Jury finds that Omaha officer who shot man didn't use excessive force

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Omaha World Herald

By Alissa Skelton

It didn’t take long for a jury to reach a verdict in favor of an Omaha police officer who shot a man after he swung a knife at a fellow officer.

In less than one hour of deliberations, the jury found Omaha Police Officer Joshua Martinec did not use excessive force when he shot and wounded an Omaha man who was experiencing a mental health episode five years ago.

David Roberts, 29, filed a federal lawsuit against the city and Martinec seeking at least $1 million in damages for the mental and physical injuries he suffered as a result of the shooting. Roberts contended that Martinec used excessive force and that the city didn’t adequately train police to appropriately interact with mentally disabled people. Roberts has schizophrenia and said police violated his rights under the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act.

Local law enforcement officials said immediately after the incident that Martinec followed police policy when he used deadly force to protect another officer from possibly being stabbed in the neck. Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said shortly afterward that Martinec’s actions were justified.

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Read more: http://www.omaha.com/news/crime/jury-finds-that-omaha-officer-who-shot-man-didn-t/article_4d61c5f4-b3a7-11e4-8416-b758d5fea3d9.html

[xocet]

1. More details...

Jury finds no excessive force in 2010 officer-involved shooting
By Jake Wasikowski.

...

In January 2010, David Roberts was having a psychotic episode when his parents called police. Officers found Roberts in his basement bedroom. When they went to subdue him, police say he grabbed a knife from under his pillow. That's when OPD Officer Joshua Martinec shot him 6 times.

The family was seeking more than $6 million in damages. Roberts was in the hospital for 28 days and still deals with long term affects.

The lawsuit said the city didn’t properly train officers to deal with people who suffer from mental health issues. His parents say officers should've tried to deescalate the situation before getting to that point.

"They could've secured that area, no one would've gotten hurt, and they could've talked to him. They gave no time and rushed in," his father, Dave Roberts explained.

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http://www.jrn.com/kmtv/news/Jury-finds-no-excessive-force-in-2010-officer-involved-shooting-291896281.html

[Lurks Often]

2. And here we go............