No criminal charges in more than a dozen officer-related deaths
The Minneapolis police department's investigation into the officer-involved shooting death of Terrance Franklin on May 10 has been sent to a Hennepin County grand jury for review. According to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, since 2000, there have been at least 17 deaths stemming from the actions of Minneapolis police officers.
In all these cases, the grand jury returned a ‘no bill’ ruling – meaning no criminal charges were filed against the officers. Here are a few of those cases.
March 11, 2002 -- MPD officers shot and killed Abu Jeilani, a Somali man carrying a machete.
February 4, 2005 – Courtney Williams, a 15-year-old boy was shot and killed after police said he pointed a gun at them.
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September 20, 2006 – Dominic Felder was shot and killed by two officers.
July 22, 2006 – Fong Lee was shot several times after being chased by an officer.
September 17, 2010 – David Smith died as he was subdued by two Minneapolis officers.
Even when a grand jury issues a "no bill", there still could be consequences. In the cases of Felder and Smith combined, the city of Minneapolis paid more than $5 million in civil judgments and settlements. After the 2000 killing by police of Barbara Schneider, a woman with bipolar disorder, the Minneapolis police department began to change its policies on how officers intervene with people experiencing mental health crises.