The Associated Press is reporting that a man who was shot in the head while handcuffed in the back of a police car in Jonesboro, Arkansas, had his death declared a suicide according to an autopsy report.  This, despite the fact that when officers frisked the victim upon making the arrest, they found no weapon on him.  Furthermore, the dashboard camera footage released by police jumps from victim Chavis Carter getting the pat-down to him lying bleeding in the back of the cruiser.  Kinda makes you wonder what happened to the rest of that footage, doesn’t it?

Speaking of video footage, the local PD has made its own clip showing how Carter could’ve shot himself, allowing an officer of roughly the same size as the victim to demonstrate.  But where did he get the gun, John?  The official explanation given by Police Chief Michael Yates is that “It’s obvious they did miss the weapon on the first search. It is likely, since he was placed into the car un-handcuffed the first time, that he had an opportunity to stash the weapon in the car. The second search, which was more thorough and inclusive, did not disclose the weapon either.”  Okay, so the Keystone Cops couldn’t find a concealed weapon on the guy after two searches, but that doesn’t mean they killed him, right?

But here’s the rub.  Carter was arrested on an outstanding warrant for a drug charge, and was found with “a small amount of marijuana.”  According to this-here website, “Possession of less than four ounces of marijuana is a class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500” in the state of Arkansas.  For more than 14 grams, he’d be looking at anywhere from three to 10 years (25 pounds or less) to 10 years to life—assuming he was caught with over 500 pounds of reefer.  Unless he was a big-time drug smuggler, I can’t see how a 21-year-old would take his own life when faced with a maximum 10-year-prison sentence—particularly with his hands cuffed behind his back.  But then again, I don’t live anywhere near Arkansas, so…