Another one of my loyal readers has directed my attention to the Fox9 Twin Cities web site, which is reporting that Anoka County District Attorney Robert M.A. Johnson is finally sending the "road-rage" case in which an off-duty, undercover Robbinsdale police officer was shot to a grand jury, more than six months after the incident. For those needing a quick refresher in the alleged details of that day, see here.
My esteemed correspondent raises some good questions indeed regarding the station's reporting of the incident:
1. Why does Fox 9 news continue to publicize the name of the citizen handgun permit holder, Martin Treptow, while simultaneously withholding the name of the Robbinsdale officer involved in the shooting, Landen Beard? Neither man has been charged in the incident to date, and each is accusing the other of similar criminal actions, although it seems that Treptow's actions after the shooting tend to confirm his version of events. Furthermore, it has been pretty well established, Robbinsdale Police Chief Wayne Shellum's assertions aside, that Officer Beard was not on duty at the time of the incident, as he was out of his jurisdiction and in his town of residence, a place that undercover officers don't operate in, for obvious reasons. If that is indeed the case, why should Officer Beard continue to get special treatment from the media, while Mr. Treptow's name gets to be shouted all over town? In addition, Officer Beard's name has been released by other major news outlets such as the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Why would Fox 9 not then report on the officer's name as well, allowing itself to be scooped by rivals?
This leads me to my reader's second point:
2. Why doesn't Fox 9 News disclose that they have an employee who is engaged to Officer Beard? That would seem to be a major conflict of interest, and one that is at least worthy of full disclosure in order to allow the reader to decide for themselves how much weight to give it. Otherwise, the reluctance to release Officer Beard's name starts to look mighty suspicious.
Finally, the last point raised by the reader:
3. Why isn't Fox 9 News, along with the other local media outlets, asking investigators the tough questions about this case? Namely, why have none of the eyewitnesses in the case been interviewed at all by the investigators to date, and why is Attorney Johnson only just now getting off his behind and letting a grand jury look at the case?
I'll take a stab at the last one. It seems to me that if the weight of the evidence was pointing at Mr. Treptow's committing of a crime, that things would be moving one heck of a lot faster than the current snail's pace, and that there would be more leaks coming from the Anoka County Attorney's office than the news outlets would know what to do with, as "cops getting shot" cases are PR bonanzas that tend to make careers when prosecuted successfully. Since we haven't heard one peep from anyone, and given the speed at which the case is progressing, we seem to have reason to assume that Officer Beard's version of events isn't holding up to scrutiny. If that is indeed what's happening, then Attorney Johnson owes it to the general public to prosecute Officer Beard just as fully as he would any other private citizen who showed such poor judgment, and not try to park this case in the vain hope that the public will lose interest in finding out what really happened that day, and that people will forget about holding the right person accountable for placing the Treptow family in danger.
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4 comments:
Doug, I seem to recall that Fox9/29 did indeed disclose shortly after the incident that one of their employees is or at least was at that time engaged to Officer Beard.
Yeah, once, six months ago. As they continue to report the story, they should continue to disclose that potential conflict of interest.
Good analysis, and well-written. I've been persuaded for some months that it's a slow-motion whitewash, and I wish I was wrong; I'd previously had a higher opinion of the Anoka County Attorney's office.
Pity.
Dear Fox9: This is what "impartial" looks like (from Jim Adams at the Star Tribune):
A Coon Rapids road-rage incident in which a driver wounded a plainclothes police officer will be presented to an Anoka County grand jury in December for possible charges against one or both drivers, officials said.
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