The Los Angeles police officer who fatally shot 13-year-old Devin Brown publicly released transcripts Friday from a meeting in which a disciplinary panel cleared him of wrongdoing.
The panel's decision, reached earlier this week, outraged some city leaders because it was made in secret and rejected the civilian Police Commission's finding that the shooting by Officer Steven Garcia was unjustified.
In a statement Friday, police union officials said Garcia waived his right to keep the proceedings confidential because he "recognizes the interests of the public in understanding the reasons" behind the panel's decision.
"It is Officer Garcia's hope that the release of this document will put the issue to rest," the Los Angeles Police Protective League said. Transcripts of the panel's decision were posted on the union's website, www.lapd.com.
The 19-page rationale shows that two Los Angeles Police Department captains and a civilian representative cleared Garcia in a unanimous decision after considering testimony from many witnesses and experts, examining 52 exhibits and visiting the intersection of 83rd Street and Western Avenue, where the Feb. 6, 2005, shooting occurred.
"In essence, our decision has required that we put ourselves in Officer Garcia's shoes and try to get inside his head," said now-retired Capt. Bruce Crosley, who led the hearing by the so-called Board of Rights. "Was Garcia's perception that his life was in imminent danger a reasonable one? Virtually all of the evidence ... tells us that it was."
After a seven-minute pursuit in South Los Angeles, Garcia shot and killed Brown when the youngster backed a stolen Toyota Camry toward police. Garcia fired 10 rounds, striking Brown seven times.
In a report to the Police Commission, Chief William J. Bratton recommended that the panel rule the shooting justified. But in a 4-1 vote, commissioners disagreed and found it "out of policy." The commission said the Camry was traveling less than 2 mph when Garcia opened fire. The commission also said evidence showed that Garcia had successfully moved out of the path of the car before he fired the first shot.
Garcia's belief that his life was in danger "was not objectively reasonable," the board concluded.
Crosley said he and his fellow panel members, Capt. Nancy Lauer and former police Commissioner Ann Reiss Lane, found Garcia to be "genuine and credible." Crosley said they were well aware of the political and emotional implications of the case, but that "they bore no weight on our final decision."
