Death of Jaahnavi Kandula, 23, from India, ignited outrage after fellow officer was recorded making ‘appalling’ remarks about case
Prosecutors in Washington state said on Wednesday they will not file felony charges against a Seattle police officer who struck and killed a graduate student from India while responding to an overdose call – a case that attracted widespread attention after another officer was recorded making callous remarks about it.
Officer Kevin Dave was driving 74mph (119km/h) on a street with a 25mph (40km/h) speed limit in a police SUV before he hit 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula in a crosswalk on 23 January 2023.
In a memo to the Seattle police department on Wednesday, the King county prosecutor’s office noted that Dave had on his emergency lights, that other pedestrians reported hearing his siren, and that Kandula appeared to try to run across the intersection after seeing his vehicle approaching. She might also have been wearing wireless earbuds that could have diminished her hearing, they noted.
For those reasons, a felony charge of vehicular homicide was not warranted. “There is insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Dave was consciously disregarding safety,” the memo said.
I hate the lack of police accountability as much as anyone, but this is literally how our legal system is supposed to work in order to prevent wrongful convictions. That’s what the presumption of innocence for defendants and the requirement for prosecutor to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt are all about.
This wasn’t in a court. This was the DA saying they would not open a case. Innocent until proven guilty applies to court of law, where they look at the evidence to decide if you are guilty.
The goal of a DA is to bring cases to court and get convictions. They’re not going to bring a case where they know in advance that the defense has a winning argument. The only burden of the defense is to create reasonable doubt, so if the DA isn’t certain the potential defendant is criminally liable, it’s reasonable for them to predict any halfway competent defense attorney can create doubt in the minds of jurors. Bringing a case in that scenario would just be grandstanding.
What we really need is to change the law so that the way the cop was driving is a crime in itself unless they’re responding to a live-threatening emergency.
Lol we all know anyone else in this situation gets charged. The DA didn’t charge this shit bag because he’s a cop.
Absolutely not. Trials, the process used to determine guilt, shouldn’t be thrown out just because someone “might” be innocent. Everyone might be innocent. That’s why we investigate and try these cases.
Not to be pedantic but to add, everyone is innocent until otherwise proven, which requires amicable evidence that a crime was committed. At least how this sounds imo its even worse than a “qualified immunity” ruling since it seems as though the killing itself is being disregarded… much like these cops’ sentiment. That is absurd if our courts cant judge at least something wrong was done and make a shitty excuse for it even
It feels like there should be an actual investigation that answers these unknowns. Maybe there has been and this isn’t a great article. It certainly isn’t my intent to necessarily prosecute the cop, but based on the information in this article it leaves me feeling like the investigation was abbreviated.
That doesn’t mean I’m convinced any investigation must necessarily lead to prosecution. I’d just like to know that these questions were answered. Frankly with his lights and siren on and on the way to an urgent call, it seems very likely the guy is not responsible. But that doesn’t mean I want to half-ass the investigation. That’s all. I appreciate and agree with your perspective.