After waiting two long years for justice to be done, the family of Larry Jackson, Jr. was hoping to see Detective Charles Kleinert, the Texas police officer they believe executed their loved one in cold blood, put on trial for manslaughter next week.
Instead, Kleinert has been granted total immunity from prosecution by a federal judge.
This entire nightmare began for the Jackson family began on the morning July 26 2013, when Larry Jackson, Jr., a32-year-old married father-of-four went to his local bank in Austin, Texas. At the time, the bank was on lockdown because of a robbery. Detective Kleinert said he considered Jackson a suspect and told him to stay put. But for some reason, Jackson began running away.
Kleinert then commandeered the car of a woman who was a customer at the bank, ordering her to drive as they pursued Jackson. The woman, Regina Bethune, recalls:
“(Kleinert) was breathless and agitated and yelled, ‘Go go go’ and ‘follow him’ multiple times. He seemed very out of control and highly agitated. I was uncertain if he was really a police officer or not. I realize that either way I needed to remain calm and help him try to calm down. He did not identify himself any further once in the car. He did not tell me his name or offer any explanation as to what was going on.”
Within minutes, Kleinert caught up with the unarmed Mr. Jackson, and the Jackson family attorney, Adam Loewy, tells what the family alleges happened then:
“(Kleinert) never claims that Larry attacked him. The forensic evidence shows that Larry was on his hands and knees and the gun was at the back of his neck. Execution style.”
Jackson was pronounced dead of a single bullet wound to the back of his head. Shot execution style, as if he had been the victim of a Mafia hit.
Yet despite all of the overwhelming evidence against Detective Kleinert, he will not face any legal consequences. Why? Because a federal judge has ruled Kleinert is immune from prosecution. As the Washington Post reported:
“The ruling by U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel cites a little known 1889 case that determined federal agents can be granted immunity from state criminal charges and undoes one of a handful of indictments handed down to police officers out of the thousands of fatal police shootings that have occurred in recent years.”
Even Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg said in a statement that the judge’s ruling was ridiculous:
“I am totally dismayed by today’s federal court action. With this federal court action dismissing the case, it appears that an Austin Police Department officer can be assigned to a federal task force and avoid prosecution in state court.”
No doubt you’ve heard the expression that no one is above the law. But apparently some people now are.
