Story Published:
Jul 1, 2009 at 7:37 PM PDT
Story Updated:
Jul 1, 2009 at 11:51 PM PDT
INGLEWOOD — Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks has expressed confidence that the department will be exonerated in the officer-involved shooting death of Marcus Smith after the FBI launched an official probe into the incident.
But that assertion was flatly contradicted by Kevin R. Hackie, a private detective representing the Smith family, who told The Wave Tuesday that based on the evidence his team has handed over to the bureau, “I guarantee they are going to indict those officers.”
According to a statement by Seabrooks released last week, the FBI notified her department of the impending investigation in a May 24 letter. Smith, a 31-year-old father of three, was shot and killed May 17 when police responded to calls of a fight at a party in the 800 block of South Osage Avenue.
“The department will cooperate completely in all aspects of their investigation, even as we complete our own administrative and internal reviews into the incident,” Seabrooks said in the statement. “We are confident the FBI review will validate facts already made public about the incident, including our initial findings that Mr. Smith was armed and pointed his handgun at officers, resulting in the fatal shooting.”
Meanwhile, Hackie, a retired law enforcement officer, revealed that his agency had turned over all its evidence to the FBI’s Public Integrity Division in Santa Ana on June 1.
Hackie and the Smith family legal team held a press conference in San Pedro May 29 where they revealed details of a private autopsy performed by Dr. Sylvia Camprini, a former head of the Washington D.C. coroner’s office. Her report concluded that Smith was shot at point-blank range from a distance of seven feet, once in the head and 17 times in the back.
“The evidence we have turned over includes the coroner’s report, photos, forensics, and on-camera interviews with [dozens of] witnesses,” said Hackie.
Reached for comment, Los Angeles Civil Rights Association president Eddie Jones welcomed the FBI announcement. “I am very happy that the FBI is coming in to investigate Mr. Smith’s death,” said Jones. “Our attorneys are also working with the family and we will fight to see that the truth — the whole truth and nothing but the truth — comes out of this investigation.”
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