Criminal charges against former Tucson police officer Ryan Remington, who shot and killed a man in a power wheelchair in a confrontation over shoplifting in November 2021, were dismissed Tuesday after a new grand jury failed to indict him.

Remington had been charged with manslaughter in the death of Richard Lee Richards after a grand jury issued an indictment last August.

At Wednesday’s three-minute hearing, prosecutor Christopher Ward moved without prejudice to dismiss the charges. , accepted the dismissal.

Remington’s attorney, Mike Story, praised the move and said he would urge the former officer to be reinstated to the Tucson Police Department.

Remington is indicted
Pima County Attorney Laura Conover said after a “deliberative review of the facts” to determine whether to prosecute a former police officer who was charged with manslaughter last August.Remington pleaded not guilty
In September and weeks later, his attorneys, Mike Story and Natasha Rae, challenged the indictment and presented a report to a grand jury containing unintentionally misleading statements by prosecutors. claimed to have

Last month, Superior Court Judge Danell Liuskey granted that request and remanded the case to another grand jury. A week ago, a jury voted “no bill,” refusing to find probable cause to indict the former police officer for the fatal shooting.

At Wednesday’s hearing, Ward told judges that prosecutors were forced to return to the grand jury, which returned last week “without a bill.” “We are continuing to investigate this matter, with a tendency to dismiss lawsuits,” he said. I will simply decline.”

McGinley asked if there were any objections, and Victoria Richards went to court.

“I just want to make sure this case doesn’t end here,” she said. Hmm, and I’m very upset.”

Remington
On Nov. 29, 2021, Richards, 61, was on a “special assignment” as a security guard when he responded to a Walmart employee who said he shoplifted a toolbox and threatened an employee with a knife. bottom. Body-worn camera footage and body-worn camera footage show that Remington followed Richards for several minutes as he drove through the parking lots of several stores before attempting to ride to Lowe’s store across the street. I have attached the surveillance footage. At one point, Remington warned his fellow officer, Stephanie Taylor, that “he has a knife in his other hand.”

As Richards crossed the threshold, Remington fired a salvo, followed by the final shot. Richards collapsed into the chair of his electric scooter, crumpled to his left and fell to the ground.

The next day, former TPD chief Chris Magnus — who resigned as chief after being recognized as head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection — called Remington, a four-year veteran of TPD, on “multiple aspects of the department’s use. announced that he would be dismissed for violating Coercion policy when he shot Richards. Magnus said he was “deeply upset and troubled” by Remington’s actions.

“His use of deadly force in this incident was a clear violation of department policy,” Magnus said at the time. rice field.”

After Magnus left, current TPD chief Chad Kasmar completed the process to fire Remington in January 2021. The Pima County attorney’s office has begun a “deliberative review” of the case while the TPD moves to remove Remington from office, Conover said in his video message. Released in December of the same year.

Following Remington’s indictment last August, Conover released a public statement on the case, describing the nine-month review process and saying, “By early summer, we will be working to convene a grand jury to consider criminal charges. It has become clear that we will start

“Our most senior prosecutors and legal staff have been assigned to this complex matter because the gravity of this case requires it to be handled by a competent and seasoned team,” she said. .

Remington lawyer: Fires ‘appropriate’

Story, who stood next to Remington with attorney Ray, said Wednesday that he expected the county to be fired, calling it “the right thing to do.” He requested that the client be released from pretrial services, saying, “We will move on.”

Outside of court, Ray said the county may reopen the case against Remington in the future.

Story said that while the state could take back the lawsuit, “we have notified them that if they try to take it back again, we will respond more forcefully. If he is indicted before a grand jury, , they should call it a day,” he said.

Asked about the jury’s decision last week, Conover said ethics rules prevented him from speaking about the case. is the focus and priority of

The story said that Remington was justified in shooting Richards in the back, saying, “The only people who didn’t think he was justified were the former esteemed Chief Magnus and our mayor.” Everyone in the group felt he was justified. Don’t talk, people said they should talk and get rid of it,” Story said. He described Richards as “crazy” and ” Desperate,” he called. “

“He didn’t want to go back to prison. There were tons of drugs on board,” Story said.

Wheelchairs and electric scooters weren’t an issue, he insisted. Because Richards “could walk, it meant he was a threat to get up off that scooter and disrupt the store.”

“Police officers are trained to assume that people can walk on mobility scooters and wheelchairs,” Ray told reporters. We have to assume that it is mobile and can pose a greater threat to those around it.” they. ”

Story said Remington “had great confidence from the beginning that we were here today and that we would be fired,” belittled the nearly full courtroom and the small group of activists outside, saying, “They Go home, they should go home. Quiet, for this is justice.”

“Under the circumstances, justice was assured,” Ray said. “This is what our criminal justice system is all about, fair and impartial presentation to a grand jury. I discovered that I wasn’t doing that.”

Story told reporters that he hopes to have Remington reinstated at TPD and, if the department refuses, will pursue taking the case to the city’s civil service commission. “He’s going to try to get his job back.”

An Arizona grand jury meets behind closed doors to review evidence presented by prosecutors. A majority vote of the jury is required to introduce a “true bill” to indict someone for a particular crime.

Remington “Snap”

“I didn’t expect this at all,” said Victoria Richards, backed by half a dozen supporters who hung signs outside the courthouse, including one that read “Remington Inmate.”

“The next day when the police chief came out and fired him, I just thought, ‘Hallelujah.’ rice field. “And it feels like a small technical glitch in the grand jury presentation blew everything up. And I don’t understand how you can get away with committing crimes for technical reasons.”

“Remington shot my brother justified when he brandished that knife, but not after he walked by him for ten minutes.” But it doesn’t take that long.”

Richards said his brother was seriously injured in 1995 while working as a wilderness firefighter while on duty at a state prison when he fell off a 50-foot cliff and crushed the right side of his body.

“My brother didn’t threaten me,” Remington said. “I think he just snapped and put the gun down.”

“My brother could be very belligerent. I know that. Maybe he said something while they were walking that made him angry, but he didn’t know that.” I didn’t have the right to shoot him like that,” she said.

Civil rights and disability lawsuits brought by family members

Following Remington’s indictment, Richards’ family file a lawsuit, He called the former police officer’s actions “excessive, unjust and unnecessary.”

of 18 page suits It cited Remington and the city of Tucson as defendants, alleging that Remington had violated Richards’ right to be “released from unjust seizure.” He also alleges that Richards was discriminated against because of his disability.

“It is unconscionable and disturbing that Remington fired the first eight shots into Richards’ back while he was sitting there confined to a wheelchair,” Bradley wrote. “But the pause after the eighth shot, and the ninth shot that follows, shows Remington’s depraved state of mind and should shock every human conscience.”

“This lawsuit seeks to achieve a measure of justice for Richard Lee Richards and his survivors by establishing the obvious: Police officers warn when no one is in dire straits. You can’t kill a slow-moving suspected shoplifter by shooting him in the back in his wheelchair without a shot. It’s dangerous,” Bradley wrote.

At a hearing in September, Remington’s attorney, Story, sharply criticized Magnus’ remarks that day and the statement released by Tucson Mayor Regina Romero as “absurd” and “horribly irresponsible.”

Story also said the manslaughter charge was the result of “political drama.”

Storie claimed the incident lasted five minutes, and body camera footage released by TPD may have been threatening as Richards drove a mobility scooter through a parking lot before the incident escalated. could not be shown. Lawyers say Remington won’t have to “gamble his life” over whether Richards is trapped on the scooter and will use other less lethal weapons to deter him, including the use of tasers and other less lethal weapons. Using other alternatives for

TPD officials provided details on how police officers are trained to deal with people in wheelchairs, including electric scooters, and whether they are informed of the location of the ‘off’ switch on mobility devices. not to Many products have a power switch easily accessible from the back.

At one point, according to a Walmart employee, Richards said, “If you want me to put the knife down, you have to shoot me,” according to a statement released by TPD in November 2021.

However, Bradley said in a statement, “This was not a rapidly changing and dynamic situation where law enforcement officers were asked to make difficult split-second decisions.”

“This was a slow seven-minute walk with someone in a battery-powered wheelchair, according to the manufacturer and the video itself, with a top speed of five miles per hour, according to the manufacturer and the video itself,” Bradley said. “The video of Remington shooting Mr. Richards in a wheelchair to death just hit the conscience of this nation. What Mr. Richards did, might or didn’t It didn’t justify him being shot nine times in the back.”