Lawyers Suing Over Suspect’s Shooting Death Seek Facebook Information for 57 Officers
An Albuquerque, N.M., policeman who listed his job description as “human waste disposal” on Facebook has caught the attention of lawyers who filed a wrongful death suit against the city for a police shooting in January 2010.
The lawyers are asking the city to provide Facebook usernames and passwords of 57 police officers who were at the scene after a police detective shot and killed Iraq war veteran Kenneth Ellis, according to the Albuquerque Journal (sub. req.) and KOAT.com.
Lawyer Joe Kennedy alleged in an interview with KOAT that officers called to the shooting scene were eating pizza and applauding the fatal shooting of a man they wrongly believed to be a gangbanger. Co-counsel Frances Crockett told the Albuquerque Journal that the officers were likely more candid on Facebook than they would be in a deposition or internal investigation.
The officer who listed his job as “human waste disposal” was involved in a more recent fatal shooting of a suspect.