On November 17, 2006, Lane County District Attorney F. Douglass Harcleroad announced that he would not pursue criminal charges against Eugene Police Officer Shawn Trotter for using deadly force that caused the death of Ryan Salisbury on November 14, 2006. Officer Trotter shot five .223 caliber bullets from his AR15 rifle at Mr. Salisbury, 80% of which hit him and caused the death of the 19-year-old that appeared to pose a threat to Officer Trotter and his fellow officers (Sharlow, Lowe and Recruit Hubbard).
 link to rgweb.registerguard.com
On January 18, 2008, Columbia County District Attorney Stephen Atchison announced that he would not pursue criminal charges against Portland Police Sergeant Greg Stewart for using deadly force that caused the death of Jeffrey Dean Turpin on October 5, 2007. Sergeant Stewart shot two bullets from his 9 mm rifle at Mr. Turpin, 100% of which hit him and caused the death of the 42-year-old that appeared to pose a threat to Sergeant Stewart and his family.
http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=120069837530637100
It only took the Lane County District Attorney 72 hours to investigate and exonerate Officer Trotter. Furthermore, D.A. Harcleroad's decision preceded the release of the Eugene Police Department's use of deadly force review by almost three months (11/17/06-2/10/07). The review of Eugene Police Officer Trotter was conducted by EPD Lieutenant Scott Fellman and Sergeants Ron Swanson, Terry Martin, Sam Kamkar and Dan Long.
It took Columbia County District Attorney Atchison three months (10/5/07-1/18/08) to investigate and exonerate Sergeant Stewart. Mr. Atchison's decision was informed by a review of Portland Police Sergeant Stewart prepared by Oregon State Police Detective Scott Sudaisar and Scappoose Police Officer Troy Gainer.
Columbia County District Attorney Atchison waited until after the use of deadly force report was available before deciding whether the situation warranted legal action. Lane County District Attorney Harcleroad jumped the gun by almost three months.
Portland Police Chief Rosanne Sizer outsourced the evaluation of Portland Police Sergeant Greg Stewart to the Oregon State Police and Scappoose Police Department. Eugene Police Chief Robert Lehner chose an in-house evaluation of Eugene Police Officer Shawn Trotter by the Eugene Police Department.
OR SB111 will require all Oregon police chiefs to outsource deadly force investigations like Portland Police Chief Sizer did. Unfortunately, OR SB111 does not require all district attorneys to use this report in assessing criminal culpability like Columbia County D.A. Atchison did. The bill does not require that the District Attorney wait until the state-mandated Use of Deadly Force Review is complete before deciding whether to pursue criminal charges. In fact, according to the Lane County Use of Deadly Force Plan, the District Attorney would still have the discretion to exonerate an officer days after the shooting and months before the deadly force review is available.
Section 7.3 (b) says "The District Attorney will consult with the investigating agency and make the decision on whether to present the case to a Grand Jury. (1) The timing of the decision will be made by the District Attorney at such time as he has determined that sufficient information is available to competently make the decision."
http://www.co.lane.or.us/sheriff/documents/DeadlyPhysicalForcePlanV6.pdf
OR SB111 mandates that city, county and state law enforcement agencies devote scarce resources to creating an interagency team to investigate cases where a law enforcement agent's use of deadly force causes the death of a civilian. Unfortunately, it does not mandate that the District Attorney use these results in assessing criminal liability. Moreover, Section 6 of the bill prohibits the results from being used in "civil action or administrative proceeding. " In sum, OR SB111 requires cities, counties to devote resources to conducting research that OR SB111 prohibits from being used.
If OR SB111 doesn't make you want to send your representative in Salem back to Ashland, Bend, Corvallis, Drain, Eugene or Florence, then you haven't paid enough attention to OR SB111.
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