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Michigan trial attorney vows civil rights suit

Tuesday, January 21, 2003

By Jonathan D. Silver, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

The family of Michael Ellerbe, the 12-year-old Uniontown boy who was shot to death Dec. 24 as he was chased by state police, has retained Michigan trial attorney Geoffrey Fieger.

	Attorney Geoffrey Fieger gained fame as Dr. Jack Kevorkian's attorney. (Carlos Osorio, Assicated Press)

Fieger, who has represented assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian, said yesterday he planned to file a federal lawsuit in Pittsburgh by the end of next week alleging that Ellerbe's civil rights were violated by state police.

Ellerbe was shot through the heart from behind at 2:30 p.m. while two state troopers chased him on foot after he allegedly wrecked a stolen vehicle.

State police have refused to declare whether the bullet that killed Ellerbe was fired by either of the troopers running after him -- veteran Juan Curry or rookie Samuel Nassan.

Fieger said he believes Nassan shot Ellerbe and he framed the case in racial terms: Ellerbe was black and Nassan is white.

"I think it's a cover-up. Nothing precipitated it. I think it's a deliberate act that is absolutely unexplainable and undefendable," Fieger said in a telephone interview. "I'm concerned that a black child was shot in the back by an officer ... I don't think this would happen to a white child."

The shooting is under investigation by state police.

"If that isn't a conflict of interest, I don't know what is," Fieger said.

The FBI is conducting a separate investigation.

"I think that's the only way we'll get a straight story other than me filing suit, and I plan on filing suit by the end of next week," Fieger said.

Fayette County Coroner Dr. Phillip Reilly plans to hold an inquest into Ellerbe's death Monday. Fieger said he did not plan to attend.

State police have said Ellerbe was driving a stolen sport utility vehicle when troopers spotted him. Troopers followed the vehicle until it crashed into a fence in a residential neighborhood. Ellerbe allegedly ditched the vehicle and ran as Curry and Nassan chased him. He was shot and fell in a back yard between Cleveland and Murray avenues.

Fieger is working with Joel Sansone, a Pittsburgh civil rights attorney who has suggested that Curry slipped on ice while chasing Ellerbe and accidentally discharged his gun, which led to Nassan firing.

Fieger said he believes the shot that hit Ellerbe was fired from less than 60 feet.

"The explanations I'm hearing are just absurd. This is 2:30 in the afternoon. This child was less than 60 feet from the person who shot him. He claims he saw his partner fall down. He knew the kid in front of him was running away and doesn't have a gun," Fieger said.

Fieger would not identify his source of information about the circumstances of the shooting. Sansone has cited confidential sources.

Fieger said there were three other people in the vehicle with Ellerbe. Contrary to Sansone's past denials that Ellerbe was driving, Fieger did not rule out the possibility that the boy was behind the wheel.

"It's possible," Fieger said. "Since when do you start shooting a suspected car thief in the back?"