Pubdate: Thu, 19 Jan 2006
Source: Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Copyright: 2006 Sun-Sentinel Company
Contact:  http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/159
Author: Leon Fooksman, staff writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)

JUPITER OFFICER CLEARED IN KILLING OF SUSPECTED DRUG DEALER

An undercover Jupiter police officer who fatally shot a suspected drug
dealer last summer was cleared Wednesday of any wrongdoing, despite
problems with the handling of evidence and a lack of initial
cooperation from a federal law enforcement agency.

The Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office declined to prosecute
Officer Paul Bruno for shooting Donovan Brooks, 40, in a West Palm
Beach motel parking lot on Aug. 5 during a "take down" in which
federal and local agents and officers lured Brooks from New Jersey to
buy $80,000 of marijuana.

Bruno fired at Brooks after he feared Brooks would shoot him and
another undercover agent when he reached for his waistband as Bruno
tried to arrest him. Bruno later told investigators he didn't see
anything in Brooks' hands or waistband that looked like a weapon.

Brooks, as it turned out, was unarmed, investigators found. He also
didn't have a known history of carrying weapons or being involved in
violence, they said.

Prosecutors at first considered bringing Bruno in front of a grand
jury to determine whether the shooting was justified after finding
that he and other agents acted "contrary to procedures" established
for investigating police shootings. Investigators concluded at the
time that it was impossible to figure out "with confidence" what
happened just before Bruno shot Brooks.

Bruno, for example, was taken by a Jupiter lieutenant to a hospital
miles away for stress-related problems after the shooting, meaning
almost a day passed before investigators could retrieve information
and evidence from him. Palm Beach County sheriff's investigators also
had to negotiate with federal agents to keep them from leaving the
shooting scene and they noted that the federal officials moved at
least one vehicle and possibly disturbed evidence.

But State Attorney Barry Krischer eventually got the cooperation he
needed from the Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies to
complete the review. Based on the additional information, he found no
need to charge Bruno or take the matter to a grand jury.

Police officers also were cleared in five other fatal shootings last
year in Palm Beach County. Bringing charges against officers for
shooting people is relatively rare, said David Klinger, a former Los
Angeles police officer and a University of Missouri-St. Louis
professor. Officers are allowed to defend themselves, he said.
Krischer noted that officers may have "reasonable fear" that drug
suspects are armed.

"If there is an imminent threat to an officer, he doesn't have to wait
to see a gun," said Klinger, adding that about one-third of all police
shootings involve unarmed people.

Brooks, a native of Jamaica who family members said was a cook from
Toronto, died from a single shot to the chest, investigators
determined. Another drug dealer working for federal agents enticed
Brooks to the Days Inn motel near Interstate 95 and 45th Street.
Brooks showed up with money to buy drugs from Michael Ray Roberts, of
Myrtle Beach, S.C., who was cooperating with federal investigators
after getting caught smuggling marijuana from Jamaica to South Florida.

When Brooks got to the motel, Roberts asked him to meet at Roberts'
car. As Brooks and another man approached the car, agents in and
around the car moved toward the men. Identifying himself as an
officer, Bruno ordered Brooks to show his hands, but he reached for
the waistband.

"I started to fear for what might happen next," Bruno told
investigators.

After the shooting, Bruno left the motel for the Jupiter hospital,
even though there was a hospital across the street and a protocol
called for him to go there. Investigative procedures also were not
followed when crime scene technicians couldn't immediately examine
Bruno's gun or recover his clothing and gear.

And DEA officials moved a sport-utility vehicle used in the operation,
disobeying a request by local investigators not to touch the vehicle
so more evidence could be gathered. The agents also declined to give
statements to the investigators at the scene.

DEA spokeswoman Jeannette Moran declined to comment.

Investigators also felt Bruno's attorney, Larry Fagan, may have
interfered with the investigation when officers who witnessed the
shooting were interrupted and told to speak to Fagan before they made
statements to investigators. Fagan said he did not interfere with the
process.

Fagan added Bruno did nothing wrong in shooting Brooks, considering
the circumstances he was facing.

"He's an exemplary officer and extremely articulate," Fagan
said.

Bruno will still likely face an internal investigation by his
department or the Sheriff's Office for his conduct that night, Fagan
said.
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