Radley Balko | February 21, 2008
The accused Chesapeake cop killer was denied bond today.
The official account of the raid seems to be changing. Special prosecutor Paul Ebert now says that Det. Jarrod Shivers was in Ferderick's front yard when he was shot. And he said he may elevate the charge to capital murder, the knowing and intentional killing of a police officer.
Those two items raise all sorts of questions. We first heard Shivers was merely outside the door when he was shot. We then heard he was crawling through a door panel. Now we're told he was in Frederick's front yard. If that's the case, where was he in relation to other officers? At what point in the raid was Shivers shot?
The suggestion of elevating the charge smacks to me of a PR move. Is Ebert really planning to argue that Frederick knowingly and intentionally took on a team of raiding cops so he wouldn't get caught with a misdemeanor amount of marijuana? There's not a hint of violence in this guy's past.
Prior posts on Frederick here.
CORRECTION: My assertion that "we then heard [Shivers] was crawling through a door panel" is incorrect. Explanation here.
Help Reason celebrate its next 40 years. Donate Now!
Try Reason's award-winning print edition today! Your first issue is FREE if you are not completely satisfied.
Radley,
More good reporting on bad news. Thanks.
BTW, I think you meant for the first sentence to read "The accused
Chesapeake cop killer was denied bond today."
I heard Shivers was at home, quietly eating dinner at his
kitchen table when the crazed and murderous thug Fredrick, who has
a long and checkered past, burst in and shot him over the
pudding.
If not yet, I predict this will eventually become the official
account.
I'm confused. I thought the only officers present were Shivers and his partner?
Between Hayne, et al... and this debacle in Chesapeake... I think I need a bigger bottle of bourbon. Now, if you all will excuse the next part of my stream of consciousness: Fucking fucks.
mmmm....bourbon.....
Please tell me that RB's stories are getting more play than just at
reason. Or at least people are linking to them. This prosecutor
vigilanteism shit has to be brought to the attention of your
average "police never lie" citizens.
I was in the court room this morning and they are so trying to railroad Ryan, before the cameras were even roling the retired judge and the prosecuters (there were two present) were basically kissing each others butt. I couldn't believe what Mr Ebert was saying but broceletti held up well and stated it was all to be disputed during the trial. I say let them talk now, forenics will have to paint the whole picture, but it made me realize something and how there gonna work this, it's ryan against the police force, So for Ryans sake neighbors need to come forth to mr.broceletti and say exactly what they did or did not see. They seem to be ryans main since of hope on the he said she said battle. In the court room today mr.ebert said there were 14 cop cars present at the raid and everyone knows that not to be the case, other officers arrived after the inital incident, so they can't say they actually saw ryan do anything but all were present today, as well as he said the officer was in the yard and even police have said he was at least on the porch. If you know a neighbor or are one please call mr broceletti and tell him what you saw, it's so vitial and just contact ryans lawyer if you don't want people to publicly know who you are...
"""Det. Jarrod Shivers was in Ferderick's front yard when he was
shot.""
Was it initally said that Ferderick fired his gun inside his house?
If so, who held the door open? If he fired it outside his house
that would have woke his neighbors up.
Sounds to me like they are trying to poison the jury pool.
I used to respect cops.
I once bought the line that most cops are good cops and
there are only a few bad apples.
I used to have faith in the justice system.
Tell me, LEO apologists, why you think my opinion has changed so
drastically. I, who have never been charged or even investigated
for a crime? I, who has usually been treated with respect and
courtesy by cops? I, who has received a less than average number of
moving violations?
C'mon boys in blue backers, why has my opinion changed so much in
the course of my life? Take a wild guess.
I'm trying to imagine this scenario occurring in the Wild West
and having a bitch of a time doing so.
Let's say Wyatt Earp had a deputy that was convinced a homeowner
had lets say stolen jewels. So the deputy goes to the homeowners
house in the middle of the night, kicks down the door, and gets
shot. Further investigation reveals no stolen jewels. I have a
really hard time thinking that Wyatt Earp would then make sure that
capital murder charges were filed against the homeowner. My bet is
that the entire thing would have ended with a sincere apology by
the Sheriff.
The Chesapeake incident is so far removed from historical American
law enforcement its hard to fathom. Especially all this over a
plant, its ridiculous.
The suggestion of elevating the charge smacks to me of a PR
move. Is Ebert really planning to argue that Frederick knowingly
and intentionally took on a team of raiding cops so he wouldn't get
caught with a misdemeanor amount of marijuana?
I think this might be something defence lawyers would hope for -
because it could be beaten decisively. But then wont they just
recharge him on lesser count? I am suddenly ignorant of the
procedures they can use to persist in a prosecution... i've seen
too many examples (many from Radley) where prosecutors manage to
railroad people, motive be damned
I, who has received a less than average number of moving
violations?
How about I, who have never even been pulled over, never
been given so much as a parking ticket? Why do I also feel
the same way?
Wait! You ain't seen nothin' yet.
Forensic Odentologist Dr. Michael West has confirmed that
previously undetected bite-marks have been found on Officer
Shiver's body that match the bite pattern of defendant Ryan
Frederick.
Medical Examiner Steven Hayne reports that the evidence shows that
Ryan Frederick had sex with Shiver's dead body while it lay in the
front yard in view of the neighborhood children.
-----
C'mon. Give it up. Admit it. I won this thread.
"Idiot | February 21, 2008, 6:42pm | #
This tragedy could have been prevented by good strong gun control
laws."
Well at least u chose an appropriate screen name. (yes i know your
post was sarc) lol
Well at least u chose an appropriate screen name.
I didn't finish...not only would there have been no death but
another drug offender would have been off the streets. Perfect.
The DA is trying to threaten the man's life to get him to
confess to a crime he didn't commit.
Scumbag.
I once bought the line that most cops are good cops and
there are only a few bad apples.
Semi-related video:
http://video.nbc4.com/player/?id=220814
Please tell me that RB's stories are getting more play than
just at reason. Or at least people are linking to them. This
prosecutor vigilanteism shit has to be brought to the attention of
your average "police never lie" citizens.
Sadly, the average "police never lie" citizen doesn't give a rat's
ass.
I got in a "discussion" with my brother over the holidays about how
this stuff happens all the time, and he demanded I show him. So I
created and email with links to all the things Radley has reported
over the last three months.
Upon receiving this list, my brother simply said, "That's it? Only
16?" I was surprised, because he's not an idiot. Or, at least I
thought he wasn't an idiot...
I wonder how he's getting treated in jail.
I'm going to guess that the denied him bail in order to let heal
the cuts and bruises he received from good, honest public
servants.
joe sums it up.
Damn it hurts to type that.
I find that joe Gets It Right on average about once a week.
;-)
Not sure what works out to as a batting average, though. He comes
to the plate a lot.
We first heard Shivers was merely outside the door when he
was shot. We then heard he was crawling through a door
panel.
Wait...when did we hear the latter claim, and from whom? I may have
missed it, but I don't recall any statements that Shivers was
crawling through a door panel when he was shot. Especially not from
the police. Online searches aren't immediately turning up any such
statements in news articles; just several posts at Reason and The
Agitator mentioning door-crawling without citation.
The only news reference I can immediately find that even *refers*
to door panels was in a
statement by Frederick, not by the police. From the
article:
"[Frederick] said intruders were pushing through the bottom panels
of the four-panel door, he said."
But even that article does NOT say that Frederick shot anyone
crawling through the panels. Technically, it doesn't even say that
anyone was crawling through at all; just "pushing" through.
So what news report was it that had the police saying that
Frederick was shot while crawling through the door?
Taktix, everyone thinks they are smart and the people they know are mostly smart. Everyone is wrong.
The DA is trying to threaten the man's life to get him to
confess to a crime he didn't commit.
Scumbag.
I would quibble with this. I would say it is more that the
judge is threatening Ryan Frederick with death. DA
is supposed to ask for more than he is entitled to. It is the judge
who is supposed to be the voice of reason, the one exercising good
judgement.
DA is supposed to ask for more than he is entitled to.
Bullshit.
Let me put it a different way:
if the DA had been more reasonable, but the judge denied bail, then
I would think that it was an outrage.
otoh, if the DA did and sed the same things he is saying and doing,
but the judge granted bail, then I would thing things were going
about as well as could be expected in a situation like this.
I am not trying to get people to luv the appointed DA here, but I
think there is a bigger problem with the picture right now.
There is a myspace page set up for donations for Ryan.
http://www.myspace.com/ryan_frederick
"""Taktix, everyone thinks they are smart and the people they
know are mostly smart. Everyone is wrong."""
Your own statement claims you are wrong.
"""Upon receiving this list, my brother simply said, "That's it?
Only 16?" I was surprised, because he's not an idiot. Or, at least
I thought he wasn't an idiot...""
You should ask him at what number does it become a problem and
why.
Dave W.,
I was talking about the DA's decision to file a capital murder
charge.
He wants the thread of death hanging over the guy's head as he
considers the prosecutors' offer.
Taktix,
Give him a link to the botched raids map as well. That might open
his eyes a little.
RE: Ryan Frederick - Wasn't the door taken as evidence as well? Why
would that be the case if Mr. Shivers was shot in the yard? What
significance could the door have then?
There's so many things that aren't making sense here.
Any VA / Chesapeake residents reading this? Find all the stories
and conflicting statements from the police and make posters /
fliers containing the info and post all over the city.
This shit boils my blood.
Dave W.,
I was talking about the DA's decision to file a capital murder
charge.
He wants the thread of death hanging over the guy's head as he
considers the prosecutors' offer.
I know. My perspective is that the judge is tacitly agreeing to
this tactic by denying bail. My perspective is that this tactic
would not work nearly so well if the judge granted bail. There are
probably other things that this judge could be doing at this
juncture to this unfair game off. Of the top of my head, mandating
immediate delivery into escrow of that door and any and all dash
cam footage would be a way to let the DA know that he is not going
to be strongarming Frederick here.
It might be nice if the DA was not trying to strongarm Ferderick,
but really, in an adversarial system, he has a duty to strongarm
Frederick as much as the judge will let him get away with. And the
judge tacitly let the DA know at the bail hearing that threatening
Frederick with death in order to get him to confess would be
acceptable behavior here.
The judge is the real problem here. the DA is just th outward
symptom of the hidden cancer.
jimmydageek
The residends here are following the case, well as many as we can
get to pay attention. Tommrow from 10am-4pm there is a rally for
Ryan in front of the chesapeake city jail. All are welcome to
attend and bring your signs with questions and statements we want
them to know people are watching them and it would be nice if we
got some answers. I didn't think of posters showing conflicting
statements and plastering them all over, i'm gonna have to look
into doing that, unfortunatly i think there is a law here about
doing that kind of thing as littering or if you put them on
telephone poles it's defacing public property or something, but
definatly thanks for the idea, and i'll find out. maybe a few more
will read it.
www.myspace.com/Ryan_frederick
leave your thoughts and thank you all for your support
""I know. My perspective is that the judge is tacitly agreeing
to this tactic by denying bail."""
How many people accused of killing a cop actually make bail?
Besides even if he did get bail I doubt he could raise the money to
cover it. Maybe he could raise money, but it would be a lot.
I agree that the death penalty probably is being used by the DA in
an attempt to get Frederick to plead out. DA's have been using the
trumped up charge scare tactic for decades. The DA, not the judge,
gets to pick what charges will be filed. Proving those charges is a
different story.
"""It is the judge who is supposed to be the voice of reason, the
one exercising good judgement."""
True, and before the judge is a person that killed a cop, so far
that is undisputed and I'd bet that's how the judge is looking at
it. If the DA says it's capitol murder, I think the judge is not in
the position to disagree, at the bail hearing anyway. A cop was
killed, the reason is in dispute, but I haven't heard anything
about Frederick saying he didn't do it. So it is at least possible
it was capitol murder so it seems reasonable to allow the charges
to go to trial and let the jury decide and the denial of bail
doesn't seem far from par.
We've heard very little facts, which is odd at this point. I
sincerely hope Frederick has a good lawyer and gets a good
jury.
but really, in an adversarial system, he has a duty to
strongarm Frederick
This is what I was calling bullshit on. Je, in fact, is violating
his duty if he attempts to strongarm Frederick. His duty is charge
exactly what the case calls for. If he then chooses to plead it
down, that may actually be violating his duty too, if the person
truly deserves to be convicted of more. But, that isnt as big a
violation as asking for more than is deserved to have a negotiating
point. This isnt haggling over fruit in a market. The DA is an
employee of the state. He has a duty to the law, which includes not
asking for too much.
His duty is charge exactly what the case calls
for.
And the people involved in his side of the case are saying that
Officer Shivers was shot after an announcenment of police and
before Officer Shivers broke the door (maybe before he even touched
the door).
If those are the true facts, then the charges the DA is threatening
are reasonable. Maybe not optimal, but reasonable. If those are the
true facts, I wouldn't want to see Frederaick walk the way
Christopher Long (GOOGLE it) did.
Of course, we suspect that the police version is not the true
facts. Of course, we suspect the police are lying. But these
suspicions are not something the DA should have in the front of his
mind. That is not his job. His job is to believe the police until
they either admit to him that they are lying, or until there is
some kind of definitive proof they are lying.
OTOH, these suspicions ARE something that the judge should be
taking some cognizance of, but apparently is not.
This is crazy. The guy has to spend another 90 days in jail
before they have a hearing to decide if there is enough evidence to
send the case to the grand jury. Why the delay? How much more
evidence could be gathered between now and May?
They have all the physical evidence.
The autopsy has been done.
There's been plenty of time to get depositions from everyone
involved.
They should even know who fired the .223 round and what role the
man's television played in this tragedy.
burningsky
All the investigations are not complete nor has all the information
been released to the attorney (ryan attorney), and in the court
room it was the soonest date all partys could agree on, that they
could attend.
I think he was not in the wrong that he was just protecting his house and that he will never prove that he was innocent, because the police always switch the story up to make them look right I feel sorry for him, and his family, and also the police officers family that died. It truly is a sad story for both parties.
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/02/20-rally-support-man-accused-chesapeake-officers-death
Google "home invasions" and you will see all the gory incidents of this form of "terrorism" and why we live in fear in our own homes. We are Tidewater VA natives. My 80 year old friend was nearly beaten to death when three thugs invaded her home. Most people are raped and/or killed. Also research how many times police raid the wrong houses or arrest the wrong people. The informant is responsible for this fiasco. He has ruined the lives of untold people. Ryan Frederick is a victim. He should not be in jail. We are praying for him.
As a resident of the city of Norfolk, VA., I have been watching with interest the story of Ryan Frederick. The whole situation is a really sad story, the loss of a father, husband,and son, as well, as a dedicated police officer. But, on the other end is the sad loss of a young man's future. Ryan Frederick's 1st interview in jail the following day, he was told that Officer Shiver's was the father of 3 children. All he could do was hang his head low, and cry. Ryan will always lhave to live with the fact that he took away the father of three. I don't think that pales in comparison to all the other shit he's dealing with. There are people in this area who are watching this story with great intent. Hopefully, justice will prevail, but in this country, its all about how much money you have, and then you can go free. Just look at OJ!
I don't know how anybody can say Ryan is innocent. The point is he fired a gun inside his home, through a door and killed someone. Police Officer or not he shot and killed someone. When you pull the trigger you are responsible for where that bullett goes. If that bullett would have missed Shivers and went into a neighbors house and killed someone, would he be innocent then? Nobody nows all the evidence except for those who were there. They know the truth, so set back and try to come up with all these BS stories to justify in your mind why Ryan is innocent. I hope he spends the rest of his sorry life in prison.
Site comments/questions:
Media Inquiries and Reprint Permissions:
(310) 367-6109
Editorial & Production Offices:
3415 S. Sepulveda Blvd.
Suite 400
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 391-2245