Cambridge Police poised to release 911 tape recordings in connection with Gates case
July 24, 11:25 AM
The Boston Herald is reporting that the Cambridge Police are poised to release tape recordings made in connection with the controversial Gates case:Mounting pressure to get to the bottom of the controversial arrest of black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. is centering on recorded police tapes that may offer a dose of reality amid all the media and political noise.Though the tapes have not yet been released, I think it is safe to surmise, that once the contents are disclosed, it will go a long way towards exonerating either one of the two parties.
Cambridge police brass and lawyers are weighing making the tapes public, which could include the 911 call reporting a break-in at Gates’ home and radio transmissions by the cop who busted him July 16 for disorderly conduct.
“It’s powerful evidence because the (people involved) have not had a chance to reflect and you are getting their state of mind captured on tape,” said former prosecutor and New York City police officer Eugene O’Donnell, who is now a lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan.
The manner in which the media has been reporting this event, to date, has been appalling. Would it be asking too much from pundits and reporters to look at the police record and/or facts that are not in dispute before opining on the matter? Even though he should know better after his initial premature rush to judgment at his press conference, remarkably, the President of the United States, as well as many Cable TV pundits, continue to make the erroneous assertion that Gates was arrested in his home, when in fact he was arrested outside his residence for disorderly conduct.
In many ways, the rush to judgment by defenders of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates is starting to resemble the odious Duke Lacrosse team rape case. What is similar, is that far too many in the media eagerly buy into the narrative that America still remains an irredeemably racist country where "racial profiling" is the norm.
We all eagerly await release of the police tapes…
Ever heard of potential "motive, bias?"
If you are an attorney, and your opponent introduced a witness, friend of the plaintiff, who said all kinds of good things about the plaintiff. Let's forget the obvious problem of "character, reputation, bolstering" problems, what would you do as an attorney? What does your common sense tell you?
Don't friends have motive to say good things about each other?
Don't friends often have biased opinion, usually good about the other?
There is a lot of he said, I said in this incident. If it's hearsay (a statement uttered outside of the court by the declarant to prove the truth of matter asserted), I can see some exceptions to some of Gates statement that can be admitted such as excited utterance, effect of listener, present sense impression, etc.
Still, we don't know the exact truth right now, it's just assertion by each party. It's best if we can hear from the driver (who drove professor Gates back home), who is probably more impartial than either Gates or the officers.
If there were other witnesses who witnessed the whole thing, that's even better.
It's just speculation on my part but based on some of the information I gleamed from the news sources, here is what's not disputed
1. Professor spent quite a long time in China, doing some documentary, he was shooting at Yoyo Ma's ancestor's place at one point.
2. Professor Gates hired a driver and drove him home.
3. When arriving home, Gates could not open the door, it was jammed, then Gates and the driver tried to "break in" to Gates house
4. Someone saw the incident and reported to police
5. Police arrived, Sgt. Crowley entered Prof. Gates home.
After that, there are conflicting information. One thing bothers me is some of those statements by both Gates & officer seem to have been coached and changed. I believe both sides have been coached by some lawyer(s) on what to say, which is annoying.
I speculate Gates most likely said some unkind words. Here is my reasoning. Gates has been traveling for a long time. I've done my share of international travel, it can be tiring. When I am tired, I can be more grumpy, more irritable. When the police arrived, Gates was probably not in a good mood.
Could Prof. Gates be more calmer and cooperative? Certainly. Could officer Crowley be calmer and less confrontational? Absolutely. However, based on statements from both sides, neither side is a saint at this point (taken at face value of both parties).
I don't know the circumstances surrounding Sgt. Crowley and his partner, how long they have been in their shift, how was the stress level. Police officer can work long hours and it can be stressful. Although I don't think Cambridge is a very dangerous place but it will not surprise me if Sgt. Crowley has a very low tolerance for non-compliance and probably a bit "rough" in his handling of professor Gates.
I guess we will see if this ever goes to trial, what exactly happened on that day.
You gotta wonder how the neighbor feels right about now. Here he was just trying to help out his neighbor and now the whole nation is in an uproar over two people over reacting. Professor over reacted and the officer over reacted to his over reaction. Charges were dropped, should be end of story.
if that were the case then what Obama has said in the case should not be used in any way because were they not friends.
I suppose you've never been arrested aye?Professor over reacted and the officer over reacted to his over reaction. Charges were dropped, should be end of story.
Hellstromm-your making that up as you go.the professor was already in the house when the police arrived, both the police officers and the professor indicated that ID was obtained and the police were leaving, case closed. From inside the house the professor continued to be belligerent, the police called him out of his house and arrested him on the porch. They were not concerned for his safety, because the picture clearly shows the police officers with his back to the inside of the house. He was arresting the professor because he didn't like what the professor said, after they were already leaving. That is unprofessional.
So, no... no break for your wild unsubstantiated claims.
As much as I hate to admit it and as much as I'm aggravated by the actions of the indignant and obviously prejudice professor, the police were wrong in arresting him. Was it a racially motivated decision? I don't think so and I don't see any evidence leaning towards it, but that doesn't change the fact that the professor did nothing illegal. Being a pompous snob isn't illegal and the police had no grounds to arrest him.