Federal suit filed against LR police

LITTLE ROCK — A Little Rock police detective filed a federal lawsuit Monday against his own department and the police chief, saying his father’s December 2010 shooting death was “tragic and totally avoidable.”

Two off-duty police officers had no reason to enter Eugene Ellison’s apartment the night officer Donna Lesher shot the 67-year-old man in the chest, said Michael J. Laux, a lawyer hired by Little Rock detective Troy Ellison and his family, at a news conference Monday.

Lesher and police detective Tabitha McCrillis entered Ellison’s home “without a warrant and without probable cause,” Laux said, violating the man’s Fourth Amendment rights.

“The invasion of Mr. Ellison’s home and his killing by these officers were gross violations of his constitutional rights as well as the laws of the state of Arkansas,” he said.

According to police, the officers saw Ellison’s door ajar and approached his apartment to check on the welfare of the occupant.

The department completed its own investigation of the shooting in February, saying Lesher shot Ellison after the man attacked the officers and withstood two attempts to subdue him with pepper spray.

Chief Stuart Thomas has said the unusual case, involving several members of the police family, will likely prompt changes in procedures related to the use of deadly force.

“This incident has undergone intense departmental review and ... the actions of the officers were exonerated by both the prosecuting attorney and the department,” Thomas said Monday afternoon.

Laux, an attorney with the Chicago-based Balkin & Eisbrouch law firm, said Lesher and McCrillis had an opportunity to walk away after two backup officers arrived and all four officers had retreated outside the Colonel Glenn Road apartment.

“Eugene Ellison did not deserve to die. Period,” Laux said. “Mr. Ellison was sitting peaceably in his apartment, minding his own business.”

The suit was filed in Eastern U.S. District Court by Troy Ellison, on behalf of his family. It names Lesher, McCrillis, the city, Big Country Chateau Apartments and Thomas as defendants.

The Ellisons are seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Thomas, the suit alleges, maintained “a widespread custom and practice” of permitting excessive force by “covering up allegations of police excessive force” and performing meaningless internal investigations “intended to exonerate officers.”

Ellison’s death, Laux said Monday, was “a natural and predictable byproduct of a culture that has apparently taken hold at the Little Rock Police Department.”

Thomas said the facts of the case will prove that the department has been responsible and professional.

“The department is an accredited agency,” he said. “We have good policies, and we enforce compliance with those policies.”

Troy Ellison and his brother Spencer Ellison appeared with Laux at the news conference, held at the Capital Hotel. Spencer Ellison was a longtime Little Rock police officer before leaving the department in 2007. He teaches criminal justice at the University of North Texas in Dallas.

Lesher and McCrillis were initially placed on routine paid leave but have since returned to work. The Pulaski County prosecutor announced in May that no criminal charges would be filed in the case.

A deadly-force review panel convened by Thomas has not yet released its findings but Thomas said he expects them in the next few weeks.

Arkansas Code Annotated 5-2-610 allows the use of deadly force on two conditions: if an officer reasonably believes it necessary to “effect an arrest or to prevent the escape from custody of an arrested person whom the law enforcement officer reasonably believes has committed or attempted to commit a felony and is presently armed or dangerous,” and “to defend himself or a third person from what he reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of deadly physical force.”

Laux also expressed frustration Monday with the way the Little Rock Police Department handled the immediate aftermath of Ellison’s shooting.

“Officials quickly took to the airwaves and they proceeded to spin the facts and impugn Mr. Ellison’s character when the dust from this police shooting hadn’t even settled,” he said. “They released information about Mr. Ellison’s health history. ... These statements to the media were designed to manipulate and distort the facts and to make these officers’ actions seem justified to the public.”

Statements to the media were meant to “exonerate” the officers and make people believe that “Mr. Ellison deserved to be killed.”

Spencer Ellison read a brief statement at Monday’s event. Troy Ellison has not spoken publicly about his father’s death and continues to work regular shifts at the department.

Thomas said Monday that all of the officers involved in the shooting or related to those involved have maintained their professionalism and that he expects Troy Ellison to continue fulfilling his duties.

“He knows and understands the department’s position,” he said. “This is an extraordinary and difficult situation for all the people involved. He’s the executor of his father’s estate, and he has a perfect right to take whatever actions he deems appropriate.”

Laux stressed that both Ellison sons are longtime police officers who still feel a sense of loyalty to their colleagues and the Little Rock Police Department.

“These are fine men who have anything but an ax to grind,” Laux said. “It is their hope that from the ashes of this tragedy, lessons might be learned, changes might be implemented and the past might not be repeated.”