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Leonard Cure's death: Internet changes view after dashcam footage of slain man choking cop goes viral

Bodycam footage shows the two wrap their arms around each other's necks and begin to brawl

CAMDEN COUNTY, GEORGIA: The tragic death of Leonard Cure, a man who served more than 16 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted, has taken a new twist after dashcam footage from a recent traffic stop went viral.

The video, released by the Camden County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia, has ignited a wave of intense public scrutiny and reevaluation of the circumstances surrounding his death.

Dashcam footage reveals Leonard Cure's fatal traffic stop

The video paints a vivid picture of the encounter between Cure and an unnamed deputy during a traffic stop on Interstate 95. Cure, who was exonerated by the Innocence Project of Florida after his convictionwas overturned, was pulled over for speeding.

The deputy alleged he had passed him "doing 100 miles an hour," setting the stage for the fatal chain of events. As the video unfolds, the officer can be heard aggressively asking Cure, “Get out! Put your hands back here." 

“I didn’t do s**t,” Cure responds while flinging his arm in an attempt to defend himself as the officer tries to grab him. The deputy then pulled out his taser and pointed it at him as he instructed Cure to step to the back of the vehicle.

Cure inquires about the deputy's identity and his affiliation with a law enforcement agency. Subsequently, he complies with the deputy's instructions by raising his hands, placing them on the rear of the truck, and turning around.

Following this, the deputy orders Cure to put his hands behind his back, all while calling for backup. Confused by the situation, Cure questions the existence of a warrant for his arrest, leaving his hands on the truck.

“Either put your hands behind your back ’cause you’re getting tased, I’m telling you that right now,” the officer reportedly tells Cure.

“Why? Why am I getting tased?” Cure questions. “‘Cause you are under arrest for speeding and reckless driving,” the deputy responds.

“I’m not driving. Nobody was hurt. How was I speeding?” “You passed me doing 100 miles an hour,” the deputy claims. “OK, so that’s a speeding ticket, right?” Cure asks.

“Sir, tickets in the state of Georgia are criminal offenses,” the officer states. An agitated Cure says he’s not going to jail and refuses to comply.

The deputy's insistence on arresting Cure for speeding escalates the situation rapidly. The two engage in a physical altercation, with Cure grabbing the officer's face and the officer responding with a baton strike.

Tragically, the confrontation culminates in the deputy shooting Cure at close range, leading to his death at the scene.

Leonard Cure's journey to exoneration

Cure's wrongful conviction stemmed from a 2003 armed robbery at a Walgreens pharmacy in Dania Beach, Florida. His conviction was a result of a second jury trial after the first had resulted in a deadlock.

Due to previous convictions for robbery and other offenses, Cure had received a life sentence. In December 2019, Cure sought the assistance of the newly established Broward State Attorney's Office Conviction Review Unit to reexamine his case.

The unit had uncovered unsettling revelations, including the dismissal of solid alibis and the absence of physical evidence or credible witnesses placing Cure at the scene of the crime.

An independent review panel, consisting of five lawyers, concluded that the case against Cure gave rise to reasonable doubt regarding his culpability, ultimately leading to his exoneration. 

A judge nullified Cure's convictions and sentence, and just three days later, all charges against him were dismissed. This historic exoneration marked the first case in which an inmate had been cleared by Broward's review unit.

In August of this year, he received $817,000 in compensation for his wrongful conviction and imprisonment, with the approval of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Internet changes its tunes on Leonard Cure's death

The release of this video has sparked a considerable shift in public opinion regarding the incident.

Initially, a user claimed, "Crazy, the man resisted arrest because of a previous Injustice, no doubt experiencing some trauma from it. Justified, but how damn tragic."  

However, users now have changed their view on the situation.

A user stated, "I have to agree with the officer here. He told him he was under arrest and told him why. Leonard Cure had the advantage over the officer momentarily before he was shot. Now we just need the sheriff office to prove he was actually going 100 mph." 

"This guy is tweeked/high AF: The weird hand/head movement, the immediate aggression, the way he walked through the taze, his toxicology will tell the tale. More than 100Mph, he didn't seem to know which state he was in, etc. Deputy was also adrenaline fueled but handled it well," another added.

A third claimed, "For a speeding ticket…y’all may think cops are there to protect and serve but they are not."

"Officer fought for his life in a Highway with live traffic. Looked justified to me," read a tweet.

"Deputy tried to use to less than lethal weapons but had to go to his gun when his life was threated. Cure made the play and went down the hard way. It was his choice," stated a user.