Why Did Police Abandon Case? P.S.B., Attorney to Investigate
Norman Coye & Darnell Madril
Randell is outraged that the case against Coye and Madril was tossed out because the court prosecutor, himself a police officer, failed to appear before the sitting magistrate in the San Pedro jurisdiction. Likewise, serious concerns are being raised about the officers being reinstated following the dismissal of the matter, particularly in light of their conduct on the night of the shooting in 2017.
On the Phone: Debra Randell, Foster Parent of Deceased
“In my boy’s honor that case will be reopened. I’ve hired Marcel Cardona who is my attorney, very long time dear friend. He’s also been investigating what has happened since the shooting night before last and I’ve made it very clear to him that whatever it takes to reopen this case and if we have to hogtie the prosecutor and drag him into the courtroom so that he does his job and brings justice for my child, that’s what we’re going to do… I have got some wonderful pictures and videos of him singing in my kitchen while he’s cooking breakfast, singing that song, “when you cry, I cry” and it’s about his life and I’ve asked that they play that at his service because it sums it up, you know. “Didn’t know he wouldn’t come back, he died from the bullet of a gun.” It’s very painful for me. You know, I mostly just want them to know that there is someone out here in the United States that is going to be going and fighting for him and for this case to move forward, I don’t know. I believe the family should be able to still move forward with the case as far as getting the officers prosecuted. But I can tell you that I would never, ever feel safe coming back to that island if they in fact reinstate those two idiots and give them back a weapon, that entire police station needs to be shut down because that is absolutely, absolutely not acceptable. Those men should never be allowed to carry a weapon again, ever. The rule is you don’t point a gun at someone unless you intend on using it. You pull a gun out when you are drinking in a public place, you lose your right to be a police officer for the rest of your life and certainly, certainly you don’t get to go walk free and go back to work and, you know, have the boy snuffed that was trying to prosecute you. And that officer there in San Pedro, for him to say that he doesn’t at this time have any reason to believe that that’s what happened; he, you know what, he needs to be evaluated because it’s pretty blatant what happened here.”
According to Assistant Commissioner of Police Chester Williams, who heads the Professional Standards Branch, if the prosecutor was aware of the court date and failed to appear without any reasonable cause then he will be dealt with disciplinarily. The matter in question, he says, will be investigated by the PSB to determine the reason behind the dismissal of that case.
