Judge sets date for state troopers’ trial
A federal judge set an Oct. 15 trial date in the civil suit brought by the father of a 12-year-old boy who fled from police in 2002 and was shot during the chase. U.S. District Court Judge Joy Flowers Conti handed down the case order last week.
Michael Hickenbottom, father of Michael Ellerbe, filed the suit shortly after his son’s Dec. 24, 2002, death.
The suit named state police troopers Juan Curry and Samuel Nassan, who chased Ellerbe as he fled from a stolen vehicle that afternoon in Uniontown’s East End.
As Curry scaled a fence to continue with the chase, his service weapon got caught and discharged, according to prior testimony in the case. Believing Curry had been shot by Ellerbe, Nassan shot back, killing Ellerbe.
Ellerbe, police said, had been running with his hand in his pocket, looking back at the troopers chasing him.
Flowers Conti recently entered an opinion dismissing certain counts of the case, but binding others over for trial against both troopers.
Flowers Conti also relied on a deposition given by Melvin Duley, a Uniontown boy who watched the chase from his bedroom window.
Duley’s testimony differed starkly from the troopers about when they drew their guns, and he claimed to have heard three shots fired at Ellerbe.
Flowers Conti ruled that because there were different versions of what happened during the shooting, a reasonable jury could conclude that Curry fired his gun more than once.
Flowers Conti also ruled that, based on Duley’s testimony, a jury could conclude that Nassan’s account of the shooting was not credible
“Courts have found an officer’s use of deadly force reasonable where the circumstances provided a sound reason for the officer’s belief that the suspect posed a significant threat of injury to the officer,” she wrote.
Jurors at a coroner’s inquest held shortly after the shooting cleared both troopers of any wrongdoing, and federal and county prosecutors declined to file any charges.