A British jury issued an open verdict at the trial of a Brazilian killed by London police in 2005.The jury’s decision found that officers acted unlawfully in killing Jean Charles de Menezes as he sat aboard a subway train. Scotland Yard tried to argue that their officers acted in self-defense when they confused de Menezes with failed suicide bomber Hussain Osman. Yet the jury rejected that in a verdict which was the strongest permitted by the coroner.
(For those unfamiliar with common law, a jury under an “open verdict” establishes that a violent crime occurred yet refuses to disclose the cause).
The verdict serves as a heavy blow against London’s police which faced an uphill battle during the trial. For instance, prosecutors accused the police of manipulating de Menezes’ photo to make him appear more like Osman. The claims of the cop who said to have warned de Menezes before shooting him were contradicted by several eyewitnesses including other officers.
The acting head of Scotland Yard reacted to the verdict by admitting that the police “made a most terrible mistake” yet emphasized the "unique situation" faced by officers.
The family of de Menezes was mostly unhappy with the verdict, especially after the trial’s coroner denied the jury from permitting a verdict of unlawful killing:
The family of Jean Charles de Menezes declared the inquest into his death a "whitewash"…Image- AP (“Patricia da Silva Armani, centre, cousin of Jean Charles de Menezes who was shot by police in London in 2005 listens to an interpreter, left, with Asad Rehman from the Justice for Jean Campaign in front of a picture of her cousin at a press conference in London, Friday, Dec. 12, 2008.”)
A family statement, released through the Justice4Jean campaign group, said: "After three months of evidence, 100 witnesses and millions of pounds, the coroner, Sir Michael Wright, has presided over a complete whitewash. He has failed on every count of the purpose of an inquest investigation"…
Maria Otone de Menezes, Jean Charles's mother, thanked the jury and said that she had been "reborn" by the verdict. Her reaction to the decision was read out during a press conference held by De Menezes's family.
Sources- The Latin Americanist, dictionary.com, BBC News, Guardian UK, earthtimes.org, Reuters
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