Expert: Investigation into Boone Co. deputy was superficial, shallow
Channel: information general
Date: 2016-12-09

Expert: Investigation into Boone Co. deputy was superficial, shallow


A Kentucky county has agreed to a $3.5million settlement with the family and passengers of a teenager who was fatally shot by a sheriff's deputy as she drove away from a party.
The family of nineteen-year-old Samantha Ramsey filed a wrongful death lawsuit last year after she was shot by Boone County Sheriff's Deputy Tyler Brockman in April 2014.
Plaintiffs' attorney Al Gerhardstein announced the settlement between the family and Boone County during a news conference Wednesday.

On April 26, 2014, around 2am, Brockman responded to a report of a large party in Hebron to check whether the drivers who were leaving were sober, news outlets reported.
Ramsey, who was driving three friends, didn't stop as she left the party and hit Brockman with her car, throwing him onto the hood, Brockman said.
The deputy said he felt the car speeding up and feared for his life so he fired into the windshield four times, killing Ramsey. 
Her three passengers were then held at gunpoint.
The lawsuit said Ramsey was stopping the car when Brockman fired.
Toxicology reports indicated Ramsey had alcohol and marijuana in her system.
A report compiled on behalf of Samantha Ramsey's family sheds new light on a $3.5 million settlement the family reached with Boone County.
Ramsey, 19, was shot and killed by Boone County Deputy Tyler Brockman as she and three friends tried to leave a field party in Ramsey's car in April 2014.

In the report, prepared for Ramsey family attorney Al Gerhardstein, one expert describes the way the Boone County Sheriff's Department investigated the case as "superficial" and "shallow."

Brockman's cruiser cam captured part of the deadly encounter, but not the moment he jumped on the hood of Ramsey's car and fired his gun.

Brockman said he hopped on the hood because he thought he was going to be pinned against his cruiser.

He also said he shot Ramsey because he thought she was going to run over him and kill him.

A grand jury declined to indict Brockman, but Ramsey's mom filed a civil suit.

At Gerhardstein's request, an expert, Dr. Richard Ziernicki, used a 3-dimensional modeling technique called videogrammetry to analyze Brockman's cruiser cam.

Ziernicki created a series of animations and diagrams which show Ramsey's 2001 Subaru turning east on River Road in Hebron and Brockman moving toward her vehicle.

One illustration shows Brockman was at least 9 feet away from his cruiser when he jumped on the hood of Ramsey's car.

Ziernicki writes Brockman had "ample space to avoid further confrontation ... by simply backing away."

And then there's the question of speed. When Brockman jumped onto the hood of Ramsey's car, Ziernicki says the Subaru was going, at most, 3 miles per hour, though Ramsey was starting to accelerate.

In the end, Ziernicki says instead of letting Ramsey's car drive by him, Brockman "chose to escalate confrontation," a perspective Ziernicki says is supported by statements taken from several young people at the field party who saw what happened.

The report goes on to say the Sheriff's Department failed to use their own high tech photographic scan of the scene to analyze Brockman's dash cam footage.

Ziernicki says that failure led to an investigation that yielded inaccurate results.

In addition to the financial settlement which will go to the Ramsey family and the three passengers in Ramsey's car the night she died, the Boone County Sheriff's Department will also implement new training and use of force standards along with a body camera program for deputies.