The Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A state trooper who fatally shot a Virginia man during a traffic stop was justifiably fired for “grossly inefficient” job performance, an administrative law judge ruled Wednesday.
Norman Randolph Dove Jr., 23, of Newport News, Va., was shot to death by Trooper H.B. Stevens on Jan. 20, 2003.
Stevens had pulled over Dove’s vehicle when he saw Dove was not wearing a seat belt. During a records check, he found Dove’s driver’s license had been suspended and the vehicle reported stolen.
The ruling by Administrative Law Judge Fred G. Morrison Jr. said Stevens made a number of mistakes in handling the traffic stop and in his attempt to arrest Dove, beginning by having Dove sit in the passenger’s seat of his patrol car as he checked records and wrote a citation.
Morrison cited eight points at which Stevens mishandled the situation, including his failure to call for backup and to verbally warn Dove before he used lethal force.
He noted that Stevens could have used “a less than lethal technique ... to de-escalate the incident and bring it under control,” but that the situation would never have reached that point had Stevens followed proper procedures from the start.
He improperly cuffed Dove with the suspect’s hands in front of his body, instead of behind, allowing Dove to attempt to escape, Morrison wrote.
When Stevens caught Dove and tried to cuff him properly, the men struggled and Dove got back in the cruiser, locking Stevens out. He then began to back the vehicle away.
But, when Stevens told Dove to stop and turn around, he did so, Morrison wrote. At that point, Stevens shot him four times through the driver’s side window.
Dove was on parole at the time of the shooting. He was convicted of robbery with a dangerous weapon in December 1997 and was sentenced to nearly six years in prison. He was released July 19, according to the N.C. Department of Correction.