Cop who shot unarmed black man has immunity from state charge because of federal role, judge rules
An Austin, Texas, police detective accused of accidentally shooting and killing an unarmed black man has immunity from prosecution on a state manslaughter charge because he was serving as a deputized FBI agent, a federal judge has ruled.
U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel dismissed the charge against the officer, Charles Kleinert, in an opinion (PDF) released last Thursday, the Washington Post and the Austin American-Statesman report.
Yeakel said Kleinert had supremacy clause immunity, citing an 1890 case granting immunity to a deputized U.S. marshal who shot and killed a man who attacked a U.S. Supreme Court justice.
State prosecutors say Kleinert was holding a loaded gun when he struck and tried to gain control of 32-year-old Larry Jackson in July 2013. Kleinert’s gun accidentally discharged, and Jackson died, say prosecutors, who allege that Kleinert recklessly caused Jackson’s death.
Yeakel said Kleinert had immunity from state prosecution because he was on full-time assignment to the FBI’s Central Texas Violent Crime Task Force and acted in a reasonable belief that his actions were proper. At issue were his actions during a task force investigation of an Austin bank robbery in July 2013.
Yeakel held two evidentiary hearings and recited the evidence presented. Jackson had shown up twice at the locked bank after the robbery. He repeatedly pulled on the door handle and gave the fake name “William Majors” to a bank employee, who told Kleinert she knew the real William Majors, a friend of the bank president, Yeakel’s opinion said.
Kleinert began to question Jackson, who ran from Kleinert. Kleinert gave chase, commandeering a car being driven by an ordained minister. He exited the car when he caught up with Jackson, who did not obey an order to get down on the ground. Kleinert managed to grab Jackson’s T-shirt as Jackson tried to keep running. Kleinert struck Jackson twice while holding the gun, and was about to hit him again when Jackson spun around and turned into Kleinert, Yeakel said. At that point Kleinert’s gun discharged.
Kleinert testified he believed he was lawfully trying to detain and arrest Jackson, and had no intention of killing him.
“For supremacy clause immunity purposes, the court does not decide that Kleinert correctly evaluated the situation,” Yeakel said, “but only that he honestly and reasonably perceived the situation.” Though Kleinert’s plan to detain and arrest Jackson “went awry,” Kleinert subjectively believed his actions were necessary and proper, and that belief was objectively reasonable, Yeakel said.
Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg said she is “totally dismayed” by the ruling and is considering whether to appeal.
