Off-duty city officer who shot South Side man acquitted

Off-duty city officer who shot South Side man acquitted

An Allegheny County judge said an off-duty Pittsburgh Police officer who got in an altercation with a South Side man last year exercised poor judgment, but he didn't commit a crime.

Officer Abel was arrested June 28 after he shot 21-year-old Kaleb Miller in the hand. Officer Abel claimed Mr. Miller had punched him moments earlier while he was in his car at a stoplight. Officer Abel, who was off-duty during the incident, testified he had four beers and two shots that night, grabbed his service weapon from his trunk and pursued Mr. Miller.

The off-duty cop TESTIFIED that he was DUI.

...and the BEST part...

Judge Manning called the altercation "inappropriate, imprudent and ill-advised." But, he said, "It is not the obligation of this court to police the police department."

So....dumb question, I suppose, but WHO's job IS it?

I think the 'cop' and the 'judge' should both be canned.

I agree and am shocked...WTF is all I can think about this.

Was this a jury trial? If it was, I can't believe that he was aquitted. Strange thing there.

Judges almost never get removed from the bench for anything. They have "judicial immunity".

Unless a judge is caught "in the act" of using a "male enhancement device" WHILE presiding over a murder trial, he's immune from his bad decision.
Like this judge

They CAN be disbarred for misconduct like this judge

They can be grossly unjust, unreasonable or just plain stupid and still be immune from the normal avenues of remedy and recourse as is demonstrated in 2 cases here in Oklahoma. In one case the judge sentenced a confessed child rapist of a 4 year old girl to ONE year in prison-with time served-out in 3 months. The other case was one in which the judge ordered life imprisonment for a woman who stole 2 purses.

(See chatterbox about judge sentencing child rapist to one year and for the other see the AP report of 3/22/09. Sorry for not providing links)

In the case of this officer, the plaintiff should have taken him to civil court as an individual and not tried to sue him as a police officer. The LEO who shot the guy was not on duty, admitted to being under the influence in public and yes, those are crimes, even for those who wear a badge to their day job.

When an individual cop does something out of line to you as an individual, it's always better to go after them AS an individual and not as "an officer of the court" (cop).