In a development in the lethal arrest of Black motorist Ronald Greene, Louisiana prosecutors choose to dismiss the most severe indictment.
The development, happening just a month prior to Kory York's trial, signifies yet another deterioration in a case that originated in 2022 with five officers being accused of various offenses following the violent, punching and pepper-spraying of Greene following a high-speed pursuit.
Presently, only two individuals are still facing charges. York and another officer are now confronted with multiple charges of malfeasance, diminishing the prospect of any significant imprisonment for the members initially implicated in a death incident initially attributed to a car crash by the death troopers.
Upon learning about the recent dropped charge in Greene's demise, Mona Hardin, his mother, expressed her fury towards The Associated Press. She lamented, "This whole thing began with a lie and a coverup and it's going to end the same way." She added, "You have so much evidence yet no one wants to be the one pointing the finger against the killer cops." The case, she stated through tears, was a tragedy, with her son's killers escaping any true accountability.
John Belton, the District Attorney of Union Parish, in his statement, revealed that despite the grand jury indicting York for negligent homicide, the evidence "did not meet the ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ standard necessary to secure a conviction at trial." Additionally, he dropped a malfeasance charge against York due to doubts regarding Greene's pepper-spraying after he was handcuffed.
Mike Small, York's attorney, expressed his belief that the charges against his client would be dropped at the forthcoming trial on October 28. He emphasized, "I am confident that once the jury looks at those videos, they're not going to see any illegal touching of Ronald Greene by Kory York."
Greene's May 2019 death triggered widespread public indignation and was among several instances of Black men in Louisiana being brutally beaten by state troopers, which prompted the US Justice Department to initiate a comprehensive civil rights investigation into the state police.
However, the most recent dismissal underscores inadequacies in the case that also discouraged the Justice Department from pursuing charges. Despite years of investigation, federal and state authorities failed to pinpoint exactly what caused Greene's death during the arrest.
State prosecutors had reservations about the negligent homicide charge's viability in light of autopsy reports that cited "complications of cocaine use" among the contributing factors to Greene's death. Others included the troopers' repeated use of stun guns, "physical struggle, prone restraint, blunt-force injury, and neck compression." However, the forensic pathologist in Arkansas declined to attribute any specific factor or factors to Greene's death.
From its inception, the case was cloaked in secrecy. State officials informed Greene's relatives that he died in a car crash at the end of a high-speed chase near Monroe. This account was quickly challenged by an emergency room doctor who observed Greene's battered and bruised body. Despite this, the coroner's report listed Greene's cause of death as a motor vehicle accident, and the state police crash report omitted any mention of trooper use of force. It took 462 days for the state police to launch an internal investigation.
Throughout this period, officials from then-Gov. John Bel Edwards onwards refrained from releasing the body camera footage of Greene's arrest. This changed in 2021 when The Association Press acquired and published the suppressed footage, revealing troopers brutalizing Greene even as he appeared to raise his hands, requesting mercy, and weeping, "I'm your brother! I'm scared!"
Troopers repeatedly subjected Greene to stun gun shocks before he could exit the car, with one trooper wrestling him to the ground, placing him in a chokehold, and punching him in the face.
One trooper used a flashlight to strike Greene in the head and boasted about his violence against Greene. This trooper, Chris Hollingsworth, was widely believed to be the most culpable among the half-dozen officers implicated in the incident. Hollingsworth died in a high-speed, single-vehicle crash shortly after he learned of his impending dismissal.
York also played a significant role in the arrest. He was captured on video pushing Greene's body to the ground for an extended period and repeatedly instructing him to "shut up" and "lie on your f—— belly like I told you to!" Use-of-force experts expressed concerns that this type of prone restraint could have potentially restricted Greene's breathing, with the state police's own force instructor deeming the troopers' actions as "torture and murder."
For years, Hardin has traveled extensively advocating for justice in her son's death and has vowed not to bury his ashes until she attains it. Now, she is questioning if that day will ever arrive. "I hate that my son is one of countless others," she said. "There's a lot that could be fixed in Louisiana that will never be fixed because of choices like this."
In this current situation, the family and supporters of Ronald Greene are left feeling frustrated, as the recent dismissal of charges against Kory York and other officers involved in Greene's arrest brings the prospect of true accountability into question, affecting us all who advocated for justice. The continued secrecy surrounding Greene's case and the lack of significant conviction for the officers involved has left Mona Hardin, Greene's mother, feeling disheartened and questioning if the day of justice will ever arrive for her son.
