system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: how did the two cops who beat up Kelly Thomas not be convicted of either murder 2 or manslaughter? Please keep it civil, I just wanted to know how it could have come out that way since I had been following for so long.
gpt
The issue with this case is the interpretation of the video. Since there is no victim to come forward for themselves, you're depending on the attorneys to basically go back and forth. Add to that the testimony of the officers which, unless the defense attorney made them look dumb on the stand, will let them give a credible and positive interpretation of the scenario, and you basically have a jury that has no reason to believe the cops INTENDED to do what they did. 

If the police side was able to prove to the jury that the death occurred as a result of standard police practice, then there's no reason to convict them.