Battle Ensues Over Disclosure Of Report After Teen's Death In Police Shooting
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A battle continues over the public disclosure of an independent report examining a 2012 officer-involved shooting that left an unarmed teen dead.
Kendrec McDade, 19, was shot multiple times by Pasadena police officers Mathew Griffin and Jeffrey Newlen on March 24, 2012, after a 911 caller lied and said he had been robbed at gunpoint.
An independent review of the shooting ordered by the police chief was due for release Thursday.
CBS2's Dave Lopez reports that has now been delayed, however, after the Pasadena Police Officers Association obtained a temporary restraining order blocking its release.
Pasadena City Attorney Michele Beal Bagneris told Lopez she has read the report compiled by the head of the Los Angeles County Office of Independent Review, but said no one can discuss its contents until a full hearing scheduled for Sept. 23 is held.
"To ensure that I'm not violating also the spirit of the court's order, I prefer to refrain from talking about it," Bagneris said, adding: "There is a balance between transparency and the public's right, appropriately, their right to know."
Richard Shinee, the attorney representing Newlen and Griffin, declined to comment on camera.
However, in a written statement, Shinee insisted his clients have "nothing to hide."
"[The officers] are simply ensuring that the law is followed with respect to the confidentiality of personnel files. Whether the report praises the officers or criticizes them is not the point. The point is that the contents of the report are confidential," he stated in part.
Oscar Felipe Carrillo was sentenced to nine months in county jail for his involvement in the incident.
Pasadena police said Carrillo admitted he lied when he told an emergency dispatcher his backpack was stolen by two armed suspects. The suspects were not armed and had actually taken the item while burglarizing his car, police said.
A 17-year-old boy who was with McDade faced two felony counts of commercial burglary, a felony count of grand theft and one misdemeanor count of failing to register as a gang member. He was sentenced to six months of camp community placement.
McDade's parents also successfully sued the city of Pasadena.
Prosecutors told KCAL9 in June McDade's mother, Anya Slaughter, received $850,000 and his father, Kenneth McDade, received $187,000 in the settlement, bringing their federal wrongful-death and civil rights lawsuits filed against the city to a close.
The settlement also absolved the city and police of any fault or liability.
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