Getaway Car Incident Spurs Call for Probe into Ala. Prof’s Prior Exoneration
Why wasn’t University of Alabama shooting suspect Amy Bishop charged for allegedly trying to steal a getaway car after shooting her brother in 1986? A columnist who is asking the question wants a special prosecutor to investigate.
Bishop was never charged in the 1986 incident after she and her mother said the shooting was an accident. Now she stands accused of shooting three Alabama faculty members.
Yesterday, Norfolk District Attorney William Keating said he reviewed missing police records of the 1986 case retrieved from a retired captain and determined that prosecutors at the time had probable cause to charge Bishop with assault with a dangerous weapon, the Boston Globe reports. The New York Times also has a story.
The charge could have been brought for Bishop’s conduct after the 1986 shooting, when she tried to steal a getaway car at gunpoint from a local auto body shop, Keating said. Other charges that could have been brought were carrying a dangerous weapon and unlawful possession of ammunition, he said.
The district attorney at the time of the incident was William Delahunt, now a member of Congress. The Boston Globe was unable to reach him for comment.
The newspaper reported on a separate 2002 incident at an International House of Pancakes in which Bishop was accused of punching a woman who took the last booster seat. Bishop was sentenced to probation after admitting there was enough evidence to prosecute her, the story says. She was also a suspect in a failed 1993 mail bombing.
The revelations have Boston Globe columnist Brian McGrory searching for answers. He is calling on the governor to appoint a special prosecutor to determine whether authorities were “corrupt or completely incompetent” in rushing to exonerate Bishop.
McGrory outlines a first question that needs to be asked: “Why did it take 11 days for investigators to interview Amy Bishop after she killed her brother? The State Police report said that Braintree detectives wanted to give her ‘sufficient time to stabilize her emotions.’ But 11 days? You can play a seven-game World Series in 11 days and still have time for the championship parade. Does this mean that if a crime suspect acts hysterical enough, they’ll be given time to take a Caribbean cruise?”
Hat tip to The Crime Report.
