Egregious conduct, video evidence used to charge police

Police who kill suspects in the line of duty rarely face charges, experts say, but recent incidents in which police officers face murder and manslaughter charges show what spurs prosecutors to pursue such cases.

Officers in Cleveland, Chicago and North Charleston, S.C., face murder and manslaughter charges for shooting and killing unarmed suspects. A Tulsa volunteer reserve deputy is charged with second-degree manslaughter of a suspect.

In the Cleveland case, prosecutors have other police willing to testify and a heap of forensic evidence from a hail of bullets. In Chicago, several people witnessed an officer firing over his shoulder into a crowd. In North Charleston, a graphic video depicts an officer firing eight times into a fleeing suspect's back, and in Tulsa, another video shows a deputy shooting a man on the ground.

In each of these cases, prosecutors say they have over-the-top evidence of egregious conduct. Still, charging and convicting an officer is an often uphill battle in a system that sees police as trusted public servants who put their lives on the line to keep the community safe.

Justice isn't blind as the courthouse statues of a blindfolded Lady Justice would have you believe, says Pace Law School professor Randolph McLaughlin, a civil rights attorney who has handled police misconduct cases. Prosecutors must work with police officers every day so they are reluctant to pursue charges against their friends and colleagues. Police often are on the right side of the law, so they are seen as credible, he said.

On the other side may be witnesses with criminal backgrounds who have less credibility before judges and juries or no witnesses at all, McLaughlin said.

"There's no blindfold over anyone's eyes in the criminal justice system," McLaughlin said. "Their eyes are wide open. They can see who is in front of them."

Cleveland Police Officer Michael Brelo is on trial this week, facing two counts of manslaughter for the deaths of two unarmed people, Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams, after a high-speed police chase on Nov. 29, 2012.

Police initially suspected Russell and Williams of drug activity and chased them through Cleveland for 22 minutes. At some point, the car may have backfired, which police mistook for gunshots. Brelo and 12 other officers fired 137 bullets at the 1979 Chevy Malibu. In the end, however, prosecutors say Brelo jumped onto the hood of the car and fired several rounds into the windshield, killing Russell and Williams.

Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney Timothy McGinty called Brelo's behavior "outrageous and unreasonable conduct." McGinty has complained of a "blue wall of silence" — officers who were present at the chase but refuse to cooperate with prosecutors. Several officers have invoked the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination when called to testify.

Prosecutors must weigh whether an accused officer acted like a reasonable officer would have acted, said David LaBahn, president of the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys. Prosecutors also consider whether the officer acted while facing a life-threatening situation, he said.

"If you had an objective belief of imminent death and great bodily harm, what would you be doing jumping onto the hood of a car?" LaBahn said.

Similarly, Chicago Police Detective Dante Servin is on trial this week on charges of involuntary manslaughter for what prosecutors characterized as reckless conduct. Prosecutors say Servin killed Rekia Boyd when he fired over his shoulder from his car at a group of noisy young people who had congregated in an alley.

"I have a hard time explaining shooting over your shoulder into a crowd. What was the purpose of that?" LaBahn said.

In two recent cases, video will play a key role. A bystander's cellphone video shows South Carolina officer Michael Slager shooting Walter Scott as he ran away after a traffic stop for a broken taillight. On Monday, authorities charged Tulsa reserve deputy Robert Charles Bates with manslaughter in the death of Eric Courtney Harris whose shooting while on the ground at the officer's feet was captured on videotape.

While the most recent cases have received national attention, Philip Stinson, a criminologist at Bowling Green State University who studies crimes committed by police, says many other police shootings may go unnoticed. State and federal officials lack data on how often officers kill, which makes tracking the issue especially hard, he said.

"How often do we have these types of shootings where there are frankly cover-ups by law enforcement agencies? We have no way of knowing," he said.

It shouldn't be surprising that officers are rarely charged with a crime because they accept a high level of responsibility and risk beyond that of an ordinary citizen, said James Pasco, executive director of the National Fraternal Order of Police. Police officers are also thoroughly vetted and rigorously trained.

"It's not unreasonable to expect that you are going to get a higher level of compliance and a higher commitment to law than you would find outside of a profession that is dedicated to the rule of law," he said.

Chuck Wexler, executive director of Police Executive Research Forum, which looks at issues such as reducing police use of force, says officers must be treated like anyone else if they break the law.

"There's no room for mistakes," Wexler said. "It's incumbent on the field to redouble efforts and regain public confidence."

Michael Bell, whose unarmed son was shot in the head in 2004 outside his Kenosha, Wis., home by police officers who were cleared of any wrongdoing, agrees.

"The system has been so soft on (police)," Bell said. "They can shoot knowing that they are pretty much clear to do whatever they want."