Black Off-Duty Detective Shot 28 Times By Cops; Now Faces 80 years In Prison After Being Acquitted

While the nation has been so focused on the happenings of Trayvon Martin, other states are having their own injustices happening right under our nose with no rallies, no marches and no media coverage.  A great example would be what is currently going on in Chicago right now.

Right now Chicago has their own Trayvon Martin situation going on and they are hoping to get some attention and help on their side as well.

Back in 2005, African American Detective Howard Morgan was pulled over by a group of four white police officers for driving down the wrong street of a neighborhood somewhere near his home.  While both the officers and Detective Morgan agree on that being the basis behind him being pulled over, that is where the agreement ends.

According to the police officers, when they attempted to arrest Detective Morgan (for exactly what, I have no idea) he allegedly began to fire shots from his own weapon in the direction of the officers.  The four officers then let off a good amount of fire in return which resulted in Morgan being shot 28 times although eyewitness statements contradict their story by stating that Morgan never fired a weapon. Of the 28 bullets that pierced through his body, 21 of those bullets hit him in the back and while 7 hit him in the front.

After being shot 28 times and being left for dead, Morgan was eventually taken to the hospital where he stayed for approximately seven months.  To everyone’s surprise he survived that fatal night.  After spending nearly a year in the hospital, Morgan was later charged with four counts of attempted murder, three counts of aggravated assault and one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm at police officers. He was kept in jail on a $2 million dollar bail until an anonymous person fronted for the bail amount.

In 2007, Morgan went to trial and was acquitted of aggravated battery and discharging a weapon at police officers, however, the jury was deadlocked on the attempted murder charge.

Prosecutors then retried Morgan in 2012 where he was found guilty of attempted murder.  During that trial, the new jury was not allowed to hear anything regarding his prior acquittal. This is extremely odd because if they were allowed to hear evidence from the previous trial and we informed that he was previously acquitted that probably would have made a world of difference for Morgan.

What is even stranger is that Morgan was allowed to be tried for the crime a second time after he had been acquitted of charges relating to the shooting. Many are crying foul and want to know why the double jeopardy law was overlooked in this case:

The double jeopardy law, as outlined in the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, restricts government, by collateral estoppel, from re-litigating against the same defense a fact necessarily found by the jury in a prior acquittal, as in Ashe v. Swenson, 397 U.S. 436 (1970); even if the jury hung on other counts as in Yeager v. United States, 557 U.S. 110 (2009).

The now ex-officer is now facing 80 years in prison for a crime that he never should have been charged with.

If you want to know more about his story and his struggle or would like to extend your support please visit http://www.freehowardmorgan.com/

You may also write to the Governor:

Office of the Governor
James R. Thompson Center
100 W. Randolph, 16-100
Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: 312-814-2121
Office of the Governor
207 State House
Springfield, IL 62706
Phone: 217-782-0244
TTY: 1-888-261-3336
Governor Email: http://www2.illinois.gov/gov/Pages/ContacttheGovernor.aspx

(Source & Source)