Post by WaTcHeR on Nov 29, 2006 11:28:55 GMT -5
11.29.2006 - EASTHAM — The district attorney’s report that cleared a local police officer from wrongdoing after he shot and killed an Eastham man last month concludes that the officer had “eminently reasonable” cause to believe his life was in danger, and acted according to standard police training.
However, the family of the Eastham man has hired attorney E. James Veara, who told the Banner Monday that the family is in the process of compiling a list of “issues we’ve identified” stemming from the D.A.’s report. Though he couldn’t comment on what the family’s questions about the report were, he confirmed that they are currently in the process of procuring the autopsy evidence for their own medical examiner to investigate.
David G. Hill, 23, was shot and killed by Orleans police Officer Anthony F. Manfredi on the night of Oct. 17, more than three hours after he had set off a frenetic cat-and-mouse chase by firing a round of shots at the Eastham police station.
The report, that details the circumstances surrounding Hill’s death, was issued last week by the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s office. It relies mainly on information recorded on the Eastham police dispatch line on the night of the incident, as well as on Hill’s autopsy report and follow-up interviews with the police and rescue officers involved in the incident.
The D.A.’s report asserts that the state has the burden of proving that a police officer did not have a right to defend himself. It subsequently concludes that Manfredi did have the right to fire his weapon at Hill, given the evidence that Hill had intended to harm a police officer that night.
The events leading up to Hill’s death began at approximately 8:20 p.m. on Oct. 17, when a round of ammunition was fired at the façade of the Eastham police station. Over the next three hours, the station’s dispatch line received multiple calls from Hill’s uncle, Rich Hopkins, a police officer in Mansfield, and Hill’s mother, Martha Hill of Maine. Relaying information from Hill himself, Martha Hill told police that her son had admitted to her that he had fired the rounds at the police station. Martha Hill and Hopkins also advised police that Hill was suicidal and had indicated he wanted to harm a police officer in order to be shot himself. Throughout the evening, the family members also provided updated information on the whereabouts of Hill, who had kept in contact with his mother via cell phone after the police station shooting.
In his first call to the Eastham police, at about 9:30 p.m., Hopkins said that he had just spoken with Hill’s mother, whom Hill had called following the shooting at the police station. “[Hill] has told [Martha Hill] that his plan is to confront police with a gun. … And [Hill] wants to be killed.”
Later, at 11:13 pm, Martha Hill told police that “David just called me and he’s really close to some of the police. … He’s going to take one of them.” (An hour earlier, she had originally reported her suspicion that Hill intended to harm an officer in order to entice other officers to shoot at him.)
The D.A.’s report goes on to paint a scene of two officers being stalked in the rainy darkness of the Eastham woods by an armed Hill.
Manfredi and Truro police officer Nicholas J. Ambrosini were stationed at the intersection of Herring Brook and Samoset roads, charged with diverting traffic away from the Hill residence at 2 Sue’s Walk, where Hill was reported to have fled after the shooting at the police station. But shortly after 11 p.m., the officers found themselves on the defensive when they were informed that Hill had left the home and was traveling on foot, possibly armed, in the wooded area near where they were stationed.
Ambrosini subsequently received a call from Eastham police Officer Adam Bohannon, who advised him that Hill was talking to his mother by cell phone and had told her “he could see a police officer and he would take him hostage.” The officers subsequently split up in order to search for Hill and escape being seen under the overhead streetlight.
Manfredi then “heard a rustling sound in the woods. I made a survey of the area with my flashlight and illuminated the suspect in the woods wearing body armor and holding a firearm. I identified myself as a police officer and repeatedly ordered the suspect to drop his weapon and fearing for my life I fired my weapon in his direction.”
After Hill went down, officers seized a cocked and loaded Beretta semi-automatic pistol from his hands, along with 34 rounds of ammunition from his person.
The evidence, the D.A.’s report concludes, “supports the right of self-defense.” Hill had “expressed a desire to kill himself or be killed by police,” having recently purchased a gun and using it to fire at the Eastham police station, as well as telling his mother that he was going to confront police officers with the gun.
The report adds that Manfredi “fired and continued to fire until the threat ceased, which he was trained to do. … Manfredi’s actions during the confrontation with the deceased were well within the scope of the law in Massachusetts.”
After he was shot, Hill was transported to Cape Cod Hospital, where he died at approximately 12:45 a.m. on Oct. 18. An autopsy revealed that he had sustained five gunshot wounds, mainly to his left side, and that the fatal wound was made to the back of the head.
According to Hill family attorney Veara, the original autopsy report, which stated that most of Hill’s bullet wounds entered his body from behind, “created uncertainty.” (Manfredi’s account indicated that he had shot Hill while Hill was facing the officer with his weapon drawn.) More puzzling, Veara said — because it was in sharp contrast to the conclusions made about the other wounds — was the medical examiner’s assertion that the fatal bullet had entered Hill’s neck “from front to back.”
The D.A.’s report notes that a gunshot wound is typically a “dynamic occurrence” and rather than being a static target, Hill probably turned around from the force of the impact as he was being shot, “exposing the back of his head in order for a round to hit.”
“Who knows, maybe it was just a typographical error [in the report],” Veara said. “We’re not suggesting anything until we get all the information, but it does leave some questions open.”
www.provincetownbanner.com/article/news_article/_/44017/News/11/30/2006
However, the family of the Eastham man has hired attorney E. James Veara, who told the Banner Monday that the family is in the process of compiling a list of “issues we’ve identified” stemming from the D.A.’s report. Though he couldn’t comment on what the family’s questions about the report were, he confirmed that they are currently in the process of procuring the autopsy evidence for their own medical examiner to investigate.
David G. Hill, 23, was shot and killed by Orleans police Officer Anthony F. Manfredi on the night of Oct. 17, more than three hours after he had set off a frenetic cat-and-mouse chase by firing a round of shots at the Eastham police station.
The report, that details the circumstances surrounding Hill’s death, was issued last week by the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s office. It relies mainly on information recorded on the Eastham police dispatch line on the night of the incident, as well as on Hill’s autopsy report and follow-up interviews with the police and rescue officers involved in the incident.
The D.A.’s report asserts that the state has the burden of proving that a police officer did not have a right to defend himself. It subsequently concludes that Manfredi did have the right to fire his weapon at Hill, given the evidence that Hill had intended to harm a police officer that night.
The events leading up to Hill’s death began at approximately 8:20 p.m. on Oct. 17, when a round of ammunition was fired at the façade of the Eastham police station. Over the next three hours, the station’s dispatch line received multiple calls from Hill’s uncle, Rich Hopkins, a police officer in Mansfield, and Hill’s mother, Martha Hill of Maine. Relaying information from Hill himself, Martha Hill told police that her son had admitted to her that he had fired the rounds at the police station. Martha Hill and Hopkins also advised police that Hill was suicidal and had indicated he wanted to harm a police officer in order to be shot himself. Throughout the evening, the family members also provided updated information on the whereabouts of Hill, who had kept in contact with his mother via cell phone after the police station shooting.
In his first call to the Eastham police, at about 9:30 p.m., Hopkins said that he had just spoken with Hill’s mother, whom Hill had called following the shooting at the police station. “[Hill] has told [Martha Hill] that his plan is to confront police with a gun. … And [Hill] wants to be killed.”
Later, at 11:13 pm, Martha Hill told police that “David just called me and he’s really close to some of the police. … He’s going to take one of them.” (An hour earlier, she had originally reported her suspicion that Hill intended to harm an officer in order to entice other officers to shoot at him.)
The D.A.’s report goes on to paint a scene of two officers being stalked in the rainy darkness of the Eastham woods by an armed Hill.
Manfredi and Truro police officer Nicholas J. Ambrosini were stationed at the intersection of Herring Brook and Samoset roads, charged with diverting traffic away from the Hill residence at 2 Sue’s Walk, where Hill was reported to have fled after the shooting at the police station. But shortly after 11 p.m., the officers found themselves on the defensive when they were informed that Hill had left the home and was traveling on foot, possibly armed, in the wooded area near where they were stationed.
Ambrosini subsequently received a call from Eastham police Officer Adam Bohannon, who advised him that Hill was talking to his mother by cell phone and had told her “he could see a police officer and he would take him hostage.” The officers subsequently split up in order to search for Hill and escape being seen under the overhead streetlight.
Manfredi then “heard a rustling sound in the woods. I made a survey of the area with my flashlight and illuminated the suspect in the woods wearing body armor and holding a firearm. I identified myself as a police officer and repeatedly ordered the suspect to drop his weapon and fearing for my life I fired my weapon in his direction.”
After Hill went down, officers seized a cocked and loaded Beretta semi-automatic pistol from his hands, along with 34 rounds of ammunition from his person.
The evidence, the D.A.’s report concludes, “supports the right of self-defense.” Hill had “expressed a desire to kill himself or be killed by police,” having recently purchased a gun and using it to fire at the Eastham police station, as well as telling his mother that he was going to confront police officers with the gun.
The report adds that Manfredi “fired and continued to fire until the threat ceased, which he was trained to do. … Manfredi’s actions during the confrontation with the deceased were well within the scope of the law in Massachusetts.”
After he was shot, Hill was transported to Cape Cod Hospital, where he died at approximately 12:45 a.m. on Oct. 18. An autopsy revealed that he had sustained five gunshot wounds, mainly to his left side, and that the fatal wound was made to the back of the head.
According to Hill family attorney Veara, the original autopsy report, which stated that most of Hill’s bullet wounds entered his body from behind, “created uncertainty.” (Manfredi’s account indicated that he had shot Hill while Hill was facing the officer with his weapon drawn.) More puzzling, Veara said — because it was in sharp contrast to the conclusions made about the other wounds — was the medical examiner’s assertion that the fatal bullet had entered Hill’s neck “from front to back.”
The D.A.’s report notes that a gunshot wound is typically a “dynamic occurrence” and rather than being a static target, Hill probably turned around from the force of the impact as he was being shot, “exposing the back of his head in order for a round to hit.”
“Who knows, maybe it was just a typographical error [in the report],” Veara said. “We’re not suggesting anything until we get all the information, but it does leave some questions open.”
www.provincetownbanner.com/article/news_article/_/44017/News/11/30/2006