Posted on 09/22/2007 6:13:32 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
CORPUS CHRISTI — The family of a man who was shot by a Nueces County Sheriff’s deputy in June filed a wrongful death lawsuit last week against the county and the deputy.
Deputy Burl Smith shot Miguel Angel Ramirez 10 times on June 7 after Ramirez, who was walking along Interstate 37 with an 18-inch machete, did not obey orders to drop the machete.
A grand jury in July declined to indict Smith on any charges in connection with the shooting.
The suit, filed by Ramirez’s parents, Cirilo Ramirez of Rosanky and Maria Guzman of Arlington, accuses the county of failing to properly train and supervise its officers and alleges the deputy used excessive force.
The 32-year-old’s family has said he suffered from epileptic seizures that often left him confused and that the deputy should have seen signs Ramirez needed medical attention.
The amount of medication in his system to treat the seizures was within the treatment range at the time, according to a report by Nueces County Medical Examiner Dr. Ray Fernandez.
A pretrial hearing in the case is set for Nov. 8 in U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack’s court.
Plaintiff attorney Christopher J. Bale, based in San Antonio, said Friday instead of defusing the situation the deputy escalated it by climbing a concrete barrier to reach Ramirez and then spraying him with pepper spray.
“What he should have done was call for backup,” Bale said. “He created the situation that they’re claiming justified (the shooting).”
But Sheriff Jim Kaelin said on Friday the civil suit, which asks for unspecified damages, has no merit and that the deputy acted appropriately.
“It’s a suit of distortions and misrepresentations of the facts and it is sad that Burl Smith has to go through this,” Kaelin said. “No amount of training, whether the person is mentally ill or not, would prevent a law enforcement authority from protecting himself from a machete attack.”
Especially while strolling down the middle of a freeway.
Nonsense. Under the circumstances, the proper resposne was a 9mm touble tap to the chest. Too bad he missed his last therapy appointment.
wonder if meth makes him epileptic
Oh, the deputy is supposed to be able to figure out a strangers medical status while he's waking down an interstate with a machete in hand? I can only hope those in Texas don't give these people a dime.
Then they are as much at fault for not seeing to it he was getting that medical attention and monitoring their son's behavior. The police officer was doing his job. They should have done theirs.........
Alright... I’ll bite.
What’s wrong with walking around with a machete? Do machetes randomly kill people too (like guns)?
Meth can make folks fail to capitalize or punctuate.
If you walk around point a gun at people, they police would be very likely to shoot you too.
Not "guilty"! Next case,please.
I remember a case years ago in which the parents of a young troubled man called the police because he was threatening them with a knife. The police arrived, cleared the parents out of the house and tried to get the young man to put down the knife. He refused. The police finally had to shoot him.
The parents sued. I don’t think the suit went very far (thankfully), but I just couldn’t help thinking, “What did you think might happen if he refused to obey the police?”
Oh how I wish I were on this jury.
What is the reason for walking around Nueces County,TX with a machete? It doesn’t seem related to epilepsy. Was the man drugged up?
________________________________________________________
I disagree!
The cops are supposed to protect us even from ourselves. What is wrong with a taser in this situation? Why kill a guy if you don’t have to? I don’t know if the guy carrying the machete was a POS or not but waving a knife around in an open space is not a good reason to die. We see kids and little old ladies in wheel chairs getting tasered why not a guy weilding a knife? 10 shots? How about one in the leg?
Seems like more force than necessary to me and I’m not usually on the perp’s side of things, but taking a life is awful final.
...and that is the difference between this guy and a lady in a wheel chair. This guy had a lethal weapopn that had some reach and you do not get yourself close enough for that weapon to be used. The pepper spray failed, apparently the guy kept coming, the officer shot.
If that is the case, then, indeed, next case.
“I remember a case years ago in which the parents of a young troubled man called the police because he was threatening them with a knife. The police arrived, cleared the parents out of the house and tried to get the young man to put down the knife. He refused. The police finally had to shoot him.
“The parents sued. I don’t think the suit went very far (thankfully), but I just couldn’t help thinking, “What did you think might happen if he refused to obey the police?”
.
In all honestly, people call 911 hoping to get proper help. It always makes me cringe when I hear about people calling 911 for help with an out-of-control child or relative and the police arrive and turn it into a kill-or-be-killed situation.
Of course if a cop runs into some random person with a weapon that’s something else entirely, although I still think they pull the trigger a little quick. Don’t they all have Tasers now?
This is one of those cases where the devil is in the details.
I am a little surprised there was no backup en route and equally surprised at the number of rounds fired.
Does anyone know how many were actual hits and where?
Is there a dashcam or audio recording?
Passing vehicle witnesses?
Best regards,
Should he have "run away" and left the public to deal with a disturbed man wielding a machette?
Of course not. He did his job.
He tried to verbally work with the guy, he tried non-lethal means...but a disturbed man with a machette kept coming.
The officer is hired and sworn to uphold the law and protect citizens and so he defended himself and put the disturbed man down. I am sorry it came to that, but I will not fault the officer based on what I know at this point from the reports.
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