- New Trial for case of Unarmed, Naked Black Man Beaten and Shot Dead by White Police Officers
Six years ago, in the early morning of May 15, 1997, at least six white
police officers responded to 911 calls "concerning a domestic
disturbance" at a ground-floor apartment where a black male, Frederick
Gray, and his white girlfriend, Katherine Martin, had just moved in
together. Within less than 3 minutes after they entered the
premises the unarmed Mr. Gray lay in the entrance doorway shot twice,
in the back and left armpit - killed by the Albemarle police.
Gray was naked from the waist down except for socks. Immediately after
the shooting, Gray was hand cuffed and left with no attempt at
resuscitation. He died on the threshold of the door. Before
notifying Gray's family, Albemarle officers had begun running a
criminal background check on Gray. Gray had no criminal record. Gray's
girl friend (and all police involved) was unharmed. In fact, she was
not even examined by paramedics. The blood that was on her shirt was
Gray's.
What exactly happened in the 2 or 3 minute interval after police
entered Gary's apartment is in dispute. The controversy does not
concern the conflicting accounts of other witnesses- as there was only
one other non- police witness, Gray's girlfriend. Rather, the dispute
concerns the police officer's own statements and accounting of what
occurred. What the police said at trial is completely different from
what the police initially explained immediately after the incident. At
some point they lied.
When police arrived at Gary's apartment around 6 AM there were no signs
that a domestic disturbance had been going on. Police knocked on the
door only one time and explain that they waited 10 minutes for the door
to be answered. Officer Wallace testified that during the ten
minutes of waiting, he saw Gray and his girlfriend appear briefly at
the door. Nevertheless, the police made no follow up efforts to
communicate with them. Police say they heard nothing. Police entered
the apartment with their guns drawn.
Once inside, the officers went around a divider to the bathroom where
Gray emerged undressed. The police admitted they gave Gray no
explanation for their presence. The officers' testimony differed as to
where the girlfriend was located when they entered. However, all
the officers agreed that not a single one of them had any conversation
or interaction whatsoever with the girlfriend at any point up until
after the shooting and she was escorted out.
Officer Giles testified that, when they entered, the girlfriend said,
"Everything's okay, everything's okay." Officer Chiarappa
admitted that at one point after they entered he heard her say either
"[s]top or no," he was not sure which. One of the officers ordered Gray
"to get down" on the floor. All the officers agreed that Gray
"immediately" complied with the order and had surrendered; he got down
on the floor. All the officers except for Officer Perry reholstered
their guns.
Yet after initially complying, police explain that Gray suddenly rose
up and began to struggle with them when an officer attempted to handcuff
him. Police then attempted to subdue Gray by hitting him with their police
batons. Police reports show that the blows were so powerful they even
caused a slight bend in Officer Chiarappa's baton. The girlfriend
described that she "just remember that they were, like, hitting him
with those sticks." Among other injuries, the autopsy of Frederick Gray
revealed a gash into the top of his forehead as well as a blow to
the top of his head that caused bruising extending all the way through
the scalp.
The police say that they were unable to restrain Gray
and that he managed to beat back all the officers. Officer Chiaparra
said at trial that after witnessing Gray beat down the officers and
seeing that Gray had now turned to attack him he withdrew his gun and
fired three shots. Gray fell facedown in the doorway of the apartment.
A few hours after the incident each of the officers gave fellow officers detailed
statements that were tape-recorded and transcribed concerning the
events surrounding the shooting . They each gave another recorded
statement a few weeks later during a second set of interviews conducted
by Lieutenant Newton. Attorney's representing Gray's estate
contend that in those original statements all the police officers
involved gave significantly different versions of events and
descriptions from what they gave at trial including descriptions
concerning central issues in the case: a) motivation for Defendants'
initial actions, b) whether Gray was trying to escape and whether the
officers would have let him, as they contended they would have at
trial; c) what actions and motivations allegedly justified the
shooting, including whether in fact officers had been injured as they
described ; d) and even how the shooting occurred.
Nevertheless, the trial court judge refused to allow the statements
to
be used at trial. Citing a hearsay law designed to prohibit the use of
written statements made to claims adjusters by eyewitnesses immediately
after an accident, the Judge said the previous statements were
inadmissible [see Opinion]. The statements could not be used to atack
the wtiness credibility of the officers nor could the statements be
offered as evidence of what had actually occurred. In fact, the
jury never knew the statements even existed.
However, on June 10, 2004 the Virginia Supreme Court overturned the
decision, stating that Gray's legal team was wrongfully prevented from
using the written statements from the police officers during the
previous trial. The appeal victory for Gray means Albemarle police will
be back in court for another trial on the 1997 shooting. A date for a
new trial has not been announced yet.
Once in court, the police officers will finally be confronted with
their own words. The police lied. Both versions of what the police said
happened to Frederick Gray cannot be true:
For instance, at trial, Chiarappa described seeing the girlfriend in a
"white t-shirt, some lettering on it and looked like blood spots up on
shoulder area.". However, in his statement on May 15, 1997, he
was asked about seeing any blood on the girlfriend and responded that
he had not noticed any, that he "was not paying attention to her."
At trial, Chiarappa also testified that, other than "get down, get
down," no one said anything to Gray. However, on the morning of the
shooting, Chiarappa stated that, as Wallace went to cuff Gray, Wallace
bent down and "did say something to him, don't know exactly what" after
which, "he just began swinging". Attorney's for Gray's estate contend
that if Gray did in fact attack the police he may have been provoked by
something that was said to him by Wallace.
Chiarappa testified that he inflicted deadly force baton blows to
Gray's head only after Gray had disabled officers in the apartment.
Yet, in both of his two original statements, Chiarappa stated several
times that he used the baton "to the scalp area" immediately when all
the officers were first attempting to subdue Gray. In fact, in his
original description, it is after blows to the head that, he says, Gray
"raises up, looks at me and he's got this crazed look. . . his
eyes are solid white and ...he starts throwing punches and hitting
people."
At trial, all officers described a situation where, from the beginning
of the struggle, no officer could ever get control over Gray. Yet
in his original statement to Lt. Newton, Chiarappa described how at one
point "all of us including Perry were able to get hold of Frederick
Gray and take him from back toward the bathroom area, back toward the
corner area which was right as you first come into the apt."
Furthermore, at trial Officer Wallace first testified that he did not
recall Chiarappa giving a warning to anyone that he was about to shoot
Gray. But then Wallace stated he remembered something like "roll
free" but insisted he heard nothing about going to shoot.
However, in both of Wallace's original statements in 1997, Wallace had
repeatedly described such warnings by Chiarappa. The morning of
the incident, he said, "I remember Amos saying Jamie [Hanover] get in
here, ah I may shoot this guy, stop, Dave [Wallace] stay clear, or
[sic] get out of the way. . . cause this guy was kind of like over . .
. ." . He told Lt. Newton separately, he heard Chiarappa yell, "get out
the way, Dave, I'm go [sic] have to shoot him. . . . roll free, Dave,
roll clear Dave, I've got to shoot him, and I heard him and [sic] I
(inaudible) rolled, . . . ", and again, "Amos [Chiarappa] said fall
free, I'm go [sic] have to shoot him . . . "
At trial, officers testified to little if any signs of life in Gray
after the shooting. It was uncontested that there was no CPR
attempted at any point. However, Wallace stated that morning that they
could hear "movement inside [Gray's body]," that he guessed Gray was
"still breathing or something." He told Lt. Newton that "[h]e wasn't
moving, but he was still living and somebody handcuffed him. . . "
Additionally, At trial, Wallace described observing punches Gray
allegedly inflicted upon Giles inside the apartment, saying he "has him
around the neck and is delivering punches to his head, the back of his
head and back. . . six, eight or more." However, in his original
statement, Wallace said he did not see Giles get hit at all. He
stated, "I didn't see the guy hitting [Giles]."
Importantly, at trial, all Defendants contended that Gray had ample and
unfettered opportunity to escape but inexplicably chose not to do so.
Yet in his original statement to detectives the morning of the
incident, Wallace described the final moments outside as follows:" I
was trying to keep my footing to you know get back at him, ?cause
I didn't want him to get away after you know all this crap."
At trial, the police rested their justification for the use of deadly
force first and foremost on supposedly seeing Officer Perry knocked
unconscious. Perry himself could not say on the stand whether or
not he was knocked unconscious. While he admitted to some "vague"
memory of holding onto Gray, and he recalled being pulled in the
direction of the door at some point, he had no idea where Gray went
from there. He also said he did not remember heading to the door
and then hearing "I'm gonna have to shoot him."
Nevertheless, Perry described precisely this and repeatedly in his
original statements. He also recalled a great deal of detail regarding
the entire situation in his previous statements.
In their petition, attorney's for Gray's estate also cite various other inconsistencies in police testimony
