Shoutout to the Dallas County district attorney’s office for having some common sense.
On Wednesday, The Root reported that Deep Ellum resident L’Daijohnique Lee was the victim of a brutal, racially motivated assault in the parking lot of popular High and Tight Barbershop.
Despite being called a “stupid nigger” prior to having her phone violently slapped out of her hand while attempting to call 911, and being punched at least 5 times in the face by 30-year-year old former bartender Austin Shuffield, she was charged with felony criminal mischief after she retaliated by breaking the back window of Shuffield’s truck.
It was a bullshit charge that most likely would’ve never been pursued if she had the complexion for protection, but thankfully it’s no longer her concern.
On Wednesday, her attorney Lee Merritt announced that the felony charge had been dropped.
Dallas News reports that civil rights groups descended upon City Hall on Wednesday demanding that the charges be dropped prior to the district attorney office’s decision to do so.
Merritt expressed relief that the district attorney declined to prosecute, but said he was “ashamed of the Dallas Police Department.”
“The DA did what was right, what they were supposed to do in this situation,” Merritt said. “But it’s an embarrassment that these charges were brought forward.”
Agreed.
Meanwhile, her assailant Austin Shuffield is facing a pair of felonies of his own—an unlicensed weapon charge and a misdemeanor that was recently upgraded to felony assault.
Thankfully, don’t expect any of those to be dropped.
DISCUSSION
Praise the Lord and all the powers that be. Her initial charges were outrageous. I can’t imagine how this would have went without that video showing up.
I will repeat myself: One of the greatest moments of the US Civil Rights Movement was when Apple rolled out the iPhone 4 and digital video recording became widespread.