ST. LOUIS _ The family of a man fatally shot by a St. Louis police officer in 2011 increased their demand to settle the case to $8 million Wednesday after new information emerged via cooperation with the officer's lawyers.
The case has already settled once, in 2013, for $900,000.
But lawyers representing the young daughter of Anthony Lamar Smith discovered that there had been DNA evidence in the case after former Officer Jason Stockley was charged with Smith's murder in 2016, and sought successfully to reopen part of the case. Stockley was acquitted by a judge last year.
A December report by an independent investigator said there had been "clear discovery violations" when DNA evidence was not turned over to plaintiffs, but it says it is unclear whether they were intentionally or accidentally left out.
Smith family lawyer Al Watkins said Wednesday that he'd obtained minutes of a 2013 session of the St. Louis Police Board via Stockley's lawyers, who are also suing the city, former St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce and an internal affairs investigator.
In the meeting, former Police Chief Sam Dotson says the case could be worth $6 million to $8 million. Board secretary and general counsel Mark Lawson says "this case is as bad as it could get right now and that someone outside of the realm may not know the full implications," the minutes say.
Dana Tucker, now Dana Redwing, was the assistant attorney general handling the case at that time. She told the board about the DNA, and mentions FBI and Internal Affairs documents.
Tucker and Lawson also present the board with all the potential pitfalls to taking the case to trial: that Stockley was carrying his personal AK-47 style rifle, that he threatened to "kill" Smith during a police chase, there were unspecified violations of police policies and procedures, claims that Smith's pleas for his life were captured in an OnStar recording and the possibility that Stockley had PTSD. They also pointed out that Stockley and his partner believed they'd interrupted a drug deal involving Smith, that Smith rammed a police car while fleeing and almost struck Stockley and his partner and that Smith had prior drug convictions.
The board approved a settlement of up to $1 million.
Watkins said that the Internal Affairs and FBI files referenced by Tucker should also have been turned over. In recent weeks, Watkins gained access to at least some of those files, according to court documents, and he is now trying to share that information with state and federal prosecutors and investigators.
St. Louis City Counselor Julian Bush, asked about the police board meeting minutes, said it was a legally privileged document. "I'm not going to acknowledge the existence of that letter or what it says."
But Bush said that on the date of the meeting, he believes the federal judge's discovery order, or order to turn over evidence in the case, would have encompassed the entire file.
"It's never been denied that the police board and the attorney general did not comply with the discovery order," Bush said. He said the issue now in front of the federal judge on the case was "the appropriate action to take at this time." Bush also said it wasn't clear whether the fault for that failure to turn over evidence was that of the police board or the attorney general, and whether it was "willful or was it inadvertent." Bush also took pains to differentiate between the police board and the city.
Reached Tuesday, Redwing lawyer Jim Martin said, "It is undisputed that Ms. Redwing turned over everything the attorney general's office was provided. How or why certain documents weren't given to the attorney general's office is something we don't have an answer to."
The Justice Department declined to prosecute Stockley. Protests followed the announcement of the not guilty verdict in the criminal case in September.
Lawyer Daniel Finney Jr. said Wednesday that Stockley and his lawyers are cooperating with Watkins because, "We don't believe we've done anything wrong but we won't be a part of hiding facts from anybody."
Stockley and his lawyers believe that the shooting was justified, not only because Smith was spotted with a gun before the chase but also because he refused to show Stockley his hands after the crash and appeared to be reaching for something.
