re: Should Collins sue BRPD for defamation?

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Let me rephrase it better since I worded it poorly.

BRPD could not reach him so the publicly announced they would like to talk to him. All of a sudden, he was contacting them. BRPD has one interest - solving a murder and that is way more important than whether someone gets drafted 11th or 235th.

Someone was brutally murdered and the murderer is on the streets. Getting whoever that is off the streets is way more important than someone's draft status.

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you worded that poorly, too.

BRPD did not announce that they would like to talk to him. Adam Shefter tweeted that he was wanted for questioning in relation to a murder investigation and then BRPD confirmed that they would like to speak with him, but that he is not a suspect.

don't give me that moral ivory tower bullshite argument. I've said multiple times that Brittany Mills is the tragedy, not La'el's draft status. but, the publicity about La'el has nothing to do with Brittany Mills -it's a bald attempt by Shefter to boost his click count by tweeting out a misleading headline that was sooo misleading, it has almost solely affected the perception of La'el's involvement or non-involvement here on tRant.

had Shefter never tweeted about it, my opinion is that La'el would've spoken to the police to provide them with any information he has at whatever date that would've happened and none of us ever would've heard anything, whatsoever, about his being tied to the case because he had nothing to do with it. if I'm wrong and he did it, I have no sympathy for him, but there is nothing suggesting that he had anything to do with it aside from the fact that he knew the victim.

if he had nothing to do with it, then all speculation has done Brittany Mills a huge disservice because it has distracted public attention from the victims (she and her child).

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BRPD did not announce that they would like to talk to him. Adam Shefter tweeted that he was wanted for questioning in relation to a murder investigation and then BRPD confirmed that they would like to speak with him, but that he is not a suspect.

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Lol what?!!?! Confirming you want to speak to someone about a murder is not announcing they would like to talk to him.

Screw his draft status. Someone was murdered. BRPD apparently has reason to believe he knows something and you know what if Collins was an ordinary citizen no one would give 2 shits about the publicity. But it is a tragedy because he will lose millions and we should let a murderer potentially stay on the streets because Collins can protect a QB at an elite level.

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Lol what?!!?! Confirming you want to speak to someone about a murder is not announcing they would like to talk to him.

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no. they did not announce it. there wasn't a press conference. they were solicited for comment by a reporter and provided it. announcement and confirming a question are not the same thing.

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Actually an ordinary citizen would have been hauled in for questioning already so he is getting a bit of favorable treatment.

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an ordinary citizen who is not suspected of being the perpetrator, an accomplice, or complicit wouldn't be "hauled in" for anything. police don't even "haul in" someone unless they have a warrant.

stop watching law & order.

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an ordinary citizen who is not suspected of being the perpetrator, an accomplice, or complicit wouldn't be "hauled in" for anything. police don't even "haul in" someone unless they have a warrant.

stop watching law & order.

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The police quite frequently "escort" witnesses to the detective bureau. They do not have to talk but they are frequently brought to the police station.

The police do not need a warrant to bring you to the police station if you go with them or go yourself voluntarily. "Hauled in" was a poor word choice (again).

Here is the answer to your question about "cooperation." You think his agent did not tell him on Saturday BRPD wanted to talk to him?

LINK

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and he was smart not to speak directly with the police. in another thread, someone posted a link to a law professor and a police officer both lecturing about the danger of speaking with the police without legal counsel. good video, but I can't remember which thread it was posted within.

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I agree talking to the police is never a good idea but there are consequences to not talking. Although the consequences of talking to the police are usually much more severe.

I have seen the video you referenced numerous times.

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It is certainly his right to refuse to go in on BRPD's terms but the consequence of that is what has happened. You cannot complain there is publicity about your knowledge of a murder (or lack thereof) when you had a chance to quash the publicity in the first place.

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I'm with you when you say "it is certainly his right to refuse...," but you completely lose me with the rest of it.

think about it: if someone you know was murdered Friday night, you were in a stake of shock about the news Saturday, but were called to come into the police station, you might not want to jump up and go in there without some legal advisement (especially if you're about to become a millionaire). if it were me and I was asked to come in to interview about a murder that I had nothing to do with, I'd be a little guarded about it, since there is no positive that can come from speaking with the police (you can only be indicted by your conversation with the police, any exculpatory information you provide is hearsay and completely irrelevant).

the fact is that there have been no public reports of any other persons that the BRPD would like to speak to or the timeline of speaking with them. this fact alone means that he is receiving detrimental treatment, just because he is a public figure who is being adversely affected. that isn't right.

The police put pressure on witnesses to cooperate all the time. They call family, they put your name in press releases, etc. Ordinary Joe would have been part of a press release on Sunday or Monday as a "person of interest" so why should Collins be any different?

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And there are consequences for exercising your constitutional rights. In this case, publicity.

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that's out of sorts. the report was confirmed by BRPD on Tuesday, the morning of which he flew to Chicago. maybe BRPD called him a million times Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and all day Tuesday up till the point that they confirmed they'd received no response from him, yet, and left him a thoroughly detailed voicemail each time to explain the situation.

my bet is, though, that he was one of many people whom they'd contacted and that several of those other people may not have responded immediately, either. but that doesn't make Shefter's twitter feed, so those people are not unduly and negatively impacted in the same way that he has been.

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The police put pressure on witnesses to cooperate all the time. They call family, they put your name in press releases, etc. Ordinary Joe would have been part of a press release on Sunday or Monday as a "person of interest" so why should Collins be any different?

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they may have called his family, but they didn't put out a press release about La'el. they simply confirmed a reporter's request.

and they would never announce someone is a "person of interest," thereby putting pressure on that person to come down to the police station, if they were not perceived to be a key piece of the puzzle.

I think that it's two-faced for BRPD to confirm they'd like to speak with him on Tuesday, at a time when he is physically unable to do that, then to say "we're not ready to meet with him" on Wednesday, when he's flown back from Chicago to comply with the request that they made in the media. seriously, what kind of bullshite is that? they absolutely must and need to meet with him Saturday through Tuesday, but on Wednesday they're not ready to meet with him? that doesn't make any sense.

I'll fully cop to it if I'm wrong, but I am of the opinion that he had no involvement in the murder. in fact, I would speculate on the basis that I've heard that he was in nola on the day of the murder and posted a tweet that same day that he couldn't believe it'd been 10 years since Brees came to his high school to put on a football clinic (accompanied by a picture of Brees and La'el's team). again, I'm speculating, but I believe that his alibi probably includes the fact that he spent the day of the murder with Saints staff, players, officials, whatever.
here's the tweet: LINK

I'll go even farther to say that, if he was in nola meeting with the saints that day, it's very unlikely that he divvied up his time during their meetings to check the status of the murder-for-hire conspiracy he was heading.

again, if I'm wrong, I'll cop to that and won't shed a tear about him getting his just desserts. but there hasn't been a single thing that has indicated to me that he had any part in the murder or that he's been acting suspicious in terms of his cooperation with the investigation.

assuming he's innocent, he has been irrevocably harmed through this process and he should seek to right that wrong in some way, once his portion of the investigation ends.

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Brittany Mills' murder is disturbing and incredibly fricked up. But it's disingenuous to suggest that that story--about Brittany Mills--has anything to do with what Shefter is reporting. He's not doing investigative reporting, he's capitalizing on a terrible crime to out-scoop other sources.

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don't give me that moral ivory tower bullshite argument. I've said multiple times that Brittany Mills is the tragedy, not La'el's draft status. but, the publicity about La'el has nothing to do with Brittany Mills -it's a bald attempt by Shefter to boost his click count by tweeting out a misleading headline that was sooo misleading, it has almost solely affected the perception of La'el's involvement or non-involvement here on tRant.

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here are two quotes I've posted (the second one is less than a page above this one).

no, contrary to your knee-jerk mock outrage, my point would be that misleading this story to point to La'el, who by all reports is not suspected of being involved and is only being sought to gain useful information about who the culprit(s) could be, is a disservice to the actual victims, Brittney Mills and her child. whirling up controversy in the public about an ancillary character who may be of zero value to the investigation actually does a disservice to the victims because it distracts from the tragedy, rather than focusing on the loss of life and the investigation seeking to solve the case.