Parks Cites Witness in Defending Police Killing

Citing an unnamed witness, Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks said Tuesday that one of his officers killed a TV actor at a Halloween party after the man stepped toward the officer and leveled a replica gun at the officer’s chest.

The officer saw that Anthony Dwain Lee was standing “with a handgun in his hand pointed down at a 45 degree angle,” Parks said. “Mr. Lee raised the gun to chest level and took a step toward the window and the officer.”

Parks called the news conference to explain an autopsy report that showed Lee was shot three times in the back and once in the back of the head. He described for the first time a witness account that Lee was moving toward the officer in a threatening manner.

Parks offered an explanation of how Lee, 39, could have been facing the officer and then shot four times from behind. Lee, he said, may have ducked or turned, exposing his back. “It’s clear from the angle of the shots there was movement by Mr. Lee,” Parks said.

An attorney representing Lee’s family said the autopsy report contradicts Parks’ assertion that Lee was threatening the officer when he was shot.

Asked whether the shots hitting Lee in the back raise questions about the shooting’s propriety, Parks said that where the shots hit “is of minimal concern if the officer is defending himself.” Department policy allows deadly force if an officer believes his life is in danger.

According to police, Officer Tarriel Hopper, who has worked three years for the department, had responded with his partner to a noise call at a Halloween party in Benedict Canyon shortly before 1 a.m. on Oct. 28. He was walking on a dark pathway outside the house and saw Lee and two men standing in a back bedroom. Hopper said he shined a flashlight through a glass door and Lee raised a replica of a .357 magnum Desert Eagle.

The officer fired nine shots, Parks said, which can be done “in a matter of seconds.” Four shots entered Lee in different directions; two were serious enough to be fatal. One entered Lee’s right back, perforating his left lung and other organs. A second fatal shot entered the right side of his back and went through his heart. Another shot entered the back of the head and lodged below Lee’s right ear. Another hit him in the back and exited through his left shoulder.

“Movement was occurring at the time,” said Parks. “It’s common-sense. The officer might be moving, but the suspect is also moving.”

Parks said it is impossible to determine the sequence of Hopper’s shots--whether the first or last bullets struck Lee. The chief said the department is continuing to investigate the shooting, including why the officer decided to walk along the side of the house.

The autopsy report showed Lee had alcohol and cocaine in his system. Scott Carrier, spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner’s office, said tests indicate the cocaine had just been used.

Lee was an actor whose last performance was on the Thanksgiving night episode of the TV series “ER”--which concluded with a dedication to the slain actor. His sister, Tina Lee-Vogt, has expressed frustration that the LAPD has not sent a condolence note to her family.

Parks said, “We normally do not send condolence cards.”

Lee-Vogt has retained the law firm of Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., which is conducting its own investigation. According to Cameron Stewart, an attorney with Cochran’s firm, the witnesses who were in the back bedroom with Lee do not give the same account as the LAPD. She is preparing to file a claim on behalf of Lee’s sister against the city of Los Angeles.

“I know what the witnesses said who were in the room that night,” said Stewart. “Based upon their statements, Mr. Lee didn’t point a weapon at the officer that night. He did not take an aggressive step toward the officer. The witnesses have always said the light was flashed in the room and they all turned in the direction of the light.”

Another party guest, who was urinating outside the house just before the shooting, is believed by Cochran’s investigators to be the witness cited by Parks.

Cochran’s investigator, David Lynn, Tuesday described the alleged witness as being drunk at the party.

“The guy does not remember what happened immediately after the shooting,” said Lynn. “And where he says he is standing, it would very difficult to see what [police] say he saw. . . . He doesn’t even see the officer draw his gun.”

Lt. Horace Frank, LAPD spokesman, said, “When he gave his statement he was clear and sober.”