Federal judge clears San Jose police of shooting of mentally ill man

By Tracey Kaplan, San Jose Mercury News

SAN JOSE — In a blow to the local civil rights community, a federal judge has ruled that San Jose police did not use excessive force — and the city is not financially liable — for the controversial shooting of a knife-wielding, mentally ill man.

Daniel Pham was killed on Mother’s Day 2009 by San Jose police after he had attacked his brother with a knife. (Courtesy of the Pham family)

Daniel Pham, 27, died in a barrage of bullets fired by officers called to Pham’s home in May 2009 after he slashed his brother’s throat. A grand jury cleared the officers of any wrongdoing.

But the case sparked outrage in the local Asian community and led to the formation of a civil rights coalition, including the Asian Law Alliance, the NAACP and a local organization, De-bug. Supported by the coalition, Pham’s parents filed a lawsuit, which prompted the judge’s ruling.

They contend that police provoked the disturbed man by jumping the backyard fence of his Berryessa home instead of diffusing the situation by calling in a specialized officer trained to deal with the mentally ill.

However, Judge Edward J. Davila on Monday sided with the city’s lead attorney Clifford Greenberg, who essentially argued that police were reacting to an emergency situation and had a legitimate fear that Pham would re-enter the house on Branbury Way and stab the brother’s girlfriend.

“The death of a civilian at the hands of law enforcement is tragic and regrettable,” Davila wrote in his ruling. “But the (federal) law … indicates that the actions at issue here do not implicate the Fourth Amendment or trigger liability under California law.”

City Attorney Rick Doyle said Pham’s death was a “tragedy” but underscored that police were dealing with difficult circumstances.

“They have policies and procedures (about the mentally ill) but they don’t always have time to react,” Doyle said. “There is a lot of outreach that the police and the city do with the Asian community.”

Read the full story by Tracey Kaplan from San Jose Mercury News.