Charlotte police officer will not face charges in shooting death of Keith Lamont Scott, family’s lawyer saysWARNING GRAPHIC
CONTENT: The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department released the full-length dash camera video of the fatal police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott. Scott's family asked the police to release the video to the public. CMPD
No charges will be brought against Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officer Brentley Vinson in the September shooting death of a man in University City, the man’s attorney said Wednesday.
Keith Lamont Scott, 43, was shot Sept. 20 in a confrontation with officers outside his apartment. Video made at the scene records police calling on him to drop his gun, then four shots are heard.
In the aftermath of Scott’s death, Charlotte was roiled by two nights of rioting and nearly a week of street demonstrations. After street violence, dozens of arrests and the death of one man in uptown, Gov. Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency.
CMPD was the original agency investigating Scott’s shooting, but the State Bureau of Investigation took over when his wife, Rakeyia Scott, exercised her right under N.C. law to have the independent agency do the inquiry.
Scott, father of seven, the son of a police detective and a former mall security officer, suffered from traumatic brain injury sustained during a motorcycle crash in South Carolina in November 2015.
Scott was a convicted felon who was sentenced in 2005 to seven years in Texas for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
No charges will be brought against Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officer Brentley Vinson in the September shooting death of a man in University City, the man’s attorney said Wednesday.
Keith Lamont Scott, 43, was shot Sept. 20 in a confrontation with officers outside his apartment. Video made at the scene records police calling on him to drop his gun, then four shots are heard.
In the aftermath of Scott’s death, Charlotte was roiled by two nights of rioting and nearly a week of street demonstrations. After street violence, dozens of arrests and the death of one man in uptown, Gov. Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency.
CMPD was the original agency investigating Scott’s shooting, but the State Bureau of Investigation took over when his wife, Rakeyia Scott, exercised her right under N.C. law to have the independent agency do the inquiry.
Scott, father of seven, the son of a police detective and a former mall security officer, suffered from traumatic brain injury sustained during a motorcycle crash in South Carolina in November 2015.
Scott was a convicted felon who was sentenced in 2005 to seven years in Texas for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
City’s reaction
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police were put on alert for the city’s reaction to the announcement.
All the department’s specialized units, including its riot squad, were mobilized. CMPD’s command center, which was used during the 2012 Democratic Convention and other high-profile events, also was activated.
Officers were notified that they may have to work 12-hour shifts.
Murray met Wednesday morning with Scott’s wife, Rakeyia Scott, and her attorney, Charles Monnett.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police were put on alert for the city’s reaction to the announcement.
All the department’s specialized units, including its riot squad, were mobilized. CMPD’s command center, which was used during the 2012 Democratic Convention and other high-profile events, also was activated.
Officers were notified that they may have to work 12-hour shifts.
Murray met Wednesday morning with Scott’s wife, Rakeyia Scott, and her attorney, Charles Monnett.
Gun is key fact
Robert Taylor, a professor of criminology at the University of Texas at Dallas and a former police officer in Portland, Ore, said clearing Vinson of any criminal wrongdoing in the shooting was an easy call.
A person with a gun under those circumstances, represents a danger to officers and the public, Taylor said.
“This is pretty cut and dry,” he said.
Taylor said CMPD likely intensified public outcry by initially refusing released video footage that captured the confrontation. Given the outrage in recent years about police use of force, Taylor said, it remains baffling why CMPD didn’t make the video public sooner.
CMPD said at the time that it was holding off on releasing the video until the State Bureau of Investigation had interviewed all witnesses.
Now, he said, Charlotte leaders must try to rebuild the fractured relationship between the police department and the African-American community.
“I try to stay positive and remind people that before any great change in this country there has been conflict,” Taylor said.
“There are real feelings of fear in the African-American community. You have to build trust over a long period of time. You just can’t wait until something else happens ... The onus is on the police department to take a positive approach and look for what good can come out of this. Where do we go as a community?”
Samuel Walker, a criminal justice professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and nationally-known police accountability expert, said it was always unlikely that Vinson would be criminally charged.
Nationwide, few officers face legal consequences following police shootings, Walker said. Even when they are charged, judges and juries usually exonerate them, he said.
Prosecutors are reluctant to bring cases against officers, Walker said, because they depend on a cooperative relationship with police to do their jobs.
“Chances of increasing the number of prosecutions is very low,” Walker said. “These are people you know. That’s tough. Then they start calculating the odds of getting a conviction. It’s pretty low.”
Robert Taylor, a professor of criminology at the University of Texas at Dallas and a former police officer in Portland, Ore, said clearing Vinson of any criminal wrongdoing in the shooting was an easy call.
A person with a gun under those circumstances, represents a danger to officers and the public, Taylor said.
“This is pretty cut and dry,” he said.
Taylor said CMPD likely intensified public outcry by initially refusing released video footage that captured the confrontation. Given the outrage in recent years about police use of force, Taylor said, it remains baffling why CMPD didn’t make the video public sooner.
CMPD said at the time that it was holding off on releasing the video until the State Bureau of Investigation had interviewed all witnesses.
Now, he said, Charlotte leaders must try to rebuild the fractured relationship between the police department and the African-American community.
“I try to stay positive and remind people that before any great change in this country there has been conflict,” Taylor said.
“There are real feelings of fear in the African-American community. You have to build trust over a long period of time. You just can’t wait until something else happens ... The onus is on the police department to take a positive approach and look for what good can come out of this. Where do we go as a community?”
Samuel Walker, a criminal justice professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and nationally-known police accountability expert, said it was always unlikely that Vinson would be criminally charged.
Nationwide, few officers face legal consequences following police shootings, Walker said. Even when they are charged, judges and juries usually exonerate them, he said.
Prosecutors are reluctant to bring cases against officers, Walker said, because they depend on a cooperative relationship with police to do their jobs.
“Chances of increasing the number of prosecutions is very low,” Walker said. “These are people you know. That’s tough. Then they start calculating the odds of getting a conviction. It’s pretty low.”
Legal boundaries
North Carolina law allows the use of lethal force by police “only when it appears reasonably necessary ... to defend himself or a third person from what he reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of deadly physical force.”
One of the clarifying gauges: Would another “reasonable officer” in the same situation act the same way?
The so-called “objective reasonableness” standard used in courtrooms originated from a Charlotte excessive force case that reached the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1980s. It asks jurors to assess an officer’s conduct on one key factor: Given the same set of circumstances, would reasonable officers react the same way?
N.C.’s Basic Law Enforcement Training Manual says elements of “objective reasonableness” include the capability of a subject’s ability to carry out the threat of deadly force, whether the threat is imminent and whether the subject has indicated by word or deed that he intends to cause harm.
Criminal charges against police officers related to on-duty shootings are rare. In 2013, Officer Wes Kerrick was arrested and charged with voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Jonathan Ferrell, an unarmed African-American.
Then-police chief Rodney Monroe argued that there was no evidence of malice on Kerrick’s part, ruling out a murder or a stronger manslaughter count. Kerrick used bad judgment and excessive force in defending himself, but did not have any premeditation, Monroe said.
Kerrick’s 2015 trial ended with a deadlocked jury that had voted 8-4 for acquittal. Later, the city of Charlotte paid a $2.25 million settlement with Ferrell’s family.
North Carolina law allows the use of lethal force by police “only when it appears reasonably necessary ... to defend himself or a third person from what he reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of deadly physical force.”
One of the clarifying gauges: Would another “reasonable officer” in the same situation act the same way?
The so-called “objective reasonableness” standard used in courtrooms originated from a Charlotte excessive force case that reached the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1980s. It asks jurors to assess an officer’s conduct on one key factor: Given the same set of circumstances, would reasonable officers react the same way?
N.C.’s Basic Law Enforcement Training Manual says elements of “objective reasonableness” include the capability of a subject’s ability to carry out the threat of deadly force, whether the threat is imminent and whether the subject has indicated by word or deed that he intends to cause harm.
Criminal charges against police officers related to on-duty shootings are rare. In 2013, Officer Wes Kerrick was arrested and charged with voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Jonathan Ferrell, an unarmed African-American.
Then-police chief Rodney Monroe argued that there was no evidence of malice on Kerrick’s part, ruling out a murder or a stronger manslaughter count. Kerrick used bad judgment and excessive force in defending himself, but did not have any premeditation, Monroe said.
Kerrick’s 2015 trial ended with a deadlocked jury that had voted 8-4 for acquittal. Later, the city of Charlotte paid a $2.25 million settlement with Ferrell’s family.
Put on leave
Vinson, who fired the shots, was immediately put on administrative leave, which is routine in such cases.
Vinson, 26, was in plain clothes but wore a vest that identified him as a police officer. He joined CMPD in 2014 and was assigned to the Metro Division. At the time of the shooting, he had no disciplinary actions on his personnel record.
Vinson played football for Ardrey Kell High School and was an all-conference safety and wide receiver in his junior year. He missed playing his senior year because of injury.
He studied criminal justice at Liberty University, where he was football captain and defensive back with a team-high 69 tackles in 2012, his senior year.
Vinson, who fired the shots, was immediately put on administrative leave, which is routine in such cases.
Vinson, 26, was in plain clothes but wore a vest that identified him as a police officer. He joined CMPD in 2014 and was assigned to the Metro Division. At the time of the shooting, he had no disciplinary actions on his personnel record.
Vinson played football for Ardrey Kell High School and was an all-conference safety and wide receiver in his junior year. He missed playing his senior year because of injury.
He studied criminal justice at Liberty University, where he was football captain and defensive back with a team-high 69 tackles in 2012, his senior year.
Account of shooting
CMPD Chief Kerr Putney gave this account in the days after the confrontation:
Scott drew the attention of officers trying to serve an arrest warrant on an unrelated suspect at the Village at College Downs apartments because they saw him rolling marijuana in his vehicle.
Police were going to let it go and continue on their original mission until an officer spotted a weapon in the vehicle, Putney said.
“It was not lawful for him to possess a firearm,” Putney said. “There was a crime he committed and the gun exacerbated the situation.”
Putney said he found nothing in the days after the shooting to indicate that Vinson, who shot Scott, acted inappropriately, given the totality of the circumstances, and said he did not think his officers broke the law that day.
Officers made repeated commands for Scott to drop his weapon, Putney said. Police were, he said, reacting to what appeared to be an imminent threat.
Michael Gordon: 704-358-5095, @MikeGordonOBS
CMPD Chief Kerr Putney gave this account in the days after the confrontation:
Scott drew the attention of officers trying to serve an arrest warrant on an unrelated suspect at the Village at College Downs apartments because they saw him rolling marijuana in his vehicle.
Police were going to let it go and continue on their original mission until an officer spotted a weapon in the vehicle, Putney said.
“It was not lawful for him to possess a firearm,” Putney said. “There was a crime he committed and the gun exacerbated the situation.”
Putney said he found nothing in the days after the shooting to indicate that Vinson, who shot Scott, acted inappropriately, given the totality of the circumstances, and said he did not think his officers broke the law that day.
Officers made repeated commands for Scott to drop his weapon, Putney said. Police were, he said, reacting to what appeared to be an imminent threat.
Michael Gordon: 704-358-5095, @MikeGordonOBS
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