Recap by Staff

February 9, 2016—Los Angeles, California—Legal analyst Darren Kavinoky appeared on the Legal Lowdown segment of HLN’s The Daily Share this morning with Yasmin Vossoughian.  The two discussed hot headlines including the story of Kayden Clark, a well-known YouTube star with Asperger’s, allegedly shot by police for brandishing a knife as he approached the police.

Yasmin Vossoughian reports:

“Last week police went to check on the 24-year-old after calls indicating he may be suicidal.  When cops arrived Darren, they went in and they started firing at Clark after he came at them with a knife.  Clark later died sadly.  His family is now speaking out condemning the shooting.  Darren, no charges have been filed, the police were not wearing a body cameras.  From what you know of this case and your expertise, should there be charges filed?”

Darren Kavinoky weighed in with his legal opinion on the Kayden Clark case replying, “Well, I wish I could give you something better than a definitive maybe.   And this is one of those cases that really makes a compelling argument in favor of mandatory body cameras.  It’s a horrible tragic situation. And when you look at it through the lenses of the officers though, if they have somebody coming towards them with a knife, then they may be legally justified in using deadly force to respond.  The real problem here is  that they’re dealing they know has a history of mental illness—or they really should know.  It really is going to turn on the issue of what was the behavior.  Was he acting in a threatening manner?  Was he lunging at them with a knife?  Or not?  Reasonableness of the officer’s behavior makes all the difference and right now Yasmin, we just don’t know.  And that adds to the tragedy.”

Also a hot topic on HLN’s The Daily Share this morning with Yasmin Vossoughian, was the dream vacation turned nightmare.  Cynthia Cheesbrough was arrested by authorities in Texas upon returning from Cancun, Mexico for a crime she didn’t even commit.  Authorities acted on a warrant issued for another person named Cynthia Bayless—the maiden name of Cheesbrough.  The innocent Cynthia Cheesbrough was caught in a case of mistaken identity and spent five days in jail.  The error was blamed on a typo in the year of birth.  “She sat in jail for five days until her fiancé was able to get her out on a $3,500.00 bail…”

Darren Kavinoky replied, “Sorry to laugh.  This woman had a horrible experience!  I’m just thinking that I used to complain about a trip I took coming back through customs in Miami and I had to wait for three hours and now this lady’s story… I just feel like mine pales by comparison.  But, no, what this ultimately turns on yet again is the reasonableness of these officer’s behavior.  And it sounds like this is just a vacation from hell.”

Kavinoky added, “Nothing takes the bloom off a vacation like having to spend some unplanned time in custody.  But from the officer’s standpoint, from the law enforcement perspective, of course they’re just working from the best information they have.  And if they have somebody coming back with the same name, I can at least understand how their suspicions were aroused.    Seems to me thought that maybe the finger prints would have solved that issue.  Ultimately somebody on the law enforcement side may be having to make this right by writing a little check to this poor woman.”

Watch below to see Yasmin Vossoughian and Darren Kavinoky chat live about these two cases and one more case on HLN’s The Daily Show that leads to Yasmin gives Darren a lesson on how to properly spit out the word “chutzpah.”  Watch below: