LOS ANGELES – A quarter of a century ago, Carl Douglas was part of a team of lawyers in one of the most racially charged cases in Los Angeles history; the O.J. Simpson trail. More recently, he has joined forces with civil rights lawyer, Ben Crump in calling for murder charges in the deputy shooting death of Dijon Kizzee, who was shot at least 15 times while "writhing in the ground in pain," according to an independent autopsy.
Douglas and Crump are representing and standing with the Kizzee family.
“We had a chance to talk to several eyewitnesses to the shooting and what they describe happening is nothing short of an execution,” Douglas said.
He says their witness accounts completely differ from those of the Sheriff’s Department. Douglas says Kizzee never punched a deputy and he was afraid of being chased by the deputies after being stopped on his bike.
“Basically, it was described as sort of a wrestling, not a fight, not someone striking an officer in the face as alleged,” Douglas explained.
“But Mr. Kizzee, as several witnesses have described the same thing, was basically trying to get away.”
The Kizzee family attorneys responded to Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s defense of the deputies last week.
“They don’t racial profile but they will criminally profile if something looks out of place or wrong. Yeah, a guy wrapping his hand in a towel, yeah he was wrapping a gun in it,” the Sheriff said.
“[The sheriff] in some way [is] saying the victim deserved what happened to him,” said Douglas.
“The two officers who shot him in cold blood knew nothing about Dijon Kizzee other than he was a black man riding a bicycle on that neighborhood.”
The family had an independent autopsy performed and Douglas says it shows the deputies used excessive force, shooting Kizzee several times, some from the back.
“Some witnesses say he had his hands up when the first three shots were fired, the second officer comes from the driver’s side of the patrol car, and he and the trainee then open up and fire 16 additional shots on the man who was lying down on the ground,” added Douglas.
Crump along with Douglas are pushing for the names of the shooting deputies to be released, and to have them brought to justice.