Advocate Opinion: Alton Sterling's death tragic, but look at the facts

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But for his attorney, Edmond Jordan, to say Sterling was “a respected man” is absurd. He was convicted of carnal knowledge of a juvenile, and failed to register as a sex offender. He did five years in prison for distribution of marijuana and illegal possession of a gun. He had also pleaded guilty to aggravated battery, criminal damage, unauthorized entry and domestic abuse. At the time of his death, he was living at a church shelter.

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Jordan said that Sterling was “not involved in any criminal conduct” on the night he was killed. Oh, yes he was. As a felon he was not allowed to carry a gun, but someone called 911 to report he was threatening people with one outside the store where he hawked CDs. If he had not been illegally armed, he would probably be alive today. He was shot when he allegedly went for the gun when tussling with officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake.

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If Salamoni and Lake are to face a state charge, the most obvious possibility would be manslaughter, which the statute defines as a homicide committed “in sudden passion or heat of blood.” There is no question that, if Landry declines to prosecute, furious demonstrators will flood the streets. The easiest way out may to be let a jury decide whether the cops were in fear of their lives and justified in shooting Sterling.

His family will never believe they were, having assured reporters that the cops “murdered” a “gentle giant.” Landry will have to handle this one more deftly than the feds.

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