The cage area where Carol was handcuffed and
seat-belted in a patrol car
That blows to hell the cops' story that Carol broke her own arm by flailing about in the back seat of the patrol car before transport. (Never mind that a comminuted fracture -- a break in more than two places -- is caused by trauma, as in a car crash and likely is impossible to inflict on one's self, especially while handcuffed and seat belted.) It adds credence to Carol's testimony that she was seat-belted in the back seat from the get-go and could not have flailed about -- even if she had wanted to, and she didn't.
Harrison's slip-up on the stand is proof that telling the truth makes sense -- if for no other reason than it's hard to keep lies straight. This is straight from page 2-3 of Judge Jerry Hamison Jr.'s judgment:
Harrison placed [Carol] in the back seat of the patrol car, and he returned to the residence. He saw her thrusting back and forth, as well as forward and backward while she was in the patrol car with her hands cuffed behind her back. . . . Carol Shuler . . . was transported to the Greene County Jail wearing a seat belt. Upon arriving at the jail, she said for the first time that her arm hurt. A series of photos of her arm were taken over the course of 90 minutes, showing progressive swelling and bruising. On cross-examination, Harrison testified he was wearing a blue polo shirt with GCSO insignia. (False: He was wearing a dark uniform, with bullet-proof vest, and pointed an assault rifle at my head.)
He affirmed Carol Shuler was transported wearing a seat belt. but she may not have been belted when detained in the caged area of the patrol car initially.
A few obvious questions come to mind:
* Harrison left an un-belted individual in the back of a patrol car and "returned to the residence"? Is that in line with departmental policy? Wouldn't it have been possible for Carol to open the door with her foot and walk away? What if someone who was actually dangerous did that? Cops in Missouri are really that careless?
* Was Harrison inside the residence when he claims to have seen Carol thrusting about, etc? How far away was he? Were the car windows tinted? How could he tell what she was doing from that distance?
* If Carol was, in fact, flailing about, why didn't Harrison do something about it? Is it departmental policy to do nothing when a person in custody could be injuring herself?
* Aren't Harrison, the Sheriff's Department, and the county civilly liable if they do nothing to protect someone who was in their custody?
* Oh, wait . . . Harrison admits Carol "may not have been belted when" initially detained in the patrol car. That means -- in Harrison's own words -- Carol may HAVE been belted from the outset, just as she testified. Speaking of Carol's testimony, here it is, in relevant part:
[Carol] remembered she needed Baxter's litter box and started to go back toward the residence. She said she was surrounded by officers. She never barreled into Wade. (I, too, testified to this.) She was then grabbed and thrown to the ground by an unidentified officer. (We call him "Mr. Blue Shirt.") She was handcuffed while on the wet ground. She was led to the police car. She sat in the car quietly. She was seat-belted in the car, and she told Harrison her "arm hurts so bad." She was eventually taken to Cox North for an examination (where X-rays revealed a comminuted fracture of her left arm).
What do we learn here?
(1) Various cop-witnesses stated that Carol showed no signs of being injured and never complained of being hurt. But she testified that she told Harrison her arm "hurt so bad." That sound you hear is cop credibility being shattered.
(2) Carol says she was seat-belted in the car from the outset, and Harrison essentially admits she might be right. Again, cop credibility melts away.
We've shown that cops started concocting a false story about Carol breaking her own arm, and they did it the morning after they learned her arm was broken (if not sooner). Isn't it fun to see Scott Harrison -- because he's too stupid to keep lies straight -- blow the whole story to high heaven?
