from Law Enforcement I hope they get the help that we have come to know and honor and not the twisted idealistic way that they perceive. Believe It or not Law Enforcement is not always looking to take everyone down. Protect and Serve means something to 99.9% of Law Enforcement. Law Enforcement, like any other profession, does have it's black sheep. but remember these Officers are there for you when no one else would be.

[XLFD]

Reply by Art Dean to Sherman "I guess everything we were taught in the classes we took is wrong and the instructors that spent hours teaching on what can and will go wrong had no idea they had no idea of the real world."

I didn't know janitors needed to take classes, Art.  It sounds like you took some of these classes that you have shown on here, but these classes may be part of the problem.  Many officers (including you and Sherman, I trust) are trained in the militaristic arts of the profession rather than the legal or diplomatic arts of the profession.  If you are trained to be the hammer, every citizen, every law begins to look more and more like a nail.

If cops are not allowed to speed, then speeders would have little to fear from them, as they could not be caught in the act.  So they are allowed to disobey speed limits when corralling speeders, in fact they are trained to speed to do so.  They are taught to break the law, to enforce it.  So when they are speeding indiscriminately, and they get caught, the first line of defense is often:  "I can do that, I'm an on-duty police officer."  But that is faulty reasoning on their part.

If the policeman was a phone repairman or someone else Nancy drunk-dialed that night who came over with an open-carry gun to check on what was going on, would you forgive their snooping and the shooting of the homeowner, or trust them to give a valid account and investigation of what happened?  Wouldn't you be just a little curious of just how Marble could be pointing a gun at them, and then have the time to unholster their own gun, lift it, and fire before Marble could fire one shot?

[Willy]

Art

It didn't take you long to reveal who you are. You just can't help yourself because  being obnoxious comes naturally to you. For a short time there I was wondering who you were until your sarcastic, childish temperament gave you away, again.

[Willy]

Sherman

You obviously see things differently than others regarding this matter, but the reality is no one really knows what went on or what the officer heard. The only person who knows is the officer who was first on the scene and I for one am not taking any persons word for what transpired if they are the accused in a  homicide because that person will only be thinking of justifying their actions and covering their behind. The officer may be perfectly honest and told exactly what happened but on the other hand he could be covering up a misdeed. 

[Willy]

Art

It's possible your not the person I thought but if not, you must be a close relative, maybe his mother. Don't feel insulted, we all have handicaps to deal with but the unfortunate thing is we have to deal with yours.

[AQUAMAN]

I think most 911 centers are probably doing a good job. As for personal experience with the local Hart center, they are a bunch of ding-dongs imho.

[XLFD]

From the radio traffic I heard during that incident, the 911 operator did a fine job.  Thanks, s. todd, and as a case in point that happened about 15 years ago, shortly after fire safety week one of the young kids at our house dialed 911 and then hung up.  They thought it was over.  Shortly thereafter, an LPD officer (Dave Maltby if I remember correctly) knocked on our door to check on it.  There was no effort by him to snoop for any time, and he had no backup, if I remember right.  The culprit was reminded that 911 was to be used only in emergencies, and that they needed to check on calls that hang up. 

This is one of the reasons why I am curious as to the standard operating procedures for the MSP's investigating such calls.

[AQUAMAN]

Looks like Art, (the admitted Janitor), and his sidekick, Sherman, (assistant janitor), know quite a bit about Police work, technique, procedure, and the Bill Marble case in particular. So prove it! If indeed you have the "inside scoop" on this case, why are you playing cat and mouse with the information? Just come out and tell it like it is. Or would you get fired?  All I see you both doing is the quid pro quo, standing up for your "warrior blood brothers", which amounts to more coverups by johnny laws. As for anyone volunteering time with 911 ding-dongs, I have better things to do, but, my hourly rate for getting dumbed down would be $150/hr.. Sure you buffoons can afford that at janitor wages? That would be payable in advance, no checks. Lastly, talk about living in a dream world. You two believe that 99.9% of LE is always right, honest, non-abusive, never exceed their authority, never lie, never cover for one another, oh boy, wish that were true. Where did you get that statistic, in la-la land? It surely isn't any link that exists. This thread is about Marble, not your arrogant gone wild mindsets, and blatant obnoxious attacks on the fellow posters here. It's simple, "put up, or just stfu".

[XLFD]

La-la-land is incorrect, they're more likely from Wonderland, by doing their Tweedledum and Tweedledee act.  Perhaps Sherman or Art can explain why I sent the MSP a check for $100.58 on 2-1-2014 for Trooper Luttrull's recordings, and have yet to receive this CD I was promised which allegedly cost that much ten days later. 

Meanwhile, another FOIA request to MSP dated 1-29-2014 has yet to be responded to in any manner.  These are your law-abiding public servants who are supposedly enforcing the laws of this state.  Good police officers respect people's rights and realize they are not above the law.

[XLFD]

Another day without a reply from the MSP.  They have had my $100.58 in their possession for nine days, as the month anniversary of Bill Marble's shooting (and my original FOIA request) comes up.  What gives the MSP a special power to ignore the Freedom of Information Act and the public's right to information on this incident? 

Here is a short video from nearby Kokomo, Indiana showing their police unlawfully detaining a citizen recording his actions from a public right of way.  This fresh recruit (interactions start 1:30 into the video) makes a distinction between public and city property, temporarily detains and asks (with the threat of arrest) for identification from the videographer and does a warrant search, just for the act of taping him in public. 

While I don't think Art or Sherman will think anything odd is happening here, this behavior bespeaks of poor training in actual policing.  Apparently, he was trained too much in SWAT, SERT, and operating military anti-personnel equipment to take any interest in those boring things like legal definitions and civil rights.