Panel Finds ’04 Shooting Broke Rules

High-ranking Los Angeles police officials, meeting behind closed doors the day after 13-year-old Devin Brown was shot, debated the department’s previous controversial killing of a motorist and did something they don’t often do: They ruled the shooting “out of policy.”

The finding, described by sources familiar with the investigation, will come before the Police Commission for its decision Tuesday. The case involved the shooting of a 23-year-old man after a wild chase that ended in Santa Monica on Feb. 23, 2004.

That case differs from Devin’s shooting in several respects -- most notably, in the Santa Monica case, television news crews recorded the entire incident.

But the two cases share key aspects. Both involved a chase, a car backing up toward a police officer and a deadly shooting. And in both cases, reviewing officers face the same question: Was it reasonable for the police officer to believe the suspect posed a deadly threat?

Because of those similarities, the Santa Monica case illustrates the issues that Los Angeles police officials will grapple with in judging whether Officer Steve Garcia acted appropriately in shooting Devin.

One other fact relevant to all shootings: If they are found out of policy, an officer faces discipline. Typically, punishments for violating the department’s shooting policy -- even in cases that resulted in a suspect’s death -- have ranged from official reprimands to suspensions of five days.

Rarely has an officer been fired for an out-of-policy shooting or criminally prosecuted.

The Feb. 23 shooting was the case that caused Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton to determine that the department’s policy on firing into vehicles required changes.

The incident started just before dawn as police saw a vehicle being driven by Nicholas Hans Killinger, who was suspected of being armed with a knife and of robbing an Agoura Hills gas station of $180 that morning.

Police chased him for 90 minutes, ending near Santa Monica High School when Killinger failed to complete a U-turn at an intersection and drove onto a sidewalk.

As he started to slowly back up, and television cameras continued rolling, Officers Manuel Solis, Carlos Ocequeda and Arturo Ramirez stood alongside their patrol cars and fired about 11 rounds into Killinger’s rear window.

Killinger’s car bumped the front of one patrol car and Killinger’s driver’s side door opened. Bullets could be seen hitting the car near the opening. The young man fell out the door, face down.

The case has been under investigation within the LAPD ever since. On Monday, after viewing the videotape and considering reams of investigative documents, top LAPD officials on the Use of Force Review Board determined that Killinger had not posed a “deadly threat” to officers, according to sources close to the case.

The board’s full reasons for its decision have not been revealed. Assistant Chief James P. McDonnell, who headed the meeting, declined to discuss the panel’s findings.

“These cases are difficult and involve tough decisions,” he said. “You have to look at them with a critical eye. We look at each case on its own merits.”

Danilo J. Becerra, an attorney for Killinger’s family, said the development in the case “will bring the family some comfort.”

“The family is trying to see that there is a change in policy,” said Becerra, who is suing the city on behalf of Killinger’s relatives. “They understand that people have to be punished if they do something wrong, but it doesn’t have to be the death penalty. There’s finally some acknowledgment of what the family has been saying.”

The officers involved could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The board’s recommendation has been given to Bratton, who must make his own recommendation to the civilian Police Commission.

For decades, LAPD officials have tried to discourage officers from shooting at moving vehicles. Most experts say that officers should try to get out of the way of an oncoming car. Wounding or killing the driver, they say, may cause the vehicle to veer, increasing the danger. And missing the target, they say, jeopardizes bystanders.

Bratton acknowledged this week after Devin’s shooting that five of Garcia’s shots hit his patrol car and created a dangerous crossfire.

The LAPD says shooting at vehicles is generally prohibited and should occur only as a last resort. The police manual states that shooting at a vehicle is “rarely effective and is extremely hazardous to innocent persons.”

Despite those caveats, officers have continued to fire at motorists an average of half a dozen times a year, according to a Times review of shootings from 1985 to 2002.

Even Bratton, who wants to curtail such shootings, has found some cases justified.

In 90% of the more than 100 cases reviewed by The Times, officers were reprimanded or ordered to undergo retraining because they erred in actions leading up to the shootings.

In about 60% of the cases, police officials ruled that officers had been justified in using deadly force.

Overall, in shootings that were ruled out of policy, punishments varied widely -- and often defy easy explanation.

For example, an officer who killed an unarmed man in an out-of-policy shooting in 2000 received a two-day suspension. An officer who killed a bulldog several months later in an out-of-policy shooting was given a three-day suspension.

Attorney Stephen Yagman, a longtime critic of the LAPD, said the department’s apparent willingness to find the Feb. 23 shooting out of policy is surprising.

“It’s very unusual and seems to signal a sea change,” Yagman said.

He said he would expect a similar result in Devin’s shooting.

“It’s good for the department and it’s good for the city,” he added. “I have some renewed faith in the LAPD and Chief Bratton. No question, this is the way it’s supposed to be done.”