Lax Inquiry Exonerated Chief's Pal Mckinnon Denies Impropriety in Handling of '96 Fatal Shooting

Document Page: LAX INQUIRY EXONERATED CHIEF'S PAL MCKINNON DENIES IMPROPRIETY IN HANDLING OF '96 FATAL SHOOTING
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LAX INQUIRY EXONERATED CHIEF'S PAL MCKINNON DENIES IMPROPRIETY IN HANDLING OF '96 FATAL SHOOTING By JOE SWICKARD and DAVID ASHENFELTER FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERSDetroit Free Press; Detroit, Mich. 08-12-2000 LAX INQUIRY EXONERATED CHIEF'S PAL MCKINNON DENIES IMPROPRIETY IN HANDLING OF '96 FATAL SHOOTING Byline: By JOE SWICKARD and DAVID ASHENFELTER FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS Edition: METRO FINAL Section: NWS Type: News Detroit has the highest rate of fatal police shootings among the nation's largest cities. An ongoing Free Press investigation has found that the Detroit Police Department has failed in many cases to aggressively investigate questionable shootings by its officers. This is the story of one of those shootings. On a bitter winter night when he was still Detroit police chief, Isaiah McKinnon was jarred awake by a ringing telephone. It was just after 1 a.m. "Chief, this is Bill Ratliff," said the voice on the other end of the line. "I just shot a guy." "What?" McKinnon said. "I just shot a guy," said Ratliff, a rookie cop and singing partner of the chief. Detroit's rate of 0.92 fatal shootings per 100,000 residents in 1990-98 was much higher than New York's rate of 0.39 and Los Angeles' 0.56. The figures are based on a Free Press analysis of FBI statistics. "This is Bill Ratliff?" McKinnon asked.
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"Yes sir. This is Bill Ratliff," the voice said. "I just shot a guy. He tried to carjack me." The late-night call, recounted by McKinnon under oath, was one of several peculiar twists in a bizarre police shooting that played out on Detroit's north side in March 1996. The fatal shooting eventually cost the city $150,000 in a lawsuit. Beyond that, it fueled lingering questions behind the walls of police headquarters: Did a young cop get special treatment through his connections with the chief? Ratliff and McKinnon say there was nothing improper, yet the former chief said Friday that he can understand why the circumstances raise concerns. In hindsight, McKinnon acknowledged, "It sure as hell looks suspicious." But he insisted he would never condone a rigged investigation. Questions about this and other cases show the need for an independent task force to investigate all police shootings in Michigan, McKinnon said. Ratliff, in a recent interview, maintains the facts of his case are clear. "I did everything I could to try to prevent myself from shooting this man," Ratliff said. "When I realized that all bets were off, I did what needed to be done." Ratliff, then a 22-year-old rookie, said he was forced to shoot Donald Lee Cannon after the ex-con carjacked him on a midnight drive through Palmer Park and menaced him with what turned out to be a toy gun. Some detectives doubted Ratliff's account. Although a departmental review exonerated him, it left a tangle of unanswered questions. Among the issues:
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* Ratliff called in the shooting to 911 more than 30 minutes after the first citizen reported it, one of several problems that drove the city to settle a suit by Cannon's family a year ago. * McKinnon, who retired in 1998, showed up at police headquarters and monitored the initial hours of the investigation, even though he was a potential witness as a result of Ratliff's call to him. As chief, McKinnon had the final say on discipline in the case. * Police procedures weren't followed. No one notified homicide detectives about the shooting until McKinnon walked into their offices nearly an hour after Ratliff reported it to 911. The homicide section should have been alerted immediately by dispatchers or the first officers at the scene. * The initial investigation had serious lapses. Officers let witnesses wander off without taking names or statements. A lieutenant drove Ratliff around the neighborhood to help him hone his story and took him home to change clothes -compromising potential evidence -- before driving him to headquarters to write his official report. "This one stunk," said James Bannon, who served as executive deputy chief in the department from 1976 to 1994. Bannon, now retired, reviewed the case as an unpaid consultant for the Cannon family's lawsuit. Bannon said in an affidavit that the investigation was highly irregular and that the board McKinnon appointed to review the case did only a cursory examination. "There were violations and deviations from departmental policy," he said, adding that "the relationship between Chief McKinnon and Officer Ratliff
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played a part in this investigation and was a factor in the determination that the shooting of Donald Cannon was a justifiable use of deadly force." Ratliff, now a patrol officer in the 12th (Palmer Park) Precinct, said the assertions aren't true. "I believe I was treated just as any other police officer," he said. McKinnon said he wouldn't cover up a police shooting, pointing out that he was abused as a teenager by police and shot at by another officer when he was on the force in 1967. "So, I would never attempt -- as a victim and near-fatality of a police shooting -- to try to doctor up anything of that nature," he said. McKinnon said his relationship with Ratliff didn't affect his judgment. "I handled it like I would have handled every other case," he said. "He's not my crony." A quick rise Ratliff's career with the department started in June 1995 when he graduated from the police academy and was assigned to patrol the 8th (Northwest) Precinct. He quickly developed valuable connections -- with his voice. McKinnon heard Ratliff perform the national anthem at the academy and heard him sing at a police ball. McKinnon, who also loves to sing, was impressed, and invited Ratliff to join his vocal group, known then as Chief Plus Three. Soon after, in early 1996, Second Deputy Chief George Clarkson, who also sang with McKinnon, asked Ratliff to apply for an opening in the public information unit, part of the chief's staff. Ratliff got the job, prompting rumors that he
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was McKinnon's nephew by marriage. The two are not related. It was considered a plum job, particularly for someone barely eight months on the force. Veteran cops had never heard of anyone landing in the unit so quickly. A deadly encounter With his sudden promotion, Ratliff had reason to feel good March 21, 1996 -his fourth day in his new assignment. When his shift ended at 4 p.m., Ratliff returned to his downtown apartment and changed clothes, tucked his .40-caliber Glock pistol into his waistband, hung his badge on a chain under his sweater and headed for BoMac's, a downtown jazz lounge. After a few hours, Ratliff left the club. But he was not ready to call it a night. Exactly what happened next on that cold and snowy night has never been completely resolved. The following account is drawn from police reports, interviews and court records. Ratliff said he set out around midnight in his 1990 Cadillac Fleetwood for Palmer Park to drop in on a friend. He never reached his destination near McNichols and Woodward. Trying to navigate the unfamiliar neighborhood, Ratliff said he got lost. He said he eventually found his friend's apartment, but didn't see his car. So Ratliff looked for a pay phone to call his friend. The Cadillac had a cell phone, but Ratliff had never activated service to it. It could be used for 911 calls, though.
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During his search, Ratliff said, he stopped for cross traffic, and that's when his ordeal began. "The door opened, he was in the car, and the gun was in my face," Ratliff said in a deposition. "I mean, it happened so quickly." The man, Donald Cannon, ordered Ratliff to drive south on Third and left on McNichols, Ratliff said. They wound up on Edgevale, a dark street near McNichols and Brush. The area has a reputation for prostitution and drugs. Ratliff said he was terrified. Cannon, spittle flying, mocked Ratliff, demanding to know if he was looking for sex with him, drugs or a woman. Ratliff said the man taunted him: "This is going to be your last night." Ratliff said Cannon ordered him to undress. Ratliff said he removed his jacket and slipped his gun from his right waistband and stashed it between the seat and door. When Ratliff was slow to obey the order to undress, the gunman became agitated, jumped out of the car and ordered Ratliff to do the same. Ratliff, with his Glock in his left hand, said he shouted that he was a police officer and ordered the gunman to freeze. But Cannon, he said, charged. Instead of shooting, Ratliff said, he tried to wrest Cannon's gun away. Ratliff said he couldn't disarm him, although the 6-foot, 210- pound Ratliff dwarfed the 5-foot-7, 157-pound Cannon. So Ratliff pushed him away. Cannon stumbled backward, regained his balance and aimed, Ratliff said.
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Swinging up his Glock, Ratliff said he squeezed off a couple of shots. Cannon retreated into a vacant lot and again took aim, Ratliff said. Switching his Glock to his right hand, Ratliff -- an expert shot with both hands -- fired again. Cannon staggered onto McNichols and collapsed in the south lane near Brush. Confusion, phone calls Ratliff said he drove to a pay phone at a nearby gas station -- he couldn't recall which one -- to call 911. He said he encountered a woman at the station who offered to call police. Police 911 tapes show the first call, from a citizen, came in at 12:26 a.m. Ratliff wheeled back onto McNichols and headed toward the gunman sprawled in the street. On the way, Ratliff punched 911 into the car cell phone. The time was 1:01 a.m. "Hi. This is Badge 1191, off-duty police officer," Ratliff said. "I just shot a man. "He's got a buddy that's with him ...and I'm afraid that this man is going to try to shoot me." Although no one was ever found, Ratliff said he feared the gunman had an accomplice nearby. Minutes later, officers Todd Eby and Eric O'Neal arrived. Ratliff said he was carjacked at Covington and Woodward. Ratliff handed O'Neal a bloody bundle containing a plastic toy gun with a taped grip. He explained that somebody in the crowd handed him a towel that he used to
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pick up Cannon's weapon -- a move detectives later said destroyed its value as evidence. Police Lt. Richard Ren pulled up as Cannon was being taken to Detroit Receiving Hospital, where he later died. Ren, a 25-year veteran, put Ratliff in his scout car. Ratliff took out a cell phone and, as Ren watched, dialed McKinnon's home. It was extraordinary: Potential suspects in shootings, whether civilians or officers, don't often whip out a cell phone to call the city's top cop in the middle of the night. Ratliff then called a friend and his mother. Distressing lapses At 1:45 a.m., McKinnon walked into the homicide section and told Investigator Isaiah Smith about the shooting. Smith was surprised. He should have been notified by officers at the scene or from the department's control center within minutes of Ratliff's call to 911. Smith alerted the special assignment squad (SAS), a homicide team that handled police shootings, then went to the scene. More than an hour had passed since Ratliff called 911. Witnesses were gone, and the crime scene was disturbed. Smith was distressed. He shared his concerns with Lt. William Rice, head of the special squad. Rice said they'd deal with it later. Through fingerprints, police learned that Cannon, 29, was on parole for car theft and drugs. In his pockets were two screwdrivers and two packets of phony
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cocaine. Cannon had been shot in the chest, buttocks, right arm and twice in the left thigh. Autopsy tests showed he had cocaine and alcohol in his system. Ren took Ratliff to police headquarters for questioning. A short time later, Rice and Smith left the scene. They arrived at the homicide unit first -- and found McKinnon waiting. Rice briefed the chief and asked him about the rumor that Ratliff was McKinnon's nephew. McKinnon dismissed it. "Any white person who works for me -- because my wife is white -- the rumor goes around through the department that they are related to my wife," McKinnon later testified in a deposition. McKinnon also said he didn't meddle in the investigation. However, on Friday he said some officers could have been influenced by their own perceptions of a relationship. "It's possible that by the phone call or by the tossing out of a name that a mixed signal was going out," he said. He said cops often feast on rumors and political intrigue: "In the police department, it's who you know ...It throws the juice." McKinnon said he routinely checked on the welfare of officers involved in shootings. That night, as McKinnon and Rice conferred, Ren and Ratliff walked in. Rice demanded to know what took so long. Dropping a bombshell, Ren told Rice he had taken Ratliff home to change clothes because the young cop had defecated in his pants during the shooting. In doing so, Ren violated an order to take Ratliff to headquarters and
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hampered investigators who should have been able to examine Ratliff's clothes for evidence. Ren also disclosed that he had driven Ratliff around the area so Ratliff could identify where the alleged carjacking began. Ren said detectives at the scene had approved his actions. But Rice said he had ordered Ren to go directly to homicide. The side trip created another problem for investigators. Detectives prefer to question potential suspects before they've had a chance to refine their account. Rice said he lit into the lieutenant: "I chewed Ren right in front of the chief." A shaken Ren apologized and went off to write his report. He was later reprimanded. At the homicide section, Ratliff met with McKinnon and the police chaplain, then with union lawyer John Goldpaugh of the Detroit Police Officers Association. Ratliff went over his account with Goldpaugh, who typed Ratliff's report, a standard practice. Then Ratliff was interviewed by Sgt. George Garrison, the lead SAS investigator. Garrison and Smith, experienced homicide detectives, were troubled by Ratliff's account. "I didn't believe it happened the way Officer Ratliff said," Smith later testified.
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Smith noted that Ratliff told Eby and O'Neal the carjacking happened at Covington and Woodward. But later, Ratliff identified Third and Merton as the location. Smith also was concerned that Ratliff had disrupted the crime scene by moving his car and contaminated evidence by picking up the toy gun. Smith noted other unusual details -- including Ratliff's round of cell phone calls from Ren's car. And Smith and Garrison said they had never heard of a carjacking in which the victim was ordered to drive such a distance. They had never heard of a male carjacking victim being ordered to disrobe. And they knew of no case in which someone continued to wield a toy gun in the face of police gunfire. But their boss, Rice, told them to quit theorizing and stick to the facts. "I didn't share their concerns," Rice said in a deposition. In the end, Garrison said he could not disprove Ratliff's account. Garrison said he had hunches about what happened, but "not anything I could hang my hat on." Unanswered questions When questioned in a deposition, Ratliff had trouble recalling the shooting. During five hours of testimony during two days in 1997, Ratliff said 166 times that he couldn't recall details. But Ratliff, who returned to full duty four months later, was adamant on several points. He said he believed Cannon had a real gun. "It didn't look like a toy gun at all," Ratliff said. "I believed that the man was going to kill me."
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He said that, as a general rule, evidence should not be moved. But he said he had no choice in this case because he feared a bystander would take the gun. The investigation resulted in narrowly written reports that failed to address many discrepancies, yet exonerated Ratliff. Among the unanswered questions: why witnesses were allowed to leave the scene; why Ratliff delayed calling 911 for 30 minutes; why investigators did not retrieve Ratliff's soiled clothing. The Cannon family's lawsuit raised other questions. David Balash, a retired Michigan State Police firearms specialist who was hired as an expert by the family's lawyer, found that the gunshot evidence contradicted Ratliff's account. The evidence, Balash said in an affidavit, suggests that Cannon was either lying on the ground or kneeling in front of Ratliff when he was shot. Balash said Ratliff should have realized Cannon's gun was a plastic toy, if he grabbed it during a struggle. Balash also faulted the police for not testing the toy for Cannon's fingerprints. Mark Weiss, a Detroit lawyer for Cannon's family, said it all adds up to whitewash: "Once the supervisors start to arrive, there was an effort to dumb down the investigation." As with every fatal police shooting, a board of review made up of a commander and two inspectors was appointed to oversee the investigation, look for possible policy violations and recommend disciplinary action. McKinnon had his personal staff appoint the board of review, a practice he had
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followed throughout his tenure. But critics said someone else should have picked the panel because of McKinnon's relationship with Ratliff and because he was a material witness in the shooting. When questioned for depositions in the lawsuit, McKinnon said he did nothing improper. Bannon, the former executive deputy chief, disagreed, saying the board was susceptible to McKinnon's influence and appearance of impropriety. Said Bannon: "The chief's involvement tainted the investigation." The department should have called in the State Police to ensure an impartial investigation, he said. McKinnon said Friday that, upon reflection, he should have distanced himself from the board of review investigation. "Maybe the final resolution is to remove it from the police department," he said. "I think it's an overdue idea. It adds credence and credibility to the investigation." In addition to his call for a statewide investigative body, McKinnon said that board of review reports, currently secret, should be made open for public review. McKinnon's successor, Benny Napoleon, has said he stays out of selecting the review boards so that he can maintain an arm's length until he sees the final report and recommendations of whether an officer should be disciplined. Napoleon could not be reached Friday to comment on McKinnon's call for outside investigations of all police shootings. Ratliff, for his part, remains convinced that he reacted the only way he could
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that night. "I'm not glad I took a man's life, but it happened as a result of a criminal committing a crime," he said. "And as sorry as I may be for the loss for that family, I certainly don't feel that society is missing a pillar of the community either." Cannon's family said his life mattered. They know Cannon had a rocky past but said he was trying to change. Cannon's father and brother said they could envision him selling marijuana or phony drugs, but not pulling a carjacking -- especially with a toy gun. "Don't even run that," said Cannon's twin brother, Ronald. Said Cannon's father, Bruce: "Shooting somebody five times in the front and back -- that's overkill." SUMMARY In May, after a four-month study, the Free Press found that Detroit leads the nation's largest cities in the rate of fatal shootings by police, averaging almost 10 a year. Detroit's rate of 0.92 fatal shootings per 100,000 residents in 1990-98 was much higher than New York's rate of 0.39 and Los Angeles' 0.56. The figures are based on a Free Press analysis of FBI statistics. Since the Free Press began its examination: * Detroit Police Chief Benny Napoleon said last week that some investigations of shootings may need to be reopened. * Federal authorities are investigating several police shootings that the
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department initially said were justified. * Detroit police officials are recommending charges against Police Officer Eugene Brown, who has been involved -- and cleared -- in three fatal shootings in six years on the force. * The job of investigating police shootings was transferred from the homicide section to the police internal affairs section. * To read more about Detroit police shootings, go to www.freep.com/news/locway/pomenu16_20000516.htm. Contact JOE SWICKARD at 313-223-4557 and DAVID ASHENFELTER at 313- 223-4490. Staff writer Darci McConnell contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: Photo Detroit Police file photo;GABRIEL B. TAIT/ Detroit Free Press CAPTION: Cannon. Bill Ratliff, left, sang with Chief Isaiah McKinnon, center. Singing partners included Marvin Reed, second from left, Catherine Mortiere and John Morgan. They are pictured in December 1997. Bruce Cannon, 58, center, father of victim Donald Lee Cannon, pictured at right, stands in the field where his son was shot. With him are Donald's stepbrother, Jerome Bryant, left, and twin brother, Ronald. CAPTIONWRITER: Bill Ratliff at police headquarters a short time after he shot Donald Lee MEMO: SIDEBAR ATTACHED; SEE ALSO RELATED STORY PAGE 6A DISCLAIMER: THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM THE PRINTED ARTICLE. Copyright 2000 - Detroit Free Press - All Rights Reverved
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Citation for your reference:
By JOE SWICKARD and DAVID ASHENFELTER FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS. "LAX INQUIRY EXONERATED CHIEF'S PAL MCKINNON DENIES IMPROPRIETY IN HANDLING OF '96 FATAL SHOOTING." Detroit Free Press; Detroit, Mich.. 12 Aug. 2000: A1. eLibrary. Web. 11 Aug. 2013.
By JOE SWICKARD and DAVID ASHENFELTER FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS "LAX INQUIRY EXONERATED CHIEF'S PAL MCKINNON DENIES IMPROPRIETY IN HANDLING OF '96 FATAL SHOOTING." Detroit Free Press; Detroit, Mich.. 2000, August 12: A1.
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