Lee Deante Brown briefing, revisited

This week, the Community Police Review Commission will receive a briefing on the fatal shooting of Lee Deante Brown by its own investigator, Butch Warnberg. The briefing will only be preliminary because as far as the CPRC is concerned, its investigation is still ongoing.

From the start, this shooting has raised questions among many in the community. In part, this is because the accounts provided by civilian witnesses and the law enforcement officers who were involved contradicted each other, in terms of whether or not Brown had grabbed Officer Terry Ellefson's department issued taser before Ellefson shot him. At least three criminal probes have been initiated into this shooting as well as one administrative review conducted by the police department's internal affairs division.

Here is a written record of the original briefing given by the Riverside Police Department on the Brown shooting last April 12.

CPRC: Lee Deante Brown briefing minutes

(Excerpt)

CAPT. JIM CANNON: Good evening. On Monday, May..excuse me. On Monday, April 3
rd, 2006, at approximately 1:26 PM, the Riverside Police Department's Communication's Bureau received a call from a citizen saying that a male was acting bizarre in the area of Loma Vista and Ottawa. Over the next 20 minutes, Police Dispatch received additional calls from citizens about the subject's bizarre behavior. Some of his actions the citizens described were yelling and screaming at people, jumping up and down on cars, lying on the street, kissing the pavement, striping off all of his clothes, and exposing himself to the public, which included small children.

The subject, who was later identified as Lee Deante Brown, 31 years old and a resident of Riverside, then walked to University Avenue where it was reported that he intentionally walked into oncoming vehicle traffic, uh, that had to take evasive action to avoid hitting him. Mr. Brown proceeded to the Welcome Inn Motel, located at 1910 University Avenue, where he continued to display his bizarre behavior. Witnesses at the motel advised that Mr. Brown was yelling and screaming, repeatedly pounding on various motel room doors, and lying down in the parking lot.

At approximately 1:52 PM, Officer Paul Stucker was driving by the Welcome Inn Motel when a citizen flagged him down and pointed out Mr. Brown. The citizen told Officer Stucker about Mr. Brown's behavior and stated that he, the citizen, thought that Mr. Brown was "on water," which is a street term for PCP. Officer Stucker had been monitoring his police radio and had heard several of the numerous, uh, radio dispatches involving Officer... Mr. Brown. Officer
Stucker immediately requested additional officers to respond to his location. Upon seeing Officer Stucker, Mr. Brown retreated to an alcove, uh, where Officer Stucker lost sight of him. Officer Stucker then moved to a different location where he could see Mr. Brown.
Officer Stucker gave Mr. Brown numerous commands, but Mr. Brown ignored the commands.

Mr. Brown made some comments to Officer Stucker, saying that he could not hurt him and other comments about Jesus. Mr. Brown then started to advance toward Officer Stucker. At this time, Officer Stucker deployed his Department Taser, which caused Mr. Brown to fall to the ground. Mr. Brown got back to his feet. Officer Stucker deployed the Taser again,
which caused Mr. Brown to fall back to the ground. At this time, it was about 1:55 PM and assisting Officer Terry Ellefson arrived at the motel. Officer Ellefson told Officer Stucker to disable his Taser so he, Officer Ellefson, could safely handcuff Mr. Brown. Officer Ellefson
approached Mr. Brown, who was on the ground. Officer Ellefson was able to place a handcuff on Mr. Brown's left wrist.

As he tried to secure the right wrist, Mr. Brown quickly pushed up from the ground, tossing Officer Ellefson from his back. Mr. Brown was able to get back on his feet.
At this time, Officer Ellefson deployed his Taser at Mr. Brown. The Taser had little effect. At this time, trying to prevent Mr. Brown from standing up, Officer Stucker closed his distance and attempted to apply a contact Taser deployment to Mr. Brown. As he did, Mr. Brown grabbed Officer Stucker's arm.

Immediately, Officer Stucker felt an electrical shock run through both of his arms. Officer Stucker also saw that he had a Taser probe stuck in his left hand. Officer Stucker backed away from Mr. Brown, secured his Taser in his gun belt. Officer...Officer Stucker then drew his expandable baton from his belt. At the same time, Officer Ellefson moved in and contacted Mr. Brown. Officer Ellefson was also attempting to delivera Caser...Taser deployment, contact Taser deployment to Mr. Brown's right shoulder area while he attempted to grab the loose handcuff, which was being swung wildly around by Mr. Brown. Officer Ellefson and Mr. Brown struggled
briefly.

At this time, both officers saw that Mr. Brown had gained control of Officer Ellefson's Taser and was holding it in his hand. Mr. Brown, who was now in a squatting position, started to stand up and advance toward Officer Ellefson. Fearing for their safety because the power indicator light for the Taser was on, Officer Stucker hit Mr. Brown with his expandable baton, which had no effect. At the same time, Officer Ellefson, who was backing away from the advancing Mr. Brown, discharged two rounds from his duty weapon, striking Mr. Brown with both rounds. The shots caused Mr. Brown to fall to the ground. Mr. Brown was given several commands by the officers, which he ignored. Medical aid was summoned for Mr. Brown,
however, he succumbed to his...succumbed to his wounds at Riverside Community Hospital.

Both officers and police detectives...both officers and police detectives have made several canvases of the area for witnesses and / or possible additional evidence. The witnesses that have been questioned were unaware that Mr. Brown had gained control of the officer's Taser. We are continuing to work very closely with the District Attorney's Office and the Sheriff / Coroner to complete this investigation. Thank you.

DEP. CHIEF DAVE DOMINGUEZ: I apologize. I failed to introduce myself, um, when I made my opening comments. My name is Dave Dominguez. I'm the Deputy Chief of Police and in charge of day-to-day operations of the Police Department. Both Chief Leach and I have been briefed on a daily basis by Captain Cannon and his staff and Chief Leach has asked me to take personal oversight of this investigation. I did spend, uh, several years out in, uh, as the captain in Investigations and are thoroughly familiar with investigating officer-involved incidents. He's asked that I keep him informed as the progress of this investigation and wants it completed as soon as possible.

The City of Riverside and members of the Police Department extend our sincere sympathy to the family of Mr. Brown. As I mentioned earlier, we realize this is a very difficult time for him and his fam...for his family. We also would ask if the investigator assigned comes up with any additional witnesses that we have not found, that information be given to us so we can continue and interview them and complete our investigation. With that, thank you for allowing us this time this evening.

CHAIRMAN LES DAVIDSON: Thank you, Chief, for giving us that briefing and we certainly will keep you informed. And as far as the audience is concerned, I'd like to just say, we realize this is a very, very difficult time for everyone and this commission takes it very seriously and we will be on top of this as quickly as we can possibly get the facts in and
we can assure you of that. We thank you for coming.


Seven months later, upon rereading the minutes about what was said at that briefing, it raises many concerns and questions, about a series of events that transpired within minutes of the arrival of the first officer to the Welcome Inn which ended in Brown's death. Other individuals have been asking questions about it as well.

Some of those include the following.

Why did Officer Stucker engage with Brown before backup arrived?

This is a commonly asked question, especially given that Stucker had been informed by a bystander that Brown was on "water" which Cannon explained in his briefing was slang for PCP. Sometimes individuals on PCP can exhibit violent behavior and resist officers, in part because they are in an altered state and lose their capability to feel or react to painful stimuli. According to the briefing, Stucker had called for backup officers, before he approached Brown, who at that point was lying in the parking lot not harming or threatening anyone. Other witnesses reported that he was fine as long as he was not "bothered" and Chief Russ Leach said at a community meeting last April that in cases like this one, time was on the officers' side. However, this incident was over in mere minutes.

The concern on this issue both in regards to Brown's safety as well as that of Stucker has been raised in terms of addressing the issue of the department's lack of training involving how its officers interact with those who are mentally ill and/or are unable to respond or understand verbal commands issued by police officers. Many law enforcement agencies have created and implemented training for officers through the formation of crisis intervention teams. Others partner their officers with mental health professionals when interacting with mentally ill individuals. The police department currently has no similar program in place but has said publicly that it is working on it.

Where did the probe that struck Officer Stucker in his hand come from?

A representative from the department said last May that they did not know where the probe that hit Stucker in the hand came from. According to the initial briefing by the department, both officers had deployed their taser probes before Stucker felt the electrical shock and saw a probe stuck in his hand. After Ellefson deployed his taser, Stucker then moved in to drive stun Brown with his taser and was then shocked, before discovering the taser probe in his hand. This could cast some doubt on at least the timeline and the order of events leading up to the shooting that was provided at the briefing.

So when during the encounter was Stucker hit by the taser probe and where did it come from? The more probable source, given that only two tasers were present, was that it came from Ellefson's taser because his taser was the last one to have a live cartridge in it. However, no definitive information has been provided at this point. Hopefully, that is one of the questions that will be answered at Warnberg's briefing through information provided by his interviews and/or that provided as part of the department's officer involved death investigation.

What was the source of the electrical shock that ran through Stucker's arms?

This information was relayed in the briefing but remained ambiguous as to the source of the shock which ran through Stucker's arms. The representative appeared to imply that it happened when Brown grabbed Stucker's arm, but that is an unlikely source based on training material provided by the police department.

According to that information and information provided by the Web site run by Taser International, Inc., the shock would have most likely come from a taser probe at the time it had been discharged from a taser. Given that Stucker clearly did not experience the full impact of the taser according to the briefing, it's likely that the other taser probe went elsewhere, possibly hitting Brown which may have been one reason why when Ellefson had fired his taser, it had little effect on Brown's behavior.

How did Brown allegedly "gain control" of Ellefson's taser?

The initial briefing stated that the officers at some point saw that Brown had "gained control" of the taser. No information was provided in the briefing as to whether either officer said that Brown had either grabbed it from Ellefson's hand or had picked it up off the ground if it had been dropped during the alleged struggle between Ellefson and Brown. This alleged struggle took place after Ellefson had moved in on him to attempt to drive stun him with his taser while simultaneously trying to grab a loose handcuff hanging from Brown's arm with his other hand. In fact, there is no information provided in the briefing as to how Brown wound up with the taser in his hand, which is puzzling considering that this aspect of the shooting is probably among the most critical in the case.

Hopefully, the officers' statements and/or other evidence shed more light on this issue.

Why were the simultaneous actions taken by both officers in response to Brown allegedly grabbing Ellefson's taser so different?

According to the briefing, Stucker struck Brown with his baton the same time that Ellefson fired two shots at Brown. Often, when officers deploy less lethal options, there is an officer who provides lethal force as a backup in case the situation escalates beyond what can be handled by those options and places the officers or others in immediate danger of loss of life or serious injury. However, here, you have an officer who used lethal force soon after deploying a less lethal option, his taser.

Hopefully, the statements provided by both officers to department investigators, which will be included in Warnberg's investigative report will shed some light on these issues. If not, the CPRC would have the option of voting to issue subpoena(s) to the involved officers. Given the Riverside Police Officers Association's stance on the CPRC's subpoena process and the fact that several criminal investigations remain ongoing, it is unlikely that either officer would answer any questions asked by the CPRC about the shooting. It is more likely that instead, they would invoke their Fifth Amendment right just as former Officer Tina Banfill Gould did when she was issued a subpoena to appear before the CPRC in 2004 for the Volne Lamont Stokes shooting.

What is the department's policy, procedure and training for handling situations where civilians grab an officer's taser?

There is no specific language in the department's policies and procedures that were released as part of a California Public Records Act request pertaining to this situation. The only mention of it in this training material was how to avoid this situation, not how to handle it if it does happen. The police department's officers undergo much more defensive tactical training and training on less lethal options than officers in most other agencies, according to statements made publicly by the department. It is not clear that this particular situation is covered in any of that training or if this shooting or that of Joseph Darnell Hill on Oct. 19 will have any effect on that.

If Brown had grabbed Ellefson's taser, was he aiming it in their direction at the time he was shot?

This question arose after information was released about the more recent fatal shooting of Hill. Officers alleged in that shooting that Hill had grabbed the taser and was aiming it at an officer at the time he was shot. In Brown's case, there was no specific language in the briefing or any of the press releases about what he was doing with the taser if he had grabbed it from Ellefson. The briefing just stated that he had gained control of it and that the officers feared for their safety because Stucker saw that the power indicator light was on. The location of the power indicator light on the taser will probably define whether or not it was aimed in the officers' direction when Ellefson fired his weapon.

Was the taser a lethal weapon?

According to Taser International, Inc., the taser is a dual use weapon. It can be used to fire two probes connected to over 20 feet of wire from a distance to deliver an electrical shock which can either override the central nervous system of the individual or it can also issue a command to the nervous system to cause all large muscle groups to contract simultaneously, causing the individual to fall on the ground in a fetal position. In order to be used in this fashion, there has to be a live cartridge in the taser at the time of deployment. Both officers deployed their tasers at least once in this manner, according to the briefing.

In contrast, there most likely was a live cartridge in Officer Giovanni Ili's taser when it was allegedly grabbed by Hill in that incident.

The taser can also be used in a drive stun mode for "pain compliance" meaning that it can be pressed against the body and cause severe pain for the duration that the button is pushed. It can not produce the same electrical effect as when used with taser probes. The drive stun mode can only be used when there is not a live cartridge in the taser. Both officers had at least tried to deploy the taser in the drive stun mode which means that neither of the taser had a live cartridge in them at the time Brown allegedly grabbed Ellefson's.

Did Brown have Ellefson's taser in his hand when he was shot?

This is the question that arises most often. Did Brown grab Ellefson's taser and was he holding it when he was shot by Ellefson? The civilian witnesses claimed in their statements that they never saw a taser or what would have been a black and fluorescent yellow object in Brown's hand.

The account provided at the initial briefing states that the officers said that Brown had gained control of it. Forensic tests conducted on the taser for finger prints or DNA traces can only conclusively prove that Brown's DNA or fingerprints are on the taser, if either or both are detected there. A negative test result would neither prove or disprove that Brown had physical contact with Ellefson's taser, because he could have handled it without leaving an adequate DNA sample for testing purposes.

These are just a few of the questions that have arisen that need to be answered through this investigation but it is not clear which ones will be. That is why at this point for many people standing on the outside looking at a process that for the most part remains hidden, it leaves them with as many or more questions than answers as to why Brown lost his life.