Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Files hint at trial strategy
Prosecutors scrutinize officer’s statements
Newly released investigative files are giving an early look at the case prosecutors have put together against the plainclothes officer who shot and killed stranded motorist Corey Jones.
Audio recordings from the Oct. 18, 2015, encounter serve to rebut former Officer Nouman Raja’s possible defense that he fired six shots at Jones because he felt threatened, according to court records released to the news media Tuesday.
Using Raja’s voluntary statements after the shooting, investigators then repeatedly tried to poke holes in the Palm Beach Gardens officer’s story by matching the audio with his words.
A drummer in a reggae band in his spare time, Jones, 31, was driving to his home west of Lake Worth after a gig when his Hyundai Santa Fe broke down along a southbound Interstate 95 exit ramp at PGA Boulevard.
Raja was patrolling the area for late-night
vehicle burglars, and pulled his unmarked van in front of Jones’ SUV about 3:15 a.m., what prosecutors have called a “tactically unsound, unsafe and grossly negligent manner.”
Among the now-fired officer’s statements is that Jones “knows I’m a cop. I identified myself and this guy’s tryin’ to kill me and I was, and I, I didn’t wanna die … He drew that gun so quick on me.”
But Deputy Chief Investigator Mark Anderson, in a June 17 report for prosecutors that was released Tuesday, contends the evidence shows Raja continued to fire his pistol at Jones “as he ran away” and “after he realized Jones no longer possessed a firearm.”
Jones body was found 41 yards away from his .380-caliber licensed pistol, which had not been fired that night. He was hit by three bullets.
In a 60-page summary of the investigation, Anderson wrote Raja “lied” while speaking to investigators at the scene about 4 1⁄2 hours after the shooting.
“He did not identify himself as a police officer as he claimed he did,” Anderson wrote, referring to a recording of Jones’ call to a roadside assistance service and Raja’s plainclothes attire. “He did not tell Jones to ‘drop the gun’ as he claimed he did.”
Yet another alleged “contradiction” is when Raja, during the same statement to investigators, said he called 911 before he fired a second volley of three shots at Jones, 31, Anderson noted in the report.
“We know Raja’s 911 call was placed 33 seconds after he fired his sixth/final shot,” Anderson wrote. “Despite this fact, Raja begins his 911 call as if he was still actively engaging an armed suspect … By that time, Corey Jones’ body was down and he was dead or within moments of dying from the massive internal trauma caused by the bullet wound to his chest.”
Prosecutors will not comment on their strategy for the trial, still at least six months away. But they are seeking convictions on manslaughter by culpable negligence and attempted first-degree murder with a firearm; the latter is punishable by up to life in prison.
In an explanation of the charges, prosecutors have said Raja was negligent for the way he confronted Jones and that, “there is no question that Jones ran away from Raja.”
“The intent of discharging his firearm was to kill Corey Jones,” Anderson concluded in his report.
The review includes findings from two medical examiners who concluded Jones could have run 40 yards after the bullet that penetrated his heart and lungs. Those statements were in contrast to the findings from the doctor who performed Jones’ autopsy and stated Jones “could not have continued moving more than a few yards after receiving the chest wound.”
Before arresting Raja, prosecutors presented evidence to a grand jury. It determined the officer’s use of force was “unjustified.”
After Raja, 39, was charged last June, the county’s police union picked up his legal expenses and said a police officer should be able “to defend himself while in fear for his life.”
John Kazanjian, president of the Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association, told the Sun Sentinel on Wednesday that nothing had changed concerning his organization’s support for Raja, who is on house arrest.
“We will stick by this guy because he’s innocent of what he’s charged with,” Kazanjian said.
It was revealed this week that before charging Raja, the State Attorney’s Office hired a police practices expert to examine Raja’s actions.
Dan Libby, former chief of police for Punta Gorda and a chief deputy for the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, wrote in a May 1 report that he reviewed crime scene photos, an FBI computer animation of the shooting, the audio recordings, Raja’s statements, and other evidence.
His conclusion: Raja “failed to follow accepted police practices” in the way he pulled up to Jones’ disabled vehicle and how he approached Jones.
“Corey Jones had no reason to believe that Raja was a police officer there to assist him,” Libby wrote, adding Raja also violated Police Department policy by not wearing his tactical vest while on duty.
Libby, who has testified as a prosecution witness in other cases, told the Sun Sentinel he could not discuss his involvement in the Raja case.
The Jones shooting led to changes by Palm Beach Gardens police. One new policy bans all undercover officers from engaging in traffic stops without a backup marked car. The department also started using body cameras.
Chuck Drago, a former Fort Lauderdale police detective who testifies in trials as a police practices expert, said it’s becoming more common for prosecutors to seek professional opinions in police shooting cases.
“With all the media attention, prosecutors are feeling a lot of heat,” said Drago, who is familiar with the Raja case but has no involvement.
He said he expects Raja’s lawyers to hire their own experts to present to a jury, concerning the issue of whether it was reasonable for the officer to use force.
Drago said the key question in such cases is: “Was it reasonable for (the officer) to believe that his life was in danger?”
West Palm Beach defense attorney Michael Salnick, who has successfully represented police officers charged in shootings and other violent crimes, said he expects Raja’s legal team to call a use of force expert to testify.
“A police officer only has a split second to make that decision,” Salnick said. “You don’t want to second guess it. You don’t want to be a position where the police officer’s family is second guessing it.”