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POLICE SET TO PAY IN SHOOTING

Tentative Deal is With Daughter of Unarmed Man Killed by Officer

By Carri Geer Thevenot, Las Vegas Review Journal, 11-22-02, P. 1A

The Metropolitan Police Department tentatively has agreed to pay $325,000 to a young girl whose unarmed father was shot and killed by an officer in April 1999, more than six months before she was born.

"Obviously, we haven't admitted any liability," said attorney Thomas Dillard, who represents the department.

The department's Fiscal Affairs Committee is scheduled to approve the settlement payment for 3-year-old Sara Nadine Strouse on Monday, the same day the committee is scheduled to approve a $900,000 settlement payment to James Suggs and Juan Berry.

Both settlement proposals stem from civil rights lawsuits filed in federal court.

Suggs and Berry claim rogue police officers concocted bogus charges and had them falsely arrested after the two men were involved in a brawl with off-duty SWAT officers in May 1997.

Sarah is the daughter of Las Vegas resident John Perrin, 32, who was shot numerous times by officer Bruce Gentner on April 12, 1999.

Perrin's mother, Connie, and two brothers filed a $25 million lawsuit a month later against Gentner and the police department. Sara was added to the case after her birth on Oct. 20, 1999.

Both of Perrin's brothers have been dismissed from the lawsuit, but Connie Perrin's portion of the case is scheduled to proceed to trial on Dec. 9 before U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt.

"We're going to trial," said attorney Brent Bryson, who represents Connie Perrin. "It's not going to be resolved."

Bryson said he planned to travel to Oakland, Calif. today to discuss trial strategy with his co-counsel, John Burris.

"The community really wants this trial to be tried, and I'm looking forward to trying it," Bryson said.

Burris was counsel to Rodney King in the infamous Los Angeles police beating case, which led to a civil jury awarding $3.8 million in damages to King. Burris specializes in police misconduct cases and has litigated civil lawsuits arising from at least 20 officer-involved shootings.

When reached Thursday, Burris did not rule out the possibility of a settlement, although he said no settlement discussions had been scheduled.

"If you put enough money on the table, of course we'll settle," he said.

Connie Perrin could not be reached for comment Thursday, but during a news conference in May 1999, she said no amount of money could ease the pain of losing her son.

"That's not what we are looking for," she said. "What we are looking for is justice so that this will never happen again and so people's rights won't be violated again so blatantly."

A coroner's jury ruled 6-1 in May 1999 that Gentner, now a narcotics detective, acted justifiably when he shot Perrin.

Gentner testified that he fired his gun because he though Perrin was reaching for a weapon in his waistband during a late-night pedestrian stop at Rainbow Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue.

However, testimony revealed that Perrin might have been trying to discard a glass jar filled with iodine crystals, an ingredient used to make methamphetamine.

"We believe the shooting was reasonable because officer Gentner reasonably believed that Mr. Perrin posed a danger to him," Dillard said.

He said Perrin had refused to comply with Gentner's commands to show his hands. When Perrin reached into his waistband, the officer fired 14 shots, striking Perrin at least five times.

Gentner testified that he stopped Perrin after he saw him jaywalking and possibly engaging in a drug deal.

In December, Hunt issued a sharply written order in which he denied a request to dismiss the Perrin lawsuit.

Specifically, the judge wrote that:

There is evidence that Gentner did not warn Perrin he was considering using deadly force, despite having ample time to do so.
Even had Perrin been warned, a second volley of shots fired by Gentner might have been unreasonable. "By his own admission, Officer Gentner perceived that the safety threat had subsided after the first round of shots."
There is evidence that Gentner "had a tendency to mistreat citizens and to escalate routine stops by unnecessarily threatening to use force." In this portion of his ruling, the judge cited depositions from two citizens who said Gentner pulled his gun on them and began screaming orders without provocation. The judge also referenced the deposition of a former colleague who said he told his supervisor he did not want to work with Gentner, whom he described as "badge-heavy."
Attorneys for Perrin's family have presented sufficient evidence that "Metro's policy of inadequate training and supervision was the moving force behind Officer Gentner's use of deadly force against an unarmed jaywalker."

"From the statements of those who worked with and came in contact with Officer Gentner, it appears that Officer Gentner has a tendency not only to use excessive force, but to misperceive potential safety threats," the judge wrote.

"If Officer Gentner's own fellow officers were afraid to work with him, surely Metro was on constructive notice that Gentner was not only a potential threat to public safety, but that he regularly (flouted) constitutional safeguards intended to protect citizens against the use of excessive force."

Dillard described Sarah as Perrin's sole heir and said she stood to recover the most damages if a jury ruled in her favor. That was one factor that led to the proposed settlement, he said.

The attorney said Sarah might recover damages from a jury for the loss of her relationship with her father, the loss of probable support from her father and any pain and suffering her father endured.

Dillard said Connie Perrin might recover damages for the loss of her relationship with her son, and Perrin's estate might recover damages for medical and funeral expenses, as well as punitive damages against Gentner.

Sarah's mother, Amy Harouff, was Perrin's girlfriend at the time of his death. Neither she nor her attorney, Frank Cremen, could be reached for comment Thursday.

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