The family of a St. Joseph
man has filed a wrongful death lawsuit accusing police of using excessive force
in a fatal shooting earlier this year.
The civil lawsuit, filed
this week in Buchanan County Circuit Court, comes one week after a
prosecutor announced that St. Joseph police officer Justin Bever would not face
criminal charges for firing his weapon and killing 27-year-old Jason Fanning
during a traffic stop. The prosecutor's decision followed a Missouri State
Highway Patrol investigation.
The civil lawsuit claims
that the use of deadly force was excessive and that the city and police
department failed to adequately train and supervise the officer who made the
traffic stop.
"The use of deadly
force by defendant Bever ... was unreasonable under the circumstances,"
attorneys said in the court filing.
The lawsuit was filed on
behalf of Steven Fanning, who is the father of Jason Fanning. Others listed as
plaintiffs are Jason Fanning's two children, Chloe Fanning and Kinzlee Fanning.
"Whatever the
result, there is no satisfaction for them," said John Spencer, an attorney
representing the family. "Their son and their father is gone."
The city of St. Joseph,
officer Bever and Police Chief Chris Connally are named as defendants in the
lawsuit, which seeks unspecified actual and punitive damages.
Attorneys for the
Fannings outlined details that were previously known in the case: That Bever
initiated a traffic stop in the early hours of Feb. 20 near 20th and Charles
streets, that a reserve officer with the Buchanan County Sheriff's Department
was present for a ride-along, and that the police vehicle's emergency lights
were not initially activated. It also was previously known that Bever ultimately
fired his weapon eight times.
The lawsuit alleges the
ride-along was not approved and that some aspects of the traffic stop violated
the department's policies and procedures, including the decision not to
initiate traffic lights.
The lawsuit also alleges
that the ride-along officer, Brenda Fletchall, violated policies when she
exited the vehicle. In previous interviews, police have described possible
procedure violations as internal matters, and Prosecutor Dwight Scroggins has
said that any violations of policy were not considered criminal in nature for
the purpose of his investigation.
Much of the dispute
centers on how much of a threat Fanning posed when he put his vehicle into
reverse when both officers were outside the patrol vehicle. The lawsuit says
Fanning was not armed.
The civil lawsuit states
that Fanning "began to roll backward at a low rate of speed" just
before Bever fired his weapon. "Defendant Bever was not in danger by the
movement of (Fanning's) vehicle, and had no reasonable belief that force was
necessary to protect himself from physical harm." The lawsuit also alleges
Fletchall was not in danger.
Scroggins'
investigation, which looked at criminal but not civil liability, said an
officer is allowed to use deadly force if there is a "reasonable belief
that the use of such force is necessary to protect another from serious
physical injury and death." Scroggings said in a previous release it
cannot be determined that the officer's belief regarding the potential threat "was
unreasonable."
The Fraternal Order of
Police previously issued a statement that Fanning's vehicle accelerated
backward at "a high rate of speed" and that Bever was forced to fire
his weapon because he feared for the life of the ride-along officer.
The Fannings are represented
by the law firm Tieman, Spencer & Hicks in St. Joseph.
The lawsuit was assigned
to Judge Randall Jackson. A trial setting is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 1.
Police officials did not
return calls for this story.
Source: newspressnow.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment