Officials Seek Dismissal of Suit in Miller Killing

Attorneys for the city filed documents Monday seeking dismissal of a federal court lawsuit charging that Tyisha Miller was denied her civil rights when she was fatally shot last December by four Riverside police officers.

Miller was shot after the officers, responding to a medical 911 call, said they found her in medical distress inside her locked car and one officer broke a window to reach for a handgun that rested on her lap.

“If the shooting were racially motivated, it would not make sense for the officers to break the window and put themselves at risk,” according to the city’s legal papers.

The court documents also noted that if the officers were looking for an excuse to shoot Miller, they would have done so when she reached for a pager that was near the handgun instead of shooting only after she moved for her weapon.

Miller’s family sued the city and its officers in May, charging that the officers were negligent and that the shooting was motivated because she was black.

The officers were not criminally prosecuted but have been fired by Riverside Police Chief Jerry Carroll for not planning and carrying out their actions more carefully.

The officers’ terminations are “not relevant to this lawsuit,” the city said in its court papers. The city’s attorney, Skip Miller, said Monday that although the tactics used by the officers might be questioned, nothing about the shooting was racially motivated.

“She went for the gun, and the officers did exactly as they were trained--to react with deadly force,” Miller said.

A hearing on the city’s request for dismissal is scheduled for Sept. 16 in Riverside.