Kelly Thomas was 'dying at the hands of police,' D.A. says

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A supporter falls to the ground crying at a memorial at “Kelly’s Corner” after two former Fullerton police officers were found not guilty of murder in the 2011 death of transient Kelly Thomas in Fullerton. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Kathy Thomas, mother of Kelly Thomas, receives a hug from a supporter in front of a memorial at “Kelly’s Corner.” (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Protesters march outside the Fullerton police station after two former officers were acquitted in the killing of Kelly Thomas. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Friends, family and supporters stand at “Kelly’s Corner” on Monday night after two former Fullerton police officers were found not guilty of the murder of Kelly Thomas. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Ron and Kathy Thomas embrace outside the Santa Ana Courthouse Monday after two Fullerton police officers were found not guilty in the murder of their son Kelly. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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As supporters hug, Kathy Thomas sits in a chair outside the Santa Ana Courthouse on Monday after two Fullerton police officers were found not guilty in the murder of her son Kelly. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Ron Thomas, the father of slain Kelly Thomas, hugs Marlena Carrillo outside the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana after the arraignment hearing. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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A supporter of Kelly’s Army pays his respects at the site in Fullerton where Kelly Thomas was involved in an altercation with police that led to his death. (Barbara Davidson / The Los Angeles Times)

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Members of Kelly’s Army chant “two down four to go” outside the Fullerton Police Department after two officers were charged in connection with the death of Kelly Thomas. Thomas, a schizophrenic, homeless man, died five days after an altercation with police. (Barbara Davidson / The Los Angeles Times)

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Charlotte Cianciola of Buena Park gets emotional as the District Attorney announces that criminal charges have been filed against two of the six Fullerton police officers involved in the beating death of Kelly Thomas. (GIna Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas at the news conference in Santa Ana where he announced charges would be brought against two Fullerton police officers in the death of Kelly Thomas. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Christine Walker, center, of Fullerton, joins a crowd outside the Santa Ana civic center watching a TV broadcast of Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas’ news conference. (GIna Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Staff members listen as their boss Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas addresses a press conference announcing charges against two Fullerton police officers for the beating death of 37-year-old homeless man Kelly Thomas. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Larry Dewitt Williams, 56, gathers with other supporters in front of the Orange County district attorney’s office to show support for Kelly Thomas’ family. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Ron Thomas embraces Susan Wright after she delivered an emotional plea to the Fullerton City Council for better treatment of the mentally ill. Thomas and hundreds of supporters attended the meeting hours after the release of the coroner’s report on the death of his son, Kelly, at the hands of Fullerton police. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Fullerton City Council member Sharon Quirk-Silva, left, and Fullerton resident Erin Lewis, right, comfort Cathy Thomas after the council voted to retain an outside investigator to look into the death of Thomas’ son, Kelly, after a confrontation with Fullerton police. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Cathy Thomas visits a memorial for her son Kelly at the Fullerton Transportation Center. She stops there several times a week to water the flowers and talk to people who pass by. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Fullerton Police Captain Kevin Hamilton, above, was named acting chief of police after Chief Michael Sellers went on medical leave in the wake of the death of Kelly Thomas in July. (Mark Boster/ Los Angeles Times)

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People outside the Fullerton police station protest the death of Kelly Thomas. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)

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Gary Tayles, 45, of Los Angeles joins a group outside the Fullerton police station protesting the death of Kelly Thomas. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)

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Cathy Thomas, left, shakes hands with Fullerton police officers who barricaded a street to make room for a demonstration protesting the beating and death of Kelly Thomas. (Alex Gallardo / Associated Press)

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Fullerton Police Chief Michael Sellers talks with the city attorney before a City Council meeting. Many residents have called for him to resign. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

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An overflow crowd watches a TV monitor outside City Council chambers as the public voices outrage over the death of Kelly Thomas, 37, a schizophrenic homeless man who was killed during an altercation with Fullerton police on July 5. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

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An impromptu sidewalk memorial has been set up for Kelly Thomas, 37, a homeless schizophrenic man who died five days after a run-in with Fullerton police in early July at a bus depot off South Pomona Avenue. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Passersby stop to read notes left at a memorial for Kelly Thomas. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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A woman holds a drawing of a police officer behind bars as Ron Thomas asks the Fullerton City Council for answers about his son Kelly’s death. Residents packed the council chambers and an overflow area for the Aug. 2 meeting. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Fullerton resident Michelle Kearney hugs Ron Thomas, father of Kelly Thomas. Residents packed the City Council chambers and an overflow area to express their outrage over the police beating of Kelly Thomas, who later died. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Cathy Thomas, mother of Kelly Thomas, listens to public comment during the Fullerton City Council meeting. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Residents stand and applaud as Ron Thomas is given more time to speak to the City Council about the police beating and subsequent death of his son, Kelly Thomas, last month. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

By Paloma Esquivel

Jan. 7, 2014 4:17 PM PT

Former Fullerton Police Officer Manuel Ramos went from unprofessional to threatening in his interaction with Kelly Thomas, to the point where the mentally ill homeless man had the right to defend himself, Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas told jurors Tuesday.

“He knew clearly he was out of bounds, out of bounds of his authority of proper police conduct. He knew he had created a right to self-defense on the part of Kelly Thomas,” Rackauckas said.

Rackauckas presented his closing argument Tuesday in the criminal case against Ramos and former Cpl. Jay Cicinelli. Ramos is charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter; Cicinelli is charged with involuntary manslaughter and excessive force in the death of Thomas, a Fullerton transient whose death five days after the July 2011 beating galvanized a series of protests against police brutality, led to the recall of City Council members and resulted in an unprecedented murder charge in Orange County against a police officer.

At the outset of his nearly four-hour long presentation, Rackauckas told jurors that they will be the conscience of the county when they decide whether Ramos and Cicinelli should be convicted.

“You’re going to send a message to the defendants, to the police and to the public as to whether or not the conduct depicted in this case … is acceptable,” Rackauckas said.

The district attorney methodically described the evidence presented to the jury since the trial began in early December. He dismissed defense witnesses who said Thomas had a history of violence and drug use as efforts to smear the homeless man. And he returned again and again to a surveillance video, which captured the confrontation between Thomas and police.

The video has been played numerous times during the trial, at times in split-second intervals. And on Tuesday, Rackauckas played clips of the video more than a dozen times during his argument.

“You can see and hear for yourself what happened,” Rackauckas said. “As you watch, you realize that what you’re watching and hearing is a person dying at the hands of police.”

In the first few minutes of the video, which is paired with audio from the officer’s digital recorders, Ramos can be seen talking to Thomas, asking his name and whether Thomas had been rattling car doors in the parking lot. Ramos and another officer were responding to a report saying that someone had been trying car doors in a nearby parking lot.

Ramos acted unprofessionally almost from the moment he stopped Thomas, Rackauckas said.

In order for jurors to find Ramos guilty of second-degree murder, they must find that he knew he was acting in a way that was inherently dangerous to human life and that he disregarded that risk.

Rackauckas argued that as the encounter went on, Ramos became more and more confrontational with Thomas until he pulled out a pair of gloves and told him, “See these fists?... They’re getting ready to ... you up.”

“Can you imagine having a police officer say something like that when you’re sitting there?” Rackauckas asked the jury, his voice rising. “What does that mean? I’m ready to ... you up? That means I’m gonna beat you up severely. That means there’s gonna be injuries here.”

At this point, Rackauckas said, Thomas had a right to defend himself against the officer. In the video, Thomas can be seen standing up and backing away from Ramos. Within seconds, Ramos and the other officer began swinging their batons at him.

Cicinelli arrived at the scene as the two officers struggled with Thomas on the ground. He used his stun gun multiple times and then hit Thomas’s face with it.

As he described the scene, Rackauckas pulled a yellow Taser out of a plastic bag and held it in his right hand.

Thomas’ “head is to the pavement and he’s getting this from the top down. This, this is going to cause damage to somebody’s face,” Rackauckas said.

Thomas, he added, “is not dangerous to anybody at this point. He’s just resisting, he’s squirming, he’s moving around. So Cpl. Cicinelli decides to use deadly force to control the situation. That is unreasonable and excessive.”

Toward the end of his argument, Rackauckas eschewed the video and played just the audio of the last few minutes of the confrontation accompanied by quotes projected onto a large black screen.

Thomas could be heard, screaming for his father and calling for help.

“Dad, help me.”

“God, help me.”

“Please, Dad.”

“Help me.”

“Help me, please, Dad.”

“I can’t breathe.”

“Daddy. Daddy. Daddy. Daddy.”

“Help me. Help me. Help me.”

“I don’t know about you,” Rackauckas said, “but I can’t recall ever hearing such pleas. Such crying. Such begging for his life. Ever.”

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