Pubdate: Fri, 21 Apr 2006
Source: Peoria Journal Star (IL)
Copyright: 2006sPeoria Journal Star
Contact:  http://pjstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/338
Note: Does not publish letters from outside our circulation area.
Author: Andy Kravetz
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids)

WRONGFUL DEATH SUIT FILED OVER SHOOTOUT

The estate of a Fulton County man gunned down by a police last year 
during a drug raid is suing in federal court, saying the officers 
acted improperly.

The five-count suit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, claims 
officers with the Illinois State Police and the West Central Illinois 
Task Force violated the rights of David Green when they raided a 
Fulton County house in June. Green, 47, was shot 10 times and died.

The suit names "unknown officers" as defendants and accuses them of 
wrongful death, unreasonable entry and assault and battery, and seeks 
an undetermined amount in damages.

James P. Ginzkey, a Bloomington attorney representing Green's estate, 
said Thursday the police have rebuffed his attempts through the 
Illinois Freedom of Information Act to see any of the reports 
regarding the case, and the suit was filed, in part, to obtain access 
to those documents.

"We have not seen document No. 1 from any of those agencies," he 
said, including a 300-or-so-page report from the Illinois State 
Police's Division of Internal Investigation.

At about 6 a.m., June 23, 2005, nearly four dozen officers served a 
search warrant after spending two months investigating marijuana 
production on the property. An official report given at a coroner's 
inquest last year stated officers went to the upper floor and found 
Green hiding in a "hole type area against a wall."

Police used "flash-bang" grenades designed to disorient a person but 
shot Green when he came out with a handgun pointed at them.

Ginzkey, however disputes that, saying an independent forensic 
pathologist believed many of the shots were to Green's back, not to 
his chest as earlier reported. Also, the attorney states, not all of 
the action took place upstairs.

"It was an upstairs room that Green allegedly confronted the police 
with a handgun, but there is a lengthy trail of blood throughout the 
downstairs. The blood is human, and DNA testing shows it is David 
Green's," Ginzkey said. "So, the shooting was not confined to upstairs."

Another man was charged in connection with several marijuana plants 
found on the property. Daniel C. Matheny pleaded guilty last November 
in Fulton County Circuit Court to unlawful production of marijuana 
plants. He was sentenced to two years of probation and 30 days in jail.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman