ECBAWM represents the mother, sister, and estate administrator of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy who was shot and killed by Cleveland police officers in November 2014 while he was playing in the park. On October 16, 2015, ECBAWM sent a letter on behalf of Tamir’s family to Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty, criticizing his handling of the criminal investigation into the police officers who killed Tamir and calling for the appointment of an independent special prosecutor.

The letter criticizes the prosecutor’s 11-month delay in presenting this case to a grand jury and condemns his decision to retain pro-police “experts” and release their reports exculpating the officers to the media. The letter documents that the prosecutor’s so-called “experts” have a track record of bias in favor of the police. It also lays out some of the many legal and factual errors in their reports, including that they ignored contradictory video evidence, the fact that the shooter’s prior employer found him emotionally unfit to be a police officer and the Department of Justice’s finding that the Cleveland police have a pattern of using excessive force.

Because of the way the prosecutor has handled the case so far, the Rice family now believes that the grand jury presentation will be nothing short of a charade aimed at whitewashing this police killing of a 12-year-old child.

Read ECBAWM’s letter to Prosecutor McGinty here

ECBA attorneys Jonathan S. Abady, Earl S. Ward, and Zoe Salzman represent the mother, sister, and estate administrator of Tamir Rice.

“Calling probe a ‘whitewash,’ Tamir Rice’s family asks Cleveland prosecutor to recuse himself,” The Washington Post
“Two Reviews of Tamir Rice Shooting in Cleveland Are Seen as Shielding Police,” New York Times
“Cleveland Officer Used Reasonable Force in Shooting of Tamir Rice, Experts Find,” Wall Street Journal