Cop took just 3 seconds to shoot dog

WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Thursday, January 9, 2003

[JohnHuang2]

The Tennessee policeman who shot and killed a family's dog during a terrorizing traffic stop took just three seconds to slay the animal after it jumped out its owners' car, reports the Cookeville Herald-Citizen.

Law-enforcement authorities released a videotape of the incident yesterday, which shows the three-second time frame on the tape's counter.

The Cookeville police officer who shot the dog, Eric Hall, has since been reassigned to administrative duties while the incident is probed.

As WorldNetDaily reported, the Smoak family was returning to their home in North Carolina on New Year's Day when three police cars swarmed their vehicle on Interstate 40 in what appeared to be a traffic stop.

The Smoaks appear on CNN

A Tennessee Highway Patrol officer broadcast orders over a bullhorn for driver James Smoak to toss the keys out of the car window, get out with his hands up and walk backwards to the rear of the car. Smoak obeyed and was subsequently ordered onto his knees and handcuffed at gunpoint. Officers similarly handcuffed his wife, Pamela, and their 17-year-old son with their guns drawn.

As the troopers were putting the family members inside the patrol car, one of the Smoak family dogs, a boxer-bulldog mix named Patton, came out of the car and headed toward one of the Cookeville officers who were assisting the THP troopers.

"That officer had a flashlight on his shotgun, and the dog was going toward that light, and the officer shot him, just blew his head off," Pamela Smoak told the Herald-Citizen. "We had begged them to shut the car doors so our dogs wouldn't get out, [but] they didn't do that."

The Smoaks had been pulled over by mistake after someone reported seeing the car getting on the highway with cash flying out from behind the vehicle. James Smoak, it turns out, had mistakenly left his wallet on the roof of the car when he stopped to get gas. Someone within the THP reportedly thought a robbery had occurred, though it turns out none had.

Hall claimed he was acting in self-defense.

"I yelled at the dog to get back, but it attempted to circle me to attack, so I felt that I had no option but to protect myself," the officer wrote in a police report.

Police Chief Bob Terry told the Herald-Citizen, "We are aware there is a lot of criticism out there over this incident, and we want to take [Hall] off the road and let him perform other duties while we get this all resolved." Terry stressed that Hall was not being punished for killing the dog.

The Herald-Citizen reports that "to an average viewer, the scene recorded on the video may not demonstrate the aggressiveness or the threat the officer said he experienced as the dog came toward him."

Terry said he will have two unrelated police agencies perform independent reviews of the incident.

"We once again extend our deepest concerns to the Smoak family for their loss," Terry said. "We know this was a terrible experience for them, and we truly wish that we could undo the events that occurred on the night of Jan. 1."

The Smoaks recently told their story on CNN's "Connie Chung Tonight."

Speaking of Patton, son Brandon Smoak told Chung, "He's the gentlest dog that I've ever been around. He's like Scooby Doo. He wasn't mean at all."

[dtel]

A dog, I believe to be a pit-bull, jumped from the suspect vehicle, singled me out from the other officers, and charged toward me growling in an aggressive manner, Hall described."

Hall seems to describe a different situation than you do.

[delacoert]

The thing you ignore is, that the stop was no longer a felony stop...

When I look at the various video clips and observe the action and the time stamp, here is what I see

17:18:36 - The driver (James) is standing with his hands up next to the driver side of the car and is backing up. No one else is visible.

17:19:17 - James is kneeling behind the car and is not handcuffed. Passenger(s) getting out and raising hands.

17:20:33 - One trooper is kneeling beside James Smoak and apparently still handcuffing him. The other two Smoaks are kneeling and appear to be handcuffed.

17:20:36 - The dog is seen after having jumped from the car.

17:20:40 - Officer Hall is seen shooting the dog. All the Smoaks are up with officers trying to restrain them.

It's not that I'm ignoring anything, it's that I never considered for a moment that the felony stop was complete. In fact no one else I know about has said they thought the stop was over when the dog was shot.

[keri]

Thanks dtel. I didn't read that far into the #638 post... See #640.

[dtel]

You are parsing my words.
The bad tourists were handcuffed.
Any thinking moron and I mean any thinking moron, might just about this time realize they have a family pulled over, not Charlie Manson and the Mansonites.
Once handcuffed, all efforts must be made to treat these people as humanely as possible.
What that officer did was cold-blooded and unnecessary.
If this is good and fair law enforcement in your book, I don't want to live anywhere near you.

[FreePaul]

Had a local case quite a few years ago where an officer with a dog in the car made a stop. He claimed that the person stopped shot at him and killed the dog. Convicted and sent to prison. Got a decent lawyer, exhumed the dog's body and found the bullet from the officers gun which killed the dog. Innocent man got off with only a short time in prison. Officer who testified that he did not fire a shot got by unscathed even though he committed perjury.

[yarddog]

It is actually a lot worse than you describe.

First of all, a felony stop is not used any time a felony is suspectd. It is supposed to be used in only cases where the public or the officers are likely to be in imminent danger.

The lead officer in a case like this is supposed to observe the vehicle and occupants, then make a determination of what type situation he is facing.

If the car has been pursued at high speed with shots fired at the officers etc. then the type action which was used would be justified.

If the occupants look to be a bunch of gang bangers, and there is real evidence of a serious crime, weapons are spotted or the occupants are acting suspiciously, then they still would be justified in aggressive conduct.

On the other hand if the suspects appear to be a family on a trip, which is what this had to have looked like, then the cops take a totally different type action. Of course they still are careful, but any rational person, not just any trained law enforcement officer could see this was about as innocent looking carload as would be possible to imagine.

Yes cops are supposed to use judgement, make that good judgement. In this case their actions did not even rise to the level of bad judgement.

[dtel]

They were never even charged with speeding.
One would assume they forgot to use their blinker when being pulled over, thus the need for the SWAT tactics.

[optimistically_conservative]

Hall should not, and will not, receive any punishment for shooting Patton the dog.

Hall's actions were neither criminal nor negligent. Shooting the dog was the unfortunate result of negligence by the THP.

From the dispatch call to the determination to make a felony stop. To the failure of the THP officer observing, being told about the dogs, and seeing the dogs not securing the vehicle.

Patton should not have had the opportunity to get out of the car, and there's is ample evidence on the tape that it was preventable. Hall should not have been put in the position of reading Patton's mind during an incomplete felony stop where only he and his partner were providing cover.

I suppose as a last resort, Officer Hall could have tossed his shotgun away from the vehicles and shouted, "Fetch!"

[FreedomCalls]

A dog, I believe to be a pit-bull, jumped from the suspect vehicle, singled me out from the other officers, and charged toward me growling in an aggressive manner, Hall described."

Hall seems to describe a different situation than you do.

Hall seems to describe a different situation that that shown on the video tape.

[SeeRushToldU_So]

Talk about having a bad day!

[Terriergal]

I guess that settles it then! :-)

[rolling_stone]

There were at least 5 officers in the video. Cokeville PD report says three of their officers were there and media reports 4 THP officers.......I wonder what the aggregate IQ was?

http://www.unknownnews.net/cache41.html

Officer who shot dog 'protecting self'
Mary Jo Denton
Herald-Citizen Staff

The police officer who shot and killed a dog during an incident on Interstate 40 here on New Year's Day says he felt he had no choice.
He was about to be attacked by the animal, he says.

And the whole episode originated with the Tennessee Highway Patrol, not the Cookeville Police Dept., city officials stress.

It was the THP officers who made the felony stop of a vehicle in which a North Carolina family was traveling, and the Cookeville Police Dept. was merely asked to come out and assist as backup officers.

State troopers involved were David Bush, David Roark, Jeff Phann, and Lt. Jerry Randolph.

Cookeville Police Officers Eric Hall and Mead McWhorter were dispatched to the I-40/S. Jefferson area at 5:14 p.m. that day to assist the THP.

(Sergeant Lamb of CPD was also there) One CPD had shotgun other had rifle.

More "details" here:
http://story.herald-citizen.com/newsstory5.htm

[optimistically_conservative]

"When asked during our investigation why the passenger door was not closed, Lt. Jerry Andrews indicated that if he or another officer had moved to that side of the car, he would have been in the line of any potential crossfire," the THP statement says. "Remember, at this time, the troopers on the scene were still under the impression that a felony may have been committed, and were acting accordingly."

I'm not buying this for a second. The tape clearly shows a THP officer approach the driver's side of the car shining his flashlight into the car. Someone needs to explain to me why he couldn't have proceeded either around the front of the car (not preferred) or the officer on the passenger side could not have moved up to the door and closed it (which he did do after Patton exited/was shot and Smoak's son was handcuffed).

Clearly, these officers prioritized the threat of the dogs leaving the vehicle - a gambled risk they lost. I can't help but wonder if this had actually been a car of felons, with firearms and aggressive dogs. It seems to me that angry barking dogs in the car may have prompted a sooner effort to close the open passenger side door.

[delacoert]

"When asked during our investigation why the passenger door was not closed, Lt. Jerry Andrews indicated that if he or another officer had moved to that side of the car, he would have been in the line of any potential crossfire," the THP statement says. "Remember, at this time, the troopers on the scene were still under the impression that a felony may have been committed, and were acting accordingly."

And the very next line of the same article states:

"Officers here in Cookeville who were not involved in the case and who viewed the tape yesterday said they believe it shows a trooper standing right beside the passenger door just before the dog hops out."

It sure looks like a trooper is standing next to the passenger side door when McWhorter passes him the cuffs, and even if he's not close enough to reach the door he's still in the line of fire that THP was worrying about.

[sinkspur]

even if he's not close enough to reach the door he's still in the line of fire that THP was worrying about.

This "line of fire" is a line of bullshit.

There's going to be major coin passing to the Smoak's, likely from both the State of Tennessee and the city of Cookville.

[delacoert]

Absolutely. By already being in the line of fire it makes it rediculous to assert that the trooper didn't shut the door because he would then be in the line of fire.

[Swordmaker]

There was time enough to get all the occupants out of the car, handcuff them, and listen to repeated pleas from the family to close the doors so the dog wouldn't get out.

You are so knowing about time... the entire incident from the time the car stopped to the time the dog was shot was under 3 minutes. The LAST suspect was being handcuffed when the dog got out of the car. There are FOUR officers with THREE suspects counting Officer Hall acting as backup at a safer distance. The pleas to close the door occur only in the last 30 seconds or so. This is NOT a long time. The four officers were occupied with safely securing the human suspects.

The report on the breed of the dog is on the local TV station website.

[Swordmaker]

oops... lost a phrase... make that "...FOUR officers with THREE suspects in the video..."

[rolling_stone]

try counting again....

[Ken H]

You are so knowing about time...

Well, I knew enough not to claim it was THREE SECONDS.

In any event, the time and circumstances of the officers' failure to close the door, as well as other unanswered questions, will be gone over in great detail as the civil case proceeds.