Failure to Indict White Officers in Driver’s Death Angers Blacks

A grand jury’s decision Tuesday not to indict white police officers in the choking death of a black motorist frustrated black leaders and angered the man’s widow.

Grand jurors met for four days and heard testimony from dozens of witnesses before exonerating the officers in the Feb. 5 death of Larry Powell, 39, of Dayton, Tenn.

“I feel empty inside. I’m very bitter and very angry inside,” Geraldine Powell said. “I think there’s no justification for the verdict they came up with.”

Her husband was driving near the Chattanooga suburb of Soddy-Daisy when two officers stopped him on suspicion of drunk driving. Investigators said Powell, a former heavyweight boxer, resisted when told he was being arrested.

Five officers responded to calls for backup and, in the ensuing scuffle, police handcuffed Powell, put him face down on the ground and used a chokehold. An autopsy blamed his death on the chokehold.

The grand jury of 11 whites and 3 blacks said the officers reacted correctly in a difficult situation.

“It is our strong feeling that the names of every one of these officers should be cleared and that they should be exonerated of any wrongdoing in this case,” said Marsha Crabtree, the grand jury forewoman. “We feel that in this case these officers were trying their best to do their job in the best way they could, based on their training and experience.”

Hamilton County Commissioner Rheubin Taylor, a black attorney in Chattanooga, said the community expected someone to be charged.

“I think it’s a bad sign. There’s been too many incidents of people being hurt or dying in police custody. For that reason, I think something needs to be done to address at least the perception that prevails,” he said.

An autopsy by medical examiner Frank King ruled Powell’s death a homicide.