Official Malfeasance

Pattern of Violence and Corruption Documented by Eyewiness Accounts

The evidence of the shooting paints a damning picture of the police behavior, and casts doubt on the behavior of other officials. Taken as a whole, the evidence strongly indicates certain conclusions reguarding the shooting, including:

• The police began shooting Woody without provocation.
• The police continued to shoot Woody after he fell.
• The police prevented the delivery of necessary and avialable first aid.
• Officials manufactured a confession, apparently to help exonerate the shooters.
• The officers had many methods they could have used to take Woody into custody without loss of life.

Analysis of the eyewitness interviews also suggests certain conclusions about the investigation itself. For example, the interview transcripts show a pattern by the State Police detectives of questioning witnesses at length to attempt to elicit some memory of a behavior by Woody that could be construed as threatening. The same detectives avoided asking what eyewitess may have seen after the shooting started. This is topic is detailed under Failures of the Investigation.