Thread by @jacoburowsky

The Ethan Liming trial has come to a close. No manslaughter charges; two defendants only received misdemeanors, with one being let off for time served.

I watched the trial, and I'm going to explain how this happened. 🧵

First we need to lay out the details of the case. Here's exactly what happened:

-Ethan and friends drive to I Promise
-His friends get out of the car and fire at the basketball court
-DeShawn runs toward the car and Ethan gets out
-They exchange words and Ethan shoots DeShawn

-A one on one fight breaks out and Ethan, a minor, is winning
-DeShawn's brother and friend jump in
-Becomes 3 on 1 fight and Ethan is knocked out
-Three adults stomp on Ethan who is unconscious
-Ethan's friends try to deescalate but are assaulted

-Three men turn back to Ethan and kick him for another ten seconds
-911 call is made by Ethan's friends
-Ethan's friends try to move him to the car, but are attacked and chased a good distance away into a McDonald's
-Attackers break phones at the scene and steal Ethan's car

The defence's entire case rests on two details.

1) Ethan died when he fell

2) A reasonable person, in a dark and chaotic situation, could mistake an orbeez gun for a real firearm.

Neither of these hold up:

Coroner's report does state that Ethan died from his skull striking concrete. There is no evidence that this occurred during a fall. Ethan was beaten while unconscious, had a broken collar bone and was covered in footprints. Any stomp could have been a killing bow.

However, only one interpretation of the autopsy was reported by the media. The defense interpretation. If you follow court cases, you'll notice this is a staple of modern law reporting especially when race is involved.

Second, the defense tried and failed to get the responding officer to state that this toy could be confused for a weapon. The officer became visibly annoyed when asked this. Officer stated that the pitch and volume are nowhere close to a real weapon.

The defense then argued that the toy is specifically designed to recreate the sound of a machine gun. The office responded, "no, that's just what an electric motor sounds like."

Reports of frozen gel beads were a lie. Witnesses testified under oath to this fact, and demonstrated that orbeez are not like paintballs, and stick together when frozen.

This is crucial. The defendants were shot with a toy made for children. Not BBs or paintballs.

Despite this, the defense was allowed to show the jury photographs of a paintball gun that was never used in the incident. This was a point of contention, but the judge ultimately allowed it.

Let's talk some more about court bias:

Ethan's character was put on trial. This is pretty rare. If you follow court cases, those involved often have extensive criminal histories and character flaws that are not admissible.

Ethan was a high school weed dealer. This fact was constantly hammered on by the defense.

Further, the defense opened with a long statement about the relative privilege of Ethan and the defendants.

Ethan was from the good part of town. Popular. Football player. DeShawn came from a broken home, and had a pregnant girlfriend.

This was painted as a self defense case. No evidence supports this. 3 adults were shot with a toy gun and felt disrespected. A fight ensued after the toy was broken. They stomped Ethan while unconscious and dying. Prevented his recovery, turned out his pockets and stole his car.

Why did this happen? Our institutions see people like Ethan as inherently worthy of punishment.

Prosecutors told Ethan's father in private that his race absolutely affected the case. And that, in their opinion, he received "hood justice".

Digest this and plan accordingly