Charles Starks, the Little Rock police officer fired after fatally shooting a suspected car thief, should not return to duty unless the Arkansas Court of Appeals upholds the court ruling reinstating him, lawyers for the city argued in a motion released Monday.
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox ordered the city to take Starks back, albeit with a pay cut and a monthlong unpaid suspension. The judge's ruling overturned Starks' firing and instead imposed the next most serious penalty -- suspension and salary reduction.
Starks, a patrol officer, killed 30-year-old Bradley Blackshire during a February confrontation that began as an effort to track down a stolen car seen driving in west Little Rock. Starks was clipped twice by the car, driven by Blackshire, suffering a serious right-leg injury. He fired into the vehicle 15 times, striking Blackshire eight times.
Starks was cleared of criminal wrongdoing by prosecutors, and his supervisors all found no fault with his actions, recommending that Starks not be punished. However, Police Chief Keith Humphrey fired him in May for violating rules against confronting moving vehicles.
Fox's ruling overturned the Civil Service Commission decision affirming Starks' firing, which Starks had appealed to circuit court. The judge further ordered the city to pay Fox for his lost wages and benefits, plus the expense of providing the transcript of the Civil Service hearing. The judge also said he will consider ordering the city to pay Starks' legal fees and expenses.
On Friday, the city began the process of appealing Fox's ruling to the Arkansas Court of Appeals. The city's attorneys, Michael Moore and Khayyam Eddings with the firm of Friday, Eldridge & Clark, have further petitioned Fox to stay his decision until that court reviews it.
The lawyers noted that Fox agreed that Starks violated police rules that require officers to get out of the way of an oncoming vehicle if standing their ground would require them to shoot.
"A stay is warranted under the circumstances of this case," the two-page filing states. "The court ... held that there is no question that Starks' violation ... had serious and substantial consequences and that a maximum statutory suspension period of 30 calendar days without pay, although clearly warranted, was insufficient by itself for Starks' violation, which resulted in the death of an individual."
In reaching his conclusion that Starks should be reinstated, Fox noted that the officer's decision to use deadly force was never an issue in the decision to fire him. Starks was fired for putting himself in the path of a moving car when he did not have to, the judge said.
Fox wrote that he evaluated Starks' actions leading up to the officer's decision to shoot and found no fault with his actions once he got out of his squad car. But "a number of Starks' [prior] non-emergency decisions fall below the threshold of a reasonable certified law enforcement officer with five years' training and experience," the judge wrote. Starks, 32, had been with the department about six years.
Fox described two "illogical" decisions by Starks before he encountered Blackshire that resulted in him violating police procedure: parking his squad car in a manner that required him to cross in front of Blackshire's car to confront the driver, but not parking the squad car in a way that would have kept Blackshire from exiting the parking lot.
The judge noted the serious consequences, particularly Blackshire's death, that resulted from Starks' decision to confront him. Blackshire's passenger could have been killed or wounded, as could have anyone in the immediate area, the judge noted. The officers racing to assist Starks could have been hurt or killed, he wrote. The death of one person is serious, Fox said, but the outcome of the confrontation could have been even worse.
Starks had been on patrol when he was dispatched to track down a stolen car that had been seen driving near the McDonald's at West 12th and South Rodney Parham streets.
Blackshire, a felon awaiting trial on drug charges, pulled into a parking lot at 7305 Kanis Road. Starks parked his car and got out to order the father of five to exit the vehicle.
Starks first fired into the car four times after it rolled forward and grazed him. He then stepped in front of the vehicle while trying to take shelter behind his patrol car. Blackshire's car rolled forward, striking Starks again, and he fired more shots. The woman riding with Blackshire was unharmed. Police also found a stolen gun in the car.
Blackshire's family says he had borrowed the car about an hour before he was killed and had no idea it was stolen.
His family is suing Starks, back-up officer Michael Simpson and the city of Little Rock in federal court, claiming state and federal civil rights violations including excessive force and wrongful death.
The suit also accuses the two officers of doing nothing to help Blackshire after he was shot and taking too long to call an ambulance.
Metro on 01/07/2020