Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 22, 1993 TAG: 9309220232
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Carl E. Simmons of Hampton says he was shot for no reason after he was stopped for a minor traffic infraction by Officer R.J. Scott.
Scott is expected to testify today as his defense gets under way in the third day of the civil trial in U.S. District Court in Roanoke.
But even before the plaintiff rested Tuesday afternoon, jurors had heard evidence that supported Scott's side of the story.
Sgt. A.S. Smith of the Roanoke Police Department testified that after the Feb. 3, 1992, incident Scott was treated at Community Hospital for a sprained finger.
That would support Scott's account that his gun accidentally went off during a struggle when Simmons grabbed the weapon and tried to pull it from Scott's grasp.
Simmons, however, has said there was no struggle for the gun. He testified that Scott - angry because Simmons had not pulled over sooner - was tapping the revolver on Simmons' rolled-down car window when the gun went off.
The 42-year-old truck driver was hit in the left side of his face by a bullet that left him partially blind and deaf.
Simmons spent about three weeks in a coma at Roanoke Memorial Hospital. When he regained consciousness, Smith visited him at the hospital to take a statement.
Smith testified that Simmons was unable to speak because of his injury, but wrote a note on a piece of yellow legal paper.
"I don't remember a lot," he wrote. "But as soon as I remember, I'll hire a lawyer and will take his advice."
Smith, who was called as a witness by Simmons' attorneys, was asked why police did not check Scott's gun for fingerprints, given reports of a struggle over the weapon.
"At the time, I had no information there was a struggle over the weapon," Smith testified. By the time that issue was raised, police say, the gun had been handled by several people.
Scott's attorneys, William Rakes and Greg Haley, already have established parts of their case through cross-examination of plaintiff witnesses - including evidence that Simmons led Scott on a chase through the Wasena neighborhood, that he had cocaine in his car and that a hunting knife and large hammer were found under his car seat.
Simmons is claiming in his $13 million lawsuit that Scott violated his civil rights by using excessive force and that the city of Roanoke failed to adequately supervise and monitor the officer's conduct.
by CNB