Police officer not guilty over deaths of 2 unarmed suspects in 137-shot barrage
Case led to Department of Justice review, which found police had history of rights violations
A police officer charged in the shooting deaths of two unarmed suspects during a 137-shot barrage of gunfire was acquitted yesterday in a case that helped prompt the US Department of Justice determine the city police department had a history of using excessive force and violating civil rights.
Michael Brelo, 31, faced as many as 22 years in prison had the judge convicted him on two counts of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting deaths of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams on November 29, 2012.
Before issuing his verdict, Judge John O'Donnell noted the recent unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore over the deaths of black suspects but said he would not "sacrifice" Brelo to an angry public if the evidence did not merit a conviction.
"Guilty or not guilty, the verdict should be no cause for a civilised society to celebrate or riot," he said.
The shooting helped prompt a months-long probe by the US Department of Justice, which concluded last December that the Cleveland police department had engaged in a pattern and practice of using excessive force and violating people's civil rights.
Brelo put his head in his hands as O'Donnell finished a nearly hour-long summation of his conclusions, an involved explanation of the decision that involved mannequins marked with the gunshot wounds that the two motorists suffered.
Brelo is white, the two motorists were black. Community and city leaders braced for the possibility of unrest in response to the verdict, which came as investigators work towards making a decision on whether charges will be filed in the death of a black 12-year-old boy carrying a pellet gun who was shot by a white rookie officer late last year.