Louisiana prosecutors on Thursday dismissed the most serious charge remaining in the case. deadly arrest of Ronald Greene in 2019dropping a negligent homicide count against a veteran soldier seen on body camera video dragging the Black motorist by his ankle chains and forcing him to lie face down on the ground before he stops breathing.
The move comes just a month before Kory York’s trial marks the latest plague in a case that began in 2022 with five officers charged on a series of charges involving stunning, punching and pepper spraying Greene following a high-speed chase.
Today, only two officers still face charges, multiple felony charges against York and another officer, virtually eliminating the risk of anyone facing significant prison time in a trooper’s death row. initially blamed on a car accident.
“This whole thing started with a lie and a cover-up and it’s going to end the same way,” a furious Mona Hardin told The Associated Press when informed of the latest dropped charges in her son’s death. son.
P.A.
“You have so much evidence, but no one wants to be the one to point the finger at the killer cops,” she said through tears. “They killed my son and no one cares.”
Union Parish District Attorney John Belton said in a statement that even though the grand jury indicted York for negligent homicide, the evidence “does not meet the ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ standard necessary to obtain a conviction at trial.
Belton also dropped a malfeasance charge against the recently retired York that stemmed from authorities. suspicions still unproven that Greene was pepper-sprayed even after being handcuffed.
“It’s clear to me that this case should never have been charged,” said York’s attorney, Mike Small, adding that he was seeking to fully exonerate his client at his Oct. 28 trial. “I am confident that once the jury watches these videos, they will not see any unlawful touching of Ronald Greene by Kory York.”
Greene’s death in May 2019 sparked national outrage and was one of several beatings of Black men by Louisiana troopers that prompted the U.S. Department of Justice to launch an ongoing investigation. state police civil rights investigation.
But the latest dismissal highlights a weakness in the case that also discouraged the Justice Department from filing charges: After years of investigation, federal and state authorities have failed to pinpoint exactly what caused the Greene’s death during his arrest.
State prosecutors have long been skeptical about pursuing negligent homicide charges in the face of autopsy reports citing “complications related to cocaine use” among contributing factors in Greene’s death. Others included the troopers’ repeated use of a stun gun, “physical struggle, prone restraint, blunt object injuries, and neck compression,” but the Arkansas medical examiner who examined Greene declined to identify which factor or factors were more deadly.
The case was shrouded in secrecy from the start, when state authorities told grieving relatives that the 49-year-old had died in a car crash at the end of a chase in speeding near Monroe – an account immediately called into question by an emergency room doctor who noticed Greene’s bruised and battered body and written in his notes that “different versions” of the events had been presented. Yet a coroner’s report listed Greene’s cause of death as a car accident, a state police accident report omitted any mention of troopers using force, and 462 days passed before police even does not launch an internal investigation. A subsequent autopsy ordered by the FBI found that the accident did not cause his death.
Meanwhile, officials in then-Gov. John Bel Edwards refused to release body camera video of Greene’s arrest. That all changed in 2021, when AP obtained and released the long-deleted footage showing soldiers swarming Greene even as he appeared to raise his hands, beg for mercy and moan, “I’m your brother! I’m scared!”
The officers repeatedly shook him with stun guns before he could even get out of the car, with one of them tackling him to the ground, choking him and punching him in the face. Images of Greene’s body released by his family in 2020 showed he had deep facial bruising and cuts to his head.
A trooper hit Greene in the head with a flashlight and was recorded bragging about having “beat the ever-crazy fool out of him.” This soldier, Chris Hollingsworthwas widely considered the most culpable among the half-dozen officers involved, but he died in a high-speed single-vehicle crash in 2020 hours after learning he was going to be fired.
(Louisiana State Police via AP)
York also played a leading role in the arrest. He is seen on the video pressing Greene’s body against the ground for several minutes and repeatedly ordering him to “shut up” and “lie on your f—— stomach like I told you said! » Use-of-force experts say this type of restraint could have dangerously restricted Greene’s breathing, and the state police’s own instructor described the troopers’ actions as “torture and murder.”
Edward denounced the actions of the police after the broadcast of the images. He denied delaying the investigation into the incident.
“I can’t imagine that if Mr. Greene had been White he would have been treated this way,” Edwards said. said at a press conference in 2019. “We need to recognize racism when we see it. We need to call it what it is.”
For years, Hardin traveled the country demanding justice for her son’s death and vowed not to even bury his ashes until she got it. In a appearance on CBS Sunday morningHardin said she would never give up on her mission.
“I wish I could tell you that these officers were found guilty of the crimes they committed that night. But that’s not the case. I wish I could tell you that justice was served for my Ronnie, but no one has been arrested responsible for my child’s death,” she said.
“How many black men, women and children will be killed by the police before we make real change? How many black men, women and children do we have to watch being slaughtered by white cops in front of the camera?” » Hardin continued. “Ronnie was a father, a brother, an uncle, a friend to many. He was loved and taken too soon. Our family will never be the same.”
