INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (September 2, 2015)- The family of a 15-year-old killed during a shooting with Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Officers has hired a high-profile attorney to represent them in a potential lawsuit against IMPD and the city.
Jamon Hicks with Douglas Hicks Law in Beverly Hills, California will be representing the Green family.
Hicks told FOX59 the family is still dealing with the heartbreak of losing Andre Green.
“We’re just hoping to get answers for this family and hopefully give them the little bit of piece of mind that we can under these circumstances,” Hicks said.
A tort claim is expected be be filed this week as a notice of injury claim. Hicks said IMPD and the city will have the opportunity to accept or reject the clam. He said in his experience, most police departments would reject the claim. A lawsuit against IMPD for improper use of deadly force would then be filed.
“Our goal is to just to try to find out and engage in a fact finding process so that we’re able to provide as many answers as possible,” said Hicks.
While the law firm is just beginning their own investigation, Hicks said they have secured witnesses who give conflicting statements from what was reported by IMPD the night of the shooting. IMPD has said Green, who was a suspect in an armed carjacking, rammed into a police cruiser and tried to run over an officer.
After receiving word of a potential lawsuit, IMPD said:
“Now that the family has made notice of their intent to sue, we cannot formally comment on this case.”
Hicks did not detail what witnesses reports stated. He did say they are looking into IMPD protocol when it comes to use of deadly force.
“I’m looking at this case from a tactical standpoint, so once I know their training, hopefully we’ll be able to see if they acted in conformity with that training or if they deviated from that training or if there’s no training about that at all,” Hicks said.
Hicks will be working with Indianapolis based attorney Mark Sniderman. Hicks said he plans to visit Indianapolis to view the crime scene.
On Wednesday, the Marion County Coroner’s Office said the autopsy still wasn’t complete. The standard time frame for toxicology reports is six to eight weeks.
