Pubdate: Fri, 09 Aug 2013
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2013 The New York Times Company
Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/lettertoeditor.html
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Joseph Goldstein

GRAND JURY DECIDES NOT TO CHARGE OFFICER WHO FATALLY SHOT UNARMED 
YOUTH IN BRONX

Eighteen months after a police officer barged into a private 
residence and fatally shot an unarmed teenager in the bathroom of the 
home, the criminal case against the officer has collapsed with a 
grand jury's decision to not bring charges in the case.

Supporters of Mr. Graham, whose death has provoked widespread outrage 
amid allegations of racial profiling, marched on Thursday.

The decision, which was announced on Thursday morning, was met with 
shock from the Bronx district attorney, Robert T. Johnson, and it 
prompted calls for a federal civil rights investigation and an 
independent prosecutor. By late afternoon, the United States 
attorney's office in Manhattan said it would review the evidence to 
"determine whether there were any violations of the federal criminal 
civil rights laws."

Nonetheless, the grand jury decision stirred anger and talk of racism 
among supporters and relatives of the shooting victim, Ramarley 
Graham, 18. Mr. Graham was black; the officer, Richard Haste, is white.

Narcotics officers had become suspicious of Mr. Graham as he walked 
through the Wakefield section of the Bronx with two friends. Officer 
Haste, 31, pursued the teenager, forcing his way into the apartment 
where Mr. Graham lived with his grandmother. The officer confronted 
him in the bathroom and shot him, after he mistakenly interpreted a 
gesture as Mr. Graham reaching for a gun, according to the officer's 
account to the grand jury.

The resulting tensions in the community had been largely calmed after 
Officer Haste was initially indicted last year on manslaughter 
charges. But a judge dismissed the indictment in May, saying 
prosecutors had improperly precluded the grand jury from considering 
Officer Haste's claim that he believed that Mr. Graham was armed, 
based on what he had heard fellow officers say over a police radio.

The judge's ruling allowed prosecutors to seek a new indictment. On 
Tuesday, Officer Haste told grand jurors that he had repeatedly 
directed Mr. Graham to "show me your hands," according to the 
officer's lawyer, Stuart London.

Mr. London acknowledged on Thursday that "it was surprising" for a 
grand jury in the Bronx to vote against prosecuting an officer after 
such a shooting. "The grand jury should be commended for the courage 
they had in the face of such a tragedy to keep an open mind and allow 
my client to tell his side of the story," he said.

Although the officer will not face state charges for the shooting, he 
still faces the federal inquiry and a disciplinary review in the 
Police Department; Mr. Graham's family is also suing the police.

At a news conference outside the district attorney's office on 
Thursday, Mr. Graham's father, Frank Graham, said, "Everything just 
seems dark."

Speaking before two dozen protesters and several politicians, the 
father said: "We have to ask ourselves this question: 'Had Ramarley 
been white, would this have happened? Would they have run in a white 
person's homeUKP' "

The turn of events is all the more surprising because Bronx juries 
tend to be far more skeptical of police actions than juries 
elsewhere. About 16 officers are currently under indictment there on 
charges related to a widespread ticket-fixing scandal that has also 
cast a pall over State Supreme Court in the borough, as defense 
lawyers cite the scandal to suggest that the police cannot be trusted 
to testify truthfully.

District Attorney Johnson said in a statement: "We are surprised and 
shocked by the grand jury's finding of no criminal liability in the 
death of Ramarley Graham. We are saddened for the family of the 
deceased young man and still believe that the court's dismissal of 
the original indictment was overly cautious."

For a time it had appeared that Officer Haste would be the first New 
York City officer to stand trial in criminal court for a fatal 
shooting in the line of duty since three officers were tried - and 
acquitted - in 2008 for the shooting of Sean Bell, who died in a hail 
of 50 police bullets outside a Queens club.

The shooting of Mr. Graham provoked widespread outrage amid 
allegations of racial profiling and criticism of the aggressive 
tactics that led the police to pursue him and force their way into 
his apartment after finding the door locked. Anger over the shooting 
is memorialized even in Google's mapping function: the street view of 
Mr. Graham's home on East 229th Street shows a white fence thickly 
decorated with votive candles and posters criticizing the Police 
Department (one compares it to the Ku Klux Klan).

Immediately after the shooting, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg expressed 
"real concerns." The police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly, ordered a 
review of the street narcotics enforcement units, which are 
responsible for arresting low-level street dealers and their 
customers. Untrained in undercover work, they are limited to making 
arrests after they witness a drug sale, often observed from afar 
through binoculars. In the wake of Mr. Graham's death, the focus of 
the squads shifted from narcotics work to youth gangs.

On Feb. 2, 2012, something about how Mr. Graham moved his hands near 
his waist, as he walked down the street, led the narcotics officers 
to suspect he might be armed, and as the surveillance progressed, two 
officers said over the radio that they had seen the butt of a gun.

Officer Haste said he was relying on what his fellow officers had 
observed as he rushed to the scene and broke into Mr. Graham's residence.

He told the grand jury on Tuesday over five hours of testimony, 
according to his lawyer, how he had confronted Mr. Graham, who had 
darted into the bathroom. Mr. Graham ignored repeated warnings to 
show his hands, and Officer Haste came to think the teenager was 
reaching for a gun, the lawyer said.

"He believed he would be shot and killed," Mr. London said of his 
client. It was then that Officer Haste fired a single, fatal shot.

"I think the grand jury found there were many opportunities for 
Ramarley Graham to end the situation with no violence and no shooting 
and he did not avail himself of those opportunities," Mr. London said.

A bag of marijuana was later found in the toilet, and investigators 
think Mr. Graham's final act was a bid to flush the drugs away. No 
gun was found.

Randy Leonard contributed reporting.
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