BAPE uss eH ag i ene as ass Men io Pr aan. suoor cane aw aay ete ‘ide seco agonntat Aine ow sugy Sao Pte “enon aso Jona rene Assos oto Sy ans Joras0N NATIONAL ASSOGIATION OF FOLIGE ORGANIZATIONS, ING, Ropresonling America’s Finest 317 South Patek Sroot~Aoxanda, gina ~ 22314-9504 (703) 640-0776 ~ (800) 22-NAPO “ Fax: (708) 684-0616 ‘wav nape.org ~ Emel Infogpnapo.org as, cpa 4, Boor Ghia Medea! Bausiner Heanigpla County Madlon! Hxuisinar's Offise 530 Chicago Avenue Mail Code 870 Milnnupellt, Minnesota 88418 Glue S013 ‘at Inyvatigitlon Inka dosh of Pollae Offi yon Hoof ‘Dea Be. Boker, { rogpoetilly wile to you ot behalf the more than 240,000 Inw cenforcoment officers neross the United Stes represented by our Association regarding the above-referenced ease, Talso write to you as a former Iw enforcement official and prosecutor in tho Miami, Plorida State Attomey"s DOfice, and in house legal counsel with various poles entities charged with Investigation of denths, I'm not physician, and would never presume to contradict a medical opinion offred by you or your office, Bat I have had humerous opportunitos since the 1980"s to Investigate und detest and prosecute eases involving different manners of sudden death, vient ancl btherwise, ‘These eases include justifiable homicide, murder, suicide, neoident in-custody deaths, and vehicular homicide. In patieuar, on more than one oeeaslon have been responsible for the investigation of the deaths by fcwarin wounds (including wounds tothe head) of individuals in the driver's seat within a fuhetloning stor vehicle, In addltion, {served from 1988 to 1989 as the Chief of the Mental Health Unit for the Miura State ‘Atloroay’s Offlee, whore 1 was responsible fbr handling both criminal and ‘lvl ates Invalving persona with mental ilneas, 1 feo this i alevant becouse one ofthe primary issues in each ofthe oil casos aud some of tho crliinal wigs 98 Whelhor oF nol thre was ovidenoe to indleto that prvoulae person was avak fo themselves, |, aulldal. 1 respectiliy nuk you so conslder whether this type of sxporlonce might wot ‘have some adaltional value buyond a atltly aodoalanalyal ofthis eae, ‘have spon the lat voveral meuths soviowing all the evidanoe and reports in ‘this gue tht Ksould got my hands on, Bosause I know you ae failfar with ‘tho fete we well, T won't rolterate ther, but { would offer what yeoms to me Jo be three oloarpolats:|. hueo fa wo evldonae that Haan aware a that would wake Ht waaee Hkoly than wot (oF evan a aogstnblo risk) tht Oftow Hoeft was contemplating suleide, prior to hls astval death, ‘he only avidoneo of aululde atte arbe ssoue isl i the fot ‘hit »projotle fhom Ofiowr Hoult serviee weapon cured tho ‘wou, 44. ase are ough ususual araunwianaos auivauring io aaa loath scone of Offlear Hoot whieh ary a leat as eompaiso wlth ‘an aooident ua with aulside tha, given points one and two above, the benoit ofthe doubt should weigh in favor of an acoidantal ‘death, or at loast nn “undetermined fading, “These crousatanans Include the fv slgMlount fctor, for in, thal COftieer Hoots mnweked police vohlale wus running and in yeur when the fatal shot occurred, Tam awaro of cases (and have handled eases) wheres 1 suicidal subjeot wishos to fn ae many other people ax possible ‘onthe vay out” Inouding uel a velo), ad erase whore: 2, subject who wishes to de but doesn't want to pull the trigger himself deliberately presents a rsk of harm to others (ineluding, ‘witha motor vehicle) suoh that others kil him, and eases where 3. running vebilo sof Is used asthe means of suilde, such as cenolosed within a garage or doliberaely boing run into a highway ‘embankments and Iam aware of onses whore: 4, subject shoots himself in @ranning (but nol moving) vehicle as tho poliew alos fn on him, and eas wher 5, thdelver ofa moving vehiole is shot te death by someone inside oF ouside the moving vehicle, ‘out Ihave naver witnossed nor hoard of ease whore w subject shoots Inns vo doath in a moving vehles ana lly ste! for no mpparent 9980 ‘A soon sipnfout faetay tor ns le that Oftoar Hoel yaw omied tthe tin of ie death with 48 calle vani-automatie platol. When Lon patrolman, Fals oneied that same weapon, and qualified as wn Yoxpert™mark sol, lke fave Fao, Fwy crv that waa wth live round in the ohainbar, because that f the way dt that typo of rear has always boen desired Wo be carl, snes a least 1911 when the most popular model was aecepted by the U.S, government, The findings of your offi make point in favor of sulelda instead of weldant by tallng tat Officer Hoel, one handling hs weapon, would have hud to grasp it with ‘wo hands use ils oft hand to drawback the slide ofthe weapon while holding the franse wlth set hand, thue withdrawing a ound from tho ‘magazine allow the slide to wavel forward by relousing the side trom the rip of his left hand while malntalning hs right hand's yp on the fran, thus ohamberng thy ound, reloas the safety using a fhngor or thumb of ‘ls right hand while stl maintaining hs right hand's gulp on the frame, thon finally presen the woupon towards the target 0 be fied upon, "The lear implication i that #0 many steps and so much aotivity end tine before the officer could fire hls yun menns It ean’ be an wosident, And that conclusion might well be supported i/the premisay offered in support wore ts, ‘But think about I the very fut that so many steps and so much aetivily ‘and tne would Intervene before any given oftiesr could five that weapon In auch a sequence necessarily means that any given offer would alwo be handicapped (perhaps fatally) In tho rel world when eonfronted by & studken danger ne eotresponding need to defend his or her own life with hisor er Gear, [the officer was earryng his or hor weapon in sush « ‘vay 0 to requte the competion ofthis sequonee of stops before they ‘ould fre thelr weapon. dnd tha i why, nthe red! world, aflews bea ‘airy this ype of weapon loaded, and with «round alrvady extracted from the magusine and chambered, ready to be fred. ven knawhyg tha, | would st} dof to your offie'y previous Aeleimlnation In thie aso, {fot fr the thin sgaifiount foot (0 me, ‘whieh is hat al the diffcultis presontd by the two above mentloned Faotors ato resolved by the altomative option, which isan accidental death, ‘As unusual an acoident at night seem a ist blush, i is stil meh Teas tuna! an geoident, in my experlence, than how unusual sulelde it ‘vould have fo be tof thse fet. And the aocident hypothesis not merely speculative, but supported and eorroborated by reconstuetive‘ovidonoe of wulfalon slentlo vigoy and yalovunos to prove parwunalya, ven vompelling. “Thorofor, 1 would reypeotfully ok whethor the fuller hota wurrounding ‘oftieor Hoet's death (both wfflmatie fits atthe death saone w8 well as the absence of suicidal evidence preveding it) donot merit classification of his death as aeeidontal, In the allernative if wcctdental isnot acceptable, 1 ‘would ost strongly urge a finding of undetermined wider these moat ‘unusual ercumstaneos, Very raat, strallae ffl renee ‘Witla J, Soho xeoullve Divestor and General Counsel