Transcript Airman shot by San Bernardino deputies

Two bad shootings
San Bernardino, CA
--Bentonville, AR
Airman shot by San Bernardino deputies
On January 29, 2005 Elio Carrion, a 21-year old
Air Force security officer was shot by SBSO deputy Ivory
Webb after the Corvette he was riding in crashed during a
night-time pursuit. They were being chased for speeding.
After the crash the deputy approached the car alone and
himself and ordered Carrion, the passenger, to the ground.
The driver stayed in the car. A witness across the street
taped the incident. Other officers had not yet arrived.
The grainy videotape depicts the deputy cursing at the
driver and passenger. Carrion is shown with his hands up,
his torso raised. Carrion tells the deputy that he is a cop,
more experienced than Webb, that they do not mean him
any harm, and that Carrion is on his “side.” Meanwhile the
deputy repeatedly yells at Carrion and the driver (who is
also supposedly speaking) to “shut up.” But Carrion keeps
talking and obviously wants to stand up. Then the deputy
is heard to say ”get up” three times. When Carrion rises to
his feet the deputy shoots him three times.
There were no weapons in the vehicle, which the driver
borrowed from a friend. The driver was drunk and had a
suspended license. He gets six months for evading police.
Deputy Webb is either fired or quits SBSO. He is indicted
for attempted voluntary manslaughter.
Opening arguments
Prosecution
• Carrion was compliant, his hands were in plain view
• A reasonable officer would have known that he/she was not
under threat
• The deputy said “get up” twice, moving the gun up and down
• Deputy’s statements to investigators, that he was “lunged at”
are incorrect
• Deputy did not tell investigators that Carrion reached into his
jacket. Carrion’s hands do get near his jacket but he did
not reach inside
Defense
• Webb felt that he was forced to shoot
• Webb was “in a strange location with no backup, straining to hear
his police radio while keeping his eyes trained on two men he
believed ‘were willing to die rather than get caught’”
• Conceded Webb’s tactics were poor and his commands unclear
• It was darker than appears on the enhanced video
• Carrion’s hands not always visible, got very close to Webb’s gun
“When that hand went down into shadows...he thought this was it”
• Webb’s post-shooting statements not inconsistent with what he
said later – at first he was only asked for a basic story
• Can’t expect officers under stress to articulate commands
perfectly
Testimony of driver – Luis Escobedo
• Served four months for evading police
• Sped off because he was drunk and his license was suspended
• He and Carrion had both been drinking. He wanted to show off
a friend’s Corvette
• Carrion had already opened his door when the deputy walked
up. The deputy ordered him to the ground using an expletive.
• He stayed in the car, hands in front to show he wasn’t armed
• He and Carrion kept talking to the deputy as he repeatedly told
them to shut up
• Clearly heard the deputy tell Carrion “get up, get up”
• Carrion did not move or do anything to threaten the deputy
• How much he saw challenged by defense attorney, who noted
that it was dark and Escobedo was looking at the deputy
• Defense attorney also indicated inconsistencies between
Escobedo’s account and the videotape. For example, Carrion
did rise into a partially squatting position without permission.
Police radio traffic tape
• Webb did not notify dispatchers when he spotted the fleeing vehicle and gave chase – his
next words reported the shooting
• Gave grossly inaccurate location of where the chase ended, sending backup units on a wildgoose chase
• Cited by prosecutor as mistakes
• Cited by defense attorney to show that he was unfamiliar with area and heavily stressed
Testimony of passenger/victim – Elio Carrion
• Was celebrating the end of his leave from
Iraq with his friend Luis Escobedo. Both had
been drinking. He went with Escobedo
for a ride. When Escobedo drove recklessly
he begged him to stop.
• Told the deputy that he was in the “fucking
military” and that the officer better believe him.
He said his friend did something stupid and
that they were on the deputy’s side.
• Deputy said “OK, get up, get up”, then shot him.
• Audio transcript indicates that after Webb shot
Carrion the deputy yelled a string of profanities,
"You [expletive], get up mother [expletive]!
Try to attack me?"
• Under cross-examination Carrion admitted he was drinking that night and cannot remember
much of what happened.
• He also admitted that despite being told to shut up, he kept talking to the deputy, as did the
driver. He said it was to defuse the situation, but conceded it could have made it more chaotic.
• He admitted shouting at Webb “don’t talk to me like that”, meaning the expletives, because it
was unprofessional. He then used an expletive himself to get the deputy’s attention.
• After being shown freeze-frame video, he acknowledged that he didn’t stay down as ordered –
that his torso was repeatedly off the ground and that his hands were raised more than once. He
emphatically denied reaching into his jacket.
Bystander who videotaped incident – Jose Valdes
• Lives across the street from scene. Ran
outside when crash happened.
• Watched about three minutes of the initial
encounter between the deputy and the
victim. Saw the deputy curse at Carrion and
throw kicks in his direction. Then ran to get
his camera.
• Did not clean his camera for six years, not
even after taking it to the desert and the
beach.
• Testified that Carrion never had his hands
near the deputy. Agreed he told police that it was so dark he did not think the
deputy could see inside the Corvette.
• Gave police several accounts of what the deputy supposedly said, including “show
yourself, get up“, “come on, good, come on“ and “get up, get up motherfucker.” He
explained the differences by saying these were words that the deputy used “at
different moments.”
First Chino PD officer on scene – Det. Brian Cauble
• Carrion was on the ground, bleeding, while the driver was still
in the vehicle.
• Cauble asked the deputy “what he was working.” Webb
replied that the victim had tried to attack him. Here is what
Cauble heard Webb and the driver say:
– Deputy: “motherfucker gonna get up, trying and fucking
attack me“
– Driver: "Oh, bullshit. He told him to get up.“
– Deputy: "Shut the fuck up, shut the fuck up!“. Webb steps
towards the driver with his gun drawn
• Cauble told Webb to “settle down”
Second Chino PD officer on scene – Cpl. David Villaran
• Raiders jacket worn by Carrion same type as worn by a local
gang.
• However, just wearing the jacket would not lead him to
assume that its wearer is a gang member.
Webb’s supervisor – SBSO Sgt. Richard Swigart
• Webb told Swigart that he repeatedly ordered Carrion to stay
down, and even kicked at him once to get back down.
– “He said he told the guy, 'If you get up again, I'll shoot
you,' “
• Webb told Swigart that he shot Carrion because the victim
lunged at him.
Police tactics expert – Joe Callanan
• He is a retired LASD Lieutenant, usually testifies for the defense
• Webb was “angry and out of control.” His actions were unreasonable, not what an
experienced officer would do. Webb should have:
– Immediately called in the pursuit, kept dispatcher informed
– Used his vehicle headlights to light up the scene
– Stayed by his car in a defensive posture
– Drawn his shotgun
– Called out commands over the P.A.
• Admitted that driver and passenger were not fully compliant and the passenger’s
hands got close to Webb’s weapon. But the victim’s actions did not justify deadly
force, and the deputy’s cursing and losing his cool only made things worse
• Webb’s three shots had intervening 1-second delays – they seemed like deliberate,
“timed” fire, not from panic. Officers under stress usually forget how many times
they fire – Webb didn’t.
Webb’s interview after the shooting
• Webb said he might have accidentally told Carrion to “get up,”
but only because he couldn’t articulate under stress
• When Carrion got up Webb was sure he had told him not to.
• Tape shows Carrion pointing to his chest at that moment. Webb
thought he was reaching into his jacket for a gun.
– Webb was “never as scared in his life”. “I mean, my heart
is going crazy.”
Defense tactics expert – Inglewood PD Sgt. Ken Ferrin
• Ferrin, an 18-year police veteran has taught at the Rio Hondo Police Academy. He
said he trained 5,000 police officers at the academy, and more than 200 others at IPD
in tactics and use of force.
• Because of the suspects’ flight, Webb had to suspect there was more going on than a
traffic violation. Once he stopped the vehicle he had to improvise.
– Moving in close potentially gave Webb better control over the suspects
– Carrion’s repeated hand gestures suggested he was ready to make a move
– Webb did not fire until Carrion quickly “sprang up”, making him think that he was
being attacked
– When Webb fired he kept control over his shots
• Ferrin had seen situations were officers panicked and fired indiscriminately. Webb
“showed great restraint” and what he did was reasonable. “I would have shot him.”
• When challenged by the prosecutor, Ferrin stuck to his story. He said that he relied
primarily on what Webb said because that is the best way to show his state of mind.
Defense psychologist – William Lewinsky
• Professor at Mankato State University, expert on police psychology.
• In high-stress situations officers often give improper commands..
– "Their analytical process began to collapse," he testified.
"They had so much to do that, literally, they were overloaded.“
– Gave example of an officer who kept telling a suspect armed
with a knife to show him his hands even though they were
already visible. Really meant to tell the suspect to drop the knife.
• Prosecution expert who said Webb’s shots were carefully timed was wrong.
– Interval between shots was half a second. That’s barely enough time to acquire a
target and fire – not nearly enough time to allow making an informed judgment.
On 6/28/07, after 2 ½ hours of deliberation, jurors
found Webb not guilty on both counts, attempted
voluntary manslaughter and assault with a firearm,
charges that could have drawn 18 years. One juror said
Webb "didn't know anything about these people. They
were belligerent. If they had kept their mouths shut and
obeyed...none of this would have happened." Another
said “police officers have to be given the right to make
their decisions. If they make a bad decision in the line of duty, should we...incarcerate
them for it? I don't think so.“ Webb and the SBSO are still facing a civil rights lawsuit.
The US Attorney is also considering whether to file criminal civil rights charges.
Arkansas State Trooper mistakenly shoots, kills man
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On March 7, 2006 State and local police surrounded
a 21-year old man with cerebral palsy, Joseph
Hamley, whom they mistook for an escaped prisoner.
From a distance, officers ordered him to the ground
and waited behind their vehicles for him to comply.
The last officer to arrive was Trooper Larry Norman,
who was told by radio to block traffic. Instead, he
drove onto the scene, got out of his vehicle, trained
his shotgun on the suspect, who was on the ground,
and began approaching him. Other officers then also
moved in. Only a few moments later, while still at a
distance, Norman fired once, killing the man.
Norman later said that he saw the suspect reaching
for his pockets. His account could not be confirmed
by any of the other officers. When he realized his
error Norman said he was “sorry.”
Norman was faulted for ignoring instructions and for
playing a civilian radio in his vehicle too loud,
drowning out the police radio.
On 6/29/2007 Norman, who is no longer a trooper,
pled guilty to misdemeanor negligent manslaughter.
He received 90 days in jail, 30 days community
service and one year probation.