Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Camblos has decided not to file charges against police in the Elvis Shifflett shooting, CBS 19 reports. Camblos’ decision was based in part on the investigation conducted by the Virginia State Police, which wrapped up just a few days ago.
Shifflett was captured in mid-October after a manhunt was launched for his apparent attempted murder of his ex-girlfriend a week previous. Shifflett was left in critical condition after being shot repeatedly by police when he refused to comply with police orders to show his hands.
As hard as this is for me I must (gulp) defend Jim Camblos on this decision. He is in a hard spot. Charge the two Charlottesville Police officers and his already strained relationship with local law enforcement would get worse. Not charge the officers and anger the Shiffletts and their supporters.
He could have taken the easy way out by calling a Special Grand Jury and preset the evidence to them and when the did not charge he could have said that the people have spoken. Like it or not, right or wrong he did show some back bone today.
Well, sensitivity to Camblos’ ‘rock and a hard place’ dilemma isn’t really relevant to my opinion of his actions. I think this ought to be clearly decided on the contents of the SP investigation of the incident. Is the report public? What findings are included in it? How do those findings compare with the findings in investigations (not involving law enforcement) where Camblos has decided to take the matter before a Grand Jury? In other words: is he applying the same criteria consistently in cases of wrongdoing by LE and private citizens? If he is, then regardless of the political discomfort, I’d have to support him; if he’s not, well, one more reason not to seriously consider him a fair and impartial arbiter of the law, suitable for his office, much less the bench.