The citizens of New Orleans suffered a lot as a result of Katrina and her aftermath. Not only did they suffer as a result of the wind, rain and flood created by the passing of the hurricane, many people were seriously mishandled by the people who took an oath to serve and protect them; the New Orleans Police Department among other law enforcement agencies. NOLA.com is riddled with stories that report on several such cases.

 

This story will speak to the case of a police officer, Kevin Thomas, who was shot in the head at a Chevron gas station on General DeGaulle on New Orleans West Bank; an area that didn’t experience any serious flooding like that which plagued the East Bank of New Orleans and more heavily, the Lower 9th Ward. Fortunately that officer was survived and was treated for his injuries. In January 2010 a jury returned with a stunning verdict of 1st degree attempted murder of a peace officer on Friday, January 15, 2010 in a trial against Jamil Joyner as the one who shot Officer Kevin Thomas. He now faces a sentence of 20 - 50 years for a crime he didn't commit.Based on our research what appears to have happened is Officer Thomas was patrolling the outside of a Chevron station on General Degaulle on the West Bank of New Orleans while his partner, Officer John Mitchell, was inside the gas station. Both officers had their service weapon on their hip and a personal gun strapped around their shoulder; Officer Mitchell had a Tec 9 and Officer Thomas had a big gun that might have been an assault rifle. Four African American men (Montanez Thomas, Vincent Walker, Sye Carter and Jamil Joyner) approached Officer Thomas at the gas station, one carrying a small grocery bag. During this brief encounter Officer Mitchell who was inside the station, heard arguing coming from outside and when he went out to investigate he noticed Vincent Walker and Officer Thomas wrestling over the officer’s gun and he begin shooting. By the time the shooting stopped, Vincent Walker was shot in his shoulder and Kevin Thomas was shot in his head.

 

Officer Thomas’ testified that during this brief encounter he lined up to search the four men in the order noted in the paragraph above with Joyner on his far left and last to be searched. He said while he was conducting the search Joyner ‘gave him static’ and before he could finish search Carter, Joyner shot him in the head for no reason. Officer Thomas’ account recorded in the police report was he couldn’t identify who shot him because he didn’t remember being shot.

 

Officer Mitchell testified that while he was in the Chevron station he heard arguing upon exiting the station he heard a gun shot and saw Vincent Walker wrestling with Officer Thomas over the officer’s weapon. He heard a second shot he returned fire. Sye Carter was originally charged with this crime and Officer Mitchell testified at that trial and the trial against Jamil Joyner and Vincent Walker that Sye Carter who shot Officer Thomas. He testified that he didn’t see Joyner with a gun at the scene of the crime and didn’t see him do anything but run away. Officer Mitchell’s account recorded in the police report is only of what he said happened but he didn’t identify anyone as the shooter in the report.

 

Joyner, Walker and Carter all attest that no line up or pat done was done by either of the officers. They said when they approached Officer Thomas and asked if they could get some supplies from the Chevron station, he was belligerent at the onset. Each of them said when questioned separately on different occasions that Officer Thomas’ response to their request was, “You’re not going in the station. You should have got your motherfucking ass out of town when we told you to”. He and Walker got into an argument over Officer Thomas’ attitude towards them and Joyner tried to calm the situation putting his hand between the two men to which Officer Thomas punched Joyner in the face and raised his personal assault rifle to shoot but before he got the first round off, Walker grabbed the gun and the two of them began to wrestle over it. They all said they feared for their life during this encounter. That’s when Officer Mitchell exited the station shooting. When the shooting started Carter and Joyner ran back to Joyner's home nearby, while Montanez hid behind a carwash to wait for Walker, his uncle.

 

 

Officer Mitchell testified that he went to his partner who was bleeding from the head radioed for help. Walker who, wounded and surrendered but not handcuffed; he jumped up and ran to Joyner’s house with his nephew, Montanez.Lt Robert Italiano testified that Officer Mitchell told him on the scene that it was Joyner who shot Officer Thomas; despite Officer Mitchell testifying that Sye Carter was the shooter. Despite the fact that Lt Italiano’s account is completely hearsay account of what he says Officer Mitchell told him, Italiano’s testimony was used to impeach Officer Mitchell’s testimony that Joyner was not armed and didn’t shoot anybody. Lt Italiano didn’t submit any police report of what he claims he heard.

 

Officer Joerger testified that Joyner, while in a car surrounded by 15 – 20 police officers who were responding to a police shooting with their service weapons already drawn and pointed at him, responded by jumping out of the car, reached for a gun and yelled out he just killed a cop and will kill another one, all while being tasered from his back and chest at the same time by two different officers [Joyner is 145 lbs dripping wet].

 

The Prosecution: Instead of presenting physical evidence that proved Joyner was guilty of shooting Officer Thomas – as there was none, they presented physical evidence to support their elaborate story that Joyner was some kind of a menacing 'soldier' in what they called, a Tale of Two Soldiers; something EVERYONE who knows him disputes. Here's what they presented:

1. a business card from Carter's wallet that had the business title of Soulja's Clothing Outlet

2. Joyner's clothes he wore that day: a white T-shirt and a pair of camouflage pants (available for sell at his and other urbanwear or Army Surplus stores) 

3. an assault rifle that was 'legally registered' in Jamil's name and was not identified as being at the scene of the crime or as the gun that shot Officer Thomas. It was recovered from the trunk of the car and the first shot fired from this gun was done during ballistics testing.

4. three other guns: two which were found in a neighbor's shed on a different street and placed in the trunk of the car by Officer Thomassie and the other gun - the one alleged to be the weapon that shot Officer Thomas - is believed to be planted because it was traced to a 'Federal Fire Arms Licensee to whom no record exist'. In addition, five fingerprints were lifted from this gun and none of the prints matched any of the defendants, including Carter and Joyner.

 

The prosecution also conspired to discredit the grandmother's testimony as she testified that the name of Joyner's business prior to Katrina was "Clothing Outlet" rather than Soulja's Clothing Outlet, alleging she intentionally left out the word 'Soulja' and because she responded in the affirmative to the prosecution's last question to her, "Do you love your grandson?" But truthfully the name of Joyner's business, the clothes he wore that day has nothing to do with the shooting of Officer Thomas.

 

The result was Joyner was convicted and is facing a minimum and maximum sentence of 20 – 50 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit and tried to prevent.

  

Granted Officer Thomas suffered a shot to the head; there is no doubt there. I’m sure his life has been severely impacted as a result and he will probably have to deal with some physical problems for the rest of his life as a result; and whoever is responsible for this crime should be brought to justice. Its more logical that the bullet from Officer Mitchell's gun that went through Walker's shoulder as he struggled with Officer Thomas over his personal weapon is likely the one that hit Officer Thomas in the head. No evidence was recovered at the hospital to be used to positively identify from which gun the bullet(s) was/were shot.  However it was not the job of the jurors during this trial to figure out who shot Officer Thomas. It was their job that day to determine based on the evidence presented if the prosecution proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Walker and/or Joyner were guilty as charged. You be the judge.