PHOENIX — A federal appeals court heard arguments on Wednesday about whether a lawsuit should survive against a Phoenix police officer who fatally shot a teen suspect in the back as he ran away in 2019.
The lawsuit filed by the family of Jacob Harris was dismissed last year by a district court judge who ruled that no reasonable jury would find that the officer’s actions were unjustified.
The in-person hearing in front of a Ninth Circuit panel of judges did not dive deeply into the underlying facts or evidence of the case and instead largely focused on legal and procedural issues that also were part of the dismissal.
But the judges did question both sides specifically about whether or not the teen was holding a gun when he was shot.
“Is that a disputed fact? You clearly see something flying from his hand,” asked Judge Joseph Bumatay.
An attorney for the city responded, “The plaintiff is disputing that. I don’t think there’s any reasonable way to dispute that.”
Aerial video from a police surveillance plane shows something leaving Harris’ hand as he’s shot from behind.
The Harris family believes the object was a cell phone and that the gun was planted.
“What we have is a video showing something flying out of a hand,” said Steve Benedetto, who represents the Harris family. “We don’t have a crime scene investigator. The person wasn’t made available.”
He’s referring to former homicide detective Jennifer DiPonzio, who’s now part of a growing scandal involving mishandled evidence going back years.
DiPonzio went on medical leave and then retired after she was confronted with her mistakes.
The city has repeatedly told criminal and civil courts that health issues prevent her from testifying in any way.
On the night he was shot, Harris and three friends were already being followed by undercover Phoenix officers who were investigating armed robberies. The officers even videotaped a robbery at a West Valley Whataburger before following the getaway car onto the highway. Officers used a grappler device to stop the car, and when Harris ran, an officer shot him.
The friends, Johnny Reed, 14, Suriah Busani, 19, and Jerimiah Triplett, 20, were all criminally charged in Harris' death even though a police officer killed him. That's because of Arizona's felony murder law because someone died as they fled from the scene of a felony crime.
The young defendants took plea deals and were sent to prison. Their families and criminal justice reform activists now want those pleas thrown out and the defendants released.
"I can only find myself asking a lot of questions like why the hell are they still in jail facing adult time," said Percy Christian from Black Lives Matter Metro Phoenix. "We are not going anywhere until we get what's ours: justice, transparency, and respect."
The activists and family called the police tactics into question that night saying Harris should not have been shot by anyone.
"There were several, several occurrences that happened before the killing of Jacob to where all of this could have been stopped by the Phoenix Police Department," said Reed's aunt Shawanna Chambers El.
They also have concerns about secret deleted WhatsApp messages between officers that night and a Phoenix detective on the case who mishandled evidence in dozens of homicide cases.
The next ruling on this lawsuit is likely months away.
