Woman Shot by Police Had High Blood-Alcohol Level, Tests Show

Tyisha Miller, whose shooting death by Riverside police Dec. 28 has sparked criticism that officers overreacted because she was black, had high levels of alcohol and traces of marijuana in her system when she died, according to partial autopsy results released Thursday.

Miller’s blood-alcohol level was 0.13%, a spokesman for the Riverside County coroner’s office said. The legal limit for driving in California is 0.08%.

The autopsy also detected evidence of cannabinoids, a byproduct of marijuana, the county spokesman said.

At the time of the shooting, Miller, 19, was parked at a Riverside gas station, her car idling, after getting a flat tire.

Results of other tests to confirm the levels of alcohol and drugs in her body are expected in two to four weeks, said Det. Mark Wasserman, a coroner’s spokesman. Further toxicology tests also are being conducted, he said.

A second autopsy on Miller--this one arranged privately by Miller’s family--was conducted Thursday by Dr. Michael Baden, former chief medical examiner of New York City, who now runs a private practice.

Baden testified as a defense witness in the murder trial of O.J. Simpson and served as a pathologist for congressional committees looking into the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

“It is customary in a complicated case to want to have an autopsy done by the most qualified person you can get, and to get as much information as possible,” said Andrew Roth, an attorney for the family. “A lot of issues will be raised [in this case] and we want to try to find some answers. Was she awake when she was shot? Was she suffering from any medical condition? What was the order of wounds being inflicted? What were the angles of the shots?”

Representatives of the Riverside County coroner’s office attended Thursday’s private autopsy, said Wasserman.

Neither Baden nor a spokesman for Miller’s family could be reached Thursday for comment on the county coroner’s findings.

Miller was shot 12 times by police who responded to a 911 call reporting an apparently unconscious woman sitting in her idling car with a handgun in her lap.

Miller’s friends said she had parked her car there after getting a flat tire. Friends who were with her left her temporarily to call the family for help, but found Miller unresponsive in her locked car when they returned. They then called the family home a second time, and 911.

The Police Department said that when Miller could not be aroused, the police at the scene--including three white officers, one Latino officer and a white sergeant--broke out her driver’s door window to try to remove the weapon. When Miller reached for her gun, the officers opened fire, police said.

The four officers are on paid administrative leave.

Among the questions under investigation is whether Miller fired her weapon before police shot her.

The FBI has opened an initial inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the shooting to determine whether a full-blown probe should be ordered by the Justice Department.

A Riverside Police Department spokesman said Thursday it was unknown when the department’s own internal investigation would be concluded. Forensics tests are still being conducted, said Sgt. Chris Manning.

The Riverside County district attorney’s office also is reviewing the case, as it does all officer-involved shootings.

The behavior of a person with a blood-alcohol level of 0.13% varies depending on such factors as the person’s weight, amount of food recently consumed and the person’s tolerance for alcohol, said Dr. Ruth Bookstaber, executive director of the Alcohol and Drug Council of Greater Los Angeles.

“The level of impairment may not be noticeable,” she said.

Miller’s funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at the New Joy Baptist Church in Riverside.