Up to last week, I had never heard the term
model used for a
suspect. But
model suspect was the term a Whitehall police officer used to describe Christopher Fitzgerald, because he was polite, compliant and even cried. His high priced, melodramatic defense attorney, also put on a first rate performance.
In a passionate — and loud — crescendo to his closing speech, he implored the jury to find Fitzgerald not guilty, so that he could continue his career path of becoming a police officer like both his parents."Do not put an end to the dreams of this young man today," So, young Fitzgerald joins the OJ Club.
If you're ever behind someone who stops his car and jumps out with a Glock, fear not, that's a model suspect. In a few years, if you're stopped by a cop, who is holding a Glock and crying, fear not.
ADDENDUM: Ed Pawlowski had doubled down on his support for police chief Fritgerald by posting the Morning Call article link on his facebook page. Ed, junior wasn't innocent, he just wasn't convicted.
Also remember, if you're tailgating someone that does brake checks in front of you, don't follow them into mall parking lots.
ReplyDeleteHe may get out of his car and want to know what you're doing. Best to not tailgate and pass those cars that are slower than you, especially if you're in a hurry and want to go to a meeting like these cops said they were doing.
The cops caused this entire incident to happen, and Fitzgerald was simply protecting his family. He had a CCW and that's why he obtained it. You can't fault him for trying to protect himself and his family, especially since the cops didn't try to pull him over or identify themselves with some kind of flashing blue light while in traffic.
There was a lot more to this than just cops tailgating Fitzgerald. Nothing about their story rang true.
Also Fitzgerald was found not guilty not because of his defense attorney. I don't think he was very good at all.
ReplyDeleteFitzgerald was found not guilty because the police caused this incident. They acted quite badly and the testimony they gave in court was a shambles, like they were making up the story as they went.
Fitzgerald's attorney needs to go back to law school and study criminal law, he was no better than a second-year law student in court.
@5:50and5:59, your analysis is totally wrong, i publish it because there are other uniformed apologists who have similar misconceptions. fitzgerald knew that he was guilty, that's why he was crying both at the police station and during the trial. he admitted that he engaged in road rage. the masterful defense about wanting a career in police work should have been irrelevant; he wasn't the first defendant who had better plans for himself.
ReplyDeleteWe don't agree on this Mr Mmolovinsky, but that's fine, I enjoy your column here and appreciate your thoughts on Allentown. You're an asset but in this case we just see things differently. In most things, we agree, especially on your efforts to keep the historical parts of Allentown. We have a wonderfully historic city and the WPA structures such as Union Terrace and lehigh Parkway are something to be proud of.
ReplyDeleteI generally support the police, and two people in my HS graduating class wee members of the APD. But in this case they acted beady, in my view. We just have different opinions
Take care and again, thank you for doing this column.
So it's Fitzgerald's fault that the POLICE described him as a model suspect?
ReplyDeleteAnd he was crying because he was GUILTY, which you were apparently able to psychically divine?
His testimony was that he thought the people following him were planning on doing him harm, which is a valid defense under PA's Castle Doctrine (which includes occupied vehicles). Thank God the jury asked the right questions while deliberating, and justice appears to have been served.
In the end, this case revealed many biases. Many seemed to want him convicted because he was the son of the police chief, others seemed to have a problem with his marital status. Most disturbingly, the judge failed to give the most basic instructions to the jury.
Had those instructions been given at the start of jury deliberations, yesterday's verdict might have taken 5 minutes to reach, instead of 5 hours.
@8:27, junior confessed he engaged in road rage to the whitehall police, of which one of their officers used the oxymoron, model suspect. all proper instructions were given to jury. the acquittal only required one juror.
ReplyDeleteThat's great, but he wasn't on trial for road rage. If that had been the charge, I doubt the case would ever had made it to trial. In fact, I seem to remember reports of a local State Senator brandishing a gun on I-78 when he felt his life was in danger. No charges filed.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we should ask why this case was pushed to trial.
As far as only one juror being needed for acquittal, there was no indication that this was a "hung" jury. The deliberations didn't last for days. In fact, it was only hours, and by all indications UNANIMOUS.
MM, you claim here that this young man is now a member of the "OJ club" and in her earlier post, you deride him as a "baby daddy." These are remarks intended to inflame the passions of those who are already bigoted. Yesterday, you denied racism has a thing to do with problems at ASD, but your remarks here demonstrate a willingness to cater to the dark side. Also, your claim that he knew he was guilty is utterly ridiculous.
ReplyDelete@9:24, unless you become more camouflaged, this is probably your last comment published today. the decision obviously wasn't unanimous, or it wouldn't have taken all afternoon into early evening to reach. i'm sure you're delighted that jim martin's detectives and office lost the case, wonder how you'll do against him?
ReplyDeleteState Senator Bob Mensch was cited for disorderly conduct after brandishing a firearm on Route 78 in another road rage incident. He was ultimately acquitted. Nobody called him a "baby daddy" or accused him of joining the "OJ club."
ReplyDeletebernie@9:33 and 9:42, it was his defense that he was a family man, protecting his family. i just wondered if he was such a family man, why he didn't get married? my comment specifically asked why the baby daddy didn't get married. the OJ reference is to someone who i believe, although guilty, was found not guilty. to me the reference had no racial connotation. am i a racist because i'm offended that he could engage in road rage and banish a weapon with no consequence? i didn't follow, or am i familiar with the mensch case.
ReplyDeleteDude needs to be very glad that in fact the police were following him, and not bona fide enemies nor with criminal intent because then we would have been reading about not one but three funerals possibly. Who in their right state of mind decides it is better to stop their vehicle to engage in an armed stand-off?
ReplyDeleteAnswer: Someone with zero judgement. He should have at least received probation for brandishing the weapon. He didn't remain in his car, after all: he stepped out of it.
P.S. the Allentown Police are keystone cops at best, so beating them up in court with a halfway competent lawyer doesn't shock me.
Captain Caters To The Dark Side,
ReplyDeletePoor Allentown.
It is going to HAVE to be harder to convince people to want to come downtown and spend their hard-earned money in the transformative NIZ now that Allentown's Finest have been unmasked as Racists.
Tisk, tisk. Oh the humanity. The heroic and visionary Pawlowski certainly doesn't deserve THIS "black eye" that has been given to his city.
Hopefully, heads will roll and the model citizen Fitzgerald will be collecting so much money from forthcoming Civil Rights lawsuits, he will never ever have to worry about getting (or keeping) another job.
I'm just so relieved that "we" pay our police chief so much money that he can afford to hire expensive lawyers from Philly.
In Your Face,
Pompous Progressive
Mike I love the "loser misery" you exude at every crushing defeat, keep it coming!
ReplyDeleteFred Windbag
ATTN: Pompous Progressive 5:33 PM
ReplyDeleteYe Gods I keep reading the same misinformation over and over again. Does anyone actually read the news stories?
This has nothing to do with Allentown!
The incident occurred in Whitehall. Fitzgerald works for Lehigh County. Both detectives work for the Lehigh County drug task force, under DA Jim Martin.
blog mentor@5:59, it wasn't a defeat for me, but for allentown. although junior fitzgerald apologized at the whitehall police station for his aggression and misjudgment, he and his family refused the generous ARD offer from jim martin, which would have given junior a clean record. instead, they rather undermine police everywhere. rather than spend your entire days sending unwanted insulting comments to your victims, you should be preparing your defense against your constant slander of people.
ReplyDelete