Legal proceedings
On May 30, 2014, only one officer of the thirteen who fired at the car, Michael Brelo, was indicted on two counts of voluntary manslaughter in connection with the shooting. He was the only officer who continued to shoot even after the others stopped firing, and was said to have actually moved forward and jumped onto the hood of Russel's car, after which he reportedly shot approximately fifteen rounds. [4] The two counts of voluntary manslaughter carried a maximum penalty of 22 years of prison if convicted. Five police supervisors were also indicted for dereliction of duty. [9] According to Cuyahoga County prosecutors, Brelo stood on the hood of Russell and Williams' car and fired straight down at them through their windshield after the twelve other officers stopped firing. Prosecutors said that the actions were unreasonable and went past his duties as a police officer. [10]
On May 23, 2015, Cuyahoga Common Pleas Judge John P. O'Donnell found Brelo not guilty of the charges. O'Donnell stated that while Brelo fired lethal shots at Russell and Williams, other officers did as well. O'Donnell also found Brelo not guilty of a lesser included charge of felonious assault, asserting that Brelo was legally justified in his use of deadly force. [10] O'Donnell read his 35-page verdict in court, and said there was "beyond reasonable doubt" that the prosecution had to meet to get Brelo convicted. [11]
On June 3, 2015, it was announced that an arrest warrant was filed against Brelo for an alleged assault on his twin brother, Mark R. Brelo, on May 27, in Bay Village, Ohio. The brothers turned themselves in on June 3, after Brelo's intoxicated brother had run to a neighbor's home to ask them to call 911 on his brother, Michael Brelo, by whom he was being chased and allegedly assaulted. They were released on their own recognizance. [12]
On January 26, 2016 the six officers (Wilfredo Diaz, Brian Sabolik, Erin O'Donnell, Michael Farley, Chris Ereg and Michael Brelo) were fired from their jobs at the Cleveland Police. [13] The Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association said that they would work to get the six reinstated to their positions. [14] Five of the six officers were reinstated in October 2017 as required by the ruling of an arbitrator. [15]
Federal investigation
The U.S. Department of Justice announced on May 24, 2015, that they would open an investigation in the deaths of Russell and Williams, and would review the testimony and evidence presented at Brelo's trial. [16] This investigation was closed in January 2017.
Trial on dereliction charge
 | This section needs to be updated.(December 2018) |
Trial for the five police officers that Cuyahoga County charged with misdemeanor dereliction of duty was set for July 27, 2015. [17] On July 2, 2015, the East Cleveland prosecutor filed its own dereliction of duty charges against the same five officers, [18] and the County dismissed its charges on July 24, 2015. [19] The officers objected to moving the trial to East Cleveland, and appealed the dismissal. In May 2016 an Ohio appeals court held that the dismissal was improper, [20] but in April 2017 the Ohio Supreme Court reversed and left it up to the trial court judge, William Dawson, to decide where the trial would go forward. [21] By October 2017, Judge Dawson had not yet put the case on the docket. [22]
In March 2018, two defense attorneys reported that prosecutors had offered to drop all charges against the officers if they paid fines of $5,000 each. [23] They declined the offer. On March 22, 2018, prosecutors filed a formal motion asking the court to set a trial date. [24] All five officers pleaded not guilty. [25] In July 2018, the defendants asked the court to dismiss the charges, arguing that the more than 5½ years that had passed since the 2012 shooting violated their constitutional right to a speedy trial. The court denied the motion on September 20; the defense attorneys announced their intent to appeal this ruling. [26]
In January 2019, the prosecutors dismissed all charges against three of the five supervising officers. [27]
In July 2019, the case concluded with the police supervisor in charge of the officers involved in the '137 shots' case not guilty. East Cleveland Municipal Court confirmed Sgt. Patricia Coleman not guilty after a 3-day long trial, ending a year-long battle. The Cleveland Division of Police continues to receive criticism from the public about the misdemeanor, claiming the actions were due to racism, as both fatalities were African-American. Only one member of the division, Officer Michael Brelo, was charged after the incident. Brelo fired 49 of the shots but was not found guilty of voluntary manslaughter. Brelo was the only officer to lose his job following the shooting.
