- Originally published in the Seattle Times April 9, 2005 Saturday Copyright 2005 The Seattle Times Company
King County Sheriff's Deputy Melvin Miller did not violate Robert Thomas Sr.'s constitutional rights when he fatally shot him in a parked pickup three years ago in the deputy's neighborhood, a federal jury found yesterday.
A U.S. District Court jury in Seattle rejected a claim by Thomas' estate that in firing three shots into the pickup, shots that killed Thomas Sr. and wounded Robert Thomas Jr. in the hand, Miller used excessive force and violated the Thomases' rights under the Fourth Amendment, which calls for protection from unreasonable searches and seizures.
Thomas Sr. was black, Miller is white and the shooting, which occurred east of Renton, prompted demonstrations by the NAACP and others, who less than a year earlier had protested the fatal shooting of another African-American man, Aaron Roberts, by a white Seattle police officer. An inquest jury found that the officer had "reasonable fear" that Roberts posed an imminent threat.
The verdict in the $25 million wrongful-death lawsuit marks the latest vindication for Miller, who has maintained since the April 7, 2002, shooting that he acted in self-defense.
Evidentiary photographs at the two-week trial showed Thomas Sr., dead in the driver's seat, holding a gun in his right hand.
Miller's lawyer, Hayes Gori, said Miller, who is now with the sheriff's K-9 unit, was relieved that the case was over.
Thomas Jr. has insisted that the shooting was unprovoked. He declined to comment on yesterday's verdict.
In 2002, five of six jurors at an inquest cleared Miller, finding he had reason to fear for his life. The one dissenting juror at the inquest was black.
In the federal case, all members of the seven-member jury were white.
Bradley Marshall, the Thomas family's attorney, said the entire jury pool was white.
With a rather small population of African Americans in the Pacific Northwest, Marshall said, it is difficult not only to get a racially mixed jury, but to help jurors understand, in this case, threat the Thomases may have felt when a white man, who was in plain clothes and did not identify himself as a deputy, told them to leave his neighborhood.
In his closing argument, Marshall told the jury that Miller was banking that "you don't know enough African-American people, and you're going to judge stereotypes."
No criminal charges were filed against Miller. A Sheriff's Office investigation found he did not violate policy, and the King County Shooting Review Board ruled the shooting justified.
Late last year, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington and the Justice Department announced that the shooting wasn't a "prosecutable violation of federal criminal civil-rights statutes."
Neighbor called deputy
Miller approached Thomas Sr.'s parked truck after a neighbor of the deputy called to say the vehicle was blocking a road, the people inside were African American and appeared to be drinking.
Miller took his gun from his house and went to the truck to urge the people to leave. Much of the case revolved around the fact that Miller did not identify himself as a deputy, his attitude when approaching the Thomases and his testimony about seeing Thomas Sr. reach for a gun.
Thomas Jr. has said Miller began firing even after Thomas Jr. told him they would drive off.
In testimony this week, Miller said Thomas Sr. pointed the gun.
Miller told the jury that ducking would not have protected him. Instead, Miller said, he did what police work had taught him: "eliminate" the threat.
Miller's attorneys reminded jurors often that Thomas Sr.'s blood-alcohol level was 0.25 percent, more than three times the legal limit for driving, and that Thomas Jr. also had been drinking.
Marshall, the lawyer for the Thomas estate, argued that Thomas Jr. still had a clear understanding and memory of what occurred and that if Miller had identified himself while telling the Thomases to leave, the shooting might not have occurred.
County paying legal fees
The county recently was dropped as a defendant in the lawsuit but is paying Miller's legal fees.
Through the beginning of April, the county has been billed for more than $758,000 in connection with the shooting, including Miller's defense in the 2002 inquest and the federal lawsuit, said Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. Of that, more than $541,000 has gone toward Miller's defense in the lawsuit.