Jury says Michael Ellerbe was shot intentionally by PA State Troopers: Awards $28 Million to Family

By Andalusia Knoll

When State Troopers in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, killed 12-year-old Michael Ellerbe in 2002, his family along with neighbors and members of People against Police Violence, launched a campaign to bring those responsible for his death to justice. They demanded answers; why was an unarmed 12-year-old black boy shot in the back as he was running away from state troopers?

Despite strong community pressure a state inquest found the officers innocent. If the case ended there, Ellerbe would have joined the ranks of the 2000+ others whose lives were cut short by U.S. law enforcement officers who are rarely held responsible for their deaths.

Michael Hickenbottom, Ellerbe’s father, unsatisfied with a ruling of innocence, filed a civil suit against the troopers. On March 11 2008, more than five years after Ellerbe’s death, a Jury in federal court ruled that Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Samuel Nassan and Corporal Juan Curry used excessive force and intentionally shot Michael Ellerbe. The jury awarded more than $28 million dollars in punitive and compensatory damages.

This verdict refuted Trooper Nassan’s claims that he only fired his gun after hearing his partner’s gunshot, which he mistook for a shot from Ellerbe. Corporal Curry had claimed that his gun had discharged as he hopped a fence while in pursuit of Ellerbe who was supposedly running from a stolen vehicle. Testifying during the trial, a former Pennsylvania State Police sergeant James Baranowski, who was the ranking officer on the scene shortly after Ellerbe died, said he became suspicious of the officer’s claims after seeing a lack of gunpowder on the fence and the location of the shell casings. No ballistics tests were conducted on the bullet found in Ellerbe’s body, to determine its weapon of origin.

Baranowski said that when he voiced his opinion about the case he was reprimanded and pushed to retire after his 17 years of service with the state police. He filed a civil suit, which he has since lost, against the state police for their condemnation of his concerns and his forced resignation.

These discrepancies between forensic evidence and officers' testimony were never investigated in the original case of the troopers. After a brief inquest on January 27, 2003, the Fayette County Coroner recommended that no charges be filed against the Troopers and that the homicide was justifiable. When the Fayette County D.A. declined to file charges, the Ellerbe family approached the U.S. Attorney’s office to charge the two State Police officers with violating Michael’s civil rights. After 23 months, U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan closed the case, stating that there was not enough evidence to support criminal charges against the two Troopers.

Renee Wilson, an activist with People against Police Violence questioned why they didn’t call other witnesses, including Uniontown residents who witnessed the shooting. The impartiality of the State Police was also questioned, as they were the ones responsible for investigating the wrongdoings of their own state troopers.

In a press conference on March 11th, following the jury’s verdict Hickenbottom’s Lawyer Geoffrey Feiger said that the state police acted like a “Gestapo” and were complicit in Ellerbe’s Death.

“These officers actions could not have been hidden and covered up as long as they were without the hierarchy of the state police,” said Feiger.

Feiger also indicted the media for their involvement in this cover-up, for believing printing and legitimizing the trooper’s version of the story. While Ellerbe’s case was being heard in federal court headlines such as “Boy’s conduct caused high-risk action” ran in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Wednesday, March 5, 2008). Articles and TV News have continually attempted to discredit Ellerbe by highlighting his move between various family members and examining their criminal records.

Despite the initial cover-up, this civil suit was able to unearth new evidence. “That’s what this trial was really about was for answers that I never got and I had to hire attorneys to get me those answers,” said Hickenbottom.

With the jury ruling that the officers intentionally shot Michael Ellerbe, his father said that the decision has left a major question unanswered.

“Why did you shoot? As my lawyers didn’t believe, and I don’t believe also that the gun discharged on the fence. I just want to know why did you shoot him in the back,” said Hickenbottom.

Hickenbottom added “I haven’t put a headstone on my son’s grave yet and that is to symbolize that we are still fighting.”

Anti-Police Brutality activists say that part of that fight is preventing incidents like this in the future. “I’m hoping that this will send a clear message to police everywhere, that you can not just kill anyone like this and not be punished,” said Taylor.

Following the jury’s decision the Black Political Empowerment Project (B-PEP) recommended that City County and State police review their policy regarding deadly force. In a press release Tim Stevens of B-PEP stated that the “Citizens of our Commonwealth should not be subjected to reckless and irresponsible actions on the part of those paid to “protect and serve” the public.”

The B-PEP press release also references former Leon County Florida sheriff Ken Katsaris testimony during the trial as further cause for a policy revision. “…If I taught officers to do that, we’d shoot everybody. We don’t want to stack bodies because someone turned around and looked at them,” said Katsaris in his testimony.

Andrew Fletcher, defense lawyer for Trooper Nassan and Corporal Curry said they would appeal the decision. The Pennsylvania State Troopers Association issued a statement calling the verdict an injustice and said the troopers should be absolved of responsibility “…These troopers should not be held liable because a split-second decision was made when it appeared one trooper had been shot. They did not know it was a 12-year-old. These are good men and good troopers who have risked their lives time and time again to keep our communities safe.”

Celeste Taylor, a long time Anti-Police Brutality activist, hopes that this case will improve racial relations between law enforcement and the public in Pittsburgh and the nation at large. “This verdict is so important to dealing with the issue of racial profiling to the dehumanization the criminalization of our young people. This will definitely help in saving some lives because not one more life should be stolen by an act like this,” said Taylor.

“The use and abuse of police brutality is one of the most historically based disconnects between those in the Black Community and those representing government,” said Tim Stevens. Stevens also added that it wasn’t so long ago that “Police Officers were under some of the hoods of the KKK and that some of these people in these towns who were paid to protect were in fact causing destruction, causing frictions between the African American community and the Police Department.”

While many have celebrated this case as a victory against police brutality, others have stated that lives can’t be replaced with any amount of money. Donna Thomas of Uniontown, who lives on the street where Ellerbe was killed told the Post-Gazette that $28 million dollars, is ”not going to replace the boy. Money rules the world, but it doesn’t make somebody come back.” The 28 million dollars will come from taxpayers’ money, which led Tim Stevens of B-PEP to recommend a review of deadly force policy not only to save lives, but also to prevent future costly lawsuits.

While the Jury has ruled that the troopers intentionally shot Michael Ellerbe, the officers will not go to prison, nor lose their jobs. In fact Corporal Curry has been promoted since Ellerbe’s death. John Vogtas, who was responsible for Johnny Gammage’s death by asphyxiation in 1995, was also acquitted and eventually promoted. No officers were held responsible for the deaths of Bernard Rogers, Charles Dixon, or Jerry Jackson, all unarmed black men killed by local Pennsylvania law enforcement.

There is a possibility that Ellerbe’s case may end differently. Following the jury’s verdict and the urging of Hickenbottom’s lawyers, U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan has agreed that she would review the transcript of the civil trial to determine whether reopening the federal criminal investigation is warranted. If the case is reopened and the officers are found guilty they will serve prison time.

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