It was on November 29, 2009 that Maurice Clemmons walked into the FORZA Coffee Shop in Parkland, WA and gunned down four Lakewood Police Officers, marking the worst incident in the State’s history involving the deaths of Law Enforcement officials. The suspect was later killed in a shootout with a Seattle Police Officer. Because of the impact of this heinous crime on the local community it will certainly be difficult to find an impartial juror. Although LaTanya Clemmons has admitted to giving money to Dorcus Allen, who drove the getaway car, to rent a motel room and for bus fare, she contents that her actions were in no way related to the horrific murders that had taken place some days earlier. The Prosecution wants to charge LaTanya with four counts of first-degree rending criminal assistance for allegedly helping evade police capture, but that might prove to be quite a challenge without credible evidence.
It seems that the tactic used by the Prosecution is that it wants to prey on the sympathy of the jury by continuing to replay the circumstances of the murder done by her brother Maurice through calling witnesses to the slaying and playing 911 recordings, instead of focusing on the more narrow scope of her alleged criminality. The Prosecution has the burden to prove “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt” that LaTanya had knowledge of the police officers’ murder had happened, or was going to occur, and that her actions were deliberate, premeditated, and solely intended for the purpose of rendering criminal assistance to evade capture. While it is true that LaTanya Clemmons actions did seem to betray a lousy sense of timing and is incriminating, still, this does not prove her guilt or complicity. Since Maurice Clemmons is dead and beyond the reach of Justice, the next best thing to prosecuting him to the fullest extent of the Law is to take it out on the nearest living relative, namely, his sister LaTanya.
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
May 25, 2010
pbks@hotmail.com
