Duluth Cop charged with beating man in wheelchair requests change in venue

According to news reports, Duluth Police Officer Richard Jouppi's lawyer is asking the court for a change in venue for the case involving assault against a man in a wheelchair.

The Officer is accused of using excessive force against a man who was drunk and in a wheelchair, causing the man to fall out of the wheelchair and punching him repeatedly.

The charges against the Officer are Disorderly Conduct and Assault. There is video of the actual incident, clearly showing that the Officer did use excessive force. At one point, you can hear the Officer tell the woman in the room to shut up or he will arrest her too, after she tells him to stop beating the man.

This incident has been all over the news and the video has circulated on the internet, but, I don't think that qualifies for a reason to grant a change in venue.

There are MANY cases, especially recently with the media sharing over the internet, where it was useless to try to find jury members who hadn't "heard" about the crime in some way, shape or form. Those cases were not moved due to that fact. One good example would be Casey Anthony, and another would be the current ongoing case of Jodi Arias.

In my opinion the cop charged in this deal should have received felony charges, not just misdemeanor, and he should also be put on leave, if he hasn't been already.

If found guilty, he should be fired and not able to collect pension either! Make an example of him, we do not want police officers like this!

The video posted below gives a lot of information on this incident and honestly, I doubt it could have been put together better!

Source article - http://www.wdio.com/article/stories/S2949171.shtml?cat=10335