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DATE CHANGE: Demand justice for Sheila Detoy: A personal account
A hearing is being held this this Friday [NOTE--CHANGED TO FRIDAY, FEB 18] on the cops who killed then 17-year-old Sheila Detoy. A friend of Sheila's shares some of the story's context.
DEMAND JUSTICE FOR SHEILA DETOY!
On May 13, 1998, my friend, Sheila Detoy was shot and killed by Officer Greg Breslin of the SFPD. She was only 17 years old when Officer Breslin's bullet tore through her neck, causing her to bleed out. It what was called "a stakeout gone awry." Was she armed? No! Did the SFPD even know who she was? No!
Undercover officers were trying to apprehend Ramondo Cox for failure to appear on a drug warrant. Cox climbed into the back passenger seat of the car in which Sheila Detoy was also a passenger. When the car attempted to leave Cox's residence, Officer Breslin, dressed in plainclothes, fired into the car without provocation.
Breslin claimed that he was in danger of being struck by the car. But, both witness testimony and forensic evidence clearly proved that he was NOT in any danger of being struck by the car. He claimed that the car was traveling at a speed between 25-30 MPH. Witnesses stated that the car was, in fact, traveling between 3-5MPH out of the horseshoe driveway. There weren't any tire tracks which would have corroborated Breslin's assertion that the car had been traveling at an excessive speed.
Lt. David Robinson of the SFPD, the investigating officer in my friend Sheila Detoy's case, immediately told the media, "She was a victim, but she was no innocent victim. She was trying to live the hip-hop lifestyle." It was clear from the beginning that Sheila's case was biased.
Where were the officers while Lt. Robinson made an immediate claim that this shooting was justified? According to SFPD policy, the officers involved in a shooting are to be sequestered until they each have been questioned separately by the investigating officer in the case (Lt. David Robinson). But Breslin and the others present at the time of her killing went to the Police Officers Association headquarters to seek legal counsel before they were ever questioned. They weren't questioned until 7 hours after Officer Breslin had killed Sheila Detoy.
The news soon spread all over the city. The media labeled Sheila Detoy as a "good girl gone bad" while family and friends were still in the process of finding out that she had been killed. The media wanted to find out what led her astray without ever questioning why Officer Breslin had fired in the first place.
Imagine what it's like to turn on the news to see your 5' 100LB friend covered in a white sheet being wheeled into a medical examiner's van. Imagine what it's like to have the media paint a picture of someone you love in such a derogatory light (Surprise, Surprise). Imagine going into her room after her killing to see her disheveled sheets and the crease left on her pillow where she spent her last night alive with her scent still fresh in the air. Imagine speaking with her Mom days after her killing as she folded Sheila's freshly washed clothes while crying because she realized that Sheila would never need them again. Imagine what it's like to learn that she wasn't killed instantly like we had all been told. She was conscious for a few moments after the bullet had torn through her neck. Did Sheila see and feel herself begin to bleed out? Did she know she was about to die? No one should ever experience that kind of horror. No family or friend should ever have to wonder about something so horrific.
From the beginning, Sheila Detoy's family and friends have never been able to make sense of her killing. But since her killing, we have been consistently slapped in the face by the SFPD and their union, the Police Officers Association (POA). Both the SFPD and the POA refuse to allow any of their officers to be held accountable for their egregious actions. Despite repeated requests by the Office of Citizen Complaints (OCC) beginning in June of '98, the SFPD would not give the OCC crucial documents it needed to conduct its investigation until January of 2000. During the pending investigation into Sheila Detoy's killing, Breslin and the three other officers involved were promoted and received pay raises.
After the OCC completed its investigation in Sheila Detoy's killing, it concluded that Officer Breslin had used excessive force and that he and the three other officers involved had also misrepresented the truth and prepared false incident reports. In 2002, the OCC filed verified complaints against Breslin and the other officers involved. The OCC, then, recommended to both the SF Police Commission and, then Police Chief Fred Lau, that disciplinary charges needed to be filed against all four officers involved. After much legal wrangling, then Chief Lau did indeed file disciplinary charges against Breslin and co. Each officer involved was individually presented with formal disciplinary charges between July 28- August 4, 2002.
But, in 2003 the POA, which had hired such high powered attorneys such as Robert Moore and James Collins, filed a motion to dismiss in Sheila Detoy's case. Accordind to the officers' attorneys, the statute of limitations had run. Therefore, these officers should never be disciplined for killing my friend, Sheila Detoy. So, even after every party involved had finally agreed after 5 years that these officers needed to be disciplined, the SFPD and the POA added another hurdle.
On December 10, 2003, after hearing arguments presented by both the OCC and the POA, the SF Police Commission unanimously decided NOT to pass the POA's motion to dismiss because the statute of limitations can be tolled in cases in which there are multi-jurisdictional investigations AND when multiple officers are involved. Now, the Police Commission could, finally hold a disciplinary hearing to determine how to properly discipline Sergeant Breslin and the others.
Unfortunately, the POA has yet again taken it another step further. It refuses to accept the Police Commission's decision, claiming that the commission had no right not to pass their motion to dismiss. Subsequentally, the POA filed a writ in Superior Court in SF on March 9, 2004. Now, it's the officers and their attorneys vs. the City and County of San Francisco, the SF Police Department, and the SF Police Commission.
If the judge , James L. Warren, decides in the officers' favor, then Breslin and the other officer involved will NEVER be disciplined for killing my 17 year old friend, Sheila Detoy. If he decides in Sheila Detoy's favor, then the SF Police Commission can finally hold a disciplinary hearing to decide how to discipline Breslin and Co. If this happens, Sheila Detoy's case will set precedent and police officers will no longer be able to use the statute of limitations to get away with being disciplined for committing blatant acts of violence against the community in which they serve. And the SF Police Commission can decide to fire Sgt. Breslin for killing Sheila Detoy!
One of the functions of the SF Police Commission is to serve as a disciplinary body for the SFPD. How can the commission ever do this if even the most egregious use of excessive force by an officer does not warrant disciplinary action because the SFPD's union (POA) will pay ANY price to get their officers off on a technicality?
I grew up with Sheila. She was 10 when we became friends, and I was 14. We laughed and cried together. She came into my life at a point when I was heading into adolescence, but she reminded me that I didn't have to let go of certain childlike qualities. She was more mature than a lot of folks my age because she had already experienced tremendous pain in her life at such a young age. So, she refused to deal with so much of the bullshit that comes with those teenage years.
I remember when her Mom and only Sister asked me to go into her room and take some of her belongings because they told me that Sheila would want me to have something of hers. I saw her copy of Harper Lee's book, "To Kill a Mockingbird." I immediately flashed back to a moment we shared on a family vacation back in 1991. I was reading that book, and. Sheila asked me what it was about. I told her that it was a story about both injustice and a girl who realized that we can only get to know another person by walking in their footsteps. She told me that she wanted to read it, and she did. So, when I walked out of her family's house that day, I left with her copy. She had written her name around the edges.
The SFPD's slogan is "To Protect and to Serve." Who did the SFPD protect and serve on May 13, 1998? It protected and served itself. Everyday we walk out of our homes, we see cop cars. When Sheila's family and friends see them, we neither feel protected nor served. We feel anger and sadness.
We can't even begin to express the pain and anguish that we've experienced since Officer Greg Breslin shot and killed Sheila. But, we can tell you that we will not allow this injustice to go on any longer! Sheila was feisty and outspoken. If you upset her in any way, she would let you know it without flinching. If she loved you, she would show you with bear hugs that I still miss. We are keeping her voice alive because Sheila would never have accepted the injustice of her own killing.
We ask you to please come and speak out against the injustice of Sheila Detoy's killing! If you can't come, please wear something orange that day. It was Sheila's favorite color...
What: Hearing to decide if the cops who killed Sheila Detoy will get away with her killing on a technicality or if justice will finally be served!
When: CHANGED TO: FRIDAY, FEB 18
Where: Superior Court 400 McAllister Street, San Francisco
Dept. 301
Time: 9:30AM
Rally at 12PM at entrance of 400 McAllister Street!
Case No. CPF 04-504029
For more information please call (415) 812-0125
Paz y solidaridad,
Shannon Altamirano
On May 13, 1998, my friend, Sheila Detoy was shot and killed by Officer Greg Breslin of the SFPD. She was only 17 years old when Officer Breslin's bullet tore through her neck, causing her to bleed out. It what was called "a stakeout gone awry." Was she armed? No! Did the SFPD even know who she was? No!
Undercover officers were trying to apprehend Ramondo Cox for failure to appear on a drug warrant. Cox climbed into the back passenger seat of the car in which Sheila Detoy was also a passenger. When the car attempted to leave Cox's residence, Officer Breslin, dressed in plainclothes, fired into the car without provocation.
Breslin claimed that he was in danger of being struck by the car. But, both witness testimony and forensic evidence clearly proved that he was NOT in any danger of being struck by the car. He claimed that the car was traveling at a speed between 25-30 MPH. Witnesses stated that the car was, in fact, traveling between 3-5MPH out of the horseshoe driveway. There weren't any tire tracks which would have corroborated Breslin's assertion that the car had been traveling at an excessive speed.
Lt. David Robinson of the SFPD, the investigating officer in my friend Sheila Detoy's case, immediately told the media, "She was a victim, but she was no innocent victim. She was trying to live the hip-hop lifestyle." It was clear from the beginning that Sheila's case was biased.
Where were the officers while Lt. Robinson made an immediate claim that this shooting was justified? According to SFPD policy, the officers involved in a shooting are to be sequestered until they each have been questioned separately by the investigating officer in the case (Lt. David Robinson). But Breslin and the others present at the time of her killing went to the Police Officers Association headquarters to seek legal counsel before they were ever questioned. They weren't questioned until 7 hours after Officer Breslin had killed Sheila Detoy.
The news soon spread all over the city. The media labeled Sheila Detoy as a "good girl gone bad" while family and friends were still in the process of finding out that she had been killed. The media wanted to find out what led her astray without ever questioning why Officer Breslin had fired in the first place.
Imagine what it's like to turn on the news to see your 5' 100LB friend covered in a white sheet being wheeled into a medical examiner's van. Imagine what it's like to have the media paint a picture of someone you love in such a derogatory light (Surprise, Surprise). Imagine going into her room after her killing to see her disheveled sheets and the crease left on her pillow where she spent her last night alive with her scent still fresh in the air. Imagine speaking with her Mom days after her killing as she folded Sheila's freshly washed clothes while crying because she realized that Sheila would never need them again. Imagine what it's like to learn that she wasn't killed instantly like we had all been told. She was conscious for a few moments after the bullet had torn through her neck. Did Sheila see and feel herself begin to bleed out? Did she know she was about to die? No one should ever experience that kind of horror. No family or friend should ever have to wonder about something so horrific.
From the beginning, Sheila Detoy's family and friends have never been able to make sense of her killing. But since her killing, we have been consistently slapped in the face by the SFPD and their union, the Police Officers Association (POA). Both the SFPD and the POA refuse to allow any of their officers to be held accountable for their egregious actions. Despite repeated requests by the Office of Citizen Complaints (OCC) beginning in June of '98, the SFPD would not give the OCC crucial documents it needed to conduct its investigation until January of 2000. During the pending investigation into Sheila Detoy's killing, Breslin and the three other officers involved were promoted and received pay raises.
After the OCC completed its investigation in Sheila Detoy's killing, it concluded that Officer Breslin had used excessive force and that he and the three other officers involved had also misrepresented the truth and prepared false incident reports. In 2002, the OCC filed verified complaints against Breslin and the other officers involved. The OCC, then, recommended to both the SF Police Commission and, then Police Chief Fred Lau, that disciplinary charges needed to be filed against all four officers involved. After much legal wrangling, then Chief Lau did indeed file disciplinary charges against Breslin and co. Each officer involved was individually presented with formal disciplinary charges between July 28- August 4, 2002.
But, in 2003 the POA, which had hired such high powered attorneys such as Robert Moore and James Collins, filed a motion to dismiss in Sheila Detoy's case. Accordind to the officers' attorneys, the statute of limitations had run. Therefore, these officers should never be disciplined for killing my friend, Sheila Detoy. So, even after every party involved had finally agreed after 5 years that these officers needed to be disciplined, the SFPD and the POA added another hurdle.
On December 10, 2003, after hearing arguments presented by both the OCC and the POA, the SF Police Commission unanimously decided NOT to pass the POA's motion to dismiss because the statute of limitations can be tolled in cases in which there are multi-jurisdictional investigations AND when multiple officers are involved. Now, the Police Commission could, finally hold a disciplinary hearing to determine how to properly discipline Sergeant Breslin and the others.
Unfortunately, the POA has yet again taken it another step further. It refuses to accept the Police Commission's decision, claiming that the commission had no right not to pass their motion to dismiss. Subsequentally, the POA filed a writ in Superior Court in SF on March 9, 2004. Now, it's the officers and their attorneys vs. the City and County of San Francisco, the SF Police Department, and the SF Police Commission.
If the judge , James L. Warren, decides in the officers' favor, then Breslin and the other officer involved will NEVER be disciplined for killing my 17 year old friend, Sheila Detoy. If he decides in Sheila Detoy's favor, then the SF Police Commission can finally hold a disciplinary hearing to decide how to discipline Breslin and Co. If this happens, Sheila Detoy's case will set precedent and police officers will no longer be able to use the statute of limitations to get away with being disciplined for committing blatant acts of violence against the community in which they serve. And the SF Police Commission can decide to fire Sgt. Breslin for killing Sheila Detoy!
One of the functions of the SF Police Commission is to serve as a disciplinary body for the SFPD. How can the commission ever do this if even the most egregious use of excessive force by an officer does not warrant disciplinary action because the SFPD's union (POA) will pay ANY price to get their officers off on a technicality?
I grew up with Sheila. She was 10 when we became friends, and I was 14. We laughed and cried together. She came into my life at a point when I was heading into adolescence, but she reminded me that I didn't have to let go of certain childlike qualities. She was more mature than a lot of folks my age because she had already experienced tremendous pain in her life at such a young age. So, she refused to deal with so much of the bullshit that comes with those teenage years.
I remember when her Mom and only Sister asked me to go into her room and take some of her belongings because they told me that Sheila would want me to have something of hers. I saw her copy of Harper Lee's book, "To Kill a Mockingbird." I immediately flashed back to a moment we shared on a family vacation back in 1991. I was reading that book, and. Sheila asked me what it was about. I told her that it was a story about both injustice and a girl who realized that we can only get to know another person by walking in their footsteps. She told me that she wanted to read it, and she did. So, when I walked out of her family's house that day, I left with her copy. She had written her name around the edges.
The SFPD's slogan is "To Protect and to Serve." Who did the SFPD protect and serve on May 13, 1998? It protected and served itself. Everyday we walk out of our homes, we see cop cars. When Sheila's family and friends see them, we neither feel protected nor served. We feel anger and sadness.
We can't even begin to express the pain and anguish that we've experienced since Officer Greg Breslin shot and killed Sheila. But, we can tell you that we will not allow this injustice to go on any longer! Sheila was feisty and outspoken. If you upset her in any way, she would let you know it without flinching. If she loved you, she would show you with bear hugs that I still miss. We are keeping her voice alive because Sheila would never have accepted the injustice of her own killing.
We ask you to please come and speak out against the injustice of Sheila Detoy's killing! If you can't come, please wear something orange that day. It was Sheila's favorite color...
What: Hearing to decide if the cops who killed Sheila Detoy will get away with her killing on a technicality or if justice will finally be served!
When: CHANGED TO: FRIDAY, FEB 18
Where: Superior Court 400 McAllister Street, San Francisco
Dept. 301
Time: 9:30AM
Rally at 12PM at entrance of 400 McAllister Street!
Case No. CPF 04-504029
For more information please call (415) 812-0125
Paz y solidaridad,
Shannon Altamirano
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