On September 12, 2017, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office announced that it will not bring criminal charges against the officer who shot and killed Feras Morad in May 2015. The family of Feras Morad is saddened and disappointed by District Attorney Jackie Lacey’s decision not to bring charges against the officer — who shot and killed their unarmed son rather than providing him the medical assistance he needed — but look forward to holding the officer, the Long Beach Police Department and Long Beach Police Chief Luna accountable for their actions in the family’s civil case, which is set for trial on February 20, 2018. Joshua Piovia-Scott, a partner in the civil rights law firm of Hadsell Stormer & Renick, which represents Mr. Morad’s parents and estate, stated “It is a travesty of justice that the DA’s office did not file charges. If this was anyone except a police officer he would be in jail. We need to stop this DA supported killings by cops. We will hold them accountable before a jury of their peers, not some bureaucrat whose job it is to protect lawless police.”
The DA’s decision not to bring charges against the offending officer highlights a longtime pattern of refusal by LA County prosecutors, and indeed prosecutors nationwide, to indict police who shoot civilians. As of February 2016, records show that of the more than 1300 police shootings since 2004, no officer has faced prosecution (http://graphics.latimes.com/officer-involved/). A 2015 Washington Post investigation found that only 54 officers have been charged in the thousands of fatal shootings from 2005 to 2015 (http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2015/04/11/thousands-dead-few-prosecuted/?utm_term=.75ddd10c8bf8).
Media:
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-feras-morad-long-beach-police-claim-20150721-story.html
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-long-beach-cop-shooting-20170912-story.html