A police commission cleared three
detectives of wrongdoing in the fatal shootings of two robbery
suspects, though an investigation found the suspects were not armed.
The report will be sent to the department for a decision on possible
disciplinary action. The district attorney's office, which investigates
all police shootings, has not yet decided whether to file criminal
charges, said spokeswoman Jane Robison. Police Chief William Bratton
said he supported the commission findings. ``I have determined that the
detectives reasonably believed the suspects presented an immediate
threat of serious bodily injury or death,'' he told the Los Angeles
Times. The commission, an administrative panel that governs police
conduct, cleared detectives Robert Kraus, Christopher Brazzill and
Anthony Avila of wrongdoing in the September 2003 shootings of David
Thomas, 19, and Byron Smith, 20. The detectives maintained they opened
fire because Thomas and Smith and another suspect, Steve Hunnicutt,
were armed. Hunnicutt's attorney said the men did not have a gun at the
scene. The commission report, released this week, said no handguns were
found in the possession of the three suspects and none of the suspects
had gunshot residue on their hands. After the shootings, a handgun was
found in a getaway car, and the third suspect and a fourth man were
charged with assault on police officers. [more] and [more]