After the proceedings of the civil suit in which the Estate of Khalil Harris sued Officer Brian Cruise Jr., for the wrongful death of Harris, the clear decision is to find for the defendant. On the night of the incident, Mr. Khalil Harris and Ms. Starr Carter were driving home from a party where there had been gunshots. Officer Brian Cruise Jr. pulled their vehicle over as a result of a broken taillight and suspicion of speeding. Moveover, the interior of the car was green, a common label of the Garden Disciples, a prevalent gang in Garden Heights. According to typical police protocol, as explained by Officer Beltrami in the courtroom, these traffic violations are reasonable for an officer to pull over a vehicle. Beltrami described operating …show more content…
After Harris fell, the passenger Carter left the car despite orders to stay put, running to help Khalil. At this point Officer Cruise held his gun at Carter’s head until backup arrived along with medical personal. While holding the gun at Carter’s head at first seems like overkill, Beltrami illustrated in her testimony that her actions made her seem potentially dangerous and the body had become a crime scene, which Carter should not have interfered with. Through the use of character witnesses in the trial, the plaintiff made it clear that Harris was a good kid in his lifetime, helping his grandmother, Mrs. Rosalie with finances; denying gang membership to the King Lords, despite association with drug dealing to support his family; and being a great friend to Ms. Carter. In spite of Harris’s character as illustrated by the plaintiff, on the night of the incident Cruise was not negligent in his role as a police officer. Police officers are taught to shoot whenever they feel there is a threat. Police officers are supposed to base their decisions in the field on their own