Suit against officers OK’d in 2010 death

By Linda Satter
This article was published August 7, 2015 in the print edition of the Arkansas Democratic Gazette.

Two female Little Rock police officers must appear before a federal jury on allegations they illegally entered a man’s apartment in late 2010 while working as security guards for the complex, but only one of them will face accusations of using unreasonable deadly force.

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Suit against Josh Hastings and city alleges LRPD’s ‘custom of acquiescence to police misconduct’

June 1, 2015 Press Conference. Federal civil rights lawsuit filed over the shooting death of Bobby Moore. Mike Laux appears with Moore’s mother, Sylvia Perkins

This morning, lawyers filed a federal civil rights lawsuit over the shooting death of Bobby Moore, the African-American teenager killed by former Little Rock Police Department officer Josh Hastings at a West Little Rock apartment complex almost three years ago. The suit — brought by Moore’s mother, Sylvia Perkins — names as defendants Hastings, former LRPD chief Stuart Thomas and the City of Little Rock.

Hastings confronted Moore after an apparent break-in on August 12, 2012 and shot the 15-year-old as he attempted to flee the scene in a car. The officer claimed at the time that Moore was trying to run him down with the vehicle. It was later determined by the police that Hastings’ version of events was untruthful, and he was fired from the force. However, two criminal trials against Hastings ended in mistrials after juries failed to reach an agreement over whether to convict him for manslaughter.

Michael Laux, an attorney for Perkins, said today at a press conference held at the Capital Hotel that “the responsibility for [Hasting’s] actions are absolutely shared by Stuart Thomas and the City of Little Rock, because they permitted this to occur. It could not have occurred … without them turning a blind eye towards what was by all accounts a problematic and dangerous officer.”

“To the casual observer, it might seem that while this was a tragic shooting, the LRPD stepped in and did the right thing,” Laux acknowledged. “After all, they performed an objective investigation, they determined that one of their own unjustifiably shot and killed a 15-year-old boy, and then they terminated the offending officer.” But, he argued, Hastings should never have been hired in the first place — at the time of his hiring, a fellow officer objected to the fact that Hastings had once attended a Ku Klux Klan rally in his youth — and his conduct while on the force showed that he should have been dismissed long before his fateful encounter with Moore.

“Hastings was hired and retained in the face of overwhelming evidence that he was not a fit candidate for such an important job — especially in a city where 40 percent of the population consists of African-American folks,” said Laux. The attorney alleged that the LRPD’s long history of clearing officers of wrongdoing has created a “custom of acquiescence to police misconduct and toleration of excessive force, over years and years, one that causes officers like Hastings to act with impunity in the field, knowing that their discipline would be nonexistent or disproportionately light.

“That Josh Hastings would be involved in a police shooting of an African-American Little Rock citizen was as predictable as the sun coming up tomorrow. This was not a matter of if — this was a matter of when. The only variable that was uncertain here was who the unlucky victim was going to be. On August 12, 2012, that victim turned out to be Bobby Moore. … If a well-trained, reasonably prudent officer had encountered Bobby that August morning, and not Josh Hastings, there’s no doubt that Bobby would be alive today.”

A spokesman for the LRPD said that the department had no comment, but that it may release a statement at a later time.

Perkins, seated beside her lawyer, spoke briefly to reporters. “This loss that my family has suffered has been a nightmare. Bobby was my youngest child, and I loved him dearly. … I cannot bring my son back, but I can make sure that everyone who was responsible for his death is held accountable. Most of all, we want to make sure that this doesn’t happen to anyone else,” she said.

There are six separate counts in the suit, three against Hastings and three against Thomas and the city. U.S. District Judge Brian Miller is assigned to the case. Here’s the filing:
Perkins v. Hastings et al

Laux elaborated later on the allegations that the LRPD has created a culture in which officer misconduct is tolerated.

“Prior to the Bobby Moore shooting, the LRPD had never determined that a police-involved shooting was unjustified. There are officers on the force right now that have rap sheets that are very long and consist of very serious violations … and yet they remain on the force.

The department, he said, exhibits a “pattern of not just excessive force … but also patterns of untruthfulness, of disengaging and altering video devices. What I’ve come to learn is that if an officer in the LRPD plans on committing any misconduct, he or she is well served to disable their mobile video recorder and then engage in the misconduct, because the worst discipline they’re going to face is for the violation on the video recorder being off, and they will more likely than not be exonerated.”

He also criticized the LRPD’s policy of handling misconduct through internal investigations. “The problem with internal investigation is that it creates a system where favors are given and where preferences are shown, and leverage can be exerted. … Regardless of the facts, these things have historically been pretty much rubber stamped.” Laux said the LRPD’s failure to address problematic officers has resulted in a less effective police force. “The cost in terms of money, time and personnel that is spent reviewing and ultimately exonerating these officers — it makes the claims that there aren’t enough officers on the street somewhat laughable. It’s a misallocation of resources.”

Laux said he was confident the suit will yield a different result than the two criminal trials, both because of the different burden of proof involved in civil cases and because it will include evidence that was inadmissible in the criminal trials. He said he’s not yet sure of the damages his client will be seeking. “We don’t have a set amount in mind at this point. … I’d be remiss to speculate on that.”

IN A RELATED MATTER: Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen has scheduled a hearing on Hastings’ motion to seal the investigative record in his case, which the statute allows unless it could present harm to the public or not serve the interests of justice. Seems to me the facts of a police shooting are always a matter of public interest.

by Benjamin Hardy | June 01, 2015
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Civil-rights lawsuit filed in LR police killing of teen

Attorneys Michael Laux, right, Michael A. Kelly stand beside a large photograph of Bobby Moore before a news conference about a federal civil rights lawsuit they filed Monday, June 1, 2015, in Moore's death.

An attorney says he has filed a six-count federal civil-rights lawsuit in the death of a 15-year-old boy fatally shot by a Little Rock police officer in 2012.

Attorney Michael J. Laux said the lawsuit in the death of 15-year-old Bobby Moore III contends that Officer Josh Hastings acted with excessive force and that the city of Little Rock and the Little Rock Police Department are responsible for hiring him despite warning signs of trouble.

An attorney who previously represented Hastings questioned the merits of the suit. A spokesman for the Little Rock Police Department said she could not comment “on active legal matters.”

Laux alleged Hastings before the shooting had been untruthful and had deliberately disobeyed policy. He said Hastings was hired because of connections he had to the agency and despite the department knowing he had previously attended a Ku Klux Klan meeting.

Laux said the department should not be absolved because it fired and sought charges against Hastings after the shooting of Moore.

“It would appear that the system works,” Laux said at a news conference Monday in Little Rock. “But any conclusion that this set of facts reflects a properly functioning and accountable police department would be very inaccurate. The truth of the matter is simply this: That Josh Hastings would be involved in a police-involved shooting of an African-American citizen is as predictable as the sun coming up tomorrow. This was not a matter of if, it was a matter of when. The only variable that was uncertain here was who the unlucky victim was going to be.”

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, notes several allegations made against Hastings prior to the shooting including failing to write and submit reports, missing court dates and not submitting a use-of-force report.

Bill James, a Little Rock defense attorney who represented Hastings in two criminal trials tied to the shooting, said he believes Hastings has qualified immunity from the suit and that the case will never make it as far as a jury trial. But if it did, the fact that Hastings “didn’t have a perfect record” hardly indicts him as someone likely to kill a teen suspect, James said.

“That’s all fun stuff to talk about, the stuff that is in his prior disciplinary record,” James said. “But they have nothing to do with this case. There’s nothing in this case that indicates he was capable of doing something like they’re accusing him of.”

James said he had not reviewed the full lawsuit. He said he would be meeting with Hastings soon to determine if he would represent him on it as well.

Laux said he couldn’t speculate on the monetary damages that could be awarded if a jury sides with the plaintiffs. He said he is hopeful that the lawsuit will also spur adjustments within the Little Rock agency, including having it change its practice of conducting internal investigations when an officer fatally shoots a suspect. He said the Moore shooting was the first time the Little Rock Police Department had ever ruled such a shooting unjustified.

Hastings, whose father, Terry Hastings, retired as a captain after a long career with the Little Rock Department, was fired from the force and charged after the early morning shooting on Aug. 12, 2012. Two separate trials ended in hung juries, and prosecutors announced after the second that they would not try him a third time.

Attorney Michael A. Kelly, a second attorney also representing Moore’s family, noted that civil juries have a different burden of proof than criminal ones and that additional evidence that wasn’t admissible in the trials can be considered.

“We expect that a civil jury evaluating what happened to Bobby and the denial of his constitutional rights will have no such difficulty,” Kelly said.

But James said the different burden will also allow the defendants to focus on the criminal activity Moore was accused of engaging in and the items in the car when he was fatally shot, which included a gun.

“More information would be given to a jury about what was actually happening that night, which I think will only help Josh,” James said. “The more they know about what was going on and the realities of what they were facing that night will convince them even more so than the jury in the criminal case.”

Hastings had been dispatched to investigate a report Moore and two teens with him were breaking into vehicles on the lot of a Little Rock apartment complex.

Laux acknowledged that Moore “made some mistakes,” but said those don’t justify the shooting.

“He was 15 years old,” Laux said at the news conference, which was also attended by members of Moore’s family. “He did not deserve to die. If a well-trained, reasonably prudent officer had encountered Bobby on that August morning, and not Josh Hastings, there’s no doubt that Bobby would be alive today.”

Moore’s mother, Sylvia Perkins, read a statement, calling Moore’s loss a “nightmare.”

Hastings contended he opened fire as the vehicle driven by Moore came at him in the dark parking lot. Prosecutors maintained the vehicle was stopped or moving backward when Hastings opened fire and that his decision to shoot amounted to “reckless” behavior.

The federal lawsuit was assigned to U.S. District Judge Brian Miller.

Story by Gavin Lesnick

Originally published June 1, 2015 at 11:36a.m., updated June 1, 2015 at 12:38p.m.

View original article >>

Dashcam Video from 2008 LR Officer-Involved Shooting Released as Part of Lawsuit

LITTLE ROCK, AR – The father of a man shot and killed by police in 2008 is refiling his lawsuit against the police department, alleging fraudulent concealment on behalf of the department to hide the truth of what led to his son’s death.

On the morning of July 16, 2008, Little Rock Police Department officers arrived to Christina Hatfield’s home on Gillette Drive shortly before 11 a.m.

Dashcam video captures the drive up to the home, and through the audio you can hear officers approach Hatfield and ask if her daughter and Collin Spradling are at the home.

“I’ll go get them,” she tells officers.

The police respond, “We need to talk to them about an incident.”

The audio then goes silent, aside from bits and pieces of static, officers’ yells of shots fired and then the sound of women screaming. The audio doesn’t come back up, until the Hatfields are being escorted to police cars on the street.

The portions of audio missing, attorney Mike Laux argues, are the critical moments when 25-year-old Collin Spradling left the home and was shot and killed by police.

“During crucial portions of this event where the police are alleging they made certain warnings and certain statements – that portion is damaged ,” Laux said. “So, we can’t tell if those statements were ever made or warnings ever given and that’s a real problem that we all need to take a look at.”

The moments after Spradling was shot, are on the tape, including the sound of Paul Hatfield’s voice speaking to officers in the backyard and on the way to the police car.

“I’m not going to do anything I just want to know why you guys just killed someone in my —,” you hear Paul allegedly say before the audio crackles out.

Officers were at the Hatfield home following up on a complaint by a woman who said Spradling had burglarized her home, stealing a gun in the process. The woman was the mother of Spradling’s ex-girlfriend and alleged that she didn’t know who drove the getaway car, but that it was a woman driving a white Honda. Supposedly, the complainant later followed up with the police officer, saying the woman’s name was Rachel.

According to police and the Hatfields, Spradling walked out the back door where police officers were waiting. He was told to put his hands behind his back, and both Christina and Rachael Hatfield reported the officer told Spradling he knew why they were there.

According to the Hatfields, Spradling then rolled his right shoulder forward, as if resisting arrest, and that’s when officers took him to the ground.

According to both Rachael and Christina Hatfield, an officer immediately placed a gun to the back of Spradling’s head.

Officers claimed Spradling reached for a gun during the struggle.

“When they told him to put his hands behind his back he started fighting, and they took him down to the ground,” Officer Michael Lundy tells another police officer on scene in the dascham video following the shooting. “And he put his hands in his pants. He’s dead. They shot him.”

Witness statements that day, and in later depositions, contest those details.

“He’s on the ground, next thing I know he’s being unloaded on. That’s ridiculous,” a voice attributed to Paul Hatfield, and identified as himself in a deposition says. “I know he had a gun, man, I know he had a gun. but he’s [explicative] pinned to the ground, he’s got his arms behind his back, and it’d be really hard for him to aim at anything.”

According to Paul Hatfield, during a later deposition, he never saw Spradling with a gun that day, but had seen he had a gun the day before. According to Christina and Rachael Hatfield, Spradling had encouraged Rachael to get a gun because of the late hours she worked as a nurse in a rougher part of town.

When Christina Hatfield asked for the gun not to be in her home, Rachael said Spradling took the gun and placed it in the glove box of his vehicle, which was parked on the street. According to Rachael, he never retrieved it. According to Christina’s and Rachael’s testimony during depositions, neither of them ever saw a gun on or near Spradling at the time of the shooting or after.

The gun officers said they recovered, which they said they placed on a ledge in the yard for safety reasons, was the gun Spradling’s father had loaned him to show the Hatfields. According to the complaint, police never found the gun Spradling was accused of stealing.

Officers said they had shouted, “gun, gun” prior to shooting Spradling, and one officer reported asking if “they were sure”. According to Christina, Rachael and Paul, they never heard those statements from police.

In Laux’s 320-page complaint, he alleges a cover-up was underway within moments after the shooting. He points to the fact that officers told Christina Hatfield they had a warrant for her daughter and Spradling, when in fact they did not.

“Trying to serve a warrant for burglary and they got him to come out when he came out,” Officer Lundy says on the dashcam video to another officer.

Later in the tape, he reiterates that to Christina Hatfield, saying “there’s a warrant for her [Rachael]”.

The department later confirmed there was not a warrant, and told reporters that the officers were there to talk to Spradling and Rachael about the burglary complaint, not to arrest them.

“You have an unjustified police shooting, but more troublesome we’re alleging in the complaint is a patternistic, systemic attempt at covering up what happened,” Laux said.

Throughout the complaint, Laux alleges investigators and the department violated their own policies investigating the shooting, including failing to maintain crime scene logs properly and failure to separate the officers from one another after the shooting.

“That extends to witness statements that were disregarded, evidence that was compromised and damaged and evidence and videotapes withheld by the city despite Freedom of Information Act requests a long time ago,” Laux said.

Laux’s ultimate allegation against the police department is that a pattern of police misconduct was allowed to flourish and directly led to Spradling’s death.

“We allege if proper discipline had been implemented years before this incident, this incident very well would not have happened,” Laux said. “And everyone should care about that, because this case shows you don’t have to be some hardened criminal to have this happen to you.”

Laux’s case hinges on whether there is ample evidence that fraudulent concealment took place. If the judge decides there is not enough evidence that occurred, the statute of limitations has run out on the case. The statute of limitations had actually run on the case the first time it was filed in 2012. Laux asked for the case to be voluntarily dismissed, saying additional evidence had been provided by the city and he needed time to sort through it.

We reached out to City of Little Rock attorney Tom Carpenter to get his perspective on the complaint filed Friday. He was out of town, but aware of the complaint. We intend to follow up with him for an interview to gain the city’s perspective on what’s alleged in the lawsuit and what the city intends to do next.

The officers involved in the shooting were never charged by prosecutors, and the shooting was deemed justified. Rachael Hatfield was never charged with a crime in relation to the burglary accusation that led police to the Hatfield home.
Copyright 2015 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

– Marci Manley, Arkansas Matters
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Family of Eugene Ellison asks DOJ to investigate Little Rock PD

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]The family of Eugene Ellison, an unarmed 67-year-old man who was shot to death in his Arkansas home 5 years ago, is asking the Justice Department to investigate his death. Eugene Ellison’s son, Spencer Ellison and Attorney Michael Laux join Tamron Hall.

– NewsNation with Tamron Hall 2/26/15[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Ellison Case To Go Before 8th Circuit Appeals Court in Saint Louis

Attorneys Flint Taylor (left) and Michael Laux speak to reporters Tuesday evening.

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Attorneys for the family of Eugene Ellison, a 67-year-old man killed by off duty Little Rock Police officers in his home four years ago, held a forum Tuesday night. It came two days before an appeal of a lawsuit against the department will be heard in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Saint Louis.

Ellison was shot in his home when two officers working as security at his apartment complex approached his unit and an altercation ensued. Chicago attorney Mike Laux said Ellison’s it was a wrongful death.

“Four years ago this evening, white Little Rock Police officers Donna Lesher and Tabatha McCrillis, senselessly shot and killed 67-year old Eugene Ellison, an African American, in his own home. This was after entering the home illegally, without probable cause, without an emergency, without a reason whatsoever.”

Laux is also calling for a U.S. Justice Department patterns and practices investigation into the LRPD’s history of police-involved shootings, which he says disproportionately impact African Americans.

Ellison’s son, Troy Ellison, who is currently an officer for the department alleges he has been retaliated against at work since his father’s death. His brother, Spencer Ellison, a former LRPD detective, also spoke.

“Throughout my father’s life, he was able to maintain a fairly simple life and he believed in God. And he carried a small brown pocket bible on him and he treated people the way he wanted to be treated. I still have that brown Bible to this day, which is bloodstained, and I keep it close to my heart,” said Ellison.

A spokesman for the Little Rock Police Department said it will not comment about this case during pending litigation.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Family of man shot by police seeks investigation

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]LITTLE ROCK, AR – The family of a man shot and killed by two Little Rock Police officers is asking U.S Attorney General Eric Holder to get involved. Eugene Ellison was gunned down in his home nearly two years ago.

Attorneys representing the family of Eugene Ellison, which include an LRPD sergeant, are asking for federal intervention for what they called a flawed system of internal investigations at LRPD.

It’s now nearly two years since two off duty little rock police officers shot and killed Ellison. His son, LRPD Sgt Troy Ellison says it’s not any easier to deal with.

“Everyday is a battle,” Ellison says. “I never know if I’m going to come into contact with the officers involved or the supervisor of the officers involved, how am I going to react when I see them.”

The two officers Donna Lesher and Tabitha McCrillis claimed the shooting followed a struggle with the 67-year old man inside his Big Country Chateau apartments at 6200 Colonel Glenn on Dec 9, 2010.

LRPD Chief Stuart Thomas asked for assistance from Arkansas State Police on the investigation. ASP declined because ten days had passed since the shooting before the request was made.

LRPD subsequently ruled it a good shooting with no criminal charges for either officer.

Flanked by his attorneys Monday, Ellison says he’s asking Holder to start a civil rights investigation.

“We feel like there are still a lot of questions out there that we haven’t received (answers to), our family hasn’t received,” Ellison says. “And we want to get a close to this as soon as possible.”

A wrongful death civil suit already filed seeks what attorney Mike Laux calls an “unbiased” internal investigation.

“It starts with the questioners of the suspects not being Facebook friends or bowling buddies or relatives or being hunting buddies,” Laux says. “It starts with an objective clean slate.”

LRPD won’t comment on the new claims citing the on going civil litigation but says all documents requested by the U.S. Department of Justice related to the shooting investigation were handed over in early 2011.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Family sues LR police officers after killing

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – The family of a man shot and killed by Little Rock police sued the city and the police department Monday, claiming officers conducted an illegal search that led to a fatal confrontation.

An attorney for Troy Ellison filed the lawsuit in federal court in Little Rock. It accuses officers Donna Lesher and Tabitha McCrillis of entering the home of Eugene Ellison without his permission last December and then using excessive force when Lesher shot Ellison.

The lawsuit also targets the city of Little Rock, the police department and the apartment complex where Eugene Ellison, 67, lived.

Troy Ellison is currently a detective in the department, and his brother, Spencer Ellison, is a former Little Rock officer who now teaches at Tyler Junior College in Texas.

The lawsuit accuses Lesher and McCrillis of entering the open door to Ellison’s apartment at the Big Country Chateau Apartments without a proper reason. It accuses McCrillis of making the first physical contact by shoving Ellison, starting a “physical struggle” between the three. When two officers arrived for backup, Ellison was crouched in a corner, the lawsuit alleges. It accuses Lesher of shooting Ellison while he tried to retrieve his cane.

Pulaski County prosecutor Larry Jegley has ruled the shooting to be justified, saying the two officers had no choice because Ellison attacked them with his cane and could not be subdued. Mike Laux, an attorney for the Ellisons, says authorities did not properly investigate the incident and disputed that Eugene Ellison had tried to attack the officers.

“This was a most reckless and callous act by Officer Lesher,” Laux said at a press conference Monday.

Laux described Troy Ellison, who plans to continue working for the department, as “conflicted,” but said both sons wanted justice for their father.

Though the lawsuit doesn’t ask for a specific amount in damages, Laux said he would request “significant sums of money.” It accuses the city of permitting a “widespread custom and practice of permitting warrantless entries and acts of excessive force” by police.

The family also filed a civil rights complaint with the FBI earlier this year. FBI spokesman Steve Frazier did not return a request for comment Monday. Police spokesman Lt. Terry Hastings and city spokeswoman Meg Matthews also did not respond to requests for comment. Ellison’s apartment complex did not have a phone number listed.

Statement from LRPD Chief Stuart Thomas, Oct. 17:

The Department has received a copy of the complaint filed today by Troy Ellison, plaintiff, against Officer Donna Lesher, Detective Tabitha McGrillis, myself, the City of Little Rock, and Big Country Chateau, LLC. While a response on behalf of the City and its named employees will be filed in the proper venue in a timely manner, I will at this time state that this incident has undergone intense Departmental review and that the actions of the officers were exonerated by both the Prosecuting Attorney and the Department. Further, I do not believe that the proof will ultimately support the allegations of unlawful customs or practices by this Department, and I have been assured of a vigorous defense by the City Attorney’s Office.

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Eugene Ellison killed by LR police officers, family sues LRPD

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) — A man is shot and killed in his home by Little Rock police officers. His family takes action filing a federal civil rights lawsuit. Officers shot and killed Eugene Ellison in December of 2010. The Little Rock Police Department conducted an internal investigation and found the shooting justified. Ellison’s family says he posed no threat to the officers. Today they met at the Capitol hotel to announce the lawsuit.

A lawsuit filed in Federal court says Little Rock officers Donna Lesher and Tabitha McCrillis used excessive force and conducted an unlawful search against 67 year old Eugene Ellison. Authorities say the officers had to shoot Ellison after he attacked them when they entered his home last December while working off duty as security officer for the Chateau Apartment complex.

Prosecutor Larry Jegley investigated the case and filed no charges against the officers. Ellison’s family is suing the city of Little Rock and the officers for wrongful death. Attorney Michael Laux says Ellison’s death was avoidable. “There are literally hundreds of scenarios that could have unfolded and none of them would have resulted in Mr. Ellison’s death.”

Eugene’s two sons both have worked in law enforcement. Troy is currently a detective with the Little Rock police force Spencer teaches law enforcement classes and wants their lawsuit to shed a light on the issue. “Our hope and intentions are to seek justice only I also want to increase awareness and the facts about this traumatic event so that others may come forth as we did.”

Laux says they are seeking significant sums of money in compensation for damages, but wouldn’t say exactly how much. The lawsuit lists 11 counts.

Statement from LRPD Chief Stuart Thomas, Oct. 17:

The Department has received a copy of the complaint filed today by Troy Ellison, plaintiff, against Officer Donna Lesher, Detective Tabitha McGrillis, myself, the City of Little Rock, and Big Country Chateau, LLC. While a response on behalf of the City and its named employees will be filed in the proper venue in a timely manner, I will at this time state that this incident has undergone intense Departmental review and that the actions of the officers were exonerated by both the Prosecuting Attorney and the Department. Further, I do not believe that the proof will ultimately support the allegations of unlawful customs or practices by this Department, and I have been assured of a vigorous defense by the City Attorney’s Office.

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