Justice Dept. says George Temple's Civil Rights were Not Violated: Black Man Shot by White Bystander During Scuffle with Baton Rouge Police
Sunday, March 16, 2008 at 12:31PM 
Black Businessman Shot in 4 times in the Back, Once in the Head
BATON ROUGE, La. The U.S. Justice Department has found no civil rights violations in the shooting death of a businessman who was killed by a bystander during a scuffle with a Baton Rouge police officer.
The department launched its investigation in April 2006, almost two months after George Temple II, 24, was killed.
The officer, Brian Harrison, shot Temple once in the stomach, according to the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office.
The bystander, Perry Stephens, shot Temple once in the head and four times in the back.
Temple was black. Harrison and Stephens are white.
A group of black elected officials and pastors asked the U.S. Justice Department to conduct an independent investigation into the shooting to see if Temple's civil rights were violated.
State Rep. Michael Jackson, D-Baton Rouge, said Thursday in an e-mail that the investigation was requested to make sure justice was served.
"Although we disagree with their conclusion, we accept the findings," Jackson said.
Baton Rouge Chief of Police Jeff LeDuff and Mayor-President Kip Holden said in a joint statement that they are "very thankful that the Baton Rouge Police Department and Cpl. Brian Harrison have been cleared of any civil-rights violations."
Jody Bobb, a Justice Department spokeswoman, would not say why or how investigators came up with their decision or what statutes the department considered.
"This is going to court," Temple's father, George Temple, said, referring to a lawsuit Karlyn King, the mother of Temple's son, Collin C. King, filed in state District Court in Baton Rouge last year. "There's no two ways about it."
King claims in the lawsuit that Harrison used excessive force and Stephens, who fired the fatal shots, acted as a vigilante. The lawsuit names the city of Baton Rouge, LeDuff, Harrison and Stephens as defendants.
The Police Department conducted its own internal probes into the shooting the year it occurred, concluding Harrison did not violate any policies. The Sheriff's Office found no grounds for an arrest, and an East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury declined to indict anyone.
During the Sheriff Office's investigation, deputies interviewed Harrison, Stephens and several witnesses. While all painted Temple as the aggressor, not everyone agreed on what sparked the fight between Temple and Harrison in the parking lot at a north Baton Rouge AutoZone.
The Sheriff's Office has said the fight began after Harrison, a motorcycle officer, pulled over Temple for cutting into a funeral procession and tried to give him a traffic ticket.
One witness said it started after Temple refused to let Harrison search his Mercedes, investigative files say.
Another said Temple began throwing punches from inside his car after Harrison tried to get him to leave the funeral procession.
Others variously said the fight began after Temple refused to put his hands behind his back, stop talking on his cell phone or get out of his car. Temple’s father said “the way I see it he was profiled.
“He was shot in the back,” he said. “Any coward can shoot someone in the back.” [MORE]
- Pictured above: George Temple II, center, poses in a 2005 Christmas photo with his sisters Tiffany Temple, left, and Candace Temple. He was shot dead in a parking lot after a scuffle with a Baton Rouge police officer. [more]
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