L.A. pays $1.1 million in Notorious B.I.G. suit: Must Cover Family's Legal Costs in Wrongful Death Mistrial

 
LAPD Concealed Evidence 
The Los Angeles City Council Wednesday approved a $1.1 million payment to the family of slain  rapper Notorious B.I.G because of errors in a civil wrongful death trial over accusations that he  was murdered by rogue police officers. The penalty was levied by a U.S. district judge who accused police of concealing evidence and  declared a mistrial in the lawsuit, which was brought against the city last year. The popular rapper, born Christopher Wallace, was shot dead at the age of 24 after leaving a  Los Angeles music party in 1997. Relatives of Notorious B.I.G. claim the shooting was carried out by Los Angeles police officers  moonlighting for one of the record companies. The $1.1 million dollar penalty will go to pay legal costs incurred by the family of the rapper  before the mistrial was declared in July. The family has said it will go ahead with its wrongful death lawsuit and hopes to set a new trial  date next month. [more]

US Capitol Security Guard has Confrontation with Black Congresswoman

 
As U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Georgia, faces possible criminal charges for a Wednesday altercation with a Capitol Police officer, one of her lawyers said Friday that the real issues were "sex, race and Ms. McKinney's progressiveness." In a news conference featuring actor Danny Glover and singer Harry Belafonte, McKinney said she would be exonerated and that "this whole incident was instigated by the inappropriate touching and stopping of me, a female, black congresswoman." She had little else to say, citing the ongoing investigation into her allegedly striking a police officer after he failed to recognize her at a security checkpoint and tried to stop her from passing. One Republican congressman dismissed the star-studded news conference. "Rep. McKinney appearing with the star of "Lethal Weapon"? Not exactly the message you want to be sending," said Ron Bonjean, spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert. Asked Friday if Capitol Police intended to bring charges against the congresswoman, Sgt. Kimberly Schneider said only, "I know we're still investigating." During the conference, held at historically Black Howard University in Washington, civil rights attorney James Myart said his client was "assaulted" by a Capitol Police officer, whose name the department refuses to release. Myart said McKinney would seek a criminal investigation against the officer, and a civil lawsuit against both the officer and the Capitol Police is being explored. [more]

• Greg Palast: The RE-LYNCHING CYNTHIA MCKINNEY [more]
  
• Televising the conspiracy against Cynthia McKinney [more]
• Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney has a bill in the House Government Reform Committee to re-open the MLK assassination investigation [more]
  

Lawsuit Filed in Beating Case: Black Man Hogtied, Tortured and Killed by Mississippi Jail Officials

March 27, 2006

$150 million in actual and punitive damages. That's what  a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court is asking for the family of Jesse Lee Williams, Jr. The wrongful death suit alleges a torturous death of Williams at the hands of two Harrison County jailers. It names Ryan Teel, the son of former Judge Wes Teel, as the main jailer involved. The suit also names Deputy Regina Rhodes as an accomplice and says a third jailer, Deputy Morgan Thompson, who was in the booking room of the jail, did nothing to stop the February 4th beating that caused William's death. Harrison County's coroner ruled the death was a homicide, but so far, no arrests have been made. The suit also names a dozen other defendants including Harrison County, its Sheriff George Payne and two nurses who were said to be in the room. The lawsuit also alleges 54 other counts of abuse in the Harrison County Jail, and claims Ryan Teel was involved in 11 of them. [more]

• Pictured above: This picture is a depiction made of the booking room on the night of February 4, 2006, based upon witness statements, in which Jessie Lee Williams, Jr. was hog-tied, shackled (hands to feet), sack on head, blood dripping from the beating, and carried like a human suitcase -soon to be slammed/dropped on his face -two times. [more]

• Text of the lawsuit [more]
• Petition to oust sheriff offered [more] and [more]
  
• Sheriff Payne Puts His Booking Area Online [more]
  

Milwaukee Police Officers to Stand Trial in Brutal Beating of Unarmed Black Man

Black residents were incensed when four months went by before charges were filed against white police officers accused of punching, kicking and choking a biracial man outside a house party. The 2004 incident intensified racial tensions in this city that is 37 percent black and has some of the nation's most segregated neighborhoods. With the trial of three officers accused of the beating set to start Monday, some say the animosity has eased. And the defendants and nine other officers have been fired. However, the black community still will watch the outcome closely. In October 2004, Frank Jude Jr., two white women and a black friend went to a party at the home of police officer Andrew Spengler in a mostly white, working-class neighborhood on the city's south side. The four left, but prosecutors say a group of off-duty officers followed them out to the street and some of the officers beat Jude severely while using a racial slur. [more]

• 'If Frank Jude could be beaten half to death, so can you.' [more]
  
• Original Reports Stated Jude was Sodomized with a Knife by Milwaukee Police [more]
• The trial is being streamed live on Court TV  Extra. [more]
  

Officer Involved in Vicious Beating of Black Man Won't get his Job Back 
The first supervisor on the scene of the Frank Jude Jr. beating either failed "miserably" to control the situation or has been "scapegoated" because the Milwaukee Police Department's chain of command failed him, according to testimony in a hearing Wednesday. Corstan Court, a sergeant who was demoted by Chief Nannette Hegerty, is fighting to get his stripes back in a hearing before the Fire and Police Commission. He was one of 13 members punished for the Oct. 24, 2004, incident. Court is the only on-duty officer appealing his discipline. Jude and another man went to the off-duty police officer party with two women. They left quickly and were accused of stealing a badge. No badge has been found. Jude was kicked and punched in the head, body and groin repeatedly, had a pen stuck in both ears and knife put to his head, according to Jude and witnesses.  Hegerty testified that Court failed to perform the basic duties of a police supervisor. She said he left the scene without telling others, did not separate the off-duty officers suspected in the beating, didn't call an ambulance for Jude, didn't request enough help, didn't arrest anyone and let witnesses leave the scene. [more]

• 13 Milwaukee officers face possible discipline in Brutal Beating of Black Man [more] 

Milwaukee Cop who Shot Black Man to Death will not Face Criminal Charges

 
The US attorney for the eastern district of Wisconsin wanted to criminally charge a Milwaukee police officer in the fatal shooting of a motorist but was overruled by the U.S. Department of Justice, according to documents obtained by a newspaper. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said Tuesday that correspondence between Assistant U.S. Attorney Mel Johnson and the attorney for the motorist's family said federal prosecutors met with Justin Fields' mother and her attorney last August and told them that they planned to charge officer Craig Nawotka in Fields death. But Johnson wrote to the family's attorney, Mark Thomsen, last week and informed him that the prosecution could not proceed, the newspaper said.  U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic said there is just one federal statute that would apply to a fatal police shooting. That law makes it a crime for someone acting under the color of law to willfully deprive someone of his or her constitutional rights. "We don't have manslaughter or reckless homicide or any lesser offense,'' he said. In sworn depositions, two officers said race might have played a role in Fields' death. Further, the Milwaukee police sergeant who investigated the shooting said his findings - that Nawotka's actions constituted excessive force and that Fields "did not have to die" - were ignored by his superiors in the department's internal affairs division.[more] and [more]

• Remembering JP [more]

Florida Boot Camp Death: 14 Year Old Black Boy Suffocated & Beaten to Death- 2nd Autopsy Done

 
New autopsy rules out natural causes in death
The Hillsborough County medical examiner has ruled out sickle cell trait and other natural causes in the death of a teenager beaten at a North Florida boot camp, a spokeswoman for State Attorney Mark Ober said Tuesday. Dr. Vernard Adams headed a team of five pathologists Monday during a 12-hour, second autopsy of Martin Lee Anderson. Bay County Medical Examiner Charles F. Siebert Jr. ruled in February that the 14-year-old died not from the beating but from internal bleeding caused by sickle cell trait, a rare medical complication. Siebert observed Monday's autopsy in Tampa.Martin's parents disputed Siebert's report from the beginning.  "I'm just glad that the truth finally came out," said the teen's mother, Gina Jones, who called for the arrest of those involved in the beating, which was captured on a security camera videotape. Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Ober at the request of the Panama City prosecutor. The teen's body was exhumed Friday and transported to Tampa as part of Ober's investigation. " Ober has said that it will take months to complete his investigation, but Baden already has drawn his own conclusion. "My opinion is, he died because of what you see in the videotape," said Baden, calling the youth "almost a rag doll" as guards beat him. "Even if correction officers do the wrong thing, it's very difficult to get past a grand jury, or any jury, when somebody does bad things while on duty." Martin Anderson's mother has said her son complained of breathing problems while running laps at the boot camp right before guards beat him.[more] and [more] and  [more]

• New Documents Show FL Boot Camp Had A History Of Abuse [more]

 
HATER of Blacks Gov. Jeb Bush does not believe a shutdown of boot camps is necessary
The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner is performing one of the new autopsies and the family is hiring noted pathologist Dr. Michael Baden to handle the other. They're hoping for different results. "The medical community around the world has said the sickle cell trait alone will not kill you," attorney Benjamin Crump said. "It could be a factor, but it certainly wouldn't kill you. It wouldn't explain the internal bleeding or any of those things." The family is calling for a complete shutdown of every boot camp in the state, however, Governor Jeb Bush calls that excessive. "I think it is inappropriate to govern at the margins to create an entire policy based on a tragic event," Bush said. "I think it is more than appropriate to review procedures that dictate or that govern how these facilities are run." The Hillsborough County state attorney is handling the beating investigation because the local prosecutor recused himself. [more]

• A House committee recommends ending funding for the camps and switching to a less confrontational program. [more] 

Deputy to Face Criminal Charge in Deadly Shooting of Unarmed Latino Man- Back from Iraq

• Deputy Changed Story [more]  

A sheriff's deputy videotaped shooting an unarmed Iraq war veteran after a high-speed chase will be charged with attempted voluntary manslaughter, authorities said Tuesday. The case against Deputy Ivory J. Webb, 45, includes the special allegations of infliction of great bodily injury and use of a firearm, San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael A. Ramos told a news conference. It was the first time the county's prosecutors filed charges against a lawman for an on-duty shooting. Sheriff Gary Penrod said Webb, a 10-year veteran of the Sheriff's Department, will remain on paid administrative leave as the investigation of the shooting of Air Force Senior Airman Elio Carrion, 21, continues. Webb's arraignment was set for Wednesday. If convicted, he could face up to 18 years in prison. On Jan. 29, Carrion, an Air Force security officer just back from Iraq, was a passenger in a Corvette that was involved in a high-speed nighttime chase before crashing into a wall in Chino, about 45 miles east of Los Angeles. A grainy videotape shot by a resident shows Carrion on the ground just outside the car's passenger door and Webb standing nearby, pointing at gun at him. A voice appears to order Carrion to rise. When the airman appears to begin to comply, the deputy shoots him three times. Carrion suffered gunshot wounds to the chest, shoulder and left thigh and was hospitalized for several days. Authorities found no weapons on Carrion or the driver, Luis Escobedo. The FBI has opened an inquiry into possible civil rights violations.  [more] and [more] and [more]

No Reason for Deadly Force: Lawsuit Filed in San Antonio Police Shooting of Unarmed Latino Man

 

The girlfriend of a man who was shot and killed by an officer two weeks ago disputes a police claim that her boyfriend was standing over her and punching her before the officer opened fire. In the version told by Samantha Rivera, her boyfriend, John Cervantes, was standing about 6 feet away from her, motionless and with his hands in plain view, when the officer popped into their bedroom and shot without warning. "We heard somebody yell something and we both just froze and looked at the door," Rivera said in an interview at their East Side home. "He wasn't hitting me. He was just standing there, frozen. As soon as we saw (the officer's) head pop up, he just shot." Rivera's story, told for the first time since the March 2 shooting, directly contradicts several key points in the city's official account of what happened that night. Most notably, she said Cervantes, 26, who was by all accounts unarmed at the time, never lunged at the officer, as police have said. In the police description of the moments just before the shooting, Officer Reynaldo Montes said Cervantes was bending over Rivera and appeared to be stabbing her as she lay on the floor of their dimly lit bedroom. According to police, Montes ordered Cervantes to stop before he turned on the officer with his hand raised. Montes thought he was about to be stabbed and fired a single shot from the hip. Cervantes was the fourth person to die in law enforcement shootings that spanned six days and has spurred questions about training and tactics at the San Antonio Police Department. The conflicting accounts of how Cervantes died likely will be at the heart of a lawsuit expected to be filed against the city on his family's behalf. [more] and [more]

Appeal heard in Childs shooting: Denver Police Officer may be Punished for Killing 14 Year Old Disabled Black Boy

 
A Denver police discipline case that has already set reforms in motion took another step toward its conclusion Thursday night. The Civil Service Commission heard oral arguments in the city's appeal of a hearing officer's sharp reduction in punishment meted out to officer James Turney by Safety Manager Al LaCabe in the shooting death of a disabled teenager in July 2003. The shooting of Paul Childs, 15, has already resulted in LaCabe setting up a 30-member committee to develop a new disciplinary system for Denver police. Police Chief Gerry Whitman had recommended a 20-day suspension for Turney, who shot and killed the knife-wielding Childs. But LaCabe imposed a 10-month suspension, finding that Turney used poor tactics and could have defused the situation by closing the front door while Childs was standing just inside the doorway to the home. The hearing officer, retired state appeals Judge Paul Criswell, reduced the suspension to five days and added a fine of one day's pay, all for unrelated improper use of a cellphone the day before the shooting. Criswell ruled "that no reasonable Denver police officer with officer Turney's training and background would have thought of this tactic (closing the door)." He also said the officer had no "prior notice" that tactical error could result in discipline. [more] and [more]

Cincinnati to Pay Owensby Family $6.5 Million: Unarmed Black Man Beaten to Death & Refused Medical Treatment

• Still No Cops Punished

The city of Cincinnati agreed Friday to a $6.5 million settlement with the family of Roger Owensby Jr., the Cincinnati man who died in police custody nearly six years ago. The settlement – believed to be the largest of its kind in Cincinnati history – resolves one of the best-known and most contentious civil rights claims against the city’s police department. Owensby’s death on Nov. 7, 2000, energized community activists who had complained for years about the treatment of African-Americans by Cincinnati police officers. Tensions erupted five months later, in April 2001, when a police shooting of an unarmed black suspect sparked days of unrest and rioting. Mayor Mark Mallory said he hoped the settlement Friday would help improve police-community relations and would allow Owensby’s family and the rest of the city to begin moving forward. Owensby’s family could not be reached late Friday. But the family’s lawyer, Paul Martins, said one of the motivations for the settlement was resolving the case without creating more trouble in the community. Owensby, 29, died in police custody shortly after his arrest outside a convenience store. Police had questioned him in the parking lot of the store and he initially cooperated with the officers. Police say Owensby attempted to run and was tackled by several officers. He was struck several times, forced to the ground and placed in handcuffs. One of the officers involved in Owensby’s arrest, Patrick Caton, was fired for failure of good behavior but won his arbitration case and could get his job back. Another, Robert Blaine Jorg, quit the police force. The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating whether any of the officers should face criminal charges under federal civil rights laws. more

• Roger Owensby, Jr.'s Father Talks About Settlement [more]
  

Latino Man Blasted by Shelbyville Police at Cookout: Victim's relatives deny he shot at police

 
Two sons and the daughter of a Shelbyville man shot dead by a policeman's bullet on Saturday remembered their father yesterday as a happy man who helped people. Fermin had been cooking fajitas and making tacos crisp on a grill because classmates from school, years ago in Mexico, came here from their home in Dalton, Ga., to see Fermin, his family, the land he bought and the house he owned, relatives said. "Man, we were having so much fun before they came," said William. "When you're happy, you're like a song," he said, and he explained, like others at the house yesterday, "A ballad had started playing and he was walking and he shot some shots to the ground, and that's when we saw the officers. "At no time did they yell or say anything. When he turned around, he went down. I saw him go down," Williams said in contrast with Shelbyville Police Chief Austin Swing's report Saturday night that "[Estrada] turned toward the officers and fired in their direction." William countered: "They say my father shot back at them, but how could he? He had shot all the bullets to the ground before he realized they were behind him. When he turned around, it was square in the face. "The way they came onto our property, they should have come on the driveway. They came through the woods. They came across the back fence. The man who shot the rifle, he looked like he was hunting," William said.moremore

NAACP Urges Review of Baton Rouge Police: NO Answers in Shooting of Unarmed Black Man, George Temple

 
A predominantly black audience lent their signatures and their voices Tuesday to the Baton Rouge NAACP’s call for an independent review of the Police Department amid recent  allegations of brutality. More than 200 people filled Elm Grove Baptist Church on North 38th Street where Metro Councilmen Ulysses “Bones” Addison and Byron Sharper pledged to bring an end to “injustice.” Sharper said the city-parish has paid out more than $5 million in lawsuits against police officers accused of using excessive force. “That’s your money going toward lawsuits instead of helping the community,” he said. “We definitely have a problem in this city.” Each person in attendance was given two copies of a letter — one for themselves and one for a friend — addressed to Mayor-President Kip Holden and two stamped envelopes. The letter calls for the establishment of a citizens oversight board to “investigate allegations of police misconduct and recommend actions to the chief or sheriff.” Asanté also called for volunteers to get 20 signatures each on a petition, calling local government to action in regard to the shooting death of black businessman George Temple III during a traffic stop and the alleged beating of a 21-year-old Southern University student, Aaron Davis,  also during a traffic stop. Temple was killed last month by a white bystander as he fought with a white police officer after being ticketed during a funeral procession. A The officer, 32-year-old Brian Harrison, has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.more

• Pictured above: George Temple II, center, poses in a 2005 Christmas photo with his sisters Tiffany Temple, left, and Candace Temple. He was shot dead in a parking lot after a scuffle with a Baton Rouge police officer. [more] 

Lawsuit Against Waco Police & Taser Company for Shocking Black Man to Death Moves Forward

A district judge today refused to dismiss the city of Waco from a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a disabled veteran who died after being shocked by Waco police with electrical stun guns. Judge Vicki Menard of Waco's 414th State District Court ruled against the city a day after hearing arguments from attorneys for the city and the family of Robert Earl Williams Sr., who died June 14, 2005, after being subdued by police during a disturbance at his sister's house. Waco attorney Charles Olson, who represents the city, argued Tuesday that the city should be dismissed from the suit because it has sovereign immunity against claims arising from intentional acts, as opposed to negligent acts, by city employees. Olson charged the plaintiffs were trying to skirt the city's immunity against such claims by alleging that the officers acted negligently instead of intentionally. Vic Feazell, one of two Austin attorneys representing the Williams family, said he found the city's argument interesting but flawed and that the judge made the right decision in denying the city's move to dismiss the case. Olson had argued that the city also was immune from lawsuits concerning the results of discretionary law enforcement decisions, such as the use of Taser devices. Besides the city, the lawsuit also names as defendants Taser International and Affordable Realistic Tactical Training, a company that trained Waco officers to use the Tasers. Waco police have confirmed that it took five officers and multiple shocks with the Taser device to subdue the 6-foot-1-inch, 280-pound Williams after they were called to the 1900 block of South 22nd Street because of a domestic disturbance involving Williams and his sister. An autopsy showed that Williams died from “acute physiologic stress associated with multiple electrical shocks during attempted restraint by police for schizophrenia with excited delirium.” [more]

AP Erases Video of Israeli Soldier Shooting Palestinian Boy

 
In the midst of journalism’s “Sunshine Week” – during which the Associated Press and other news organizations are valiantly proclaiming the public’s “right to know” – AP insists on conducting its own activities in the dark, and refuses to answer even the simplest questions about its system of international news reporting. Most of all, it refuses to explain why it erased footage of an Israeli soldier intentionally shooting a Palestinian boy.  AP, according to its website, is the world’s oldest and largest news organization. It is the behemoth of news reporting, providing what its editors determine is the news to a billion people each day. Through its feeds to thousands of newspapers, radio and television stations, AP is a major determinant in what Americans read, hear and see – and what they don’t. [more]

• Pictured above: Footage of this boy being intentionally shot by an Israeli soldier was erased by the Associated Press. [more]
  

Brownsville Police Block release of Documents in Shooting of Latino Teenager

Brownsville police filed a request with the Texas Attorney General’s Office on Tuesday to prevent the release of videotapes that show a Feb. 25 chase that ended with the shooting death of an alleged car thief. Three customs agents and two Brownsville police officers shot 17-year-old Edgar Ivan Lopez to death following a chase that ended at the B&M Bridge, police said. Lopez allegedly tried to evade arrest and run over a customs agent in an attempt to escape into Matamoros, police said. The teen’s family filed a wrongful death and excessive force lawsuit with the 103rd state District Court less than 72 hours after his death. Both The Brownsville Herald and San Antonio Express-News requested copies of the reports and the videotapes taken from police cars involved in the fatal chase. In letter dated March 7, the Brownsville Police Department asked Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to consider its request to withhold the video recordings. Brownsville Police Chief Carlos Garcia said his agency is expected to release the written reports today but was advised by the department’s attorneys to withhold the video recordings based on the ongoing investigation and pending litigation. [more] and [more]

• Officers named in teen’s death: Officials release report of shooting [more]
  
• Five officers fired at car during fatal car chase [more] 

Alameda County Police Conspired to Keep Quiet the Murder of Martress Rogers: Black Man Shot by Off Duty Cops

 
Authorities say the officers knew their complicity in the slaying of Martress Rogers would destroy their careers and ruin their lives. So the men allegedly gathered in mid-November and made a secret pact: "They conspired not to tell," Alameda County sheriff's Cmdr. Greg Ahern said. For four months, it seemed as if the plan might work. At least one of the men, a 27-year-old Ashland resident, managed to get a job as a police officer at a Richmond high school. But anonymous tips and a trail of blood caught up with them. On Friday afternoon, after a series of arrests, Hussam "Sam" Elhosseiny, 25, of Ashland was arraigned in the Hayward Hall of Justice and charged with fatally shooting Rogers on Nov. 12. Ahern said Rogers — survived by a 2-year-old son and a fiancee pregnant with his child — was in the wrong Ashland neighborhood at the wrong time. "We believe it was just an argument that ensued over an SUV that was illegally parked." The group of friends had just arrived back at their apartment complex in the Ashland area after a night of drinking. It was about 4 a.m. They pulled up to the Ashland Garden Apartments — home to Lee and Hussam Elhosseiny — in a Ford Excursion. Whoever was driving temporarily double-parked the SUV in the middle of Ashland Avenue. Seven people are believed to have been present, and some of them remain under investigation as possible accomplices, Ahern said. Rogers came driving down the street in his red Chevrolet Corsica, apparently heading home. He found his route blocked by the SUV. Harsh words were exchanged between Rogers and the men in the Excursion. Police say Lee came over to the Corsica and allegedly attacked Rogers in his vehicle. Ahern said Lee cut his hand in the melee, and detectives say that helped them trace the blood back to Lee's nearby apartment. At some point, detectives say, Hussam Elhosseiny fired a semiautomatic pistol into the Corsica. Two bullets struck Rogers, one in his torso. He attempted to escape, driving nearly two miles before he crashed on Tropic Court near Lewelling Boulevard. Police officers found him lying outside the car. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His maternal grandmother, Deloise Quarles, said outside a courtroom Friday that Rogers was "intelligent, attentive, and he loved his family. He was fixing to get married, and it all went down the drain. He didn't bother anyone. It's not fair."moremore

• Martress Rogers R.IP. [more] 

Richmond Police Officer Indicted again in Shooting: Facing Manslaughter Charge in Shooting of Unarmed Black Man

 
Still NO JUSTICE for Santanna Olavarria
A Richmond grand jury yesterday indicted former police officer Michael Couture on a voluntary-manslaughter charge in the 2004 shooting of Santanna Bryant Olavarria. "I intend to clear the air by giving a jury the opportunity to resolve this once and for all," Commonwealth's Attorney Michael N. Herring said, confirming the indictment. Trial is scheduled for May 23. Last year, a special grand jury indicted Couture, 31, and his rookie partner, Edward Aeschlimann, on second-degree murder charges in connection with the shooting. It took place May 29, 2004, after the officers pulled over Olavarria, 21, near Mechanicsville Turnpike and Fairfield Way in Richmond's East End. When a jury in November deadlocked in Couture's case, then-Commonwealth's Attorney David M. Hicks, who tried the case, postponed Aeschlimann's prosecution. He left the decision on Aeschlimann's trial and a possible retrial of Couture in the hands of Herring.  Couture has said that he jumped into Olavarria's moving car during a struggle with the suspect, who had been pulled over for running a stop sign. On his back in the passenger seat of Olavarria's car, Couture said he fired at Olavarria because he feared for his life. Hearing the shot, Aeschlimann said he feared for his partner's life and fired four times into the vehicle from behind, striking Olavarria three times. An autopsy determined both men fired a shot that could be considered fatal. "I'm grateful -- I'm elated. I want somebody to fight for my child, and he did that today," Olavarria's mother, Annette, said last night about Herring, who will try the case himself. "Of course, I wish it was a second-degree charge, but I will accept manslaughter. I will accept anything that, God willing, will bring justice. [more]

• Officer who killed man resigns [more]
• Officer won't be prosecuted [more]
• A question of deadly force. Richmond police shooting case has been forwarded to the Justice Department. [more]
  

$20,000 Settlement Accepted in Excessive Force Suit: Black College Football Star Killed by Sacramento Deputies

 
The parents of former college football star Anthony Vontoure, who sued Sacramento County sheriff's deputies alleging that excessive force and negligence killed their 22-year-old son four years ago, have accepted a $20,000 settlement to their wrongful death suit. According to terms of the settlement, the amount will be given to De La Salle High School in Concord where Vontoure was an all-state football player. He went on to become a standout cornerback on the University of Washington 2001 Rose Bowl team. The money is "for the purpose of funding an academic or sports scholarship in the Vontoure family name," said the four-page settlement agreement obtained by The Bee in a public records request. The parents sued the county, Sheriff Lou Blanas, deputies Timothy Wetzel, Gregory Saunders, Jay Newton, Jeff Brace and Jeff Long seeking $25 million. [more] and [more]