Officer Paul Abel, a veteran of counter-insurgency warfare in the Regime's illegal occupation of Iraq, was deeply drunk last June 28 when somebody punched him at a stoplight.

Abel, an eight-year veteran of the police force, "drove around the block, until he spotted [21-year-old Kaleb] Miller, whom he knew from the neighborhood," recounts the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Witnesses said the officer hit Mr. Miller on the neck with the butt of his Glock and the gun went off, grazing Mr. Miller's hand."

Miller strenuously denied that he was the one who struck Abel, and two witnesses to the event confirmed that the victim "looked nothing like" the guy who punched the drunken off-duty cop.

Abel, 35, was put on unpaid suspension (a rarity) and was brought up on charges of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, and DUI. He waived a jury trial, which is generally a good idea for the defendant in cases of criminal conduct by police.

Court of Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning insisted that the case turned on a single question: Was Abel arresting a suspect, or acting in retaliation? The preponderance of evidence clearly demonstrated the latter, beginning with the fact that no evidence was presented, other than Abel's alcohol-distorted recollection, that Miller was the one who threw the first punch.

Abel maintained that the violence he employed was "necessary" because Miller wouldn't obey commands to lie on the ground. Bear in mind, first of all, that Miller had done nothing wrong, and secondly, that as far as he could tell, Abel was simply a deranged, drunken individual wielding a weapon, rather than a deranged, drunken, armed individual clothed in the supposed majesty of state "authority."

Predictably, Judge Manning ruled in favor of Abel, insisting that while the off-duty officer's conduct was "inappropriate, imprudent and ill-advised," it was still justifiable, since police enjoy broad discretion in the use of force. Apparently that "discretion" extends to driving under the influence of alcohol, in addition to pistol-whipping and shooting a completely innocent bystander.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/028312.html

meanwhile, in San Diego .....

After three days of deliberations, a jury San Diego - a militaristic community thoroughly besotted with people in state-issued costumes - acquitted police officer Frank White of felony gross negligent discharge of a firearm and a misdemeanor count of displaying a firearm in an "angry manner."

The charges arose from a March 2008 "road rage" incident in which White shot Rachel Silva and her eight-year-old son. Silva had cut off White and backed into his car. She was shot twice in the arm and her son was hit once in the knee.

White, who was off-duty at the time and accompanied by his wife, initially claimed that he fired in "self-defense." He later claimed that he fired his gun when Silva refused his demands to get out of her car. White never displayed a badge or identified himself as a police officer; witnesses to the shooting didn't recognize the incident as a traffic stop or other enforcement action, but thought it was a domestic squabble.

Larry Ludlow, who has covered this case in the past, informs me: "During the trial, [White] lied several times and was caught in these lies, but the military-worshiping jurors didn't care. They even swallowed the 'fear of death' excuse despite the difference in the size of the two vehicles - with [White's] vehicle being much larger."

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/028338.html