Sitting Ducks Bill Hatches an Egg

Vincent cautioned jurors not to confuse the superior О¬Ѓrepower of police with excessive force, noting that each ofО¬Ѓcer feared for his life and had reason to О¬Ѓre. БЂњThis is not the Old West where you get out on the street and have a shootout at noon,БЂ«Vincent said. БЂњThey are not the sitting ducks of the public.БЂ«According to trial testimony, the ofО¬Ѓcers opened О¬Ѓre on the bandits after they watched them break into the closed McDonaldБЂ™s, rob the lone employee inside and then return to their getaway car. The shooting started almost immediately when ofО¬Ѓcers converged on the car. The plaintiffs contend that the bandits had put their unloaded pellet guns in the trunk of the car and therefore were unarmed when the shooting started. Noting that U.S. District Judge J. Spencer Letts ruled earlier that the police had probable cause to arrest the four suspects before the robbery, Yagman argued that the ofО¬Ѓcers allowed the crime to take place and orchestrated the stakeout in such a way that the shooting was БЂњinevitable, inescapable.БЂ«He said the special police unit has a long record of using tactics that often end in shootings ...»