Another Trayvon Martin Story

Many of us have been wondering just how many Trayvon Martin stories are out there that very few know about.  One such story is the one that was posted in the Huffington Post titled Howard Morgan, Black Off-Duty Cop Shot 28 Times By White Chicago Officers, Faces Sentencing. 

This story reports that “Howard Morgan, a former Chicago police officer who was shot 28 times by white officers -- and lived to tell his side of the story. Morgan was off-duty as a detective for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad when he was pulled over for driving the wrong way on a one-way street on Feb 21, 2005, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.  According to police, Morgan opened fire with his service weapon when officers tried to arrest him, which caused them to shoot him 28 times. His family, however, very much doubts those claims.  "After being left for dead, he survived and was then charged with attempted murder of the four white officers who brutalized him," Occupy Chicago wrote on their website, adding that Morgan was found not guilty on three counts, including discharging his weapon. The same jury that cleared him of opening fire on the officers, however, deadlocked on a charge of attempted murder -- and another jury found him guilty in January. That jury was not allowed to hear that Morgan had been acquitted of the other charges.  Protesters and Morgan's family say the second trial amounted to double jeopardy, and claim officers have gone to great lengths to obstruct justice in the case:  Howard Morgan's van was crushed and destroyed without notice or cause before any forensic investigation could be done. Howard Morgan was never tested for gun residue to confirm if he even fired a weapon on the morning in question. The State never produced the actual bullet proof vest worn by one of the officers who claimed to have allegedly taken a shot directly into the vest on the morning in question. The State only produced a replica.  Morgan was sentenced Thursday to serve 40 years in prison, essentially a life sentence.”

For many there are questions that a court should have answered but didn’t and a defense which should have addressed some of these questions, demanding answers that did not come.  The major differences between the Trayvon Martin Case and this one are the officer survived and Trayvon didn’t.  There was a speedy and public trial but no such luck in the Martin Case.  It may be time for all of us to begin examining more cases like this one and Trayvon’s to insure that we are actually afforded equal protection under the law.