Legal expert: Prosecutor Could have charged Seattle Police Officer in fatal shooting of Native American Man
Thursday, February 17, 2011 at 09:12PM From [HERE] SEATTLE -- One day after the prosecutor decided not to press charges against a former Seattle police officer in a deadly shooting, a local law expert is questioning that decision. Ian Birk shot and killed woodcarver John T. Williams last August. But King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said he can't charge Birk because of a law written 25 years ago that protects officers who use deadly force.
But Mary Fan, a University of Washington professor and former federal prosecutor, says Satterberg is not bound by state law and could have charged Birk if he wanted to.
"You could argue, 'Look, a jury should decide.' File the charges and a jury should decide," she said. "It's a judgment call. It's a close judgement call, and I don't envy the prosecutors judgement call."
But Fan says it all comes down to the moments right before Birk pulled the trigger -- "looking at Officer Birk's behavior and the way he acted on that film and his tone of voice."
Tim Ford, the attorney for Williams' family, is convinced Birk had it in for Williams, so Satterberg should charge him. "He can file the charge; his hands aren't tied," he said. "It can go to a judge and a judge can decide."
But Satterberg said since there's no way to read Birk's mind on the day of the shooting, there's no way to prove he acted with malice. And Fan agrees.
"It's a close case. It's just a close case," she said. "I can't even make a judgement call."
Birk could not be reached for comment. But Ford hopes to ask Birk about the incident himself soon. He plans on filing a civil suit against Birk.
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