Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 21, 1993 TAG: 9309210207
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Officer R.J. Scott is accused of using excessive force in a $13 million lawsuit filed by Carl E. Simmons of Hampton.
Simmons, 42, was pulled over by Scott the night of Feb. 3, 1992, in what began as a routine traffic stop in the Wasena area.
He testified that Scott's revolver went off as the officer tapped it on the edge of his rolled-down car window; Scott says it discharged accidentally in a struggle after Simmons grabbed the weapon.
As the trial began Monday in U.S. District Court in Roanoke, Simmons described Scott as an angry, wide-eyed police officer who pulled a gun as quickly as he pulled his car over.
But Scott's attorneys shifted the focus to Simmons - an out-of-work truck driver who had cocaine in his car and a hunting knife under the driver's seat when he led police on a chase through a residential area.
"Mr. Simmons had reason to be afraid," Scott's attorney, William Rakes, told the jury. "He was afraid of being caught and he panicked."
Oldric LeBell, Simmons' attorney, acknowledged his client is not perfect. But, he said, "You do not need to be a perfect person to be entitled to protection under the law."
If the jury accepts LeBell's arguments that Scott used "unlawful deadly force," the trial will enter a second phase to determine if the city of Roanoke was also at fault.
Simmons' lawsuit accuses the city of failing to supervise and monitor its police officers - particularly those with records of using excessive force. Court records show that since Scott became a police officer in 1979, he has been reprimanded or suspended at least seven times for complaints of using excessive force.
But the jury will not learn of those prior complaints unless it finds excessive force was used in Simmons' arrest.
Simmons seemed uncertain and confused during some of his testimony Monday, turning his head so he could hear with his good ear. The shooting left him blind in his left eye and deaf in his left ear.
He testified that he was out the night of Feb. 3 to do laundry when he noticed he'd forgotten to turn his headlights on.
About that time he noticed flashing blue lights in his rear-view mirror. He didn't stop right away, Simmons said, because there was nowhere to pull over on a street lined by parked cars.
He estimated he drove about eight-tenths of a mile, no faster than 45 mph.
By the time he found a spot to pull over at 10th Street and Howbert Avenue, he said, Scott was furious. Simmons testified that the police officer was in such a rush that he slammed his patrol car into park before it stopped and jumped out with his gun drawn.
"I rolled the window up because he scared me," Simmons testified.
Scott then rapped the window with his gun and demanded that he roll it down, Simmons said. After rolling the glass down about 5 inches, he said, Scott began to tap his gun on the edge.
Simmons said Scott told him: "Don't you know I could kill you?" At that point, he said, the gun went off. "That's the last thing I remember."
Three weeks later, Scott emerged from a coma to find himself in the intensive-care unit of Roanoke Memorial Hospital. When he walked out, police charged him with impeding police and possessing cocaine. Those charges were later dropped, but Simmons was convicted of failing to stop for a police officer.
The trial is scheduled to last all week. Scott wore his blue uniform Monday as he sat on a side of the courtroom usually reserved for the people he arrests.
He has testified earlier that Simmons led him on a high-speed chase, stopping at least once to curse at him, as he threw objects from the car window.
When he finally stopped, Simmons lunged over as if to grab something from under the car seat, Scott said. Believing the man was reaching for a weapon, Scott drew his gun. He said it fired accidentally after Simmons grabbed the gun.
Police testified Monday that the gun was not tested for Simmons' fingerprints because it was handled by several other people immediately after the shooting.
by CNB