Of course the state will use anything they can to try to slander Fong Lee and make it seem like he deserved what he got. Portray him as a criminal, as a gang member, as a social deviant that didn’t deserve to live. They actually have the nerve to try to use his gang affiliation to argue that the family should get less money because he would have lived a shorter life as a result of his affiliation!! It doesn’t matter if Fong Lee was a member of a street organization, that is not a reason he deserved to be murdered by this police officer!
Jurors can hear Fong Lee’s alleged gang affiliation, judge rules
Fong Lee runs from a police officer moments before he is murdered in cold blood.
http://www.startribune.com/local/45013827.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUI
Minneapolis can present evidence at trial next week that Fong Lee, who was killed by police in 2006, was affiliated with a gang, U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson ruled Thursday.
Lee’s family sued officer Jason Andersen and the city for wrongful death. Andersen shot Lee, 19, during a foot chase around Cityview Elementary School on the North Side. Lee’s family says he was unarmed and that police planted a gun by his body.
Part of the chase and shooting were captured by security cameras, though it’s hard to tell if Lee held anything. The city says Lee had a gun and was a known gang affiliate.
“The decedent’s alleged gang membership is relevant to the issue of whether he had a gun …” Magnuson wrote, “because his membership in a gang makes it more probable that he or his friends had access to a gun.”
Magnuson, however, said he would not allow such testimony to be considered in a calculation of damages. The city argued that membership should reduce damages because he probably would not have lived as long as a non-gang member and would have earned less.
The judge said he would allow limited testimony from two experts for Lee’s family. The city sought to bar Philip Corrigan and Richard Diercks, saying they lacked expertise.
Corrigan was a police officer for 20 years and has taught at three colleges. The plaintiffs want him to testify on use of force. Magnuson said video expert Diercks can testify about how he modified the security video, but not about his conclusion that Lee was unarmed
“The jury does not need assistance in determining whether they can see a gun or any other object in Lee’s hand,” Magnuson wrote.
The family’s lawyers wanted to exclude testimony about the alleged gang membership of Lee and the friends he was with when police encountered them. Magnuson said he would rule individually on Lee’s friends as they testified.
The judge granted the city’s request to exclude “other bad acts” by Andersen — specifically that he twice used derogatory remarks, once about Asians. Lee was Hmong.
The family’s lawyers argued the remarks show “a propensity to engage in potentially improper conduct with persons of color.” The judge said federal rules bar that sort of evidence.
The judge also agreed with the city that evidence of the alleged inadequacy of the city’s investigation of the shooting is irrelevant because he has dismissed most claims against the city.
He also ruled inadmissible a comment made by Sgt. Jesse Garcia on the radio saying the security video of the chase showed Lee didn’t have a gun. “Garcia is not authorized to make an admission on behalf of Andersen,” Magnuson wrote.
Nor will Magnuson allow a former Hennepin County medical examiner to testify that it is “inconceivable” the gun found near Lee’s body was free of blood specks. Lee’s family says the gun’s cleanliness is proof of a planted gun and conspiracy.
