Family Of Riverside, CA, Woman Shot By White Police Officers Files Lawsuit

Jet, June 7, 1999

Famed attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. has filed a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of the family of a Black woman in Riverside, CA, who was shot and killed by police as she sat in her car with a gun in her lap.

The suit names four White officers, their field supervisor and the city of Riverside as defendants and "racial animus" as the alleged motive for the police killing of Tyisha Miller, 19.

Miller was shot 12 times on Dec. 28, 1998, after she was found lying in her locked car with a gun in her lap. Police, who responded to a 911 call, say she suddenly reached for the weapon when an officer broke into the car and tried to grab the gun.

The suit claims a conspiracy among the officers to cover up their behavior, creating "a blue wall" of silence.

"The shooting of Tyisha Miller was unjustified," the lawsuit states. "At no time did she present an imminent threat of harm to the defendant officers or to anyone else, and she made no aggressive or provocative movement such that a reasonable officer under the circumstances would have believed that she was a threat."

The lawsuit also alleges that the officers rejoiced by doing "high-fives" and shouting racial slurs after they shot Miller.

The four officers are Paul Bugar, Daniel Hotard, Wayne Stewart and Michael Alagna. The lawsuit also cites Sgt. Greg Preece, also White, the officers' field supervisor, who allegedly stood by and watched.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. The lawsuit's claims include wrongful death, assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, violation of civil rights, conspiracy with racial animus and a range of negligence.

Riverside County District Attorney Grover Trask announced that he will not prosecute the officers, although he criticized their handling of the situation.

Trask said the decision to use deadly force "was based on the presence of the gun by the victim and her attempt to grab it."

Cochran said it will become clear during the trial that Miller's gun was inoperable and she did not reach for it.

Trask's decision not to prosecute the officers has sparked an outpouring of protest. Civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton has led demonstrations at City Hall in protest of the shooting (JET May 31).

The officers remain on paid administrative leave.