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.
The last two jury duty cases I was called for had the district attorney making very sure all the jurors knew that “even if the person the crime was committed to didn’t want the charges pressed” and “if there’s only one person saying what happened actually happened, that’s all the evidence you need to know that it happened” while a non English speaking person sat in the defense side with a translator and a (I’m betting) court appointed attorney tried to defend them.
Meanwhile police are mowing people down at felony reckless driving speeds and the district attorneys are “lol, not enough evidence”
Get the fuck out of here with that cowardice.