Thursday, July 5, 2007

Differing Opinions

I was off for the 4th, so I'm catching up on news, notes, and blog entries. Being out of town and out of the office, the best of real insight I have to offer tonight centers on folks I've been speaking to about the ever-delayed ruling in the Demetrus Vinson case.

The "slam-dunk" ruling that some foresaw in their crystal balls seems to be anything but now. In fact, if the details one source relayed to me are true, this case will have the ear of Oliver Stone for a conspiracy movie sooner than later. As I've been telling you here in blogville, the police department's internal review/investigation of the March 17th shooting was complete well over a month ago and prosecutors have had plenty of time to review the findings and conduct additional interviews.

Still, the official ruling isn't as ready as some had thought. In short, the case remains anything-but-unified on a few differing views of the medical results (including some who allege there is missing medical evidence) and differing theories on the paths of the bullets fired by the officers that night along with the extent of damage caused by those shots.

Remember, Summit County Prosecutors are conducting a mandatory review of the police-involved shooting while Cuyahoga County Prosecutors are conducting a parallel review of the case for quality assurance (aka. asked by Mayor Plusquellic as an outside agency and FYI, an April 24th ABJ article claims Bill Mason's office expected to be done with its part by mid-May.) Additionally, Vinson's family and others have asked several outside experts for independent assessments.

The latest vibe I get from sources is that Akron leaders will be forced to issue a ruling before the month is out. But if I were a betting man, I wouldn't expect all the reviewers to come to the same conclusions. On the contrary, some will be calling for yet another review possibly by the Department of Justice.

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