Supreme Court revives St. Louis police in-custody death case
Source: Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday revived claims of excessive force against St. Louis police officers in a case in which a homeless man died after being restrained in handcuffs and leg shackles.
In an unsigned opinion, a majority of the court agreed to send the case back to a lower court for further review. Amid an ongoing national conversation on police practices, however, three justices said their colleagues were taking the “easy out” by not hearing arguments in the case.
The unsigned opinion recounted how officers put the man in a “prone position, face down on the floor” with three officers holding his “limbs down at the shoulders, biceps, and legs” and at least one placing pressure on his back and torso.
Attorneys for the homeless man’s parents had argued that the facts of the case mirror the circumstances of the killing of George Floyd, who died after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes on a city street. Filmed by a teenage bystander, Floyd’s death launched nationwide protests, and Chauvin was sentenced Friday to 22 1/2 years in prison.
-snip-
By JESSICA GRESKO
an hour ago
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/mo-state-wire-us-supreme-court-george-floyd-police-death-of-george-floyd-2d3001ba0ef175cfd8c2eae4b1c67a86
Related: 20-391 Lombardo v. St. Louis
