2013

On Saturday, December 29th, local NBC affiliate KNBC published a report on their website about the upcoming court case filed by Zac's mother, Carol, against the United States Government for the wrongful death of her son.

It would seem the story the Sheriff's department, as well as the DEA, concocted regarding the events of that night were just that... all fabrications.

"The nature of [Champommier's] aggressive actions - actually hitting the deputy - that is not someone who is without some degree of fault," Sheriff Lee Baca said.

Apparently, not so much, Sheriff Baca. He did nothing wrong. You said as much to his mother. Without waiting for any official report, Sheriff Baca felt it appropriate to slander a dead young man who was killed by the very deputies who should have been protecting him, just hours after they gunned him down. 

As for Zac intentionally aiming for a deputy? According to the KNBC report, a witness reported seeing a deputy hopping over the front of Zac's car, not making it to the other side and sliding off, during an altercation with someone else in the parking lot. 

Starsky and Hutch fail.

Officers reported that Zac was traveling at a speed of 38 m.p.h. through the parking lot where he was shot. Again, not so. Accident reconstruction experts for both sides of the lawsuit agree: Zac was not traveling any faster than 13 m.p.h., maybe even less, but they settled on 13 for the magic number. So the story of Zac racing into a group of law enforcement officers in an attempt to mow them down was simply a fairy tale. One of many woven that night.

You can finish reading the rest of the KNBC piece here.

Zac's Excalibur

The official complaint has been filed against those responsible for the death of Zachary Champommier.

From the LA Weekly:

Despite the official reports, which claimed Champommier drove his car into a sheriff's deputy, causing officers to open fire, Champommier's family says the teen was shot without provocation or justification.

Champommier's mother, Carol, is now suing the DEA, LAPD and LA County Sheriff's Department in federal court for wrongful death.

According to the lawsuit, first reported by Courthouse News Service, Champommier was in his car waiting for a friend when he saw officers detain someone. When Champommier began to drive away toward the parking lot exit, he was fired upon.

Champommier "was unarmed, had not threatened the agents/officers, did not pose a threat of death or serious physical injury," states the lawsuit. The officers "proceeded to use unreasonable, unnecessary and excessive force, firing multiple bullets and killing" Champommier.

From the Complaint:

As is detailed herein, Defendants.... shot and killed the Decedent without justification, in contravention of proper police procedures, and by use of excessive and unnecessary force. Such conduct violated Decedent's right to be free of violations of his constitutional rights under the law.

[snip]

By the actions and omissions described above....depriving Plaintiff and Decedent of the following clearly established and well-settled constitutional rights protected by Amendments to the US Constitution:

a. the right to be free from unreasonable seizure as secured by the Fourth Amendment

b. the right to be free from excessive and unreasonable force in the course of arrest as secured by the Fourth Amendment;

c. the right to be free from the unreasonable use of deadly force as secured by the Fourth Amendment;

d. the right to be free from deprivation of life without due process of law as secured by the Fourteenth Amendment;

e. the right to equal protection of the law as secured by the Fourteenth Amendment;

f. the right to be free from a police cover-up of the use of excessive police force through the filing of false and misleading incident investigation reports.

click image to enlarge

You can read the rest of the official complaint here.(pdf file)

We'll see you in court.