California AG won’t charge officers who shot Stephon Clark

March 5, 2019

CBS News,

Officers not charged in Stephon Clark’s death

A California Department of Justice investigation has concluded that criminal charges are not warranted against officers who fatally shot Stephon Clark in Sacramento last year, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced Tuesday. The killing drew protests in Sacramento and across the country.

The investigation was independent of the local district attorney’s probe, which also resulted in no charges for the two officers who killed Clark in his grandparents’ backyard on March 18, 2018 as they investigated vandalism. The decision Saturday drew backlash from the community and protests that resulted in more than 80 arrests on Monday. Schubert said the evidence supported the officers’ statements that they believed Clark was pointing a gun. Clark was holding a cellphone.

Clark’s family and local activists had urged Becerra to reach a different conclusion than Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schub, the Associated Press reported. Becerra said he met with Clark’s mother before the public announcement and extended his sympathies to the Clark family. He called Clark’s death a “devastating loss.”

Speaking Tuesday, Becerra said his office undertook the 11-month investigation at the behest of Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn. He said he was tasked with determining whether officers Terrence Mercadal and Jared Robinet believed they were in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm, which would make the killing justifiable under California law. Becerra said Clark had refused officer’s commands to show his hands, had something in his hand and had advanced to within 16 feet of officers when they opened fire.

Stephon Clark CBS Sacramento

Becerra said the investigation didn’t review whether the officers could face potential civil liability or whether they followed police department policies or procedure. He said now that his investigation is complete, he would weigh in on a push to change the state’s legal standard for when police are allowed to kill.

Clark’s family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit seeking more than $20 million from the city and the officers, alleging that the officers used excessive force and that Clark was a victim of racial profiling.

“The City has once again failed Stephon Clark, his family and the people of Sacramento,” a family lawyer said in a statement Saturday.

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