CBS News reports,
“The city of Cleveland is arguing in court documents that 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was fatally shot by police while holding a pellet gun last November, was responsible for his own death. … In a court document filed Friday, the city … states that the family’s ‘injuries, losses and damages … were directly and proximately caused by the acts of the Plaintiff’s decedent (Rice), not this Defendant.’ The city also argues that Rice failed to ‘exercise due care to avoid injury.'”
They’re apparently not conceding any fault on their part for hiring a cop who, just months earlier, was dismissed for unsuitability by a neighboring police department. It’s understandable they don’t want to talk about that:
“On Nov. 22, police officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback responded to a report about a man with a gun. Loehmann, a rookie on the Cleveland force, shot Rice in the abdomen within two seconds of the patrol car stopping near the boy in a park.” (Emphasis added.)
And Loehmann didn’t just shoot Rice, he and his partner prevented the boy’s sister from rendering first aid, and took their time about summoning assistance while he lay bleeding on the ground.
The family’s response, through their attorney, was more restrained:
“Walter Madison, an attorney representing the Rice family, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer Friday that he believes ‘that there’s merit in our complaint. I do believe that a 12-year-old child died unnecessarily at the hands of Cleveland police officers and I do believe that certain officers shouldn’t have been entitled to wear the uniform.'”
Apart from Loehmann’s checkered history as a police officer leading up to his hair-trigger shooting of a kid with a toy gun, Cleveland’s police department had recently been investigated by the Department of Justice for a pattern of excessive force. The city also has been under fire for abusive civil forfeiture practices.
If I were Walter Madison, I would wave those court documents at the jury, if the judge would let me. It might produce an additional million dollars. Given the already egregious facts of this case, I don’t see how it could fail to inflame the jury. We don’t expect kids to be wise in the ways of the world or have perfect judgment. That’s why the law treats them differently from adults. We do expect police officers to exercise adult judgment.
Put another way, the city is staking its defense on an argument that a 12-year-old boy should be expected to have better judgment than an armed police officer. I’m guessing the city eventually will settle out of court.
Update: Cleveland’s mayor has apologized for the widely-criticized wording of the city’s legal filing, but not for the shooting. Rice’s mother replied, “The city’s answer is disrespectful to my son Tamir. I have yet to receive an apology from the police department or the city of Cleveland in regards to the killing of my son and it hurts.”