Too Bad

I can't say that I blame him, but this is disappointing:

Former Ohio State football player Derrick Foster is expected to plead guilty to felony charges in connection with shooting two Columbus police officers, 10TV reported Wednesday.

Foster is scheduled to plead guilty to the felony charges on Friday, 10TV's Maureen Kocot reported.

The former defensive end, who played at Ohio State from 1998 to 1992, is expected to serve time in prison as part of the plea.

The shootings occurred last April during a raid at a suspected East Rich Street crack house.

Officer Tony Garrison was shot in the arm and undercover narcotics Officer John Gillis was wounded in the leg, 10TV News reported.

Foster admitted going to the house to gamble and told investigators he never heard officers identify themselves before initiating the raid.

The house appears to have been a dice/gambling house, not a "crack house."  Last I read, no one in the house had been charged with a drug crime, including Foster. If anyone has, I haven't seen it reported in the local media. The raid was the third raid of the night for that particular Columbus SWAT team.

Foster had no prior criminal record, and in fact had an exemplary employment record as a code inspector for the city of Columbus. He also had a legal permit for the gun he used, and has said he thought the place was being robbed.  When several of Foster's friends and acquaintances wrote letters to the judge vouching for his character, arguing that he wasn't the kind of person who would knowingly shoot at a police officer, the police union initiated an intimidation campaign against them.

I'm actually surprised the prosecutors offered him a plea. It may be an indication that they weren't confident trying him on the attempted murder charges.  Shooting at cops generally isn't the type of charge for which a DA will cut you a break.

Still, if Foster was offered a decent deal, you can't blame him for taking it.  An attempted murder conviction against two cops would put him away for a long time.

MORE: The Columbus Dispatch reports that one person in the house was charged with possession of cocaine.

Comments

[David]

The former defensive end, who played at Ohio State from 1998 to 1992, is expected to serve time in prison as part of the plea.

Who was the head coach, Doc Brown?

[Naga Sadow]

And people bitch about justice not being done. Now where is Juanita to tell us how this is justified to keep drugs away from teh childrens?

[Juanita]

Dice houses are illegal in Ohio that is why the police were there. The criminal should have given up peacefully and plead to a misdemeanor gambling charge.

[Naga Sadow]

Sweet! It's like I can summon Juanita with a wave of my hand! Teh AWESOme!

[Naga Sadow]

Lemme give it another try. Now cue J sub D to wax poetic about his love for Juanita.

[David]

It was probably more than just the attempted murder charges that prompted Foster to take the deal. They probably piled on enough charges, with at least a few that he would be probably be convicted of(something like unlawful discharge, or using a weapon during a felony), to make the risk of not taking the deal too great.

[FrBunny]

Damn you David! I was already formulating my "we don't need... roads" joke.

[kicks pebble, moves along]

[alan]

It is certainly a sad day when in reality we owe Derrick Foster our thanks for temporally putting a few rabid SWAT officers off the streets. Instead of anything bearing a semblance of justice, we are treated to a previous display of political pressure to make this remarkable man's life a living hell.

[alan]

grievous not 'previous', damn Firefox spellchecker to hell.

[Egosumabbas]

Anything we can do for this guy, or is it FPMITAP for him?

[Mo]

The former defensive end, who played at Ohio State from 1998 to 1992, is expected to serve time in prison as part of the plea.

The Curious Case of Derrick Foster?

[J sub D]

My darling Juanita,

Walk with me, the path of life,
to explore every bend of the road
Enjoy with me the beauty of life,
along its wonderful way

Find comfort with me, in each other's arms,
when grief crosses our path
Find strength with me, in each other's strength,
when despair lies in wait

Laugh with me, a single true laugh,
to enlighten another's distress
Cry with me, a single true tear,
to understand true happiness

Cherish with me, the wonders of life,
as they need to be preserved
Rejoice with me, in the mysteries,
of what is yet to be

Find peace with me, in each other's souls,
when the world has gone insane
Find love with me, in each other's hearts,
until this life has been fulfilled

And when the path comes to an end
I hope we can say from within
We've known the beauty of true love,
our love came from within

Yopu and I are destined for eternal bliss.

[Seitz]

I simply can't believe an Ohio State player could get convicted in Columbus. He must have sucked.

[R C Dean]

Officer Tony Garrison was shot in the arm and undercover narcotics Officer John Gillis was wounded in the leg,

With those mad shooting skillz, I would say Derrick is a candidate for the SWAT team when he gets out.

[PFJ]

"I simply can't believe an Ohio State player could get convicted in Columbus. He must have sucked."

Last year QB Antonio Henton got arrested for soliciting a prostitute in Columbus. Not only did he suck so bad that the police wouldn't look the other way, he sucked so bad he had to pay for sex as the QB of a D1 football team.

[Libertymike]

Is it a violation of the non-coercion principle to fill the obits with the badge and baton boys?

[Bulucanagria]

I'd love to be articulate and poignant right now, but all I can think of is...I fuckin' hate cops! I know some Hell's Angels and, while I'm very careful in my limited dealings with them, I know what to expect and that they'll deal straight up and honorably with me. Cops, on the other hand, are two-faced, thieving arrogant bastards...AAAARGH! [breathe...breathe] And they just keep getting stronger and stronger, it's built into the system. It is only going to get worse. Damn!

[Naga Sadow]

J sub D,

Your welcome. We should strike some sort of deal whereby you give me LurkerBolds IP address and I give you Juanita's.

[nobody u no and a big fan of j]

who played at Ohio State from 1998 to 1992

if he can travel in time like that he should not have much trouble getting out of this.

[Naga Sadow]

Nobody,

His flux capacitor is busted. Go figure relying on a DeLorean.

[ape]

hey i know those overly aggressive dipshits that are in the columbus pd!

i had one of their cops lie about me assaulting someone. when we went to court the alleged victim said i didn't assault him. the cop said, yes he did. and the prosecutor threatened criminal action against the alleged victim if he didn't tell the same story as the cop. i was a poor college student with a shitty lawyer...columbus pd was victorious.

(my friend hit the victim and i stepped in between them to break the fight up. the friend who hit the kid had the mishap expunged from his record. they wouldn't expunge mine bc i was a danger to the state for some reason they wouldn't reveal...with no other criminal record or traffic violations)

[R C Dean]

they wouldn't expunge mine bc i was a danger to the state for some reason they wouldn't reveal

Anyone who won't lie to protect a cop is a danger to the state. Duh.

[Geotpf]

ape-The moral of the story here is that if you get arrested, sell your car, sell your computer, sell your furniture, sell your blood, sell your kidney to pay for a good lawyer.

[oat willie]

The Columbus Dispatch reports that one person in the house was charged with possession of cocaine.

Rockso the Rock and Roll Clown was unavailable for comment.

He does c c cocainnne.