Jury Exonerates Anaheim Officer in Shooting of Man Who Ran Away

A jury on Wednesday exonerated a police officer who shot an unarmed man in the back, paralyzing him, saying that the man’s attempt to flee justified the shooting.

Ronald Gibson, who was a prison escapee, was left paralyzed from the waist down after the 1981 shooting. He had claimed that Anaheim Police Officer James Edward Conley used excessive force in subduing him.

Conley had testified that he recognized Gibson as a wanted man, stopped his car, ordered him to surrender and then fired when Gibson crouched and ran in a shopping center parking lot in the 200 block of West Lincoln Avenue.

“I had just a very short time to make the decision I made, and for six years I’ve felt that what I did was right,” Conley said after the verdict. “I’m very glad the jury felt the way they did.”

“We don’t like any shootings,” said Conley, a 14-year veteran who has been involved in one other shooting incident, which did not result in injury. “Personally, I don’t like using any force. Shooting someone is the last thing a person wants to do. When I found out he was unarmed, that made me feel even worse.”

Crouched Toward His Left

Conley testified that he aimed his gun at Gibson, who was getting out of an auto, and ordered him to put his hands on his head. Gibson hesitated, then crouched toward his left. Conley told jurors that Gibson had been described as armed and dangerous, usually carrying a weapon in his left boot.

Gibson, supported by statements from four witnesses, claimed that he hesitated and then began running away from Conley when the shot was fired.

Several members of the jury, which deliberated for two days in the courtroom of Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard N. Paslow Jr., said medical evidence showed that the trajectory of the bullet was consistent with Conley’s account.

The lengthy deliberations were caused by concerns that Conley failed to call for help from fellow officers and, therefore, might have been negligent in seeking to arrest Gibson while alone, according to several jurors.

Tape of Calls Excluded

Excluded from evidence in the case was a tape recording of calls to the police dispatcher confirming Conley’s claim that he tried to call in but was unsuccessful in getting through heavy traffic from other radio users, according to Jeffrey Epstein, Conley’s attorney.

Juror Gene Cole of Anaheim said jurors would have returned with a verdict favoring Conley “in half an hour” had they been aware of the contents of the tape.

“We decided that the preponderance of evidence did not show he (Conley) was not justified,” juror Neil Wormsbaker said.

Juror Jim Mottola of Irvine said all jurors agreed that once Conley and Gibson were face to face, the policeman was totally justified in his actions. The trial, which began Aug. 2, was by far the longest involving allegations of police misconduct in Orange County in the last 18 months. Epstein, who has successfully represented police officers in dozens of cases, said he thought it was a very close case.

Epstein, who last month won a $20,000 verdict for a Newport Beach police officer who sued the American Civil Liberties Union, said other important evidence had not reached the jury.

Epstein said that, before the shooting, Gibson had spent “20 of the past 25 years” in jail. Gibson had been involved in a shoot-out with Garden Grove police in 1967 during which he was shot in the chest and barely survived. The only part of Gibson’s criminal history allowed to be presented to the jury was that, at the time of the shooting, he was a prison escapee who had been sentenced for burglary.

Gibson, confined to a wheelchair and living on welfare in Nevada, could not be reached for comment. His lawyer, Christopher Mears, said he felt that he has good grounds upon which to demand a new trial.

Epstein argued that even if Conley acted wrongly, Gibson himself was responsible for much of his injury because he escaped from prison and then attempted to flee when confronted by Conley.

Acted Without Negligence

“If he hadn’t done those things, none of this would have occurred,” Epstein said.

Epstein also disputed Mears’ claims that Gibson deserved more than $200,000 for past medical expenses and a total of $4 million in damages. Technically the jury decided Conley acted without negligence and did not commit an assault on Gibson.

Conley, 34, is married and has a daughter. He is now a detective assigned to the criminal identification bureau.

“I think (the verdict) endorses the way a lot of officers do business,” Conley said. “A lot of our actions are just reactions to what the persons we’re making contact with do. I honestly believe that if Mr. Gibson had just surrendered, nothing would have happened.”