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SAN DIEGO: Opening statements in Foley civil trial to begin
Attorney: running back LaDainian Tomlinson, other Chargers, to testify
By TERI FIGUEROA - Staff Writer | ∞
SAN DIEGO ---- One of the three hollow-point bullets an off-duty policeman pumped into ex-Chargers linebacker Steve Foley sliced a main artery in the player's leg, his attorney told a jury Thursday.
"Mr. Foley was lying in a pool of blood," Harvey Levine told a jury during opening statements of Foley's civil trial. "He thought he was going to die."
Foley, 32, is suing police Officer Aaron Mansker and his employer, the city of Coronado, for battery, excessive force and negligence over a 2006 Labor Day weekend confrontation that left the then-starting linebacker with the three gunshot wounds.
Mansker had been on the job with the city for 13 months when he shot Foley on Sept. 3, 2006, in a confrontation in Foley's cul-de-sac in Poway.
It happened after the officer ---- in street clothes and driving his personal car ---- spotted Foley weaving and speeding and, fearing he was a threat to others, tried to pull him over, on suspicion of drunken driving.
Foley subsequently pleaded guilty to misdemeanor driving under the influence.
The jury will hear from Foley himself during the four- to six-week trial, and possibly a number of Chargers with star power.
Foley's attorney, Harvey Levine, told the jury that running back LaDainian Tomlinson would take the stand to testify about the impact Foley had on his career.
The list of potential witnesses also includes linebackers Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips.
The shooting came days after the Chargers' broke training camp, and hours after Foley attended a dinner hosted by rookie players.
Mansker spotted Foley driving erratically. Foley had just left a nightclub in downtown San Diego, where he went after the dinner party.
"There's absolutely no excuse for Mr. Foley's driving," Levine said, "but we don't shoot people for DUIs, we don't almost kill people."
In the aftermath of the shooting, Levine said, Foley suffered acute kidney failure. He has permanent nerve damage. Doctors had to use a vein from his right leg to rebuild the artery in his left leg. And they had to perform a skin graft.
The shooting not only ended Foley's football career, it fueled debate over shootings by off-duty police.
"This is a story about the destruction of a dream, the crushing of a career," Foley's attorney told the jury. "The reason it's so tragic is because it was totally unnecessary."
Mansker, Levine said, failed to follow "a very simple set of rules" designed to guide officers when they see crime but are not on the clock.
Rather than simply following and observing, Levine said, the officer flashed his lights at Foley's car and tried to get him to pull over.
Levine said the policeman escalated the conflict by waving his gun at the player ---- and not showing him his badge.
The defense is expected to give its opening statement Monday, and its version will likely be a very different take on the case.
As court ended Thursday, Superior Court Judge Richard Strauss warned the jury that Levine's presentation is not evidence, but rather just opening statements, a preview of what Levine said the trial will cover.
But the last images the jury saw, the images that will carry them until the defense makes its statements Monday, are shots of Foley's blood puddled bright red on a Poway cul-de-sac.
Other graphic images include a shot of former NFL player's leg slit open from knee to ankle, the spot where doctors tried fix the damage left by a hollow-point bullet.
Foley is asking to be recompensed for his losses, his attorneys said, but would not ask the jury for punitive damages. The attorneys did not say how much they were asking the jury to award Foley.
Levine told the panel that medical expenses thus far were over $434,000, and Foley expects it will rise another $200,000 in future expenses.
Foley, in a light tan pin-striped suit, and Mansker, in a dark suit, sat at different tables and separated by a number of attorneys in a San Diego courtroom Thursday morning.
They both listened as Foley's attorney addressed the five men and seven women on the jury.
There are three women and one man seated as alternates. Attorneys estimated the trial could last as long as four to six weeks.
In court, Foley occasionally wiped his forehead and face with a tissue, and did so more often as Levine showed photos of the ex-player's blood and injuries.
An investigation by county prosecutors cleared both men of any criminal wrongdoing in the shooting.
Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 740-5442 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com.
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Floyd wrote on Jun 20, 2008 12:04 AM:Throw the book at Mansker -- his behavior disgraces cops everywhere.
Bill W wrote on Jun 20, 2008 10:52 AM:Foley deserves millions for a lost career. The city of Coronado should pay the biggest share of the costs since they are the ones that have the officer on their payroll.
esteban wrote on Jun 20, 2008 11:18 AM:Foley wasn't shot because he was DUI, he was shot because he threatened a cop. He should not be rewarded for his idiotic behavior. Hope he learned.
Concerned One wrote on Jun 20, 2008 12:07 PM:I'll wait to see what the defense says, but I have sort of already made up my mind based on what I've read since the incident. That is, Mansker was over the top. He should have called 9-1-1, not his dispatcher, and he should have just followed. His flashing the headlights and erratic driving increased the chances of Foley getting in a wreck. All those are points are just wrong. Now, the new information: hollow point bullets? Just what does Mansker think he's doing when he's off duty?
RG wrote on Jun 20, 2008 12:09 PM:I hope this trial results in a huge award for Foley and a heads up for police agencies. Maybe, just maybe, some changes would be made to the unlimited power given to even new cops who can't conduct themselves per simple police policy. If they have this power 24/7/365, they should go by the rules 24/7/365.
robert wrote on Jun 20, 2008 1:40 PM:when will you people wake up we all know the officer will get away with and foley wont get a dime these police oficers think they are god and can do what ever they want have you ever seen the way they drive they think they own the road i say the officer was wrong period
Sandy wrote on Jun 20, 2008 2:02 PM:Calling Mansker a "cop" diminishes all the hardworking good cops. Mansker wasn't behaving like a cop and there was no reason to believe he was a cop even when he was firing his gun into the shrubbery.
Questions wrote on Jun 20, 2008 2:34 PM:So Foley was speeding. Well, if Mansker was able to follow Foley for many miles to his home, seems Mansker must have been speeding also. In his personal car. Gee, does it sound like Mansker was breaking the speed law??? And what's this about hollow point bullets? Are the cops allowed to load their guns with these things?
What a joke wrote on Jun 20, 2008 4:12 PM:"There's absolutely no excuse for Mr. Foley's driving," Levine said, "but we don't shoot people for DUIs, we don't almost kill people."
But Drunk drivers can almost kill us!
Foley could have killed one of you or your family members, rather than blaming Foley for DUI, we are blaming the officer for shooting him!
Only in Liberal California!
Poor Gang members, poor Drunk and drugged Silva, Poor Drunk Foley they all deserve better than this!
Give me a break! pretty soon we (California) are going to be another TJ where criminals are worth more than cops!
If an off duty officer shot one of those walmart purse snatchers, I'm sure you people would be defending them!
By any means necessary wrote on Jun 20, 2008 4:15 PM:17,000 people died in 2006 for DUI related incidents!
Yet, some of you people have the nerve to critize the officer! You should be thanking him for taking another drunk off the street hopefully permanently. I rather him (Foley) be on the wheelchair than an innocence person!
He was home already wrote on Jun 20, 2008 4:49 PM:Foley was home already when he was shot and no longer a threat to society. Mansker was speeding while hunting down Foley. If you believe that all DUI's should be shot, then what about speeders, Red Light runners, these people also are capable of killing someone with their vehicle. Should we shot them. There is no defense for Mansker. Thank God a jury will decide this and not the District Attorney.Mansker should be locked away for attempted murder..
Floyd wrote on Jun 20, 2008 5:44 PM:If nothing else, Mansker should be charged with impersonating a police officer.
To what a joke wrote on Jun 20, 2008 7:11 PM:How disgusting!!! You really believe that purse snatching is a capital offense. What do you suggest for shop lifters... Lethal injections?
No joke wrote on Jun 20, 2008 8:01 PM:I'll tell you what's a joke. It's cops on these blogs who make excuses for bad cops. Seems to me the GOOD cops, and most are, would be the first to criticize the BAD ones since the bad ones diminish the reputation of their profession. But some here who support these guys resort to calling citizens who recognize the difference between good and bad ones "anti-cop", or "cop-haters", etc. I have to wonder if the code of silence is so ingrained in these people, they will back up each other no matter what the circumstances. Don't they realize what they are doing to the law enforcement image?
what a joke wrote on Jun 21, 2008 6:57 AM:For you info, I’m not a cop and I can’t never be one, why? Because I’m on an wheelchair! Why? because those wonderful drunk drivers are so eager to defend.
Unlike you, I have no sympathy for drunk drivers! Thousands of lives are ruined by these people, so when the tables turn on them, it’s the only time when justice is served!
As you may or may not know DUI is not a big deal for our justice system! Silva 3 dui’s Foley 3! Nationwide, 17,000 people dead because drunk drivers in 2006 that’s not counting crippled people like me, compared to 45 off duty officer involved shootings.
Why am I supporting Mansker? One because of my condition, two because of the statistics above, three because when you get behind the wheel drunk, you made the decision that our lives, innocence people, are not important to you. So why should I feel sorry for you when you get shot by an off duty officer who in his mind was trying to save someone else for being hurt (like me) or kill!
esteban wrote on Jun 21, 2008 10:21 AM:You people just don't get it...or you don't wanna get it. Foolish Foley was not shot for being drunk. He was shot because he was ordered to stop advancing on an armed officer. When he reached for his pants, Mansker is not required to wait until he actually sees a bullet coming at him to defend himself. Foley [allegedly]caused this and that's all there is to it. You anticops are just plain nuts...you have a mental disorder and you need help.
Give me a break wrote on Jun 24, 2008 9:40 AM:Why don't you stop giving the bad guys the benefit of the doubt, Mansker called on duty officers while he was following your hero Foley for miles, unfortunately, they turned into a no way out street so he did what he had to do.
So asked yourself one question, was Mansker committing any crime when he was following Foley? No! Was Foley committing a crime when he was drinking and driving? yes
in 2006, there were 17,602 DUI related deaths (not to mention, us crippled people) compared to 45 off duty officer involved shooting in which not all where fatal shootings.
So I guess you rather see innocence people in a wheelchair than Foley who by the way chose to drink and drive that night!
Maybe you change your mind once a drunk driver hurt your family!
coldbreath wrote on Jun 30, 2008 11:07 AM:The use of excessive force by police is a very real occurence in every major metropolitan American city. Don't believe me? Google it.
I know, I know...everybody wants and devises a clear cut reason/excuse/justification not to believe Foley and to believe Mansker - or vice versa.
Foley was shot because a relatively rookie cop simply had the means to do so. That Foley was also DUI just adds to the phenomenon of excessive police force. There are various ways to handle a DUI incident. That Mansker decided to pump a few bullets into Foley isn't as remarkable as to why an off duty cop becomes aggressively involved into apprehending an unarmed individual...drunk or not.
The NYPD has handled the Sean Bell case like it should have been. Various NY police officers have been fired and/or reprimanded for using excessive force and discharging their firearms...off duty. I guess when excessive police force rears it's ugly and albeit real head, SDPD has a knee jerk and obvious reaction to protect the officer.
Many people throughout this nation become victims of excessive police force. One does not have to be drunk to be shot, yelled at, or strong armed by the police. Don't believe me? Simply type 'excessive police force' into YouTube or LiveLeak and see for yourself.
Why is it so hard to accept the reality of a police officer making a mistake?
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