John Burris Has Represented Victims’ Families in Some of the Most Notorious NorCal Police Shootings

Oscar Grant, Mario Woods and now Joseph Mann were victims in three of the more notorious and outrageous killings of black men by police in northern California, and all three families have been represented by attorney John Burris.

On February 4, John Burris will speak at a fundraiser for the Davis Vanguard at 4 pm at the Sacramento Convention Center.  (Tickets are available here).

In 2009, Oscar Grant was fatally shot by BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle in Oakland during the early morning hours of New Year’s Day 2009.  There were reports of a fight in the crowded BART train and Mr. Grant was detained along with some others.

Officer Mehserle and another officer were restraining Grant, who was lying face down. Officer Mehserle was unable to remove Grant’s arm from under his body in order to handcuff him. The officer drew his pistol and shot Grant once in the back, later claiming he intended to use a Taser.  Oscar Grant was unarmed and pronounced dead the next morning.

In a trial, Johannes Mehserle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter but  not guilty of second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter.

On November 5, 2010, Mr. Mehserle was sentenced to two years but was released on parole after serving 11 months.

In 2011, BART settled a $25 million lawsuit with an agreement that would pay Mr. Grant’s 5-year-old daughter with $5.1 million over her lifetime.  The family was represented by attorney John Burris who was pleased “with the settlement because Grant’s daughter is assured financial security throughout her life. The settlement is structured so that money is available to cover tuition and other special needs of Grant’s daughter as she matures into an adult. To that end, she will receive the bulk of the money between the ages of 18 and 30 years of age.”

On December 2, 2015, San Francisco police officers in another incident shot and killed Mario Woods in the Bayview neighborhood, captured on video, which some have likened to a firing squad.  While police maintained that the shooting was a matter of self-defense, attorney John Burris, who announced a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of the family of Mario Woods, said, “Mario was used as target practice by reckless and malicious San Francisco police officers.”

Mr. Burris, noting the 21 wounds to Woods’ body, said “[t]he killing is an outrage and an affront to the African American community.”

The most recent case involves the July 2016 shooting of Joseph Mann in North Sacramento.

John Burris will also demand that the Department of Justice investigate and also charge Officers John Tennis and Randy Lozoya with federal civil rights violations in the premeditated murder of Joseph Mann.

In a release, Mr. Burris stated, “The Justice Department must immediately open an independent investigation into the Sacramento Police Department’s deliberate indifference to the continued employment of these officers, who had a long history of both department sanctioned alcohol abuse, prior violent and deadly encounters with black citizens, as well as the sanctioning of using a police car as a deadly weapon, where there was no threat to loss of life, as well as the mistreatment of the mentally ill.”

Mr. Burris is calling for the Department of Justice to conduct an investigation into the practices of the Sacramento Police Department, “much like they have done in Ferguson, Cleveland, Baltimore, Newark and 20 others cities including Salinas and San Francisco where there has been consistent discriminatory mistreatment of African Americans and Latinos,” said Burris.

Recently-released dash cam video shows both officers plotting to and subsequently trying to run Joseph Mann over with a patrol car, prior to leaving their patrol car to riddle him with bullets.

John Burris laments, “This killing is even more egregious than first thought, as we now can see and hear the officers behaved like big game hunters closing in on an animal.’ Burris further decries, ‘The audio tapes evidence the officers’ ‘comply or die’ mentality, as they plotted to kill Mr. Mann even prior to leaving their patrol cars, and once their prize was in sight they fired 18 shots, from approximately 27 feet away, despite being in no imminent danger.”

He went on to say, “The lack of non-lethal force enlisted demonstrates that there was no desire to take him alive.”

The release concludes: “After watching and listening to these videos, these officers should be terminated immediately, not placed on modified duty. We are demanding federal investigation for the state sanctioned murder of a defenseless human being.”

The Vanguard asked Ken Williams, a use-of-force expert, to break down the two videos.  After viewing the second video and witnessing the “hot mic” which captured the officers’ intention to hit Mr. Mann with the police vehicle, he concluded that “this is most likely premeditated murder.”

John Burris will address these and other cases of police shootings at the February 4 event which is a fundraiser for the Vanguard.

—David M. Greenwald reporting

Author

  • David Greenwald

    Greenwald is the founder, editor, and executive director of the Davis Vanguard. He founded the Vanguard in 2006. David Greenwald moved to Davis in 1996 to attend Graduate School at UC Davis in Political Science. He lives in South Davis with his wife Cecilia Escamilla Greenwald and three children.

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6 comments

  1. Chief’s Message

    It is my mission as the Chief of Police for the City of Chicago Heights to safeguard the lives and property of the people and city I serve; to reduce the incidence of crime, to instill a sense of security and confidence, and to enhance the quality of life for all residents by ensuring the public’s safety within the City of Chicago Heights. I pledge, as your Chief of Police and on behalf of the men and women of the Chicago Heights Police Department, that we will serve with honor and integrity and meet the highest standard of ethical conduct to maintain public trust and confidence.

    CHIEF’S MESSAGE
    Welcome to the Sacramento Police Department’s web page. I am excited about serving as Sacramento’s Interim Chief of Police. Sacramento is my home. My wife, Tami, and I have raised our two children in this wonderful city. For the past 36 years, I have proudly dedicated my career to the people of Sacramento.
    For over two decades our agency has been committed to the philosophy and principles of Community Policing. This philosophy is part of our organizational culture and will continue to guide us into the future. While our agency continues to rebuild staffing levels and evolve, we will focus on four priorities:

    Transparency – to build public trust and ensure police accountability so our citizens will have confidence in their Police Department;
    Community Engagement– to work with all segments of the community, especially the youth, to make Sacramento safer;
    Diversity – to have a Department that is representative of the community we serve;
    Morale of the Organization– to value our people and provide the best possible training, resources and leadership.

    I believe our Department employs the finest law enforcement professionals in the nation. We commit to providing quality, fair and objective service to the citizens of Sacramento. However, if you believe the service you have received does not meet your expectations, pleaseemail us your suggestionson how we can better serve you.

    If you read the above Chief of Police from Chicago and Sacramento messages than the, the messages are basically same. However the reality is completely different .It appears that the high crime in the cities  causing that Police Officers following the  unwritten orders and instructions  not to take any chance in  confrontations and many of them are overreacting and unloading their guns at the potential suspects .  It happening every where because many Police Officers were killed by criminals even in routine traffic stop or police  calls for the domestic violence occurrence This is terrible but what is the solution with such high crime rate and the assumption that anybody could have gun and will  shut first.

  2. the solutions always are VERY simple, Jerry…

    it includes nailing the corrupt cops and nailing the corrupt prosecutors..

    it includes making the penalties for corruption on those sides of the bars even worse than the crimes the innocent are convicted of…. that would be a start  which could easily be done in any jurisdiction by the likes of Police Chiefs and the Mayors and Supervisors..

    Then, one can start really handling the true issues which create criminals in this country while other countries statistics go down and the USA only go up….

    It is the policies which subsidize non-production, ie: policies which make it easier to live in the USA when one doesn’t work..

    It is the policies which include poisoning water and food supplies and etc… the real basics, which some will say.. . “but off topic”.. nada.. even Farakkan and his followers are learning that truth every day….

    Of course, they are also spending much of their life savings to get the truth which most SLAVs have grown up with… oh well…

    1. It includes nailing the corrupt cops and nailing the corrupt prosecutors..

      Marina

      Nailing by who and how  ?  What you read and hear is that cases were settled for the millions of dollars on  the taxpayers expenses . That it .

      On November 5, 2010, Mr. Mehserle was sentenced to two years but was released on parole after serving 11 months.
      In 2011, BART settled a $25 million lawsuit with an agreement that would pay Mr. Grant’s 5-year-old daughter with $5.1 million over her lifetime.  The family was represented by attorney John Burris who was pleased “with the settlement because Grant’s daughter is assured financial security throughout her life.

      Look at the Mr. Burris’ smile . He is happy . He got big chunk of money. Do you remember the  UC Davis pepper spray  settlement ? It was quick . Witch hunters , scapegoats  and  the settlement.  This is how  lawyers and politicians works to protect their status quo.  Read: Mean Justice by Edward Humes . On top of this the justice system is overloaded with  criminals cases and is under budget , prisons are overcrowded and 50 millions deplorable are  on the  food stamps and welfare.  Nailing a few  corrupted sheriffs to write article about won’t change anything . System needs major overhaul. Otherwise we will experience the  another  great depression and turmoil  beyond the  our  imagination. .

      1. Jerry

        System needs major overhaul. “

        I agree that our judicial system does need major overhaul for many of the reasons you stated. However, I do not share your belief that ferreting out corrupt public officials whether in the police force, the legal system/courts, the university or any political arena is not worth doing. Change on the local level frequently precedes change on a broader scale.

        Look at the Mr. Burris’ smile . He is happy . He got big chunk of money.”

        Do you believe that lawyers should not be compensated for doing their job even if you happen to disagree with the outcome ?

        Do you believe that individuals who commit crimes whether those are violent, non violent, or white collar should not be held accountable for those actions ?  And if not by investigators and lawyers working within the legal system, then by whom ?

        1. Tia

          Is not what I am saying. Mr. Burris is excellent well educated and very experienced   attorney and this how he making his good living .  The cases which he is handling are e the time consuming cases . The  5.1 million settlement of 25 million lawsuit is the excellent achievement , Normally,  10% percent of what you could get from lawsuit which take 5 or more years is a good settlement . However, if you look 11 month in prison in criminal prosecution for killing somebody than

          What I am saying , the settlements in many white collar and police or public officials  cases  are just cover up for lot bigger crimes and misconduct causing enormous harm to the  public victims get basically nothing . Look at the class action 50 million  dollars  lawsuits  against big corporations or bank where people getting basically nothing ( 15 dollars or some credit for something )  and lawyers are cashing  millions of dollars . Of course banks and corporations will recover money by increasing price of their services or products.  Anybody should be accountable for the violent , not violent and white collar crimes but is what is happening in 90 % of the cases , especially where public officials and big corporations are involved . Read the story about US Attorney Eric Holder and his approach to banks and big corporations white collar crimes . Public is defenses from being victimize by quins and kings regardless by their party affiliations.  I will send to Mr. Burris inquiry . He is handling  wrongful termination and white collar crime cases as  well . Maybe I will get consultation with him .

  3. “the USA only go up…”

    Untrue.

    “policies which make it easier to live in the USA when one doesn’t work..”

    Enumerate those, please, as the hundreds of homeless unemployed who slept in the rain last night in the area would be keen on exploiting those. In case that is too subtle, BULLSH*T!

    “truth which most SLAVs have grown up with… oh well…”

    Please, go back to your homeland, since you obviously hate mine so much.

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