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Staff File Photo by Patrick Smith James Marine, the father of Alonzo Heyward, who was killed by Chattanooga police officers July 18, talks about the situation in front of his son's house. "This (the shooting) just doesn't make any sense," Mr. Marine said.
Attorneys on both sides in a lawsuit against six Chattanooga police officers who shot and killed a local man July 18 say there has been no talk of a settlement in the case.
A trial date of Jan. 18, 2011, was set Friday in U.S. District Court in a federal "wrongful death" civil lawsuit involving Alonzo Heyward.
Mr. Heyward, 32, received 43 bullet wounds in a police-involved shooting on his front porch after he had threatened his own life and waved a rifle on Rossville Boulevard.
The lawsuit was filed by his family members on behalf of Mr. Heyward's children.
At Friday's court scheduling conference, the family's attorney, Archie Sanders III, tried to get the civil trial scheduled sooner, while Chattanooga's attorney, Phil Noblett, tried to have it slated later in the spring of 2011.
All motions have not been ruled upon, Mr. Noblett said. In one, attorneys for the city and the officers say the family lacked standing to file the lawsuit for the children.
"We still don't know who the proper plaintiffs are," Mr. Noblett said.
"We will (know)," Mr. Sanders said, because a judge certainly will rule on the motion well before the court date.
Mr. Sanders also said he expects the civil trial could last two weeks.
Mr. Noblett and Bryan Hoss, attorney for the six police officers, also said the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation criminal case remains incomplete because results of the ballistics tests and medical examiner reports still are pending.
Mr. Sanders, a member of the Johnnie Cochran law firm in Memphis, shrugged.
"I don't want the criminal case holding the civil case hostage," he said.
The six police officers involved have returned to work, and Chattanooga Police Chief Freeman Cooper has said he believes they acted appropriately.
PDF: Marine v. Chattanooga Police Department
Defendants
* City
* Chattanooga Police Department
* Officer Lauren Bacha
* Officer Zachery Moody
* Officer Deborah Dennison
* Officer George Romero
* Officer William Salyers
* Officer Bryan Wood
Source: Lawsuit
Pam Sohn has been reporting or editing Chattanooga news for 25 years. A Walden’s Ridge native, she began her journalism career with a 10-year stint at the Anniston (Ala.) Star. She came to the Chattanooga Times Free Press in 1999 after working at the Chattanooga Times for 14 years. She has been a city editor, Sunday editor, wire editor, projects team leader and assistant lifestyle editor. As a reporter, she also has covered the police, ...
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