The venue is different, a new jury has
been seated and the burden of proof is substantially easier to meet.
But almost three years after a white, off-duty King County sheriff's
deputy shot and killed a black motorist, the stories on each side
essentially remain the same: Either Mel Miller was an aggressive menace
who shot and killed Robert Thomas Sr. without provocation, or the
off-duty officer was forced to shoot Thomas in self-defense. Although a county inquest jury, in a 5-1 vote, essentially
cleared Miller of wrongdoing in 2002 -- and county and federal
prosecutors later passed on seeking charges against the deputy --
Thomas' family has since pressed forward with the federal wrongful
death and negligence suit that contends that Thomas' civil rights were
violated. His four children -- including Robert Thomas Jr., who was in
the truck and shot in the hand by Miller during the encounter -- are
seeking unspecified compensation and punitive damages. They name Miller
and his wife, along with the Sheriff's Office and King County, as
defendants. The case stems from the fatal shooting of Thomas, a
59-year-old truck driver, on the morning of April 7, 2002. Thomas, his
son and his son's girlfriend had pulled over in a pickup truck after
getting lost near Renton's Lake McDonald on the way to a friend's
house. After a neighbor called and told him a truck was blocking the
private roadway to their neighborhood, Miller, who lived nearby,
approached the truck. A short time later, he fired three shots into the
truck -- fatally striking the elder Thomas in the chest and wounding
the younger Thomas. Yesterday, an all-white jury of four women and two men was seated as the trial began
before U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly. [more] [more] and [more]
Black Family Lost in ALL White NeighborhoodWithin
seconds, Robert Thomas Jr. testified yesterday, he went from extending
his hand to introduce himself to King County sheriff's Deputy Melvin
Miller to begging for his life as Miller pulled a gun from his
waistband and fired three shots into the pickup Thomas was riding in.
Thomas Jr. explained how he, his girlfriend and his father
had gotten lost on the way to breakfast at a friend's house in the
neighborhood. Shortly after the elder Thomas had pulled to the side of
the road to review the directions, Miller walked from his house,
approached the passenger side of the car and ordered the group to drive
off, Thomas Jr. said. He said he thought maybe Miller had "a chip on his
shoulder" about the Thomases being black and driving in a predominantly
white neighborhood. Thomas said that he urged his father to get going,
but that his father was using the cellphone and seemed to be
"oblivious" to the growing tension. [more]
"There have been nine killings of Black men over the past nine years by police officers and nothing’s been done," Oscar
Eason, president of the Seattle branch of the NAACP told The Final
Call. "We want national attention to this issue. There are a rash of
killings going on here and with very few Blacks in the jury pool, the
hearings usually have an all-White jury which finds in favor of the
police department." Robert Jr. said that in addition to being in plainclothes,
officer Miller did not identify himself as a sheriff’s deputy. The officer said he fired because Robert Sr. aimed a gun in his direction. [more]
