JESUS HUERTA - 17 yo - Durham, NC

Posted: 5:14 p.m. today
Updated: 6:58 p.m. today

Durham mayor, feds want details of police probe of teen's death



Durham, N.C. — Mayor Bill Bell and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights say they want more information from Durham police about the death last month of a teen in police custody.

Police have said Jesus Huerta, 17, shot himself in the head early on Nov. 19 after he had been searched, handcuffed and placed in the back of a patrol car. Officer Samuel Duncan had picked up Huerta in response to a call about a runaway and then learned the teen had a warrant out for his arrest on a second-degree trespassing charge.

The State Bureau of Investigation is still reviewing Huerta's death.
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Bell said Monday that he and Durham City Council members want to see the report detailing the police department's internal investigation of the case by next week.

"Tell us what they know and what they don't know," the mayor said. "They can tell us why they can't provide answers – if they have dependencies on other agencies, I can understand that – but to just not do anything is not acceptable."

Huerta's death has prompted two protest marches, including one on Dec. 19 that ended with police in riot gear using tear gas to disperse a crowd of people on CCB Plaza downtown. Six people were arrested.

Police Chief Jose Lopez blamed agitators in the crowd for the confrontation, but he has said that he would review his officers' actions.

Huerta's friends and family members have called for a federal investigation into the Durham Police Department about possible "patterns and practices" of civil rights violations within the department.

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights sent Bell an email after the Dec. 19 protest, saying the agency's chairman wants to discuss Huerta's death.

"I'm not surprised they'd show an interest," Bell said, adding that he believes the agency wants to ensure everyone's civil rights are being protected by Durham police.

No date has been set for the chairman's visit to Durham.

Bell and City Manager Tom Bonfield have asked the North Carolina Attorney General's Office and the SBI to expedite the state review of the case.

Huerta's family and the public deserve answers, the mayor said.

"Where did the gun come from? Why was it in the car? Who did it belong to?" he asked. "The longer it stays out there with no answers, it leads to more speculation."

Bell said he hasn't seen so much attention from the media and the community surrounding a police investigation since Crystal Mangum falsely accused three Duke University lacrosse players of rape almost eight years ago.

http://www.wral.com/durham-mayor-feds-want-details-of-police-probe-of-teen-s-death/13257806/

A bit of background on this story. The bold within the article is by me - highlighting where allegedly on the 911 call (I haven't heard it myself) the family was concerned about Jesus running away because he had tried to kill himself which they later deny. It is always especially sad when a person so young wants to end their life as there are so many endless possibilities for them in the future.

Durham, N.C. — Durham's police chief says that Jesus Huerta, the 17-year-old who died in police custody last month, shot himself in the head after he had been searched, handcuffed and placed in the back of a patrol car.

"I know that it is hard for people not in law enforcement to understand how someone could be capable of shooting themselves while handcuffed behind the back," Chief Jose Lopez told reporters Wednesday. "While incidents like this are not common, they unfortunately have happened in other jurisdictions in the past."

Lopez said that Officer Samuel Duncan picked up Huerta early on Nov. 19 in response to a call about a runaway and learned that he had a warrant out for his arrest on a second-degree trespassing charge.

By 2 a.m., according to police, Huerta was dead – his hands still cuffed behind him, slumped over in the back seat of the car outside the Durham Police Department – and a handgun was found in the floorboard of the patrol car.

An autopsy confirmed the self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Huerta's sister, Evelin Huerta, says Lopez's explanation is difficult for her to understand and that her brother did not have a gun.

"I’m just more frustrated now," she said. "In what world does any of this make sense?"

It's unclear where the gun came from. Lopez said it was not a departmental gun and that no officer fired the weapon.

If Huerta had the gun when he was taken into custody, it's unclear why Duncan did not find it when he searched the teen.

"One of my concerns is the nature of the search. Was it a good enough search?" said Durham City Councilman Steve Schewel, who also spoke to reporters Wednesday. "We do need to understand (really well) what happened, and once we understand what happened really well, it all needs to be out there."

An internal police investigation and an investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation remain active, Lopez said. Duncan is on administrative leave pending the outcome of those investigations.

"Whether (Huerta's) wound was accidental or intentional is unknown at this time," Lopez said.

Lopez's news conference comes a day after Huerta's family called for a federal investigation into the case, and it is the first time the chief has publicly commented about the events on the morning of Nov. 19.

The family says they called police after Huerta ran away from home and, according to a 911 recording, were worried because he had tried to take his own life. The family later said Huerta never tried to kill himself.

They've since made a public records request for all forms of communication regarding the case, their attorney Alexander Charns said, "in a continuing effort to find out the truth."

"How did Jesus end up dead in the parking lot at police headquarters in these circumstances? Searched. Handcuffed behind the back. How is it even possible to shoot oneself?" Charns said in a statement.

"The chief’s statement is a conclusion exonerating, in part, the DPD, while blaming the one person who can’t speak for himself," he continued. "The chief offers no details to support his claims. We are asked to trust without any way to verify the information."

http://www.wral.com/family-wants-fbi-probe-of-durham-pd-after-teen-s-death-/13206475/

Snipped:

"Huerta was found dead of a gunshot wound in the back of the cruiser. Police have said gunshot residue was found in gloves Huerta was wearing and no residue was found on the officer's hands. It has also said the gun did not belong to a police officer."

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=9379990

I never trust the information given publicly when LE is trying to cover their own asses.  Call me skeptical.

Durham officer suspended 40 hours without pay in Jesus Huerta's death while in custody

By Jim Wise
jwise@newsobserver.comJune 23, 2014 



Jesus Huerta

DURHAM — Police investigators have concluded an arresting officer violated two police policies the night teenager Jesus Huerta died in custody Nov. 19.

Officer Samuel Duncan was suspended without pay for 40 hours and required to take remedial training in the handling and transporting of prisoners, according to a final summary of investigations into Huerta’s death and those of two men fatally shot by Durham police officers in 2013.

Police Chief Jose L. Lopez sent the summary report to City Manager Tom Bonfield on Monday morning.

Bonfield said he had been aware of most of its contents and forwarded copies to City Council members and Mayor Bill Bell.

According to the report, investigators determined that officers Ronald Mbuthia and Robert Swartz acted appropriately in the deaths of Jose Ocampo on July 27 and Derek Walker on Sept. 17.

Because the summaries include personnel information, City Council approval was required for their public release, he said. The council approved releasing only the summary, Bonfield said, and kept the full reports confidential.

The summary provided some new details on the cases, including policy changes made in response to Huerta’s death.

After receiving reports from the State Bureau of Investigation, District Attorney Leon Stanback concluded there were no grounds for criminal action against any of the officers. A district attorney has the authority to make SBI reports public, but Stanback has not done so for any of the 2013 deaths.

All three cases raised immediate public controversy, the most over Huerta. Police concluded that the Riverside High School student shot himself while handcuffed in the back of Duncan’s patrol car.

Huerta’s arrest, on an outstanding trespassing warrant, and death led to three street protests, including one in which police dispersed demonstrators with tear gas.

According to Lopez’s report, police tests found gunshot residue on gloves that Huerta was wearing at the time, but found none on Duncan’s hands.

Huerta family attorney Alex Charns issued a statement on the family’s behalf Monday, saying that its own investigation “is ongoing.”
“We are prohibited by court order from discussing what we may know about what is contained in the SBI investigation file,” the statement said. “We believe the DPD can better protect and serve all our citizens by learning from the errors that the DPD admits were made here and those already found in the public record.”

Police had previously said that Duncan failed to find a gun when he searched Huerta and violated police policy by failing after the arrest to restart an in-car video camera that had automatically powered off, and would have recorded the shooting.

In response to Huerta’s death, Lopez said, police have updated in-car video systems to prevent an officer’s failure to turn them on and required all officers to undergo a two-hour update class on suspect searches.

The Durham Human Relations Commission had recommended that police keep in-car videos running at all times, in the report of its six-month investigation into alleged racial profiling and other racist behavior by Durham officers delivered to the City Council in May.
During the investigation, the commission also heard public complaints about police actions in the Huerta, Ocampo and Walker deaths.

That report was delivered to Mayor Bell in May. Bonfield is conducting his own research for a city administration response to the commission report, which he expects to deliver to the City Council in August.

Citizens and elected officials also criticized police for being slow to release information while the Huerta, Ocampo and Walker deaths were under internal and SBI review.

Lopez said Monday that in any future cases of police-involved shooting or death in custody the department will make a report to the city manager within five working days of the incident and will release those reports to news media.

Other officer cleared
Ocampo, a Honduran man suspected in a stabbing, was found to be holding a knife by the handle in a threatening manner when he was shot and killed by police July 27, according to the report.

Durham attorney Scott Holmes, who has closely followed the case, has said some witnesses maintain Ocampo, who spoke little English, was holding the knife handle side out in an attempt to surrender the weapon.

None of the officers on the scene speak Spanish, Lopez told reporters Monday, but a bystander translated their orders for Ocampo to drop the knife.

According to the report, only one witness investigators interviewed said Ocampo held the knife blade, and firefighters who arrived at the scene immediately after shots were fired saw a knife removed from Ocampo’s hand that was held by the handle.

“There is no disputing his hand was not holding the blade,” Lopez said.


http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/06/23/3958214_officer-in-durhams-jesus-huerta.html?rh=1

I'm moving this but, I still question the official ruling.

After further review, Durham DA says no charges in Jesus Huerta case

Posted May 30


Durham, N.C. — After further review of the case, Durham's top prosecutor said Friday that no charges will be filed in the death of Jesus Huerta, a teenager who police say shot himself in the head while he was handcuffed in the back of a patrol car last year.

The Office of the District Attorney first announced Jan. 14 that there was no evidence to warrant criminal charges in the 17-year-old's Nov. 19 death, but the State Bureau of Investigation, less than two weeks later, began looking at claims in an anonymous letter that Huerta's family's attorney received.

"Gun permits, firearm qualifications and fire range records were reviewed," District Attorney Leon Stanback said Friday in a statement. "The author of the anonymous letter was discovered, located and interviewed. The anonymous source admitted that he reported rumor and conjecture without a factual basis."

Stanback did not say what the letter entailed.

"The details of the additional SBI investigation were reviewed by the attorney for the Huerta family and the family," Stanback continued. "The district attorney is satisfied that there is no probable cause to charge a crime."

According to autopsy and toxicology reports, Huerta died of a close-range gunshot to the mouth and had in his system a potentially lethal dose of cough medicine that could have caused the teen to hallucinate.

The results of an internal police investigation found that Officer Samuel Duncan picked up Huerta early on Nov. 19 in response to a call about a runaway and learned that he had a warrant out for his arrest on a second-degree trespassing charge.

By 2 a.m., according to police, Huerta was dead – his hands still cuffed behind him, slumped over in the back seat of the car outside the Durham Police Department – and a handgun was found on the floorboard of the patrol car.

Duncan, according to police, missed the .45-caliber handgun when he frisked Huerta.

He has been on administrative duty with pay while the Durham Police Department investigates whether he violated policies in how he handled Huerta's arrest.

A police spokeswoman said Friday afternoon that the review is ongoing but should be completed soon.

Duncan, 26, has been on the police force since July 2012.

Huerta's family had no comment Friday on the district attorney's announcement, their attorney, Alexander Charns said in an email.

"The Huerta family thanks the SBI and the DA for following up on the area of inquiry that was identified," Charns wrote. "I offer my thanks as well."



http://www.wral.com/after-further-review-durham-da-says-no-charges-in-jesus-huerta-case/13688962/#A5w748FPao3vMbkg.99

Hard to believe an experienced cop would miss a gun during a frisk.