Opinion ID: 1529521
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The District's Version.

Text: Officer Denise Calhoun had joined the MPD on October 24, 1988, eight months before Garcia Etheredge was shot. She testified that she and her partner, Officer Brian Paige, had received a Code 1 (without delay) assignment, directing them to respond immediately to the Kerns residence regarding a man with a gun. Before she and Paige entered the home, Barrett Kerns, who was on the street outside the home, told them that his sister and her boyfriend had had an argument and that the boyfriend had a gun on him. [5] He described the weapon as a small Derringer handgun. Recognizing that they were on a dangerous mission, [6] the two officers entered the front door of the house, which was slightly ajar. Officer Calhoun placed her weapon behind her thigh. As she and Officer Paige approached the stairwell, she observed Etheredge on the steps and Bambi Kerns and the baby at the top level. As Etheredge began to walk down the stairs, Officer Calhoun ordered him to freeze. Officer Paige yelled something to the same effect. Etheredge whirled around as if to go upstairs and reached into his pocket with his right hand. Officer Calhoun could not see what was in Etheredge's hand. As Etheredge was pulling his arm up and starting to turn, Officer Calhoun heard a round go off. She realized soon thereafter that Etheredge had been shot in the back. Officer Paige testified that when he and Officer Calhoun arrived in the area of the Kerns residence, Barrett Kerns told them not only that he had seen Etheredge inside with a gun, but also that this person [inside] with the gun was acting crazy, and that the person had kicked in the door, forced his way in.[ [7] ] He told us to be careful because this person might shoot us. Officer Paige continued that when he and his partner approached the front door of the home, he noticed that the lock had been broken. Cautiously, the officers entered. A man who matched the lookout which the officers had received for a man with a guna light-skinned black male with a red shirt and black pantswas beginning to walk down the stairs. According to Officer Paige, both he and his partner, who had their police weapons drawn, immediately yelled at Etheredgeobviously, he was the manto freeze. Instead of freezing, Etheredge whirled around, reached into his pocket, pulled out a silver object, and turned towards Paige, who fired a single shot. Officer Paige explained his reasons for doing so: Q. Back down the stairs just before you shot, how fast was that motion of going into the pocket and starting to turn? A. Seconds, maybe 2 seconds at the most. Q. Did you have any feeling as to what that object was that you saw come out of his pocket? A. In my heart, I thought that it was a gun. I thought that he was going to turn around and shoot me or Denise.       Q. If someone were to say that the object in his hand [was] thrown before you shot, would that be correct? A. No. That would not be correct. There was no motion like that whatsoever. Q. If someone were to say that the hand reached into the left hand pocket, would that be correct? A. No, it would not. Q. Was there any doubt in your mind at the time that he pulled the object from his pocket, raised his arm and started to turn, that that motion that you have described, that there was fear for your safety or the safety of others? A. Definitely, there was fear. I was in fear of my life. There was no doubt in my mind that he had a gun and he was getting ready to turn towards me with it. In a nutshell, the plaintiff's version was that Officer Paige told him to drop the gun, that he tried to comply by discarding the knife, that he put his hands back to his side, and that, after he had done so, the officer shot him in the back. The defense version was that Etheredge was told to freeze, that he disobeyed the order, that he whirled around with a weapon that momentarily resembled the handgun about which the officers had been warned, and that Paige shot him because he reasonably believed that Etheredge himself was about to fire.