Dinerral Shavers Murder Case Dismissed
This is a statement from the Hot 8 Brass Band, for whom Dinerral played snare.
We were disappointed and shocked to hear this morning that the murder case against David Bonds, accused of shooting our snare drummer Dinerral Shavers, has been dismissed. We are currently on the road, trying to spread the music and culture of New Orleans and to broadcast a positive message about the city across the nation. Dinerral’s death, and now the dismissal of his case, only prove to us how important this work is. We will continue to fight for New Orleans, at home and away. We will continue to honor the generous spirit of Dinerral, who gave so much to our music and to our city.
Disappointed? That hardly covers it. This is a shame and a disgrace.
July 15th, 2007 at 12:47 am
I have to wonder about the lawyers who were assigned to the case. Were they paid enough to feel like they have to care? I suspect that for most of them it’s just a side job added to their already busy and more lucrative private practices. Do we exclusively employ lawyers dedicated to public criminal prosecution, and pay them a living wage to do it? I don’t know. I know we care about how the system is operating. But if they’re employing new lawyers who are working for low pay under resource poor conditions… What are the resources they are provided with to work on their cases? How well are they supported and connected to the police system? It’s not an excuse, by any means, but perhaps we need to investigate to see if more resources or support should be provided. We need to know why this continues to happen.