Jury Clears Officer in Shooting : Courts: Verdict that Anaheim patrolman used reasonable force sends dead man’s family into seclusion. Some jurors upset to learn it was his fourth killing.

An Anaheim police officer used reasonable force when he shot and killed aman from Orange in 1989 following a high-speed chase, an Orange County Superior Court jury ruled Friday.

The case involved veteran Officer Lee Smith, described by some as a consummate cop, but by others as a controversial figure who fatally shot four people within a three-year period.

Smith had been accused in a wrongful death lawsuit of using excessive force in the shooting of Robert Vincent Edson, a 28-year-old motorist who sped away when police tried to pull him over for driving without headlights. The suit, filed by Edson’s widow and children, also named the city of Anaheim as a defendant.

After 2 1/2 days of deliberation, jurors decided by a 9-3 vote that Smith used reasonable force in the shooting, clearing the officer and the city of any wrongdoing.

The trial involved only the Edson shooting, and evidence about the other three subsequent shootings involving Smith was not allowed before jurors.

“He’s obviously very pleased with the verdict and pleased that his name is now cleared 100%,” said attorney Bruce Praet, who represented Smith and the city in the case. “Of course, he still feels badly for the family, as do we.”

Attorney Frank Barbaro, who represented Edson’s wife, two children and a stepchild in the suit, said he was shocked by the verdict. He contended that Smith used poor judgment in firing at an unarmed man, and that Edson never posed a threat to the officer.

The verdict sent Edson’s wife, Allison Lynn, and family into seclusion, Barbaro said.

“I don’t know what else we could have done in this case,” he said.

One juror, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he voted with the majority of the jury based on the evidence presented and rules outlining reasonable force, but was upset to hear later of the other shootings.

“It was very hard on the jurors to come to that conclusion,” the juror said. “Our heart was in one place and the letter of the law and the instructions were in another place. Of course when we learned afterward outside (of the other shootings), that didn’t help either.”

Unlike criminal cases, a verdict in civil trials does not have to be unanimous.

During the three-week trial before Superior Court Judge Robert J. Polis, colleagues and supporters characterized Smith, a 10-year veteran of the department, as a consummate cop whose gang-busting efforts earned him this year’s Anaheim Police Officer of the Year award from a local community group. He remains on active duty, his lawyer said.

The trial was the final legal action hanging over Smith for any of the shootings, Praet said. The officer has been cleared of criminal wrongdoing by the district attorney’s office, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice.

Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly said the verdict came as “great news.”

“It’s good to see a peace officer exonerated by a jury of citizens of a serious charge like this,” Daly said. “Police officers everywhere are under such scrutiny and are expected to be almost superhuman under very difficult circumstances.”

Added Anaheim City Atty. Jack L. White: “It not only exonerates Officer Smith but certainly exonerates the city of Anaheim in regards to its policies and training and hiring of police officers.”

At the time of his death on Feb. 2, 1989, Edson, who ran a struggling ticket service for concerts and sporting events, was living with his wife and stepson at the Galaxy Motor Inn near Disneyland, after the family was evicted from their apartment in Orange because they couldn’t pay the rent.

Shortly after midnight, Edson had left the motel to pick up some shampoo for his wife. While returning, he sped away when officers tried to stop him for driving without headlights, sparking a 14-minute high-speed chase back to the motel, according to trial testimony.

Smith pursued Edson to the motel where the officer fired at least eight shots at the suspect, hitting him once. Police officials said the man appeared to reach for a weapon from his waistband.

Barbaro said Edson was pounding on the door for his wife to let him in and posed no threat to the officer. Edson sped away from police because he was driving on a suspended license and was afraid of going to jail, Barbaro said.