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.”
Not only that, but the family (or those that brought the suit)should serve prison time for their idiocy.
Maybe the work in question being the cutting of enormous blocks of fresh-from-the-oven meth into more manageable-sized chunks.
It's a tough work day down on the old farm!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.