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[quote=Anonymous]In December 2022, Washington, D.C., police officer Terence Sutton was convicted of second-degree murder for the October 2020 death of Karon Hylton-Brown. Sutton faces more than six decades behind bars when he is sentenced, though his sentencing has been delayed and is yet to be rescheduled.

But Sutton, a 13-year police veteran, did not strike, shoot, harm, or even touch Hylton. Hylton died after exiting a blind alley on a motorized scooter and being struck by a passing civilian vehicle. He had multiple drugs in his system. He ran through stop signs and red lights in the minutes before he drove into oncoming traffic. Sutton followed Hylton at a moderate speed, averaging 30 miles per hour.

What, then, explains the murder conviction? Sutton violated the D.C. police department’s then-strict “no chase” policy, according to which officers can pursue only those wanted for a violent felony or who pose an immediate risk of bodily harm to others. Hylton’s helmet and traffic violations apparently did not suffice.

Yet, the pursuing officers believed that Hylton—a member of the violent Kennedy Street drug gang with previous arrests for drugs, illegal gun possession, and assaults on police officers—was on his way to retaliate against a rival gang member over a debt. At the request of federal prosecutors, the court blocked the jury from hearing about Hylton’s membership in the Kennedy Street crew, which was under Justice Department investigation at the time and whose other members would later be indicted for murder, drug trafficking, and racketeering. The jury also never heard that Hylton was wearing an ankle monitor for a violent assault in Montgomery County, Maryland, and had thousands of dollars in cash strapped to his body.
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