Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 10, 1995 TAG: 9505100073
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The lawsuit was filed in Roanoke Circuit Court on Tuesday, one day before the two-year anniversary of the death of 20-year-old Eric Scott Lee.
Lee died of asphyxiation after a police officer grabbed him in a choke hold to prevent him from choking another officer during a struggle at a Southeast Roanoke apartment, authorities said at the time.
Investigations by the Police Department and Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell cleared the officers of wrongdoing, but the lawsuit accuses them of negligence and excessive force.
Named as defendants in the lawsuit are officers J.M. Donaldson, who applied the choke hold; S.F. O'Neill, the officer he was trying to assist; and R.L. Hague, a sergeant who also was at the scene.
A key issue in the suit is likely to be Donaldson's use of the choke hold, a move that can kill in 10 seconds and is not taught to officers during their police academy training.
The lawsuit also names Roanoke as a defendant, claiming the city "had a duty to train its officers to effect only lawful arrests, to refrain from using excessive force, to refrain from using a choke hold and to administer first aid to individuals."
At the time of Lee's death, Police Chief M. David Hooper said that, while the choke hold is not taught to officers as a way to subdue combative suspects, its use does not violate any department policies.
Hooper declined to comment on the lawsuit Tuesday, saying he could not discuss pending litigation.
The choke hold, in which a person grabs someone from behind and around the neck with his or her arm, cuts off blood flow in both arteries in the neck, blocks the air passageway and slows the heart. The combined effects can cause death within 10 seconds.
According to the lawsuit, Donaldson's choke hold left Lee "unconscious, limp and lifeless almost immediately," while the other two officers "did nothing to prevent this."
The suit also accuses the officers of failing to give first aid to Lee, who was handcuffed and removed from the apartment before authorities realized that he was unconscious.
According to earlier accounts, police responded to a report of an assault about 7 a.m. May 10, 1993, at 114 Ninth St. S.E., where Lee and two women had spent a disruptive night.
The caller, Rhonda Caldwell, told a 911 dispatcher that Lee had assaulted her in the house minutes earlier. She added that Lee's girlfriend, Kim Gunter, was trapped in the house with him.
In later deciding not to seek criminal charges against the officers, Donald Caldwell said his review showed there was "no dispute" that a fight broke out when police arrived.
O'Neill, who was being choked by the 6-foot-3, 190-pound Lee, was beginning to lose consciousness when Donaldson grabbed Lee in a choke hold of his own, authorities said. Lee then went limp and collapsed on the floor as the officers placed him in handcuffs.
It was only after Lee was moved from the dimly lit room to a police vehicle that officers noticed he had turned blue, Caldwell said.
CPR was performed, but Lee was pronounced dead a short time later. Authorities estimated that six minutes passed from the time Lee was subdued to when police officers noticed his condition.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Lee's widow, Terri C. Lee, and his two small children. Two of the lawyers involved in filing the suit, William Davis of Rocky Mount and Andrew Davis of Bedford, declined to comment. A third lawyer, Frank Rogers of Roanoke, could not be reached Tuesday.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB