Please sign this petition for my friends death case!

[sleepy_monkey]

Hey fellow bass players! This is a serious case that is getting screwed around with in the court system. My friend was killed by someone else, and it didn't go to trial! I am not here to convince you of anything...but please read the letter his sister wrote, and if you feel you can sign the petition, please do so. I know it means a lot to his family and to me.

Thanks for the consideration.

Dirk

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/...ali-swamy.html



This was posted by his sister on his myspace.


" I have extremely terrible news to give all of you. My brother's case was presented this week to the Grand Jury of Cullman and they did not think there was enough evidence to indict Brett Pennington with a crime. Therefore, he will not be going to trial and will not be held responsible for killing Kapali. I do not know how there was not enough evidence to at least make Brett stand trial. My brother's autopsy report and death certificate state that his cause of death was "homicide." Brett admits to punching my brother. Brett did not have a single mark on his body except his messed up right hand which he used to kill my brother. Brett punched Kapali intentionally and ended up killing him and the jury thinks that he should not be held responsible for anything. Basically the court of Cullman is stating that anyone in this country can punch someone and kill them and not face any consequences. When a drunk driver kills someone, he or she is held responsible but when a drunk man kills someone by punching them, it is somehow a different situation? If anyone else feels that what happened is unjust, please let your thoughts be heard by sending letters, emails, and making phone calls to the District Attorney's office in Cullman. At this point, I don't have much else to say. I am just so angry and hurt...my faith in the justice system has been shaken."



""Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." -- Martin Luther King, Jr

Kapali Giridhar Swamy, 27, was killed November 18, 2007. He was punched twice in the face by [name withheld], and he died within moments in the middle of a Cullman, Alabama street. The irony lies in the fact that Kapali was going out of his way for [name withheld] and giving him a ride home that night. Sadly, his act of kindness led to his tragic and untimely death.

The details of the events leading to the crime are as follows. Three individuals—Kapali Swamy, Gina Gonzalez, and [name withheld]— were driving to the latter's house house shortly after 6am on 11/18; Kapali was kindly giving [name withheld] a ride home from a night out in Birmingham. Apparently, during the drive and after stopping the car, Kapali and Gina became involved in a heated verbal argument. Once they exited the car the argument continued, at which time [name withheld] approached Kapali. Words were exchanged, and then [name withheld] escalated a verbal confrontation to a physical one by punching Kapali—apparently twice. Kapali fell to the ground and was found to be pulseless and without any signs of life when emergency medical personnel arrived a few minutes later. [name withheld]'s right fist was bruised, but his body was without any other signs of an altercation. Gina and a third party witness both assert that Kapali did not touch either [name withheld] or Gina.

The key evidence supporting the crime is as follows:
1) The alleged perpetrator fully confessed to punching Kapali in his statement to police.
2) Two independent eye-witnesses gave consistent descriptions of the events surrounding his death, directly implicating [name withheld] as the responsible party.
3) These witnesses confirmed that Kapali did not initiate any physical conflict.
4) The autopsy confirmed the cause of Kapali's death as massive brain hemorrhage and brainstem herniation, the direct result of "homicide."

Despite the concrete, compelling evidence that a crime was committed, a Cullman, Alabama grand jury, on January 24th, 2008, inexplicably decided — in a closed hearing — not to indict [name withheld] on a single charge. And so a killer walks free.

The grand jury determined that there was insufficient evidence to move forward and the case was dismissed.

Based on the Grand Jury's decision, we can only conclude that this appalling injustice was likely the result of either complete incompetence on the part of the local legal system, or, more concerning, a crude and malicious bigotry that devalued Kapali Swamy's life because he was not white and not local, and hence not worthy of being defended by the law.

Several issues lead us to question the adequacy of the prosecution of this case. Principle among them is the possibility that race may have played a part in the criminal proceedings; as hesitant as we are to draw this conclusion, the facts of the case tend to raise this suspicion.

Importantly, Cullman, Alabama is a very small, racially homogeneous community. Its population is almost totally white, with other ethnicities having been cloistered in nearby Colony, AL. Racism is clearly prevalent in this community, as KKK rallies continue to occur with relatively high frequency, and enjoy prominent advertisements in the local newspaper.

Even at face value one can appreciate the travesty that has transpired here, with a young man robbed of life and his alleged killer set free. But those who know Kapali recognize the full depth of this loss and subsequent injustice. He managed to touch the lives of so many individuals and made a tremendous impact on everyone he met along the way by sharing his incredible passion for life!"

[guy n. cognito]

http://www.cullmantimes.com/local/lo...335003238.html

[Bryan316]

This deserves an FBI investigation. This should be pursued immediately. Petitions mean nothing. The FBI scouring a coverup and revealing a scam will definitely get results.

[sleepy_monkey]

Thanks for posting the article. They let him out of jail and it never went to trial. After witnesses stated that Kapali never touched the guy and the guy hit him and it killed him.

These first few articles from the Cullman Times were biased and not including facts. There are other articles after this where they retract the statements and say that Kapali never touched the guy.

[Deacon_Blues]

Horrible story and judge. Petition signed.

Sorry for your loss.

[sleepy_monkey]

Thanks Deacon! I wish I could get everyone on TB to sign it...that would be over 10,000 signatures.

[fenderhutz]

Sounds like Involuntary Manslaughter to me, the dude MIGHT get 1-2 years or even probation IF it went to trial.

His intention wasn't to kill, it's unfortunate it happened that way.

Good Luck.

[sleepy_monkey]

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

Sounds like Involuntary Manslaughter to me, the dude MIGHT get 1-2 years or even probation IF it went to trial.

His intention wasn't to kill, it's unfortunate it happened that way.

Good Luck.

If a drunk driver kills someone in a car accident 2 years is usually the time in jail...sometimes more...sometimes less.

This man intentionally hit someone. I would hope that this will carry something a little stronger, but with our judicial systema and messed up laws, he may never step foot in jail.

[Mark Latimour]

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

Sounds like Involuntary Manslaughter to me, the dude MIGHT get 1-2 years or even probation IF it went to trial.

His intention wasn't to kill, it's unfortunate it happened that way.

Good Luck.

+1

THere are two sides to every story and we don't have all the facts. Clearly he hit him and killed him. However, we wern't there for the Grand Jury presentation and don't know the actual facts in evidence. Perhaps the DA pursued the wrong charge in which case the Grand Jury had no choice.

[fenderhutz]

Originally Posted by sleepy_monkey

If a drunk driver kills someone in a car accident 2 years is usually the time in jail...sometimes more...sometimes less.

This man intentionally hit someone. I would hope that this will carry something a little stronger, but with our judicial systema and messed up laws, he may never step foot in jail.

Your example helps my point. The drunk driver killed someone, wasn't their intention, but it happened and they were at fault.

An argument happened, a guy threw a punch, without knowing the story maybe he felt threatened. His intention wasn't to kill someone, but it happened. If alcohol was involved whose to say what happened.

I don't think he started out his day thinking "Wow, I am going to go home and punch someone and I hope they die".

That's the difference between murder and involuntary manslaughter in this country. This obviously wasn't a planned event.

I am sure that drunk driver in theory you speak of got a manslaughter charge as well.

As I stated, good luck.

[SoComSurfing]

I hate to sound callous, because this is a horrific event, but I have a LOT of trouble with this statement:

Based on the Grand Jury's decision, we can only conclude that this appalling injustice was likely the result of either complete incompetence on the part of the local legal system, or, more concerning, a crude and malicious bigotry that devalued Kapali Swamy's life because he was not white and not local, and hence not worthy of being defended by the law.

As FH said above, this guy's not going to be facing capital murder charges, if that's what the petition is rallying for. Negligent homocide or manslaughter would be most likely, maybe even a plea down to aggrivated assualt and a few other small charges.

I am very sorry for your loss, and wish something like this could have been avoided. I'm going to do some more digging in the matter.

[sleepy_monkey]

Yeah, like I said, I am not here to justify anything. My friend was killed by a drunk guy that punched him in the face. Is it ok to hit anyone for any reason? The witnesses said Kapali never touched the guy or got in his face. If you knew him, you would know this is true.

Only if you feel threatened and Kapali was anything but threatening....anyone that knew him knows this.

[sleepy_monkey]

Originally Posted by SoComSurfing

I hate to sound callous, because this is a horrific event, but I have a LOT of trouble with this statement:


As FH said above, this guy's not going to be facing capital murder charges, if that's what the petition is rallying for. Negligent homocide or manslaughter would be most likely, maybe even a plea down to aggrivated assualt and a few other small charges.

I am very sorry for your loss, and wish something like this could have been avoided. I'm going to do some more digging in the matter.

At this point, I know they are filing a civil suit. We are just hoping for anything...but not for this guy to walk. He killed someone, whether intentional or not.....

[SoComSurfing]

Originally Posted by sleepy_monkey

At this point, I know they are filing a civil suit. We are just hoping for anything...but not for this guy to walk. He killed someone, whether intentional or not.....

A civil suit is not going to put him behind bars.

[sleepy_monkey]

Originally Posted by SoComSurfing

A civil suit is not going to put him behind bars.

Oh, I know this...but something convicted is better than nothing.

[Thor]

If you cannot pursue a remedy through the local court system,
make an appointment for the family to see the
US Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama and petition
them that they pursue a civil rights violation case against the
assailant given that the local grand jury will not take action on
an involuntary manlaughter charge for what you perceive to
be racially biased grounds.

Here is the link:

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/aln/attorney.html

This page defines the mission of various Divisions, your case seems
to fall under the purview of the Criminal Division.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/aln/divisions.html

Good luck. These things are not easy.

[sleepy_monkey]

Fantastic, thanks Thor! I sent it to his family.

[guy n. cognito]

My unstated reason for linking that article was to provide the "other" side of the story. That article states that the deceased pushed both the assailant and a woman. Maybe that's true, maybe it's not, but it at least provides another perspective.

Things get complex when witnesses "retract" statements.

[fenderhutz]

I want to paraphrase the story in the news link above. Sounds like the chick started out the evening with your friend that died, decided to go home with the other guy, he got mad(your friend) . They got in an argument, he pushed the girl and possibly the other guy. The guy DEFENDS himself with a punch. Then the girl your friend started his evening with confirms the other guys story he started pushing the two.

That's how the story reads to me, and probably most people that read the police report or article.

I call self defense if I were in the situation in the police report.

Arrest made in recent death

The Cullman Times

By Noah Chandler

nchandler@cullmantimes.com

An arrest was made Friday in connection with a recent death occurring in Hanceville.

Christopher Brett Pennington, 23, of Hanceville was arrested by Sgt. Jimmy Morrow on two separate counts; manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, according Cullman County Sheriff Tyler Roden.

According to the sheriff’s report, on the morning of Nov. 18, Kapali Swamy, 27, of Decatur, and his unidentified female companion, and Pennington were returning from a night out in Birmingham.

Lt. Phillip Lambert said Swamy and the female companion were arguing on the way back to Pennington’s home. Lambert said when they arrived at the residence the arguing escalated and she exited the vehicle and stated she wasn’t going with Swamy.

According to statements made by both the companion and Pennington, Swamy exited the vehicle and began yelling at the woman. Lambert said Swamy pushed her, leading to Pennington stepping between the couple.

According to the sheriff’s incident report, both the woman and Pennington said Swamy pushed him. Pennington returned to his feet and hit Swamy, causing him to collapse.

Lambert said autopsy reports issued Monday Nov. 19 by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences stated Swamy suffered one or two blows to the head.

Pennington is currently being held at the Cullman County Detention Center on a $36,000 property bond.

EDIT: It sounds like a bad situation went down, it's horrible you lost a friend. Since the companion verified the other guys story. It's going to be called self defense in most cases and filing a civil lawsuit won't do much good in a self defense case.

[sleepy_monkey]

If you read my statement up top....they Cullman Times retracted this article. The girl told the police that Kapali never touched her or the guy...FACT. The witnesses said the same thing...FACT. The first 3 articles from the Cullman Times were all falsehoods....and the later police statement backs this up. The whole purpose of the petition is to let everyone know that Rural town Cullman is trying to let this go b/c Kapali was a minority.

Kapali was the biggest puss I have ever known.

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

I want to paraphrase the story in the news link above. Sounds like the chick started out the evening with your friend that died, decided to go home with the other guy, he got mad(your friend) . They got in an argument, he pushed the girl and possibly the other guy. The guy DEFENDS himself with a punch. Then the girl your friend started his evening with confirms the other guys story he started pushing the two.

That's how the story reads to me, and probably most people that read the police report or article.

I call self defense if I were in the situation in the police report.



EDIT: It sounds like a bad situation went down, it's horrible you lost a friend. Since the companion verified the other guys story. It's going to be called self defense in most cases and filing a civil lawsuit won't do much good in a self defense case.