By Maxine Bernstein, The Oregonian
A Multnomah County, Ore. grand jury announced Monday it found no criminal wrongdoing in the May 5 police shooting that killed 21-year-old Kendra Sarie James as she tried to drive off after a traffic stop in North Portland.
The seven jurors came to a unanimous ruling after hearing 29 people testify over five days. Testimony came from three North Precinct officers at the scene of the shooting, two men who were riding with James that night, two witnesses who were walking by, and other law enforcement, forensic and medical experts.
Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk and Senior Deputy District Attorney Stacy Heyworth stressed that the grand jury review was limited to whether Officer Scott McCollister acted within state law when he shot James. The jury heard seven conflicting accounts of the shooting, making it extremely difficult for a jury to return a criminal indictment, Heyworth said.
The jurors relied on McCollister’s testimony that he shot James because he feared for his life as she started to drive off, prosecutors said.
State law and Police Bureau policy state that officers can use deadly force “to protect themselves or others from what they reasonably believe to be an immediate threat of death or serious physical injury.”
In interviews with detectives, McCollister said about 80 percent of his body was inside the car. His left foot was inside the car on the driver side floorboard and his right foot was on the ground when James put the car into gear and it moved forward. As the car moved, he said he felt he was falling backward.
“I knew that I was about to be run over, dragged down the street by the vehicle,” McCollister told investigators. “While I fell back toward the door jamb and out of the vehicle, I fired my service pistol . . . I fired my gun ‘cause I thought I was gonna die.”
The grand jury ruling disappointed James’ family and leaders of Portland’s African-American community who met with prosecutors and the police chief Monday afternoon. The Rev. Roy Tate, president of the Albina Ministerial Alliance, called it “another sad day in North and Northeast Portland,” and he pledged to push for changes in the state law that governs police shootings.
Mayor Vera Katz promised the city would hold a community review of the shooting, and Police Chief Mark Kroeker said his assistant chiefs would conduct a full-scale organizational review of the shooting to determine whether police policies, training or officer recruitment should be altered.
“The grand jury’s task is done, but our work is far from over,” Katz said. “I believe a community review is necessary given that an officer used deadly force against an unarmed person.”
FBI will get reports All investigative reports will be forwarded to the FBI, which has opened a civil rights investigation at the police chief’s request.
The shooting stemmed from a traffic stop at about 2:40 a.m. on North Skidmore Street. Officer Rick Bean, 23, had pulled over the car James was riding in shortly after it left the Budget Motel on North Interstate Avenue.
The two-week investigation revealed problems with police procedure and training. McCollister, 27, a two-year member of the bureau, had attempted to spray James in the face with pepper mace, but he failed to operate it properly. He never pressed the dispenser button. A bureau test of the can later found it worked properly, but there was no trace of pepper mace in the car or on James’ clothes.
McCollister also said he did not recall any police training about going into a car after a suspect. He said the bureau teaches officers to grab a suspect’s arm or leg that is closest to the door and drag the person from the car. But McCollister said he was unable to do that because James’ arms were swinging. He said the bureau has not provided much training on what to do when a suspect is resisting arrest.
Officer Kenneth Reynolds, 26, who stood beside McCollister’s right shoulder by the open driver’s door, tried to fire a taser shot at James, but the electric weapon never disabled her. McCollister fired his shot about 20 to 30 inches from James, police said. The car jerked forward and then traveled at a pace described as a fast walk or run to a slow walk, Detective Cmdr. Jim Ferraris said.
When detectives asked, “Why didn’t he step away from the car? " McCollister replied, “I was too far in the vehicle.”
The bullet entered above James’ left hip and came to rest under her right breast, Heyworth said. Toxicology reports showed James had cocaine in her blood, suggesting she ingested it within six hours before her death. Police also found a crack pipe in her waistband and crack cocaine beneath the driver’s seat.
Sgt. Robert King, president of the Portland Police Association, defended the grand jury system, saying it worked.
Janet Hoffman, McCollister’s lawyer, said her client is troubled that someone died and that James’ loved ones are in pain.
“He thinks about that all the time,” she said. “What he did happened because of the threat presented by the situation, but that doesn’t make it any less painful when someone dies.”
As night fell, about 125 people gathered at Christ Memorial Church of God in Christ for an emotional and sometimes angry rally in James’ memory.
“This does not end with the grand jury finding,” said the Rev. LeRoy Haynes Jr. of the Albina Ministerial Alliance. “We will continue to fight for justice.”