No Charges Against HPD Officer Who Killed Double Amputee In A Wheelchair June 14, 2013 in Front Page, Government, Texas Post image for No Charges Against HPD Officer Who Killed Double Amputee In A Wheelchair A grand jury has declined to bring criminal charges against a Houston police officer who fatally shot a double amputee in a wheelchair last fall, a shooting that spawned nationwide criticism and renewed calls locally for more accountability of law enforcement. HPD officer Matthew Marin shot and killed Brian C. Claunch on Sept. 22, after the mentally ill man threatened his partner with a ball point pen, police have said. A Harris County grand jury empaneled in the 176th District Court decided on Monday not to indict the officer, said Julian Ramirez, the assistant Harris County district attorney who is chief of the Civil Rights Division. HPD Chief Charles McClelland declined to comment, citing a continuing investigation by the department’s internal affairs division into the shooting, said spokesman John Cannon. In December, McClelland confirmed he asked the U.S. Justice Department to review Claunch’s shooting, the beating of teenaged burglar Chad Holley and the July 2011 arrest of a 16-year-old robbery suspect who, although handcuffed, was punched in the face by an HPD officer. The Justice Department later requested information from HPD on three additional cases, including the fatal shooting last July of unarmed immigrant Rufino Lara and the force used in the arrests of two other residents. Claunch’s death also prompted members of the Greater Houston Coalition for Justice to ask U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to accelerate the group’s earlier request to investigate “patterns and practices” of civil rights violations by HPD against minorities and others. Since the shooting, Marin has been assigned to administrative duties at HPD’s property room facility, Cannon said. ‘An objective eye’ Randall Kallinen, a Houston attorney and civil rights activist, said the officer should have been punished more severely. “Shooting an unarmed individual, a double amputee in a wheelchair, should be considered excessive force,” he said. “The city of Houston lacks a system to effectively track use of force, resulting in no discipline for officers involved in excessive force incidents, thereby encouraging further instances of excessive force.” No Charges Against HPD Officer Who Killed Double Amputee In A Wheelchair [continued]
Posted on: Sun, 16 Jun 2013 04:33:09 +0000
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