Here is the story from yesterday's inquirer, at the time of the shooting there were 51 9mm casings found, here they say 46 shots, and 5 hits
No charges in police beating
A grand jury said the force was justified
Thomas Jones was kicked and beaten during his arrest on July 12, 2000. The beating was caught on videotape. (AP)
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Jones said police set him up to be shot
Grand Jury Recommendations
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By Jacqueline Soteropoulos
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
The 14 Philadelphia police officers videotaped dragging Thomas Jones out of a stolen police car and beating and kicking the wounded carjacking suspect used less force than they were legally entitled to use and should not be prosecuted, a grand jury decided in a report unsealed yesterday.
In fact, the grand jury wrote, officers would have been justified in using deadly force to apprehend Jones on July 12, 2000, at 26th and Oxford Streets.
At that point, police incorrectly believed Jones - who had led them on a wild high-speed chase through residential sections of North Philadelphia - had shot an officer. Jones continued to violently resist arrest, even after being surrounded, according to the grand jury's unanimous report.
Victoria Bryant Jones, whom Jones married in a courtroom ceremony in December, said she was disappointed but not surprised that the officers will not face criminal charges.
"Why can't they be charged for attempted murder or recklessly endangering another person? Why? Because they're wearing a badge. They're in the system," she said. "They're all together."
Richard Costello, president of the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police, praised the grand jury's review and said it "totally exonerated" the officers.
"The grand jury found that six seconds of videotape was not the truth and, in fact, distorted the truth," Costello said.
An Inquirer frame-by-frame analysis of 28 seconds of the arrest indicated that Jones was kicked and hit at least 59 times, including a blow that came when an officer slammed the North Philadelphia man on the shin with a police radio.
The grand jury's decision - which also includes eight recommendations to the Police Department - does not end the controversy over the violent arrest. FBI spokeswoman Linda Vizi said the agency is continuing to monitor the case. Police Commissioner John F. Timoney said the 14 officers still face an internal police investigation and possible disciplinary action. And Jones' attorney, Frederico Sayre of Newport Beach, Calif., said he is planning to file a multimillion-dollar federal civil-rights lawsuit next month.
A videotape excerpt of the struggle, which the grand jury agreed was shocking on initial review, was broadcast on TV around the world and brought unwelcome attention to the city on the eve of the Republican National Convention.
The grand jury watched the full video - which was captured by a helicopter TV news crew - more than 100 times, synchronized with the police radio tape, to analyze every movement of each officer. In 10 months of investigation, the panel heard testimony from more than 70 witnesses.
The grand jury's 191-page report concluded that the officers were justified in hitting and kicking Jones - who by that time had sustained four or five gunshot wounds in the arm and abdomen - because he resisted being handcuffed.
Also, the report noted, the officers testified that they feared Jones might grab for one of their weapons or a gun they incorrectly believed he was carrying in his waistband.
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The grand jury report was most critical of the police gunfire at 17th and Francis Streets, where the pursuit began after Jones was spotted driving a stolen car. He was pulled over but broke free as he was being arrested.
Ten officers fired a total of 46 shots on a residential street, including eight shots as Jones, who was high on crack cocaine that morning, sped away in Officer Cedric Gaines' police car. Also wounded was Officer Michael Livewell, who was shot in the thumb by Gaines.
"Some of the shots may not have been necessary, and could have had unintended and disastrous consequences to civilians as well as other officers who were in each other's line of fire," the grand jury wrote.
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Grand jurors also stated they did not believe much of Jones' testimony to them.
Jones, 31, said he was unconscious for much of the beating and could not remember whether he resisted arrest. He also claimed that after the taped beating, officers put him beneath a tree and resumed kicking him, according to the grand jury report.
"We find that Thomas Jones' financial interest in the outcome of his planned civil suit against the city regarding his arrest influenced the substance of his testimony before us," the grand jury wrote.
Local NAACP president J. Whyatt Mondesire said he was dismayed, but not surprised, by the grand jury's report.
"Police violence will never be met with the full force of the criminal justice system," Mondesire said. "It's impossible as long as Lynne Abraham is district attorney. You're never going to get justice."
Mondesire, a longtime critic of Abraham's, said she led the grand jury to its decisions.
Victoria Bryant Jones agreed: "The main problem in that whole system is District Attorney Lynne Abraham. She keeps covering for everybody. She covers up for the police every time they do something."
Bryant Jones said she hopes for justice in the federal courts.
Abraham said her critics were motivated by politics.
"I think a fair review of this office indicates that we have arrested officers for murder. We have arrested officers for corruption. We have arrested and prosecuted officers for shaking down drug dealers. We have arrested and prosecuted officers for killing their wives. We have arrested and prosecuted officers for using excessive force on duty," she said.
In its recommendations to the Police Department yesterday, the grand jury indicated that officers needed better training and supervision in pursuits, defensive tactics, and use of deadly force.
Grand jurors also recommended improvements to police radio communications, an upgrade of police helicopter camera gear, and more frequent use of the police aviation unit.
"They seem like very thoughtful recommendations," Timoney said, promising to put together a team to review the findings.
The 14 officers targeted by the grand jury's investigation were Robert Billips, Leonard Boston, Christopher Fischer, Acie Frames, Darryl Gregory, James Henninger, Paul Langford, Charles Marable, Christopher McCue, Ricardo Moreno, Andrew Schafer, Christopher Stever, Stacy Tribble-Ramirez and Robert Weber.
All have been assigned to desk duty since Jones' arrest.
"They've all been taken off the street," Costello said. "Some of them are fairly bitter because they feel they've been punished already."
In June, Jones was sentenced to 18 to 37 years in prison for a 12-day carjacking and robbery spree last summer.
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