Man wounded by agent sues three in FBI

Baltimore Sun ^ | March 4, 2003 | Gail Gibson

[Mulder]

A Pasadena man mistakenly shot in the face by an FBI agent searching for a bank robber filed a $10 million lawsuit yesterday against three agents, alleging that they disregarded bureau arrest policies and then played down the potentially deadly result, telling an informant at the scene: "This [expletive] happens every day."

[Atlas Sneezed]

For the record:

A Pasadena man mistakenly shot in the face by an FBI agent searching for a bank robber filed a $10 million lawsuit yesterday against three agents, alleging that they disregarded bureau arrest policies and then played down the potentially deadly result, telling an informant at the scene: "This [expletive] happens every day."

Joseph C. Schultz, 21, was shot in the face after agents stopped the car his then-girlfriend, Kristen M. "Krissy" Harkum, was driving. Harkum, now 17, was not wounded in the shooting, but she also filed a $10 million lawsuit yesterday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to compensate her for "severe emotional injury."

Attorneys who represent Schultz and Harkum said the lawsuits aim to hold federal law enforcement accountable for the mistaken shooting.

"You can't have the FBI and its agents being the judge, jury and the executioner -- all at the crime scene," said Robert J. Weltchek, a Lutherville attorney who represents Schultz.

Schultz was shot by FBI Special Agent Christopher R. Braga, a six-year veteran of the bureau and a former U.S. Marine Corps captain.

Braga was named as a defendant in yesterday's lawsuits along with two of his supervisors, agents Henry F. Hanburger and Lawrence S. Brosnan. According to the lawsuit, Hanburger gave the order for SWAT team members to stop Harkum's car. Brosnan was the agent who was investigating the bank robbery and who organized the arrest team.

Braga's attorney, Andrew C. White, said he had not reviewed the lawsuits and could not comment directly on the allegations. He said Braga was cleared of wrongdoing by an Anne Arundel County grand jury.

"As we said from the very beginning here, he feels terrible about what happened and his heart goes out to Mr. Schultz and Miss Harkum and their families," White said. "The Anne Arundel County authorities have thoroughly investigated the incident, and the grand jury has spoken."

The Justice Department has yet to conclude its review of the incident. In a statement, Gary M. Bald, special agent in charge of the FBI's Baltimore field division, said he was "monitoring any developments in this case."

"The FBI is cognizant of the unfortunate incident involving Mr. Joseph Schultz and Ms. Krissy Harkum on March 1, 2002, and how their lives have been affected," Bald said.

Schultz and Harkum were returning home to Pasadena from a shopping trip at Marley Station Mall when the botched traffic stop unfolded a year ago.

That afternoon, FBI agents were looking for Michael J. Blottenberger, suspected of driving the getaway vehicle in the robbery of a Pasadena bank branch. The agents expected Blottenberger to arrive at a 7-Eleven convenience store, wearing a white baseball cap.

Instead, Schultz and Harkum pulled up to the 7-Eleven in her red Pontiac Grand Am. Schultz, who was wearing a white baseball cap, bought drinks for himself and Harkum and left the store.

According to the lawsuit, the agents then zeroed in on Schultz and Harkum -- even though they could not identify Blottenberger as being inside the car and even as Brosnan was receiving word that the suspect was in a red Honda Civic.

A few minutes later, two FBI vehicles forced the young couple to the side of the road and four FBI agents approached the Grand Am, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit says the agents first ordered Schultz and Harkum to "show your hands." A moment later, the agents issued a second order: "Unlock the doors."

Braga fired when Schultz moved to unlock his car door, the lawsuit says.

The agents realized within moments that they had the wrong man, the lawsuit says. When Brosnan's informant -- Blottenberger's landlord, Timothy King -- arrived a few minutes after the shooting, he told Brosnan that the injured man was not Blottenberger.

"It's not even the [expletive] car I told you about," the lawsuit quotes King as saying. Brosnan's response, the lawsuit says, was nonchalant: "This [expletive] happens every day."

Schultz and Harkum are no longer dating, although their attorneys say they remain friends. Schultz, who is recovering from a series of surgeries, repairs water coolers; Harkum did not return to Northeast High School for her senior year and is being taught at home.

A grand jury cleared Braga, but a county police report said the FBI search for Blottenberger was flawed from the start. In the 128-page report, police said key information could not be relayed between agents because of faulty radio equipment.

The lawsuit describes Braga as having exhibited a "startling propensity for shooting unarmed persons." It points to a fatal shooting Feb. 3, 2000, by Braga of a fugitive homicide suspect in Prince George's County. The man, Donald Lee Thompson, was not armed, but investigators later said he had a loaded gun nearby, and the shooting was ruled justified.

In the lawsuit, Thompson is described as being curled up in "fetal position" in a bedroom closet when he was killed.

Attorney Arnold M. Weiner, who represents Schultz, would not identify the sources that provided the account, saying it was based "on what we believe to be completely reliable and firsthand information."


Copyright © 2003, The Baltimore Sun

[Atlas Sneezed]

"Things are *already* coming apart for this lawsuit - the grand jury no-billed Braga"

Grand juries do whatever prosecutors tell them to. Prosecutors are part of the JBT team.

Your love for government-pork NASA over free-market NASCAR (which never killed anyone on the taxpayer's dime) suggests an unhealthy love for government.

[The FRugitive]

I hope he gets every penny.

[_Jim]

I don't recall seeing these details before -

Schultz and Harkum were returning home to Pasadena from a shopping trip at Marley Station Mall when the botched 'traffic stop' unfolded a year ago.

That afternoon, FBI agents were looking for Michael J. Blottenberger, suspected of driving the getaway vehicle in the robbery of a Pasadena bank branch.

The agents expected Blottenberger to arrive at a 7- Eleven convenience store, wearing a white baseball cap.

Instead, Schultz and Harkum pulled up to the 7-Eleven in her red Pontiac Grand Am. Schultz ... was wearing a white baseball cap ...

According to the lawsuit, the agents then zeroed in on Schultz and Harkum ...

A few minutes later, two FBI vehicles forced the young couple to the side of the road

[Atlas Sneezed]

Prediction: the kids will get an undisclosed sum (of OUR money), and the ongoing investigation will fold.

[The FRugitive]

I hope she gets every penny.

[_Jim]

Grand juries do whatever prosecutors tell them to. Prosecutors are part of the JBT team.

Right ... just like trial juries too huh?

[Atlas Sneezed]

""Grand juries do whatever prosecutors tell them to. Prosecutors are part of the JBT team.""

"Right ... just like trial juries too huh?"

Jim, if you don't know the important differences between a grand jury and a trial jury, you are speaking out of acute ignorance.

[_Jim]

After all, it is their noble right to do as the please.

You have become cynical and jaded reading all that propanda issueing forth on those uber-patriot web sites - too much Alex Jones on the brain ...

[Mulder]

Instead, Schultz and Harkum pulled up to the 7-Eleven in her red Pontiac Grand Am. Schultz ... was wearing a white baseball cap ...

So you think the kid deserved to get shot because he was wearing a white baseball hat?

Unbelievable.

[Blood of Tyrants]

"This [expletive] happens every day."

Welcome to the brave new world.

[nunya bidness]

Nothing from nothing but...

Rather than a bulwark against "hasty, malicious and oppressive prosecution," today's federal grand jury is a rubber stamp, leading many to agree that "a good prosecutor could get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich." Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL), former Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, noted that the federal grand jury, originally established by the Founding Fathers as a means of protecting American citizens against government excess, is today a captive of federal prosecutors.The prosecutor exercises enormous power, unrestrained by law or judicial supervision. The grand jury process itself is largely devoid of legal rules. The process has become one that wholly fails to protect ordinary American citizens.

To examine this once-great but now languishing institution, NACDL established "The Commission to Reform the Federal Grand Jury," a bi-partisan, blue-ribbon panel that included current and former prosecutors, as well as academics and defense attorneys. The unanimous conclusions and proposals of this diverse group are contained in the widely-distributed publication Federal Grand Jury Reform Report & 'Bill of Rights.' Among the critical, workable reforms detailed in that report are: (1) the right to counsel for grand jury witnesses who are not receiving immunity; (2) an obligation to present evidence which may exonerate the target or subject of the offense; and (3) the right for targets or subjects to testify. In response to reported abuses, several states, New York and Massachusetts among them, have successfully added these well-considered features to their grand jury systems.

Mash here for more.

[yarddog]

One of the things I recall in the book about Chappaquidick (sp?) by Damore is the grand jury which investigated.

According to the author the grand jury has tremendous power but the average citizen serving has no idea what they can do and are totally controlled by the DA. After the grand jury was dismissed, some of them later realized they had been mislead by the DA as to what they could do.

I would not read too much into the fact that a Maryland grand jury does not indict a fed who works daily on the same side as the DA.

Anyone who has read the story of what happened and defends the agents is clearly a lickspittle. In fact I would put it even more strongly. Anyone who sides with the Feds in this case is despicable.

[cynicom]

Mulder

After reading a few of the posts here, it is no wonder the the FBI and other "police" groups run amuck. There are so many apologists on their kneepads that it makes one wonder.

[Mulder]

There are so many apologists on their kneepads that it makes one wonder.

They have a bootlicking fetish that would make the worshippers of Stalin jealous.

[_Jim]

FOR the record:

Grand Jury Won't Indict FBI Agent

(EXCERPT) Wed Jul 3, 7:05 AM ET

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - A grand jury decided not to indict an FBI ( news - web sites) agent for mistakenly shooting an unarmed, innocent man in the face.

State's Attorney Frank Weathersbee said Tuesday's decision "does not in any way excuse or justify what has occurred here."

Joseph C. Schultz, 20, was shot March 1 when FBI agents pulled over a car driven by his girlfriend, mistaking it for one driven by suspects in a robbery.

Schultz's attorney said his client was reaching for his seat belt when Special Agent Christopher Braga, 35, shot Schultz, shattering his jaw. Schultz has since undergone reconstructive surgery and Braga has returned to regular duty.

Braga said he thought Schultz was moving, perhaps reaching for a gun, Weathersbee said.

The prosecutor said an investigation of the shooting by county police and the FBI "revealed serious breakdowns in planning, supervision and communication."

The grand jury had three choices — indict, decline to recommend criminal charges or ask for further investigation.

Grand jury decisions, which are made in secret, require agreement by a simple majority.

Jurors deliberated 20 minutes before returning their decision, Weathersbee's office said in a statement.

Excerpted from:

http://www.cyber-spy.com/unetfbi-20021104-113.html

[_Jim]

if you don't know the important differences between a ..

Hey - you're the one making stupid assertions, not me dingo ...

[cynicom]

If some of these people had their way, the shooter could sue them for being in the way that night. One has to wonder if these people are stupid or if they have their own agenda or if they are perhaps in the LE business.

[Atlas Sneezed]

"A grand jury decided not to indict an FBI ( news - web sites) agent for mistakenly shooting an unarmed, innocent man in the face."

Jim? Do you understand the concept? When a lawyer-cop (i.e. prosecutor) doesn't want a grand jury to indict a fellow cop, it doesn't. Just as a prosecutor can get a GJ to "indict a ham sandwich", he can more easily sit on his hands and fail to give the GJ reason to indict a fellow JBT.

(Just how do you like the taste of JBT polish in your mouth?)