Charges Unlikely In Death Of (P.G. County) Inmate

Source: WaPo

The chief prosecutor in Prince George's County said yesterday that he does not now intend to charge anyone in the death last year of a 19-year-old inmate who had been accused of killing a police officer, meaning a slaying once denounced by the county executive as "vigilante justice" is all but certain to go unpunished in state court.

State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey said that after nearly a year of investigation, he does not have enough evidence to secure an indictment in the death of Ronnie L. White. In an interview, Ivey said he welcomes calls by civil rights leaders for the Justice Department to take over the case, and a Justice spokesman said federal authorities would review the investigation.

Ivey's willingness to essentially hand the case over to federal authorities without bringing charges met with swift criticism from civil rights groups and White's family. It seemed to ensure that White's death would continue to broadly cast suspicion on law enforcement officers in a county struggling to escape a history of brutality and abuse.

Months after two guards described as being "the focus" of the investigation were placed on leave, county officials said the Maryland State Police probe into White's death -- a homicide by strangulation, according to state medical examiners -- is now pointing toward a possible suicide, as an attorney for the guard's union has said almost from the start.



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Anyone who has ever lived in P.G. knows it has a worse arbitrary justice system then the worst banana republics you can think of...Sinister and corrupt -- Cops, criminals, lawyers and business leaders thrive with impunity, making up the rules as they like in some twisted socio-economic dance together...

The jail where this happened is no more than thirty miles from the U.S. Capitol and the WH.

By example, this is the justice system BushCo* left us with.

...this kind of shit has been in place for 4 decades and more. This is also the same county that beat a 17 year old into confessing to a murder (cannot remember the name and cannot find on google - happened in mid 80s) and he was later released.

You can blame bush etc for so many things...no need to exaggerate to heap on blame.

That said...I cannot muster up too much sympathy for Ronnie White (killing cops ranks pretty high up the offense chart for me) - but it is fucked up that someone (a cop or guard) was able to murder him in a prison with cameras everywhere and Get away with it. The Blue Wall is pretty thick in these parts.

to paint Prince George's County as a total den of shit is a bit over the top. Glenn Ivey is black and is a good guy - sounds like he WANTS the feds to investigate & what's wrong with that?

at how hard Ivey was trying to investigate this...I know Ivey is miles better than his predecessor, and granted I moved away from Forestville over 4 years ago and haven't followed the case that closely, but this case just reeks...I used to cover news in P.G. (which meant more often than not I covered cops/crime), and that police department is one of the most inept, corrupt, and ass-covering I've ever come across (and don't get me started on the school system)...It just seems that for most of this decade, there have been a long string of 'incidents' and 'accidents' happening to people in police custody, among other things...

so at least there will be some justice. With all the stuff happening in PG County makes me sorry I left DC to start with.

When I lived in DC this kind of crap happened in PG all the time. I see nothing's changed.