A federal judge has partially sided with the family of a Black man who was fatally shot by a now-imprisoned white Kansas City, Missouri, police detective, ruling that the officer should not have entered the man’s backyard.
U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips ruled Wednesday that Eric DeValkenaere violated 26-year-old Cameron Lamb’s Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure by entering his property in 2019 without a warrant or other legal reason to be there.
However, Phillips declined to issue a summary judgment on the family’s claim that the ensuing shooting amounted to excessive force, and made no immediate decision on any damages in the wrongful death case filed against the Kansas City police board and DeValkenaere.
It’s been a pleasant surprise knowing my city is one of the few places with the courage to actually try and imprison a killer cop, but I’m about 99.9% sure that Mike Parson (our outgoing governor, who is termed out this year) will pardon him before hitting the bricks. He hasn’t done it yet because it will be a very unpopular move here in KC and potentially affect the election prospects of Republicans.