Bellevue police officers face inquest for shooting of felon in Seattle

The cacophony of police gunfire that shattered the pre-dawn silence in a Columbia City neighborhood last winter killed an armed robbery suspect. Now, an inquest is underway to explain what led up to that fatal confrontation.

Bellevue Police were looking to arrest paroled felon Russell Smith, 51, when they converged on a house in the Seattle neighborhood early on March 22, 2013. As officers moved in on foot, what they discovered was a Mercedes Benz, linked to their suspect, engine on, in the driveway with somebody inside.

“It was backed up, rapidly, ran into the parked truck, sort of lifted that truck up and moved it into the position we see here, right?” asked Bellevue Police attorney Andy Cooley.

“Yes, sir,” answered Seattle Police detective Jefferey Mudd, who led the investigation of the police shooting.

“The Mercedes was then put into drive and began to drive forward before the shots were fired, right?”

“Yes, sir,” was again Mudd’s response.

Three Bellevue police officers, Casey Hiam, Jacob Bement and Jacob Childers all fired on the Mercedes. Mudd described what was shown in court photos taken of the aftermath, offered as evidence at the inquest.

“You’re looking at bullet strikes to the windshield of the Mercedes, the passenger side window was missing, was blown out, I believe the same was true of the driver’s side,” offered Mudd. He testified there was a delay from the time the Mercedes backed into the pick-up truck and then shifted gears and drove toward officers.

“The report said 1.6 seconds,” testified Mudd.

Detective Mudd told jurors he confiscated the officers’ weapons, a handgun and two rifles and counted rounds of ammunition to determine that 21 shots were fired, three from Bemet’s rifle, six from Hiam’s handgun and 12 more from Childers’ rifle.

The key question the inquest jury must answer is if each of the officers had reason to believe there was an imminent threat of death or bodily harm before they fired.

Smith family attorney Fred Diamondstone questioned whether Smith could have known, in the darkness, that the people moving in on him were police officers. Detective Mudd testified that the lettering spelling out “POLICE” on the officers SWAT uniforms was black on green khaki, and not reflective. Mudd told the jury he photographed the officers back at the police station to show what they were wearing that day but did not take photos of the uniforms at the scene.

“Why was no effort made to take photographs of the uniforms, at night in that neighborhood? asked Diamondstone.

“That’s not our general procedure,” was Mudd’s response.

Some neighbors questioned police tactics in the service of what detective Mudd called a “high risk” warrant. Bellevue police chief Linda Pillo issued a statement a couple of weeks after the shooting saying the warrants were served in the early morning hours, a time of day when there is “the least amount of impact on the neighborhoods.”

The press release pointed out that the death was the first linked to a Bellevue SWAT operation.

The inquest jury, with a King County District Court judge presiding, is composed of eight men, including two alternates. The inquest will probably wrap up by the end of the week with jurors answering 23 questions about what happened that morning including: were police in the path of the Mercedes, did officers identify themselves and order Smith to surrender? The jurors are not asked to decide if anybody is to blame.