THOMAS, et al V. UNITED STATES, et al
US APP 95-5340
Docket Sheet | Contents | USDC CA 94-2427
Death on a White House
Sidewalk
On December 20, 1994 millions watched on national T.V. as
Marcelino Corneil was shot to death on the White House sidewalk
by U.S. Park Police "Officer "X." Common knowledge of the case is
very broad and equally shallow.
Particularly disturbed because Mr. Corneil’s gratuitous
death seemed to symbolize the ultimate abuse of police
power, on December 22, 1994 Concepcion Picciotto, Ellen and
Williiam Thomas, three individuals who have maintained a year-
round, round-the-clock vigil in Lafayette Park since 1981, filed
a complaint in the U.S. District Court.
The Lafayette Park vigilers weren't the only ones asking
questions. On December 23, 1994, in "Death on a White House
Sidewalk," a Washington Post editorial articulated most of the
agreed-upon facts, raised many pertenient issues, and called upon
the U.S. attorney to review the shooting in an "objective, fair
and honest" manner.
That never happened. Although District Court Judge
Charles Richey held three
hearings, and amassed over 120 documents, he heard no evidence, but dismissed the the complaint
on the theory of "qualified immunity," so the issues remain
unanswered and the triggerman still known only as "Officer X."
Concepcion, Ellen and Thomas are appealing Judge Richey's "qualified immunity" dismissal, at a time when the "qualitied immunity" issue has appeals court judges accusing one another of judicial activism and "riding roughshod over the Constitution".
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