New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Hamden mayor: Probation for ex-cop who shot woman is ‘lenient’
HAMDEN — Mayor Lauren Garrett called on police officers to value all human lives Saturday as she and other residents reacted to the suspended sentence handed down for former Officer Devin Eaton, who shot Stephanie Washington of West Haven in April 2019.
“This entire process has been troubling to me. When clear and potentially deadly violations of policy occur, we need to be able to act expeditiously to separate an officer from the police force. Waiting years for an unsatisfactorily lenient sentence underscores the need for systemic change,” Garrett said in a statement. “Justice delayed is justice denied.”
Garrett said she was struck by a potential indifference to human life, mentioned by Judge Brian Fischer as he ruled Friday, saying we collectively “also saw this in Texas at Robb Elementary.”
“We need to ensure that officers see value in every life,” said Garrett.
In state Superior Court on Friday, Fischer sentenced Eaton to five years in prison suspended, with three years of probation, his attorney, Gregory Cerritelli, said. Eaton had pleaded no contest to a charge of first-degree assault in January.
Rhonda Caldwell, an organizer and member of the Hamden Police Commission, said Hamden Action Now was planning a protest regarding the verdict at noon Sunday at Memorial Town Hall.
The charges, recommended by then-New Haven state’s attorney Patrick Griffin, stemmed from an incident on April 16, 2019, as Eaton was investigating a report of an alleged armed robbery.
During his response, Eaton fired 13 shots into a car driven by Paul Witherspoon III, Washington’s friend, while she was in the vehicle, according to court records.
Eaton’s plea agreement initially would have suspended his five-year sentence after he served 18 months in prison, but the agreement allowed him to argue for a fully suspended sentence if he agreed to never seek employment in law enforcement again, records show.
Washington’s attorney, Win Smith III, who is representing her in a lawsuit over the shooting, said Friday they were “extremely displeased and shocked at the sentence that came down today, or lack thereof.”
He said Washington was struck three times by gunfire from officers — not once, as Fischer stated during the sentencing.
“It should shock the conscience of anybody who has paid attention to this shooting,” Smith said. “The fact that Stephanie, an unarmed, AfricanAmerican woman, was shot by the police — still has bullet fragments in her — was shot three times; and she has to live with that horror every day and the officer walks free, no jail time — we’re shocked by that.”
Washington’s lawsuit names Eaton and the town of Hamden as defendants, along with Yale University and Yale police Officer Terrance Pollock who also fired his gun but was not charged. The clerk at a gas station who initially reported Witherspoon had a gun during an altercation before the shooting was also named in the lawsuit.
Cerritelli said Friday his client has “no desire” to return to law enforcement. As a convicted felon, Eaton is prohibited by state and federal laws from possessing a firearm.
“He’s grateful for the support he’s received from his friends, family and members of the law enforcement community,” Cerritelli said in a phone interview, saying he has received messages describing Eaton as a wonderful person.
“It’s really a sad irony that his career ended the way it did. He wanted nothing more than to help and serve the people of his community,” Cerritelli said.
Other conditions of Eaton’s sentence include no contact with Washington other than what is necessary for civil proceedings, and 150 hours of community service for each year of his probation, for 450 hours in total.
According to officials, Witherspoon’s vehicle was stopped on Argyle Street in New Haven when the shooting occurred. Eaton told state police investigators he believed he saw an object — possibly a gun — in Witherspoon’s hand as he began to get out of the vehicle at officers’ command.
No gun was found at the scene.
A clerk at the Go On Gas Station on Arch Street in Hamden had reported an attempted robbery involving Witherspoon early that morning, initially saying during the 911 call that he had seen a gun, according to records.
A newspaper deliveryman at the station told investigators that Witherspoon approached him as he handed papers to the clerk. Witherspoon asked him repeatedly, “Do you have anything for me,” records show.
After the deliveryman said he did not, he said Witherspoon tried to grab the papers, holding on until the clerk yelled at him to let go. The deliveryman later told investigators he was “100 (percent) sure” that Witherspoon planned to rob him.
The clerk later told authorities he never saw a firearm during the incident.
The police shooting drew outrage and protests from the community, with faith leaders demanding that both officers be fired.
The Rev. Boise Kimber, who protested the incident at the time, said Saturday that the verdict represented “more of the same” in the community. Kimber expressed concern that a remorseful apology “seems to be a get out jail card for police when they make mistakes and almost kill innocent unarmed black females.”
“For our community, we don’t have the same breaks in life. Justice needs to be equal, whether it is a young black male from the hood or a black cop from Hamden,” said Kimber. “In this case, and most others involving the police, justice is not equal.”
Community organizer Kerry Ellington, who also helped to lead demonstrations at the time, said in a statement Saturday she was “completely devastated” by the sentencing, saying that it serves as “evidence to the fact that the systems of policing and the entire criminal justice system is criminal and needs to be abolished.”
“Police do not keep Black and brown communities safe, all police are in fact the very danger we need to be made safe from. Eaton is being given a pat on the wrist for unloading multiple rounds of gunfire on Stephanie Washington and Paul Witherspoon in a residential neighborhood,” said Ellington.
“This decision to not sentence Eaton speaks to the interest of policing and a judicial system that is designed to operate exclusively with and only with violence and occupation. Stephanie Washington and Paul Witherspoon deserve justice and this is not justice,” she said.
Ellington called for “workingclass Black and Latinx communities organize here in New Haven and across Connecticut to create new systems of safety that actually create care, love and protection of our communities” in the wake of the decision.
“It’s time for a change, and Eaton walking free from real consequence further proves this to be true. We need to dismantle white supremacy, defund and abolish the police. We need to listen to the youth and remove cops from schools. And most importantly we still need justice for Stephanie Washington and Paul Witherspoon,” Ellington said.