Grand Jury to Probe Officer’s Killing of Woman

Wading into one of the most controversial police shootings in recent years, prosecutors have launched a grand jury investigation into the actions of a Los Angeles Police Department bicycle officer who fatally shot a mentally ill homeless woman after she allegedly lunged at him with a screwdriver.

At least four witnesses have been subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury later this month, according to one of the witnesses and attorneys representing three others.

The decision by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office to move ahead with the case carries significant legal and political implications. It raises the possibility that one more LAPD officer could be charged with criminal offenses, and it threatens to drive a wedge between newly elected Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley and Police Chief Bernard C. Parks.

Parks--who clashed fiercely with Gil Garcetti, Cooley’s predecessor--reviewed the case and found that, although the officer’s tactics were poor, he did not violate LAPD policy when he fired at Margaret Mitchell, 55. Despite that finding, prosecutors under Garcetti were convinced that the case warranted further investigation, and now, under Cooley, they are taking the next step in the process.

Grand juries have the power to return indictments, but are not always asked to do so. In many cases, prosecutors use the panels to summon witnesses and force them to answer questions under oath. Once that testimony is gathered, prosecutors typically decide whether the facts warrant a criminal trial and, if so, ask the grand jury to return an indictment.

James Moody, the closest civilian eyewitness to the Mitchell shooting, said Friday that he has been ordered to appear before the panel Jan. 29.

Moody, who has previously stated that Officer Edward Larrigan overreacted when he shot Mitchell, declined to go into detail about his upcoming testimony. He remains convinced, however, that Larrigan acted improperly. “I’ll tell you this much,” Moody said. “The lady didn’t have to be killed. And that’s what I’m going to tell them.”

Larrigan has been assigned to administrative duties while the investigation of the shooting is underway.

Also under subpoena is LAPD Officer John Goines, who is scheduled to testify two days after Moody, according to Bradley C. Gage, Goines’ attorney.

Goines, who happened to be conducting a traffic stop in the area where the shooting took place, has acknowledged that his view of the fatal shot was blocked by a passing car. But he has said that he witnessed the events immediately before and after the shooting.

Goines has already testified in a civil deposition that he “didn’t see how come . . . [Mitchell] ended up getting shot.” The City Council last month approved settling a lawsuit in that case, filed by Mitchell’s family, for $975,000.

Gage said Goines, who is on leave from the LAPD, received his subpoena earlier this month.

He said Goines’ testimony would be the same as what he gave during the civil deposition in July.

“He couldn’t see any reason why this officer would shoot Margaret Mitchell,” Gage said. “She was not a threat.”

Despite the issuing of the subpoenas, Gage said the lead prosecutor in the case, Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan Chasworth, told him she intended to use the grand jury as an investigative tool, not necessarily to seek an indictment.

“She’s going to call her witnesses and see how they do under questioning,” Gage said. “She wants to see how strong her case is.”

Chasworth was unavailable for comment.

Attorney Leo J. Terrell, who represented Mitchell’s family in the civil lawsuit, said he also represents three witnesses to the shooting, two of whom have been subpoenaed by prosecutors. Terrell said he was cautiously optimistic about the grand jury probe.

Cooley “should be very serious about filing charges. . . . Larrigan did not shoot in self-defense, and there’s overwhelming evidence to prove that,” Terrell said.

Larrigan, who has declined before through police union representatives to discuss the shooting, could not be reached for comment.

Strained Relations Among City Officials

The Mitchell shooting sparked a flurry of protests by civil rights activists and other LAPD critics. It already has strained relations among some top city officials, including Mayor Richard Riordan, Chief Parks and members of the Police Commission.

After Parks found that Larrigan’s decision to shoot Mitchell was within LAPD policy, police commissioners took the extraordinarily rare step of overruling him. In a 3-2 vote, the commission sided with their inspector general, who concluded that Mitchell--a frail 5-foot-1, 102-pound woman--did not pose a deadly threat to Larrigan and that therefore the shooting was “out of policy.”

According to the official police account, Larrigan and partner Kathy Clark were on bike patrol near 4th Street and La Brea Avenue when they tried to stop Mitchell to determine whether the shopping cart she was pushing had been stolen.

Mitchell ignored the officers’ orders to stop and began walking rapidly away from them, police said. She then allegedly reached into her cart and grasped the handle of what turned out to be a screwdriver.

At the southwest corner of La Brea and 4th, Mitchell stopped and began shouting obscenities at the officers, police said. At one point, she pushed her cart at Larrigan--with the screwdriver in it. Larrigan blocked the cart with his foot, and pushed it back at Mitchell, according to police. Officers later faulted Larrigan for not using that opportunity to disarm Mitchell.

Seconds after Larrigan pushed the cart back at her, Mitchell pulled the screwdriver from a pile of clothes and held it menacingly, threatening to kill the officers if they came closer, police said. The officers were preparing to subdue her with pepper spray when a passing motorist tried to intervene.

Larrigan, fearing for the safety of the man, led him away. Moody has said he was that motorist. The intervention by the motorist, police said, prevented the officers from using nonlethal force.

Police said Mitchell tried to flee again and was pursued by the officers. Suddenly, according to police accounts, she lunged at Larrigan with the screwdriver and, fearing for his life, he fired a single, fatal round, striking her in the chest.