California AG won't charge officers who shot Stephon Clark; feds open civil rights investigation
A California state investigation has concluded that criminal charges are not warranted against officers who fatally shot Stephon Clark in Sacramento last year, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced Tuesday. The killing drew protests in Sacramento and across the country.
The investigation was separate from the local district attorney's probe, which also resulted in no charges for the two officers who killed Clark in his grandparents' backyard on March 18, 2018 as they investigated a report of vandalism. The decision Saturday drew backlash from the community and protests that resulted in more than 80 arrests on Monday. Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said the evidence supported the officers' statements that they believed Clark was pointing a gun. It turned out that Clark was holding a cellphone.
Following the conclusion of the local and state investigations, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday it would investigate possible civil rights violations in Clark's death.
Clark's family and local activists had urged Becerra to reach a different conclusion than the county district attorney, the Associated Press reported. Becerra said he met with Clark's mother before the public announcement and extended his sympathies to the Clark family. He called Clark's death a "devastating loss."
Speaking Tuesday, Becerra said his office undertook the 11-month investigation at the behest of Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn. He said he was tasked with determining whether officers Terrence Mercadal and Jared Robinet believed they were in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm, which would make the killing justifiable under California law. Becerra said Clark had refused officer's commands to show his hands, had something in his hand and had advanced to within 16 feet of officers when they opened fire.
According to the state justice department's report, Mercadal said he saw Clark with his arms outstretched in front of his body, in what he called a "shooting" position. Robinet also described a "common firing position." Mercadal said he thought Clark had already opened fire.
"I was scared," Mercadal said. "I thought that he had shot at me."
Both officers said they saw a reflection on a metal object in Clark's hand and thought it was a gun, according to their accounts outlined in the report.
"I honestly was really surprised that I hadn't heard gunshots yet," Robinet said.
The report found the officers first took cover and repeated commands for Clark to show his hands, but Clark "advanced toward the officers with his hands still not in the air and not responding to commands to surrender."
"Under these rapidly evolving circumstances, officers might reasonably perceive that the use of lethal force was necessary to protect themselves or others," the report said.
Each officer fired 10 rounds, the report found. The coroner found Clark was struck seven times, the report says, with wound entries "in the front left thigh, the right side of the neck, the right side of the arm, the right side of the chest, and three entries in the back."
Becerra said the investigation didn't review whether the officers could face potential civil liability or whether they followed police department policies or procedure. He said now that his investigation is complete, he would weigh in on a push to change the state's legal standard for when police are allowed to kill.
Clark's family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit seeking more than $20 million from the city and the officers, alleging that the officers used excessive force and that Clark was a victim of racial profiling.
"The City has once again failed Stephon Clark, his family and the people of Sacramento," a family lawyer said in a statement Saturday.