Panel Asks LAPD for Statements in Slaying

Intensifying its review of last month’s police shooting of a mentally ill homeless woman, the Los Angeles Police Commission on Tuesday asked Chief Bernard C. Parks to provide the panel with full transcripts of all witnesses’ statements.

The commissioners asked for the information so they could better determine whether eyewitness accounts, as LAPD officials contend, support the version of events given by the two bicycle officers involved in the shooting of Margaret Laverne Mitchell.

Several witnesses interviewed by The Times have provided information that appears to contradict the police account that Mitchell, a frail, 55-year-old woman, posed a serious threat to one officer’s life.

In fact, James Moody, the closest civilian witness to the shooting, said Mitchell did not lunge at an officer with a 12-inch screwdriver that she was holding, as the officers alleged. LAPD investigators, who interviewed Moody for about 10 hours, say his account is mostly consistent with the police version.

According to police, the officers stopped Mitchell to determine whether a shopping cart she was pushing was stolen. One officer shot Mitchell in self-defense when she lunged at him with the screwdriver, police said.

Commissioners rarely seek witness statements before the department’s internal investigation into a shooting is complete. Their request was made during a confidential, closed-door briefing with the chief.

Parks said he would supply entire transcripts or tapes to the commission.

Commissioner Dean Hansell said the high-profile nature of the incident and the apparent conflicting interpretations of witness statements require that the board be well-informed throughout the investigation. The commission’s inspector general has been told to closely monitor the probe.

Hansell said commissioners will not make any public comments about the merits of the shooting until the department’s investigation is completed, something that is expected in the next 60 to 90 days, Commission President Edith R. Perez said.

Meanwhile, a lawyer representing Mitchell’s family filed a wrongful death claim with the city. Such claims are generally precursors to civil lawsuits.

Attorney Leo Terrell, who is representing Mitchell’s family, appeared before the Police Commission on Tuesday to complain that his requests for information from the department are being ignored. He said he would not comply with a request from the LAPD to provide the names of witnesses he has interviewed about the shooting--witness who, he contends, dispute the official police account.

Hansell and Perez requested that Terrell turn the names over so a more thorough investigation could be done. Terrell, however, said he did not trust the department.

“I don’t think, in all honesty, the department is telling you everything here,” Terrell told the commission.

* LOCKYER HEARS CONCERNS

Black leaders express outrage to Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer about recent police slayings. B8