CMPD Officer Barker Trial

Caroline Hicks live tweeted much of today's testimony 

RIGHT NOW: Opening statements are beginning in the trial of CMPD officer Philip Barker

Prosecutor describing scene of car crash in 2017 to the jury. He described in graphic detail the dismembered body of James Short after Officer Barker hit him at up to 100 mph 

Defense attorney described life of 28-year-old James Short. Now about to play dispatch call from that day 

Barker got a dispatch call about a priority 1 call: a 21-year-old ejected from a vehicle. That's what Barker was driving to respond to when he hit James Short 

He says Short was drunk- his BAC about 3x the legal limit and also took Xanax. He says we will hear from toxicologist about what effects this would all have on a person 

He says Short was dressed in all black. Tells jury that prosecutor will try to make case that he had duty to look both ways & follow rules of pedestrians. But he says Barker did not follow rules of road: did not stop and look left and right before making turn 

NEXT: We will hear witness testimony. Judge tells jurors they can take notes 

Prosecutor showing bodycam footage from Barker's vehicle. It shows point at which he hits Short- loud noise, windshield smashes. He calls for MEDIC. 

FIRST WITNESS to the stand: Tommie Gentry a part time employee of CMPD (teachers drivers training and firearms at the academy, logistical ops at warehouse- puts up barricades for events). Works 0-40 hours a week depending on week 

He joined CMPD in June 1993. Retired as full-time employee for CMPD in March 2022. He used to be a full-time logistics operations at warehouse, and part time at academy. 

Gentry taught driver instruction to officers since 2003. Prosecutor asking him to explain how calls come into patrol officers in the car- describing phone, radio and computer systems 

Gentry says it usually takes a second and a half to perceive hazard in roadway and then put foot on brake. Speed affects vision: faster you go, less peripheral vision works. 

Describes how faster driving, longer time it takes to brake. In fall of 2017-- Gentry conducted training at airport-- showing officers a demo of what it takes to get a vehicle to stop at 60, 80 & 100mph. Used same car Barker drove.  

At 100mph-- car traveled close to 400 ft. before coming to a stop. They showed video from the training 

Gentry says he did not reduce speeds to clear intersections, which does not meet directives

No further questions from prosecution. Judge announcing recess until 2pm. 

2 PM

Court is back in session. Cross examination of prosecutor's witness Tommie Gentry is beginning. 

Defense attorney George Laughrun asking Gentry about the training he conducted at the airport. Argues there's a big difference between an FAA- authorized simulation in optimal conditions, no unforeseen circumstances v. the deadly crash on Morehead 

Laughrun asks if CMPD has a program for officers needing extra driving/ remedial training due to issues w/ their conduct. Gentry says yes -- and Barker was never subjected to that 

Defense asking Gentry about educational program called Watch For Me NC. He says he's heard of it but hasn't taken it. 

Now handed him Barker's training book. It contained tests where Barker received 100% scores and notes that said "Good job!" He scored high on all emergency driving courses. 

Prosecutor now questioning Gentry again. Asked if he would expect an officer to have both hands on the wheel when not speaking on radio. He said yes. Barker only had one hand on wheel at time of crash 

Prosecutor asked if Barker accelerated through 3 intersections, was he following protocol of slowing to clear them? Gentry says no. 

Prosecutor calling James' brother Joshua Short up to the stand as a witness. He says his brother went by "Mike." He referenced that his mother and father Deborah and John Short are also in court. 

Jury is heading into recess until 3:45 

3:45 PM

Back in session. Defense team now cross examining Joshua Short 

Defense team asks Joshua if his brother took his meds for mental health disorder and schizophrenia the day of crash. Joshua not sure but says his brother was "adamant" about taking it

Twitter Silenced Opposing Views

It might not seem like a big deal. If your a democrat til death you may even think Twitter muting Trump is a good thing.

But Twitter silencing conservative voices damaged democracy, damaged science, and damaged our nation.

Officially the Twitter algorithm based its curating of content on users activity on the platform. As you interacted on Twitter, and liked certain tweets, followed certain accounts, and retweeted certain things you liked, Twitter used all of that interaction to show tweets it thinks you want to see.

Yet when Twitter starting using it's platform and algorithm to control free speech it become a true "Big Brother" and when the control started coming from within the FBI it became a threat to our Nation.

When Donald Trump won the 2016 election liberal snowflakes where stunned, shocked and dismayed. Much of that trama occurred because Twitter had been silencing, blacklisting and shadow banning opposing viewpoints. Liberals had no clue that Hillary wasn't universally loved by all because they never saw the massive volume of people tweeting their dislike of HIllary Clinton. 

Now we are faced with a choice, allow free speech and regin in the FBI and other government agencies or continue as a nation moving towards a Soviet / Chinese style overlord that seeks to control your every action and thought.

Choose Carefully America.  

Independence Crash Kills Terryn Desravines, Brooke Peters

Detectives with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's Major Crash Investigation Unit are investigating a fatal vehicle crash in the Providence Division.

On Thursday, December 1, 2022, at approximately 12:34 a.m., Providence Division officers responded to a two vehicle crash in the 1900 block of E. Independence Boulevard. Upon arrival, officers located a 2018 Lexus IS300 with extensive damage and a 2019 Honda HR-V Sport with heavy right rear damage. Two people were located lying in the roadway with life threatening injuries.  The driver of the Honda was located inside the vehicle with serious injuries.  

Medic arrived on scene and pronounced the two people lying in the roadway deceased on scene.  The driver of the Honda was transported by Medic to Atrium Health Main with serious injuries.

CMPD's Major Crash Investigation Unit, the DWI Task Force and Crime Scene Search responded to the scene to conduct an investigation.

The preliminary investigation indicates that the Lexus was traveling east on E. Independence Boulevard at a high rate of speed, when it struck the rear of the Honda causing both vehicles to lose control. The impact of the crash caused the Lexus to flip and eject the driver, Terryn Desravines, and passenger, Brooke Peters, from the vehicle. Both subjects were not wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash.  The families of Terryn Desravines (DOB: 11/10/1999) and Brooke Peters (DOB: 08/30/2001) have been notified of their deaths.

The driver of the Honda, Brian Aurillo (DOB: 08/23/1964), was screened for impairment and found not to be impaired at the time of the crash.

Impairment and speed are believed to be factors in this crash.

Desravines Terryn Moses, Photo Via MCSO

Desravines was arrested back in May of 2021 for possession and speeding.

According to CMPD the investigation into this crash is active and ongoing. As additional information develops, it will be released by the CMPD's Public Affairs Office. Any person who witnessed the crash or has information about this case is asked to call Detective Kupfer at (704) 432-2169, Ext 1. The public can also leave information anonymously by contacting Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600 or http://charlottecrimestoppers.com/.  For additional information about this case, please refer to report: 20221201-0034-00.

Bicyclists Are Idiots

I make no excuses, I absolutely detest Charlotte cyclists! 

But this is a new level of stupid. 

11:00 AM on Sunday and this clown is towing his toddler down the two lane section of Ballantyne Commons Parkway east of Rea Road in heavy traffic behind his road bike.

If this is legal it shouldn't be, even in a bike lane this is nuts.

You want to tow your kid down the greenway in this rickshaw setup fine. Still stupid if you ask me. But towing your kid behind your bike down a beat to hell pot hole covered busy two lane road is absolutely child abuse.

What a total freaking idiot!

Former CMPD Officer Phillip Barker Trial To Begin Monday

Yesterday the "Local Paper" regurgitated some of their earlier reporting on a CMPD Officer Involved Pedestrian Death from five years ago.

In July 2017, two lives headed in different directions intersected south of uptown Charlotte at more than 100 mph. In an instant, James Michael Short was dead, his body thrown more than the length of a football field down Morehead Street after being struck by the patrol car driven by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Officer Phillip Barker.

Barker, who was responding to a pre-dawn report of a wreck nearby, was traveling at almost three times the posted speed limit of 35 mph. Next week, the two men’s lives will cross once again, this time in a Mecklenburg County courtroom.

On Dec. 5, Barker will become the first CMPD officer in more than seven years to be tried on criminal charges tied to an on-duty death. The now 29-year-old is charged with involuntary manslaughter, a felony, and two counts of misdemeanor death by vehicle in connection with the collision that killed Short on July 8, 2017. If convicted of all charges, Barker faces a maximum sentence of more than five years in prison.

In a real sense, Barker’s attorneys are expected to put Short on trial, too — specifically, his actions during his last hours of life that left large amounts of drugs and alcohol in his body, which may have impaired his judgment and contributed to his death. 

In fact, the lawyers say Short, a 28-year-old computer student at Central Piedmont Community College, had drunk so much at a South End bar that night that he had been ordered to leave. 

Short crossed Morehead “despite having three marked CMPD patrol vehicles traveling in his direction with blue lights and sirens activated,” Michael Greene, a member of Barker’s Charlotte-based defense team, said previously. 

Asked last week by The Local Paper if he believes drugs and alcohol contributed to Short’s death, Greene declined to comment. The trial could take up to two weeks. The defense team, which also includes George Laughrun, plans to call more than 20 witnesses. 

Barker will be tried by Bill Bunting and Glenn Cole, two of the most veteran homicide prosecutors in the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office. 

Officer Barker has deep ties to the police department. His father is a retired CMPD sergeant while his mother is a former magistrate who still works at the department in a civilian position. Barker has been on unpaid administrative leave since his arrest.

He was originally charged with misdemeanor death by vehicle. In December 2017, however, the District Attorney’s Office took the case before a grand jury, which returned the far more serious involuntary manslaughter indictment. 

At the time of Barker’s arrest, then Police Chief Kerr Putney described the officer’s driving speed as “excessive,” and said it was the determining factor in the department’s decision to bring charges. 

Putney said CMPD officers are allowed to speed when their emergency lights are on but only if they do so with the safety of others in mind. “Sometimes with youth, you don’t have the experience,” he said of Barker, who was 24 at the time and had joined CMPD 18 months earlier.

Greene says his client should never have been arrested or indicted. He told the Observer last week that Short’s death was an accident, not the legal grounds for criminal charges. “When the jury sees the evidence in its totality,” he said, “they will certainly see that this was not a crime.”

EXCESSIVE SPEED VS. DRUGS, ALCOHOL 

In one regard, the jury’s verdict could hinge on what set of numbers receive the most weight. Prosecutors say Barker was driving recklessly on July 8, 2017, when he blasted south down Morehead Street at 3:30 a.m. while responding to a “priority one” call of a car crashing into a building on Kings Drive in which the driver possibly had been ejected. 

CP Notes the Local Paper's use of "blasted south down Morehead"

Barker was one of three officers who raced toward the reported wreck. He was traveling at more than 100 mph when he raced down the hill by the Dowd YMCA toward Euclid Avenue. That’s where Short was crossing the street.

Barker had the green light, and his emergency lights and siren were on. Prosecutors and Barker’s defense team disagree on whether Short was walking in the Morehead Street crosswalk or near it. Short had been drinking at The Bar at 316 in South End. His blood-alcohol level at the time of his death ranged from .24 to .30, at least three times the legal limit for driving while impaired. 

His autopsy also showed that Short had ingested what the N.C. Medical Examiner’s office considers to be a “toxic” amount of Xanax, a powerful anti-depressant that affects the brain and central nervous system, particularly when combined with alcohol. 

MANSLAUGHTER TRIALS AND COPS 

Criminal charges against Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are rare; charges involving on-duty homicides are rarer still. Barker is the city’s first police defendant in a manslaughter trial since Randall “Wes” Kerrick, who was charged in connection with the September 2013 shooting death of Jonathan Ferrell. 

Kerrick shot the unarmed Ferrell 10 times after the former college football player ran toward him during an early morning confrontation east of Charlotte. Kerrick’s 2015 trial ended in a hung jury with eight of the 12 members voting to acquit. The charges were later dropped, and Kerrick left the force. 

In 2009, CMPD officer Martray Proctor pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to three years’ probation after his police cruiser struck a car driven by 20-year-old Shatona Robinson, who died at the scene. Proctor was traveling as fast as 111 mph in a 45 mph zone and did not have his siren on. 

The Kerrick and Barker cases share at least three similarities. Greene and Laughrun also represented Kerrick. Meanwhile, the Barker trial will be heard by Superior Court Judge Robert Ervin, who also was on the bench for Kerrick. 

In both cases the City of Charlotte agreed to pay large settlements to the dead men’s families long before the trials. In Ferrell’s case, the check was for $2.25 million.

 After the trial, the city also paid Kerrick about $180,000 in return for his resignation. 

In March 2019, the city settled with Short’s family for $950,000, the Observer reported at the time. 

Nationally, fatal collisions between emergency vehicles and pedestrians occur every other day, according to the National Safety Council. In 2020, 180 people died in crashes involving emergency vehicles, with police cars accounting for 132 of the fatalities. Pedestrians made up a quarter (45) of the overall deaths.

CP's Take: This is just another reason why CMPD is understaffed, can't recruit, or retain Officers. Baker was wrong, but contributory negligence in this case far out weighs Baker's actions which were conducted without malice or intent. The Meck DA's office should have shit canned this case years ago. 

Speed is relative given the facts including the level of intoxication of the victim and questions regarding who provided him with that level of alcohol and drugs there seems plenty of blame to go around.

Starbucks Labels Black Woman's Drink "Monkey"

This is pretty darn funny. I get it there are racist people out there. Mean spirited and hateful people, but does it really need to make national news? This from NBC's Today:

A Maryland woman is speaking out after a Starbucks barista wrote her name as "Monkey" while taking her order.

Monique Pugh tells TODAY.com that she has been a loyal Starbucks customer for 20 years. On Nov. 19, she said, she visited the location inside the Annapolis, Maryland, mall and ordered a venti Caramel Frappuccino.

"The lady at the register asked my name and I told her, and that was it," she said, noting that she used the Starbucks app to pay and verbally told the woman working her name was "Monique."

Pugh said it was a long wait for her drink and she observed that everyone ahead of her was called by their name.

"I can see from a distance, a barista picks up (my) drink and she looks at it weird, says 'venti Caramel Frap' and backed away."

Pugh says she picked up the cup and saw the word "Monkey" on it.

"My heart just drops," she says. "It was one of those in-the-moment things where your heart just drops and you’re just like, 'What?'"

Despite the distressing word on her cup, Pugh says, she initially just engaged with the nearest barista, a male, to try to get him to fix her drink, which was made incorrectly. She says he was immediately "very combative and argumentative."

"He and I were going back and forth about whether the drink was made correctly and then I had to stop myself and realized 'monkey' was written on my cup," she says, adding she was the only Black person in the store at the time.

By now you're thinking oh that's way wrong? Right? Well Today isn't done with you as you have to scroll past endless pop up ads. To continue to read this bizarre tale you have to keep scrolling and clicking. Keep in mind that Today.com where this story is posted has ad placements every couple of sentences.

She says she asked the employee, "Why am I the only Black person in the store and 'monkey' is written on my cup?"

Pugh says the male barista shrugged and told her it was a mistake.

"Just with that attitude and his response, oh it’s so triggering," she says. "Customers were looking at me and I was just embarrassed."

Pugh says the male barista didn't apologize but refunded her for the drink.

A Starbucks corporate representative confirms the incident occurred and tells TODAY.com the employee who took the order had been suspended. They also say that the store where the incident happened was a franchisee, owned by a company called Impeccable Brands.

The Starbucks representative says Impeccable Brands also initiated a third party investigation and promised additional diversity and inclusion trainings for staff.

He adds that the corporate team had reached out "directly to apologize for her experience" and to have a sit-down meeting. Pugh confirms the regional director had emailed her but had not yet responded as of Wednesday, Nov. 30, to her note about available dates for a sit-down meeting.

OMG her name was mispronounced. The horror! But what about the typing of MONIQUE vs MONKEY? Typo? Maybe? Sloppy? Maybe? M-O-N and then I and opps K is closer to m&n than I and Q and E are only separated by W and and y&u are next to each other.

Pugh says she left the store the day of the incident and immediately called customer service. She says the general manager of the local store first contacted her and mispronounced her first name, Monique, in a voicemail.

"This is not a small complaint, it’s not like my coffee was cold or I was missing my croissant," she says. "And you couldn’t even leave a message without mispronouncing my name."

She says the manager touted his staff's diversity and cited his own Hispanic heritage when saying he understood her frustrations.

Pugh says he offered to compensate her with a free drink from Starbucks and one free sandwich.

"I declined it … because that offer felt disrespectful," she says. "It was disrespectful that he’d say as a Hispanic male he understood and then offered me that."

Pugh says the owner of the store then contacted her and apologized, only to then say the team had concluded the incident "wasn't intentional."

She says the store owner also confirmed the suspended barista, who she believes to be white and a native English speaker, had completed the company's anti-bias training.

In an email forwarded by Starbucks' corporate team to TODAY.com, Amit Sehgal from Impeccable Brands apologized to Pugh but made similar statements to Pugh's recollections.

"While we have investigated the incident and believe that our employee mistakenly labeling your cup in this way, regardless, I understand the hurt and frustration this has caused you," Sehgal wrote. "We can do better. As an immediate step, I have taken action with the employee and have addressed their behavior with them directly."

Seriously I had to use spell check to type Monique.

Sehgal also says "monkey" would not be allowed to be printed on Starbucks drink tickets and that employees would be subject to additional training.

"With these steps in place, I feel confident that we will do better and offer the warm and welcoming experience that you and all other customers expect from any of our locations in the future," Sehgal concluded in his note to Pugh. "While I know none of this will be able to take away the hurt you may have felt that day and the days following, I hope that our actions show that we take this very seriously and value what you have shared."

The Starbucks corporate spokesperson confirms to TODAY.com that the word “monkey” has been removed from their system company-wide as a possible name for an order. When asked, he says there are other “profanities” that are also not allowed to be used as names but wasn’t sure exactly which ones.

Let's be serious Chip is not hard to spell but at Starbucks it comes back Skip a lot.

Pugh told TODAY.com the whole situation has been "very overwhelming."

"And to have them apologize, but then say it was an honest mistake and a labeling error? How was that a labeling error?" she asks. "I was the only Black person in the store. And I bring it to your attention and your first thought is to argue with me?"

She says someone had emailed her boss at work to complain about her after her story appeared on other news outlets.

"(The email) said I was the reason that that Starbucks employee was fired and I should know what it’s like to be fired because of a race hoax," she says, noting that the employee wasn't actually fired. "However, I am the victim in this situation, that was written on my cup! To ask for the victim to be fired…I can’t even express to you what it felt like to hear my manager read that email aloud to me."

Pugh says she has been “traumatized” by the incident.

If you are traumatized by having your frap labeled MONKEY you need serious help.

“I think what made it worse was the events following after. It wasn’t helpful,” she says. “If anything, it hurt me even more.”

Going forward, Pugh says she still really wants to hear from the corporate team and encouraged others to "speak up."

"This whole situation, you really have to speak up because companies, they’ll pledge millions to make it seem like they’re helping people and minorities but when something like this comes up they’ll try to sweep it under the rug," she says. "It’s a hypocrisy. That’s not OK. All I have to say is that people really need to speak up, especially when they know something is wrong, when they’ve been disrespected."

For purposes of transparency. I've never ordered a venti caramel frappuccino at Starbuck or anywhere else. Coffee two creams no sugar. 

How about we stop with this finger pointing racist bs?

I have a neighbor here name is Karen. She's crazy attractive late 40's tall thin super sweet always nice to talk to and a great neighbor. But her name is Karen. Can you imagine the tremendous pain she feels ordering a venti caramel frap at Starbucks and the label on her drink says K-A-R-E-N?

Tyquawon Parker Arrested in the murder of Ahylea Willard

It took CMPD more than a month to find Tyquawon Parker and charge him the homicide that occurred at an east Charlotte apartment complex last month.

Tyquawon Parker Photo MCSO

On October.23 at around 11:15 a.m., a woman was found shot and killed on Snow Lane at the Heritage Park Apartments. Police said officers were called for a welfare check when they found someone who had been shot.

MEDIC said Ahylea Willard, 32, died at the scene. Officers confirmed Willard was found behind a dumpster at the apartments.

Parker was arrested on Monday by CMPD and Guilford County Law Enforcement in Guilford County.

Parker was convicted of armed robbery in 2018 and sentenced to only 4 years and 10 months in prison. He was released on June 23, 2021 and was placed on supervised release for one year. He was released in June of this year, four months before he killed Willard.