Wrongful death lawsuits rarely filed; families seldom win

The homicide investigation and coroner's inquest that followed her son's 1999 shooting death left Connie Perrin angry and dissatisfied, so she sought emotional and financial redress in federal court.

Though the Metropolitan Police Department eventually settled a separate lawsuit filed on behalf of her son's young daughter, jurors in Perrin's case ruled for the police.

Andre Rowe was so intimidated by the idea of challenging the police in court that he chose not to file a wrongful death lawsuit after his father was shot under mysterious circumstances in 1996.

He was further deterred from taking legal action by a unanimous inquest verdict that the homicide was justified.

Whether in the quasi-judicial setting of a coroner's inquest or in an actual court of law, the families of people fatally shot by police rarely find their desired sense of closure.

Defenders of local law enforcement contend an unbroken string of rulings clearing police and a dearth of successful wrongful death lawsuits validate officers' use of deadly force. But police critics say otherwise, arguing that people like Perrin and Rowe were victims of multiple failures in a system that should hold officers accountable for deadly decisions.

The facts speak for themselves: In 142 fatal police shootings in the Las Vegas Valley over a little more than the past 20 years, no coroner's jury has returned a ruling adverse to police. And in 90 percent of the cases, the verdict of justified or excusable was unanimous.

For most families, the inquest is the end of the line.

Only about two dozen of those fatalities spawned lawsuits in federal court, where most cases against local police end up. Only seven culminated in cash settlements. None ended with jury verdicts in favor of the plaintiff, though several cases -- including some high-profile ones -- are still pending.

In an analysis of all fatal and non-fatal shootings in the region, the Review-Journal found that less than 10 percent result in a lawsuit ever being filed. Data also show that shootings where a subject was unarmed or armed only with a knife were more likely to result in a lawsuit than were those involving a subject with a gun.

While it's widely believed that officer-involved fatal shootings lead to big lawsuit settlements, the largest payout by far has been $700,000 to the family of Albanian-born ice cream truck driver Deshira Selimaj, killed by Henderson police in 2008. Selimaj, 42, was holding a knife, but some witnesses said she posed no immediate threat when officer Luke Morrison shot her.

The second-largest settlement was $300,000 stemming from the 2003 Las Vegas police shooting of Orlando Barlow. Barlow, 28, was unarmed and on his knees when officer Brian Hartman shot him once in the back with a rifle.

In all other cases combined, local governments have paid only about $400,000 in damages related to fatal shootings since 1991. By comparison, Las Vegas police alone paid $18 million to settle various property damage, excessive force and wrongful arrest claims since 1991, according to the agency's fiscal affairs committee documents.

In contrast to other areas of the country, including Southern California where governments routinely reach settlements and juries award millions of dollars in wrongful death lawsuits against police, Las Vegas Valley jurors are considered more conservative and pro-law enforcement, making it less likely that a plaintiff will prevail.

"I didn't take shooting cases for a long time , because you can't win them here," Las Vegas attorney Cal Potter said. "Police officers have such wide berth when it comes to their actions."

A man shot by North Las Vegas police in 2003, however, recently came away with a $3 million settlement. His lawyer attributes his win to the fact that his client survived to tell his version of events.

Lamar Kiles, 18, was shot and permanently disabled by officer Robinson Reed after he allegedly made a movement to his waistband at an apartment complex where Reed was investigating a shots-fired call. Reed initially said his weapon discharged accidentally but later told investigators that he meant to shoot but didn't remember doing so. Kiles was unarmed.

"Frequently in fatal shootings, you just have officers' testimony and no other witnesses," said Brent Bryson, who represented Kiles. "And most people just don't want to believe that a police officer would behave wrongly."

To prove a wrongful death claim, the burden is on the plaintiff to show that an officer had malevolent intent when using deadly force. If the officer's actions were "objectively reasonable" to neutralize a real or perceived threat, the police usually win in court. In Southern Nevada, wrongful death cases are often dismissed by a judge without being heard by a jury.

Potter and other attorneys who have represented families of people shot by police say the federal court system, along with the state criminal courts and the inquest process, fail to hold officers and departments accountable.

Las Vegas Police Protective Association Executive Director Chris Collins said many failed lawsuits against the Metropolitan Police Department validates the agency.

"It doesn't take long for the suing party's attorney to realize, 'There's no money in this for me. (The department) didn't do anything wrong,' " Collins said.

Collins said he does not believe the "objective reasonableness" standard affords officers too much leeway.

FAILED LAWSUITS SEND MESSAGE

Perrin, whom Bryson represented in her lawsuit against Las Vegas police, thought she had a good chance of a legal victory. In April 1999, officer Bruce Gentner shot and killed John Paul Perrin, 32, after he refused to show his hands while walking late at night in a southwest Las Vegas neighborhood. Police later determined that Perrin, who was dribbling a basketball, had no weapons. Gentner testified at inquest that he felt threatened by Perrin. Jurors ruled 6-1 that the killing was justified, and after several years in civil court, another jury also backed the police.

"I feel there should be accountability for these shootings, not just the blanket officer excuse, 'I feared for my life,' " Perrin said. "Do I believe all police officers are bad? Of course not. I admire the job they do, but they are not above reproach."

Bryson said verdicts like that in the Perrin case send a bad message: "Police officers understand, based on decades of precedent, that they have carte blanche to do what they want to do. They can carry out the police function in any manner and have departmental backing."

Carol Henderson, whose son Ryan, 20, was shot and killed at their family home in 1997, said she and her husband didn't sue Las Vegas police in part because they didn't expect to win. Ryan was pointing a pistol at police.

The atmosphere at the coroner's inquest did even more to dissuade her from suing.

"I was very intimidated at the inquest, because they not only bring in the officers involved, they also bring in what seems like the whole police force," Henderson said. "You're very much outnumbered in there. We would have been afraid even if we felt we had a legitimate case."

Andre Rowe said he felt the same.

"I thought about (filing suit)," said Rowe, whose father, Henry Rowe, was stabbed and shot dead in 1996 by Metropolitan Police Deparment officer George "Gregg" Pease, who had already killed two other men under unusual circumstances. "It scared me a little bit. I didn't really want to take on an entire police department."

Review-Journal reporter Lawrence Mower contributed to this report. Alan Maimon is a Review-Journal special correspondent.

Trending topics:

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• Deadly Force
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• John Paul Perrin

Comments

Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.

1. jerry.harvey Apr. 8, 2012 | 9:21 p.m. Report Abuse

   Sure, the reason John Q. Public can't get justice or file a lawsuit is simple; the 'system' is rigged against the public. Who among you has not seen a police office mis-state the facts of what you saw with your own eyes? In 1998, I was forced to protect a female acquaintenace from her ex husbands brother by offering that coke freak an attitude adjustment. I was carrying a Ruger .22 rifle to protect her, her children and myself. We called for a police officer to come escort him off the property he had already been 86'd from and the officer came and confiscated my weapon 'in the interests of public safety'. I am retired military and totally familiar with the ROE of use of force. I never managed to get an answer from the Clark County Sheriff's Department (LVMPD) about how confiscating my property increased public safety. As a law abiding citizen, I used what was appropriate to stop a drugged criminal from continuing to beat a woman. When the officer showed up, nobody was in any danger from me unless Mr Taylor returned and found a way to take down the officer. Certainly the woman and her children were not at risk since the children had come running to my house, pounding on my door and stating 'come quick, Joe's beating the hell out of Momma!' I was half way to her house before I realized I had grabbed my rifle on the way out the door. Shame on police departments all over America for protecting and serving only the police, their families, judges and politicians. Especially I am ashamed of their Nazi mindset which ignores rights we military have guaranteed for centuries.

2. TankerUSMA1975 Nov. 28, 2011 | 9:16 p.m. Report Abuse

   @irishfighter. Perrin wasn't wearing gloves when he was confronted by Genter. If Perrin removed a vial from his waistband and threw it, it should have some type of fingerprint on it, correct? At least, I have never figured out how to throw something without touching it. So, just because a vial was found near the body with no finger prints, how can you assume that it belonged to Perrin? Federal Judge Roger Hunt wrote in his opinion, "From the statements of those who worked with him and came in contact with him, it appears that Officer Genter has a tendency not only to use excessive force, but to misperceive potential safety threats. If Officer Genter's fellow officers were afraid to work with him, surely Metro was on constructive notice that Genter was not only a potential threat to public safety, but that he regularly flaunted Constitution safeguards intended to protect citizens against the use of excessive force."

3. drowsyangel Nov. 28, 2011 | 5:03 p.m. Report Abuse

   Victim of Metro wrote on November 28, 2011 03:18 PM:
   Universities and high schools should not be brainwashing students with anything except reading, writing and arithmetic. Multiculturalism is just a euphemism for politically correct and factually incorrect history, bashing of "the man" to create another generation of democratic voters. As someone who has worked in corporate America and now works for himself; I can tell you that the classes I was forced to take in the early 90s about "multiculturalism" have not been of any benefit. I have buyers from Asia and Mexico, speak enough Spanish to get by, but what university students need is technical education that will enable them to go out into the workforce. The OWS protesters seem to have a disproportionate number of people who majored in liberal subjects such as English, Communications, etc. and they graduate and say: "Where's my job." I like astronomy, I'm a member of two clubs. When I started my college education I looked at the dismal job prospects of astronomy majors and felt I was better off in engineering. That has paid me very well. Now as I wind down and plan to work only five more years until my real estate investments recover, I realize that was the best decision I ever made. I have a $4,000 telescope and follow NASA on Twitter, but I'm not an astronomer. That said, I have always had a roof over my head and food to eat.

4. ecko1885 Nov. 28, 2011 | 4:59 p.m. Report Abuse

   Can't believe the RJ is cranking this stuff out. Goes to show when it comes to ratings and selling papers this is one topic that the people actually want to read. To all METRO-backers; might be time to take notice of how the regular people in this town perceive you...put simply you scare the s&*t out of people. I'll be amazed if I don't read an incident involving METRO and Alan Maimon, Lawrence Mower or Brian Haynes in the next month. Funny...I don't see METRO's PR guy Blasky involved in this report, big shocker there.

5. preachersdaughter Nov. 28, 2011 | 4:57 a.m. Report Abuse

   @irishfighter...You wrote, "maybe you should have sued yourself for being a bad mother." Why would you post such a hateful comment to a woman who lost her son? The comments you have made on the RJ reveal you to be ignorant and vindictive. If you want readers to see your point of view I suggest you change your tactic. Btw, I have been in Vegas most of my life and can handle it fine.

6. misfits Nov. 28, 2011 | 1:58 a.m. Report Abuse

   i love how it says 'killed' by metro when it really should say murdered by metro. the only time any cop should ever shoot at a suspect is if they had pulled a gun and aimed directly at them. it blows my mind how many citizens have been murdered by metro who only had a knife, or were unarmed entirely. how is it possible to be justified to use deadly force if someone is cuffed, on their knees, or running away and shot in the back? these low down dirty cowards that call themselves cops should be strung up and made an example of. the corruption has gone on far too long in this town. its no wonder why everyone distrusts and hates the police here

7. irishfighter Nov. 27, 2011 | 11:39 p.m. Report Abuse

   Tanker, You watch way too much CSI. victim of metro, If you get robbed or victimized some other way, call a fireman they need the overtime. preacheresdaughter, You just need to move back to Utah, Vegas might be to much for you.

8. TankerUSMA1975 Nov. 27, 2011 | 10:46 p.m. Report Abuse

   @Karen and Irish. The only problem was that the vial found near Perrin's body had no fingerprints on it. If Perrin had handled it, don't you think that his fingerprints should have been found on it.

9. preachersdaughter Nov. 27, 2011 | 9:51 p.m. Report Abuse

   @victim_of_metro...I, too, am afraid of cops. In my home we have a rule that we NEVER call the police. My husband and I feel we can protect our family and that calling the police is not worth the risk of having them involved. It is sad that, as law-abiding citizens, we have to teach our little girl that she cannot trust law enforcement. We are not criminals. We are college educated, tax-paying citizens of Las Vegas and we are disgusted at the lack of accountability of LVMPD. Hey Doug Gillespie- are you listening?

10. preachersdaughter Nov. 27, 2011 | 8:59 p.m. Report Abuse

    @taxpayersagainstwelfare...We get it. You don't like poor people. (No need to use quotation marks-they are human beings.) However, even people receiving public assistance have a right to due process. You have such contempt for the underprivileged but respect for high school dropouts who can kill with impunity. Instead of being disgusted by those less fortunate, why not be motivated to help?
    "To whom much is given, of him shall much be required." -- Luke 12:48

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