The Shooting of James Boyd PDF

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Summary

Per the requirements of the class, students must write a paper about one of the five presented police-involved shooting cases. This particular paper is about the case of James Boyd, a mentally ill homeless man who was brutalized and killed during a police altercation. While attempting to pack up his...

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Running Head: THE SHOOTING OF JAMES BOYD

The Shooting of James Boyd

Shelby K. Spradling Washburn University CJ 352: Firearms Decision Making Sgt. Joseph Schulmeister 09/07/2020

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The Shooting On March 16, 2014 at 3:28 p.m., a resident of a nearby subdivision at the base of the Sandia Mountains called police to report that someone had been camping on the mountain behind his home, violating local regulations. Albuquerque Police Department officers Dominique Perez and Keith Sandy responded to the call and confronted James Boyd as he lay under a sheet of plastic. When the officers attempted to pat Boyd down, he became agitated and produced two pocket knives that he then used to threaten them. Sandy and Perez called for backup to help deescalate the situation. After more APD officers arrived on scene, Boyd agreed to leave the area and began to pack up his camp. As Boyd reached down to grab his belongings, Sandy threw a stun grenade at him. Sergeant Rick Ingram also fired his taser shotgun at Boyd, but it did not appear to affect him. Officer Weimerskirch released his K9, but the dog initially attacks a blue backpack instead of Boyd. Boyd is taken by surprise and reproduces two knives from his pockets. Officers moved in closer to Boyd to protect the K9 officer. Boyd moves slightly to his left and is shot in his side. Boyd falls away from the officers onto his face and stomach. Boyd is visibly in distress but doesn’t release his grip on the knives. Officers command Boyd to drop the knives once more. When Boyd doesn’t respond, officers fire three beanbag shotgun rounds, striking his buttocks. Boyd still doesn’t respond and the K9 is released once again. This time the K9 bites Boyd’s arm, but doesn’t appear to get a response from Boyd. Shortly after, Boyd is sent to the University of New Mexico hospital where he undergoes multiple surgeries including the amputation of his arm and the removal of his spleen and part of one lung. Boyd succumbs to his injuries and is pronounced dead at 2:55 a.m. the following morning. Background Information

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James Boyd was not a stranger to APD officers. Boyd was a homeless resident of Albuquerque and had multiple run-ins with the police for trespassing. Boyd was reportedly mentally ill and had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. Schizoaffective disorder causes abnormalities in the thought process and mood swings. In court, an officer with crisis intervention training testified that he had responded to the initial request for backup and had been making progress with Boyd. The crisis intervention officer also testified that his supervisor called him off to go secure the perimeter of the area. Officer Mikal testified that, prior to the throwing of the stun grenade, Boyd did not drop his knives but did put them back into his pockets and agreed to keep his hands out of his pockets. Additionally, the bullet that pierced Boyd’s side struck his spine and paralyzed him, resulting in Boyd being unable to drop the knives even after he fell to the ground. The Case Goes to Court Albuquerque Police Department maintains that the use of force against Boyd was justified. In a press conference, Chief Gorden Eden cited Garner v. Tennessee, a 1985 case in which the Supreme Court ruled that deadly force may be used to prevent a suspect from fleeing only if the officer reasonably believes the suspect presents a danger to others. Despite this claim, Boyd’s brother filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city. Boyd’s brother’s attorney stated that the case was poorly managed, and officers chose to aggressively confront Boyd rather than work towards deescalating the situation. The FBI and Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office agreed to investigate the case. In 2015, the Bernalillo County District Attorney charged Keith Sandy and Dominique Perez with an open count of murder. The charge would allow Sandy and Perez to be charged with first- or second-degree murder or a lesser charge of manslaughter. Since no evidence of premeditation exists, the court ruled out first-degree murder. Additionally,

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the court also determined that officers did not react in the heat of passion or as a product of provocation; therefore, manslaughter was also ruled out, leaving the possible charge of seconddegree murder. In 2016, the judge ruled the case a mistrial. The district attorney chose not to pursue a retrial and federal officials closed the investigation. My Thoughts I don’t believe the use of force in Boyd’s death was justified. The severity of Boyd’s crime was very low. He had been trespassing in the mountain for several days when confronted by police. I don’t think the person who called police felt threatened by Boyd, because he waited several days before reporting. Police were also familiar with Boyd as he was a known transient of the area. It is not clear as to whether police were aware of Boyd’s mental instability, but I still don’t believe deadly force was warranted. Testifying officers stated that Boyd had agreed to leave the area AND put his knives back into his pockets. Boyd reaching down for his backpack is not the equivalent of someone fleeing a scene. Boyd’s decision to put his knives back into his pockets leads me to believe that he had decided not to pursue physical aggression with the officers. It wasn’t until police threw flashbangs at Boyd and released the K9 that Boyd withdrew his knives again. I think Boyd’s actions at that moment were just natural instinct since he was clearly startled by the officer’s sudden escalated actions. Even after being shot in the side and falling to the ground, officers continued their use of force by firing beanbag rounds at Boyd. I was appalled that officers also allowed the K9 to bite Boyd even though he was clearly unresponsive to the beanbag rounds. I think Boyd was clearly irritated with police for making him pack up his camp, but who wouldn’t be? I also don’t think Garner v. Tennessee applies to the situation. An excessive use of force was used against Boyd.

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References Video: APD releases HelmetCam footage of shooting. (2014). Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DngOL6LokN4&t=133s&ab_channel=KRQE. Proctor, J., & Santos, F. (2016). 2 Former Albuquerque Officers on Trial in Killing of Homeless Man. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/19/us/2-former-albuquerque-officers-on-trial-inkilling-of-homeless-man.html. Cabrera, A., & Weisfeldt, S. (2016). Police on trial in Albuquerque: What you need to know. https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/19/us/albuquerque-new-mexico-police-trial/....