Police officer not guilty over deaths of 2 unarmed suspects in 137-shot barrage

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Police officer not guilty over deaths of 2 unarmed suspects in 137-shot barrage

Case led to Department of Justice review, which found police had history of rights violations

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 24 May, 2015, 8:28am
UPDATED : Sunday, 24 May, 2015, 8:28am

Associated Press in Cleveland

Michael Brelo in court.

A police officer charged in the shooting deaths of two unarmed suspects during a 137-shot barrage of gunfire was acquitted yesterday in a case that helped prompt the US Department of Justice determine the city police department had a history of using excessive force and violating civil rights.

Michael Brelo, 31, faced as many as 22 years in prison had the judge convicted him on two counts of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting deaths of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams on November 29, 2012.

Before issuing his verdict, Judge John O'Donnell noted the recent unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore over the deaths of black suspects but said he would not "sacrifice" Brelo to an angry public if the evidence did not merit a conviction.

"Guilty or not guilty, the verdict should be no cause for a civilised society to celebrate or riot," he said.

The shooting helped prompt a months-long probe by the US Department of Justice, which concluded last December that the Cleveland police department had engaged in a pattern and practice of using excessive force and violating people's civil rights.

Brelo put his head in his hands as O'Donnell finished a nearly hour-long summation of his conclusions, an involved explanation of the decision that involved mannequins marked with the gunshot wounds that the two motorists suffered.

Brelo is white, the two motorists were black. Community and city leaders braced for the possibility of unrest in response to the verdict, which came as investigators work towards making a decision on whether charges will be filed in the death of a black 12-year-old boy carrying a pellet gun who was shot by a white rookie officer late last year.

"We will get justice," said Art McCoy of the Black Man Army, a coalition of black leaders. "We are not happy with this verdict."

Thirteen officers fired at the car with Russell and Williams inside after a long, high-speed chase, but only Brelo was charged criminally because prosecutors said he waited until the car had stopped and the pair no longer posed a threat to fire 15 shots through its windshield while standing on the car's hood.

Russell, 43, and Williams, 30, were each shot more than 20 times. While prosecutors argued they were alive until Brelo's final salvo, medical examiners for both sides testified that they could not determine the order in which the fatal shots were fired.

Brelo has been on unpaid leave since he was indicted on May 30, 2014.

The chase and shooting began when Russell's car backfired as he sped past Cleveland police headquarters. Police officers and bystanders thought someone in the beat-up Chevy Malibu had fired a gun. More than 100 Cleveland police officers in 62 marked and unmarked cars got involved in a pursuit that saw speeds reach 160 km/h during the 35km-long chase.

Authorities never learned why Russell didn't stop. He had a criminal record including convictions for receiving stolen property and robbery and had been involved in a previous police pursuit. Williams had convictions for drug-related charges and attempted abduction. Both were described as mentally ill, homeless and addicted to drugs.

The grand jury also charged five police supervisors with misdemeanour dereliction of duty for failing to control the chase. All five have pleaded not guilty.