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Sean Bell and Sherri Rasmussen - Civil Justice Remedies Police Violence

By Joe Consumer

The anger which ignited the 1992 Los Angeles riots is frightfully similar to what many New York City residents felt after the acquittal of police officers who shot and killed Sean Bell in a hail of NYPD gunfire outside a strip club in Queens after leaving his bachelor party.  "The officers fired 50 shots in just a few seconds.  ? Police said they believed at least one of the men had a gun, but no gun was found."

In both situations, a clearly exasperated public was left shocked and confused by a ?not guilty? jury verdict returned in a criminal case against police officers.  When police officers are cleared of criminal misconduct in cases like these, however, the matter often does not end there. Sometimes, civil litigation against the perpetrators of police violence is the only way victims can receive justice, some form of compensation and move on.

New York City has finally settled the wrongful death and civil rights case over the shooting death of Sean Bell.  Of $7 million in total, $3.25 million will go to the estate of Sean Bell, $3 million to Joseph Guzman and $900,000 to Trent Benefield, both of whom were wounded.

In 2008, the three police officers were acquitted of manslaughter and other charges ? an indication of how difficult it is to criminally prosecute police officers and why the civil justice system is so important.  Indeed, this is precisely what the judge in the criminal case said:

Justice Arthur Cooperman of New York State Supreme Court said inconsistent testimony and other problems "had the effect of eviscerating the credibility" of key prosecution witnesses, and that some testimony "just didn't make sense."

"The police response with respect to each defendant was not proved to be criminal -- i.e., beyond a reasonable doubt. Questions of carelessness and incompetence must be left to other forums," Cooperman said, according to a transcript released by his office.

Along a similar but somewhat different vein, this week, the parents of Sherri Rasmussen, who was beaten and shot to death in 1986 by a Los Angeles police officer ? the ex-girlfriend of her husand - may finally get some justice for their daughter.  The officer, Stephanie Lazarus, ?had repeatedly confronted and threatened Sherri Rasmussen before the killing.?  But because she was a fellow officer, the LADP failed to pursue obvious leads linking her to the crime. 

Instead, ?over the next two decades Lazarus rose to the rank of detective. The case was eventually reopened, and last year Lazarus was arrested in the killing based on DNA evidence. Lazarus has pleaded not guilty and is in custody awaiting trial.?  

Full post as published by ThePopTort on July 28, 2010 (boomark / email).