Michael Karlis
Excessive-profile civil rights legal professional Lee Merritt speaks to reporters gathered outdoors San Antonio’s federal courthouse Wednesday.
Distinguished civil-rights legal professional Lee Merritt filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday alleging that the San Antonio Police Division violated the rights of 13-year-old Andre “AJ” Hernandez when officers shot and killed the youth throughout a June 2022 stolen automobile name.
The swimsuit, filed in San Antonio, argues that SAPD officer Stephen Ramos violated Hernandez’s Fourth Modification proper to be protected in opposition to illegal search and seizure. Hernandez was the second San Antonio civilian to be fatally shot by Ramos in a bit greater than a yr’s time, Merritt advised reporters throughout a press convention on the federal courthouse.
“We imagine that the officers used extra pressure than essential to arrest AJ Hernandez, that there was no justification for the usage of lethal pressure,” Merritt mentioned. “But it surely follows a sample that we have seen all through town of San Antonio and all through Bexar County.”
In an emailed assertion, San Antonio Metropolis Lawyer Andy Segovia mentioned a Bexar County mentioned town will search to resolve the matter by the courts. “This can be a tragic incident and our sympathies are with Mr. Hernandez’s household, nonetheless, the proof clearly reveals that the officer’s actions had been justified,” Segovia mentioned. SAPD officers had been unavailable for remark at press time.
Ramos shot and killed Hernandez on June 3, 2022, after officers had been dispatched to research a stolen automobile report in Southwest San Antonio. Ramos mentioned he shot at Hernandez as a result of he believed one other officer’s life was at risk. The youth was behind the wheel of a automotive that T-boned a police cruiser throughout the name, in keeping with SAPD statements.
Shortly after the capturing, Merritt argued that body-cam footage, which has by no means been publicly launched, contradicted SAPD claims that Hernandez T-boned the police automobile.
Nonetheless, a Bexar County grand jury final February declined to indict Ramos over the capturing, saying there was inadequate proof. A separate grand jury opted to not indict Ramos within the March 2021 capturing demise of John Peña Montez, a person the officer mentioned he shot as a result of he lunged with a knife. Montez’s household disputes that declare.
Dallas-based legal professional Blerim Elmazi, who’s co-counsel on the federal lawsuit, mentioned he expects Ramos, SAPD and the Metropolis of San Antonio — all of whom are named as defendants — to problem the swimsuit within the Fifth Circuit Court docket of Appeals in New Orleans.
Merritt warned that the notoriously conservative Fifth Circuit is the final place the defendants need the swimsuit to finish up, although.
“The Fifth Circuit has put out a number of the most conservative choices regarding lethal use of pressure by officers,” Merritt mentioned. “They provide officers a large latitude of after they’re in a position to make use of pressure. Nonetheless, the Fifth Circuit has repeatedly turned on the difficulty of whether or not or not officers are approved to make use of lethal pressure when capturing into shifting autos, and their choices have been according to the very best practices all around the nation.”
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