CA CA - Mitrice Richardson, 24, Malibu, 17 Sep 2009

[Natal]

As Bethany Marshall said on NG tonight--there's the Letter of the Law and the SPIRIT of the Law.

That would be unusual, on NG's show most of the guests are more concerned with the letter of the law than the spirit.

 

[Natal]

I do NOT believe that Mitrice's mother would have given the SO any difficulty had they gone that extra step for this young woman's SAFETY and kept her in a cell for the night. Maybe, maybe Mitrice herself might have BUT, if reports are true, and she was behaving so oddly, that Dept. would've been easily able to JUSTIFY holding her in order to PROTECT her. Her own mother practically begged the officer she spoke to--KEEP her or if you don't I WILL COME AND GET HER.

Not even a SIMPLE phone call to her mother to say no, we cannot hold her. She seems to be alert and making sense and is INSISTING on her right to be released, by law we can't hold her against her will?? Even from 80- mi away, there would have been a huge difference in her being recovered alive as opposed to this alternative had her mother got that one call to come and get her daughter.

There is procedure and there is common sense.

The thing is that this sort of situation probably plays out hundreds of times every night across the country and in allmost all cases nothing happens. If LE started arbitarily holding people contary to procedure and regulation because of what they thought may or may not be happening, there would be a massive outcry. In particular it would expose them to accusations of discrimination if the person happened to belong to a visible minority.

 

[Codger]

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-malibu-body-found,0,698152.story

Coroner's officials told KTLA that the 25 year old's death is being treated as a homicide, and cannot release any further information on the case because it under police security hold.
<snippet>
Baca said there are "no indications of a homicide at this time."

Which is it ? Baffled as to where they thought she'd be able to go after leaving the police, and how. jmo

 

[daisy.faithfull]

:beats:My deepest sympathies to Mitrice's family and those who loved her. This is a tragic loss. She had such a promising future and was such a beautiful young woman.:beats:

I think that it is completely appropriate for Mitrice's family and the community to demand answers of LE regarding their behavior in this case. On top of everything in the end a more thorough search of the area could have saved her.

 

[wanttohelp]

many forget it was her father who was one of the so called sitings of matrice in vegas

also it was mentioned where she was found is an area for marijauna growing, which she had in her car

imo most people in jail are exactly mentally stable

 

[Truthful Lies]

I totally agree and dont think the LE should be blamed.....they are damned if they do and damned if they dont....

Just what you need more huge suing of government departments!!!!

Is there any time that people are responsible for their actions.....

go on slam me now.....it is very tragic I agree....but if she had of been kept in and maybe committed suicide you would have blamed the police for that as well?????

as a daughter of a policeman in oz (who would have seen a tenth of what one of your city cops would deal with) I can tell you it is a hhhaaaarrrrrrddddd job and what they take on, the majority of us would not deal with......

I take my hat of to the police, the paramedics, the emergency ward nurses who make life and death decisions every day.......I am sure they did not think this girl would die!

It goes without saying that many, many of us (but then again, I can only speak for myself) disagree with your post. I'm sure it's a hard job, but that doesn't mean they should ignore their "human decency" to get someone help that clearly needed it.

 

[kato]

I don't speak out on here too much anymore but for some reason this case really PISSES me off!!! It made me cry watching & hearing her mom last night on JVM. I hope she gets millions.

 

[nervous_nellie]

I totally agree and dont think the LE should be blamed.....they are damned if they do and damned if they dont....

Just what you need more huge suing of government departments!!!!

Is there any time that people are responsible for their actions.....

go on slam me now.....it is very tragic I agree....but if she had of been kept in and maybe committed suicide you would have blamed the police for that as well?????

as a daughter of a policeman in oz (who would have seen a tenth of what one of your city cops would deal with) I can tell you it is a hhhaaaarrrrrrddddd job and what they take on, the majority of us would not deal with......

I take my hat of to the police, the paramedics, the emergency ward nurses who make life and death decisions every day.......I am sure they did not think this girl would die!

i can relate to having a family full of le too - but in this case i respectfully disagree. i have always thought that le went WAY overboard in dealing with mitrice. there was no reason imo to impound her car and then let her leave on foot when they knew that the mother was coming in the early a.m. they knew that she was not from around there. they had her belongings like her cell phone and purse... it is not responsible to just turn someone out into the elements and hope for the best. i know that at the county jail where i live they have certain procedures in releasing inmates. if they didnt there would be released criminals crawling all over a rural area that is quite a ways out of the metro area where they were prolly arrested from and live.... just like mitrice was said to be seen sleeping in someones backyard... mitrice was not a dangerous criminal so there wasnt any worry to the public but it is still scary to find strange people sleeping in your back yard... its the responsibility of the pd to make sure that this isnt happening... im still curious as to what happened at the pd with mitrice and if there is any possibility that it has any other links to what happened to mitrice. and also let me say that i am very PRO LE...my whole family is le and they even think that this was mishandled for many different reasons. this was all over an $86 unpaid meal ticket. the whole thing stinks and if it was my family member i can say that i would definitely want to get to the bottom of what happened...:twocents:

 

[believe09]

RIP Mitrice-I am so sorry for her loss.

 

[trafficsUP66]

The thing is that this sort of situation probably plays out hundreds of times every night across the country and in allmost all cases nothing happens. If LE started arbitarily holding people contary to procedure and regulation because of what they thought may or may not be happening, there would be a massive outcry. In particular it would expose them to accusations of discrimination if the person happened to belong to a visible minority.

But, the mother was very clear to the officer. She doesn't know the area, she's not herself and she's alone. Please, don't release her or if you do, please call me, I will come and get her. It's awful out there. Unsafe!

The officer assured her she'd be safe in the jail. The mother agreed, she wasn't worried about that. She was worried about her being released.

So, what do they do? Release her alone without ANYTHING to get her home safe with.......not her car, her purse (money for cab) or even cell to call a cab or call a friend, her mother, anybody!

And they couldn't make that one simple call to her mother?

She'd have been searched for, the leads followed of the sightings and recovered alive before she could wind up down a cliff.

 

[LadyBug99]

i can relate to having a family full of le too - but in this case i respectfully disagree. i have always thought that le went WAY overboard in dealing with mitrice. there was no reason imo to impound her car and then let her leave on foot when they knew that the mother was coming in the early a.m. they knew that she was not from around there. they had her belongings like her cell phone and purse... it is not responsible to just turn someone out into the elements and hope for the best. i know that at the county jail where i live they have certain procedures in releasing inmates. if they didnt there would be released criminals crawling all over a rural area that is quite a ways out of the metro area where they were prolly arrested from and live.... just like mitrice was said to be seen sleeping in someones backyard... mitrice was not a dangerous criminal so there wasnt any worry to the public but it is still scary to find strange people sleeping in your back yard... its the responsibility of the pd to make sure that this isnt happening... im still curious as to what happened at the pd with mitrice and if there is any possibility that it has any other links to what happened to mitrice. and also let me say that i am very PRO LE...my whole family is le and they even think that this was mishandled for many different reasons. this was all over an $86 unpaid meal ticket. the whole thing stinks and if it was my family member i can say that i would definitely want to get to the bottom of what happened...:twocents:

I believe the reason that this happened was due to the fact that when LE searched her car at the restaurant they found marijuana. She could have easily paid the bill. IIRC she had money in her car. So I don't think the reason they impounded her vehicle and took her into custody was the unpaid bill. IMO. That said, I do not know LE procedure regarding the release of prisoners. I think LE, could have...should have done more to protect MR from herself. It seems as though she was a troubled young lady. As another poster has stated this is very similar to Sarah Roger's story. In the middle of a manic episode she began wondering the roads/woods in a snow storm. I feel MR did the same thing in her confused mental state.

RIP Mitrice!

 

[rossva]

The question is did they offer her purse and cell phone and she refused them, as she did their offer to remain at the jail till the morning?

It's not their job to call the parents of adults they release. Imagine if the all the parents of adults made this request of LE?

So, what do they do? Release her alone without ANYTHING to get her home safe with.......not her car, her purse (money for cab) or even cell to call a cab or call a friend, her mother, anybody!

And they couldn't make that one simple call to her mother?

 

[Gypsy Road]

The question is did they offer her purse and cell phone and she refused them, as she did their offer to remain at the jail till the morning?

It's not their job to call the parents of adults they release. Imagine if the all the parents of adults made this request of LE?

It may not be their responsibility to call every parent of an adult person they release, BUT the mother had CALLED the jail to inquire if Mitrice would be released. She was very worried. Did you listen to the mother's call to the jail? I think the jailers should have, and had the duty of calling Mitrice's mother after her concerned phone call early in the evening when Mitrice was picked up by LE.

 

[Armandv101]

Too many questions in this case. I drive Malibu Canyon Road every night at 1:00 am.

Mitrice Richardson: Too Many Questions

 

[Armandv101]

Hi UCLA,
The story I linked (above from laweeekly) says "but a map indicates the area is within about five miles of the Lost Hills outpost."

Sorry, the "typed by me" meant that I had to physically type it because for some reason that night it wouldn't let me copy it from that page.

The location where the remains were found is about 5 miles from the sheriff's station. I drive it every night.

 

[Armandv101]

I drive Malibu Canyon every night. The distance between the sheriff's station and Malibu Canyon and Piuma Roads is about 5 miles. It is very dark (except for occasional headlights from passing cars) there at night. It was cold last night.

Mitrice Richardson: Too Many Questions

I may go there today and take some photos of the Malibu Canyon and Piuma Roads.

 

[Armandv101]

It may not be their responsibility to call every parent of an adult person they release, BUT the mother had CALLED the jail to inquire if Mitrice would be released. She was very worried. Did you listen to the mother's call to the jail? I think the jailers should have, and had the duty of calling Mitrice's mother after her concerned phone call early in the evening when Mitrice was picked up by LE.

The sheriff has a habit of releasing female arrestees without regard to their personal safety. Several people called into KFI-AM yesterday and recounted their experiences with the sheriff.

 

[UCLAEigenguy]

The location where the remains were found is about 5 miles from the sheriff's station. I drive it every night.

Right, but that could be anywhere. It was about 2.5 miles from the place she was last seen, the Monte Nido community and that covers from near PCH all the way to Mulholland. It would be helpful to at least know which direction that 2.5 miles is...then could get a possible route.

I drove through the neighborhood once (it's out of the way as I head to the 101 though), and it is basically the wilderness with houses placed in it. I take Malibu Canyon frequently and had the misfortune of breaking down at midnight once. Only saw a couple of cars and I was suspicious of each one. I don't take that road that late at night anymore!

 

[Armandv101]

Right, but that could be anywhere. It was about 2.5 miles from the place she was last seen, the Monte Nido community and that covers from near PCH all the way to Mulholland. It would be helpful to at least know which direction that 2.5 miles is...then could get a possible route.

I drove through the neighborhood once (it's out of the way as I head to the 101 though), and it is basically the wilderness with houses placed in it. I take Malibu Canyon frequently and had the misfortune of breaking down at midnight once. Only saw a couple of cars and I was suspicious of each one. I don't take that road that late at night anymore!

I hear ya! I had an encounter with Bambi early Monday morning.

 

[rossva]

Again, I bring up the question did they offer her phone and purse when they released her, as they offered her a place to stay for the night? If so, she could have called her mother herself. It's entirely possible she requested that LE not call her parents. I certainly would not want my parents called if I had been arrested and released.

Try calling any jail in the US and asking if they will call you when some one is released. It just isn't going to happen, well, maybe, if you call Sherriff Taylor in Mayberry.

Also, if the mother was so worried why wouldn't she have immeadiately headed there? She knew her daughter would be released in a timely manner.

It may not be their responsibility to call every parent of an adult person they release, BUT the mother had CALLED the jail to inquire if Mitrice would be released. She was very worried. Did you listen to the mother's call to the jail? I think the jailers should have, and had the duty of calling Mitrice's mother after her concerned phone call early in the evening when Mitrice was picked up by LE.