Lawyer claims police lied
The lawyer for Edward Brown, who was paralyzed by a police shooting Aug. 5, says the report of the incident by Phoenix police has key falsehoods.
Edward Brown lost his ability to walk when a Phoenix police officer shot him in the back Aug. 5.
Officer Kenneth Silvia was responding to call about possible drug activity in an alley near 21st Avenue and Heatherbrae Drive when two men — one of whom was Brown — fled the scene.
Silvia eventually caught up to Brown and shot him with a hollow-tipped bullet that shattered Brown’s spine and punctured his lungs.
During a press conference held in his office Monday morning, Tom Horne, Brown’s attorney and a former Arizona attorney general, accused the police department’s report of containing key falsehoods.
Horne, surrounded by Brown and dozens of family members, said the report lied about Brown trying to take Silvia’s gun and where he had been shot.
“If Edward had been trying to take a gun from the police officer, as has been alleged in the (police report), he would have been shot in the front — not in the
back.”
Family members helped lift Brown’s shirt, exposing a circular scar on his back where the bullet pierced his skin.
According to the police report, Silvia told investigators that Brown lunged at him and that he shot Brown as he passed by. Brown told officers he ran because he knew there was a warrant for his arrest, according to the police report.
Brown was left partially paralyzed because of the shooting. Horne said Brown can’t control his bladder or bowels.
Horne added that corrections officers, while Brown was being held in jail, failed to help him from his bed to the toilet and vice versa, instead leaving him alone in his wheelchair. Horne said Brown’s catheter was removed before his imprisonment and officers eventually found him soaked in his own urine and feces.
The shooting was submitted to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for review Aug. 21; results are pending. A grand jury indicted Brown for aggravated assault of a police officer and possession of marijuana — despite Brown possessing a medical marijuana card.
The card had an expiration date of June 11, 2018. It’s unclear whether Brown has a more current one.
Brown is out on bond; his next hearing is Oct. 30 in Maricopa County Superior Court.
“The way he was treated constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution,” Horne said.
Horne said he plans to file a notice of claim against the city of Phoenix within the next few weeks. Typically, a notice of claim must be filed against a city before a formal lawsuit can be filed.
Brown did not speak during the press conference at his attorneys’ advisement.
However, Brown’s mother, Susan Little, said the shooting has left her family in fear of law enforcement.
“I always told my children, ‘When you’re in trouble or somebody’s bothering you or you’re scared and we’re not around to go to the police,’ ” Little said. “‘The police are your friends.’ At this point, they’re petrified of the police.”
Sgt. Mercedes Fortune, a Phoenix police spokeswoman, said the department doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
The Phoenix confirmed to that neither officer involved in the incident was equipped with a body-worn camera.
Another attorney representing Brown, Sandra Slaton, said she’s particularly concerned about the evergrowing number of officer-involved shootings within Maricopa County — and Phoenix in particular.
“We believe that this is an injustice on many levels,” Slaton said. “It is a travesty and a tragedy. Nothing can bring back Mr. Brown to his original condition. But we just have to keep fighting this because it’s happening across the country and it’s an outrage.”
The shootings far exceed the number of officer-involved shootings in similarly sized cities such as Philadelphia and San Antonio. The Phoenix Police Department exceeded its 2017 record of officer-involved shootings by July 23.
As of Sept. 22, has reported on 71 officer-involved shootings in Maricopa County.
The Rev. Jarrett Maupin, a local civil rights advocate who also was at the press conference, said he is working with family members to organize a march Friday at 7 p.m. outside Phoenix City Hall.
He suggested that Brown, who is black, did nothing that justified the officer firing a gun.
“This man has been shot in the back. He’s been robbed of the fullness of life — in all honesty — and in every way,” Maupin said.
“There will be as much pressure as we need to bring to bear on this city until this officer is fired,” he added.
The family has started a GoFundMe account to help pay for Brown’s legal and medical expenses. Police Department