Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Father, brother of Erik Scott pleaded with county commissioners to change coroner’s inquest

Shortly before they voted to include an ombudsman in the coroner's inquest system, Clark County commissioners received emails from the father and brother of Erik Scott, killed in that controversial Costco shooting ruled justifiable.

Their plaintive emails are below:

Clark County Commissioners,

As you cast your vote to, hopefully, change the coroner's inquest

process to a more-fair, just and equitable system dedicated to REAL

fact-finding, not merely the exoneration of police officers, please keep

in mind that my son, Erik Scott, Trevon Cole, Tanner Chamberlain and

other victims died unneccessarily to bring you to this day of judgment.

Had the county commisioners who held your offices back in 2006 acted to

change the inquest process THEN, there's a very strong possibility that

Erik, Trevon, Tanner and other victims of Metro killings would be

celebrating Christmas 2010 with their families. Why? Because a strong,

fair, balanced and transparent inquest process that truly holds a police

officer accountable for his/her actions would be a powerful motivating

force. Knowing he/she could go to prison for killing a civilian, an

officer would be far more likely to exercise restraint, rather than

simply shooting, then claiming, "I feared for my life" during a

one-sided inquest hearing.

The first, extremely vital step to regaining control over today's

clearly out-of-control Las Vegas Metro Police Department is to fix the

coroner's inquest process by implementing changes recommended to you by

the inquest review panel. Of those recommendations, the most important

element is ensuring the victim's family is represented by an attorney or

an ombudsman at the inquest hearing. Without this provision, all the

other recommendations pale to irrelevance.

In America, civilians have constitutional rights equal to those of

police officers. But only you can guarantee those rights are honored in

a Clark County courtroom, during a coroner's inquest hearing into an

officer-involved fatality.

Please, please implement ALL the changes recommended to you. Thank you

for your courage and your vote for justice.

Regards,

William B. Scott

Father of the late Erik B. Scott

----

Clark County Commissioners:

You've heard all the logical, political, and legal reasons why you should change the Coroner's Inquest process. You've put up with rants from citizens and probably more negative emails than I can imagine. What I'm not sure you've heard much of is the personal pain the current process has caused.

First, you need to know that despite what was shown by the DA at Erik's inquest, that was not Erik Scott. The frustrating part is we have evidence that we would have disputed the picture of Erik the DA painted. Without an option to voice our side, all that has been accomplished is the defamation of a good man's name.

The Erik that I knew was, simply put, my idol. He was different than anyone else in the family. He had a unique drive that my parents and I lacked. To this day we're not sure where that came from. He made the decision in 7th grade to set a goal to attend the US Military Academy at West Point. Who does that? His goal setting from there on out never subsided. When we were cleaning out his condo the week after he was killed we found dozens of Franklin Planners, note pads and even napkins with goals on them. Even his house cleaner joked about him having too many goals.

Erik was a man that seeked out challenges. He didn't want to work in medical sales, he wanted to work for the best company with the highest paying medical sales job. He didn't want to take time off to get a graduate degree, he signed up for the fully-employed MBA program at Duke University - a top 10 program that required he fly across the country a few times a quarter. He didn't want to log a few gym days a week, he wanted to be the most physically fit person in the gym. Erik attacked challenges and conquered them all. He was the most influential role model in my life, hands down.

Besides his influence on me, he was a compassionate man. He had a personality that attracted all different types of people. Unlike the majority of our judgmental society, he would engage in true conversation with any person regardless of color, socio-economic status or religion. Maybe he would avoid democrats from time to time. :)

One of the revelations since Erik's death that consistently brings a tear to my eye is his written goals to spend more time with family. Attached is a picture of me, Erik and my son. Erik was so good to little Charles and the two had a real bond. When Charles was six months old my wife and I had a wedding to go to. Erik made a quick trip to Southern California because of work but made time to spend the night with us. We hired a babysitter to take care of Charles while Erik worked in my office. When we came home we found out that Charles would not accept the babysitter. Erik put his work aside, picked Charles up in his arms and walked down the street to our local park. They had a great time together and Erik saved the day. At that point, my son was finicky about who took care of him but he could sense Erik was family and that he truly loved him.

Since Erik's death I've struggled daily. I suppress emotions that have led to many grey hairs and more illnesses than I've ever dealt with in my life. I refuse to go on prescription medication but instead I allow myself private time to just cry. It's no stretch for you to imagine that my life will never be the same. My family will always have a gap. Erik was the energy and life of our family. Most of all, I'm sad for my son who will miss out on an amazing uncle. Erik had so many unique talents that he could've shared with Charles.

Ultimately, it's shocking how the real events of July 10th unfolded. But what's more shocking is how the aftermath has been handled. As you know from thousands of emails, the crux of all the disappointment, all the dissatisfaction, all the disbelief from family, friends and citizens is the Coroner's Inquest process. Think about it. If you change the Inquest process to at least allow a family representative to bring witnesses, present data and cross examine, the side-effect is police behavior will have to change. There will not have to be millions of dollars spent on new training, the culture will have to change unless officers want to risk being prosecuted. The trickle down effect of you changing the Inquest process will solve the majority of problems people have been complaining about. It will cause the police to think about their actions, it will cause the leadership to rethink the culture that they've created, it will cause more people to be alive today but it will also relieve a number of officers from having to live with the fact that they've taken a life. With this one change you have the power to affect so many different things.

And right now, in a time where the economy is tanking, what a better way to repair the image of Las Vegas. Everything in your city depends on tourism and the last thing you need right now is constant bad press. In a way, you have the power to create the foundation for a new Las Vegas that embraces tourists and retirees instead of scares them.

I think you have a good idea about my viewpoints on how far reaching changes in the Inquest process will be. Hopefully you have a better feel for the personal side of an Inquest process (which by the way was the most difficult 6 days of my life). I just hope that a few simple changes that you can make will prevent justice from slipping through the cracks again. Even if in the next 200 Inquests only one uncovers the truth about an innocent man dying, it will be worth it. These changes will not handcuff the system from managing the real criminals. It will only bring justice to people like Erik who did more good for Las Vegas than 99% of its citizens. As it stands right now, the only way for families to get justice is to go through the civil courts. This is not how our country's legal system was established.

Thank you for spending the time to read my lengthy email. I pray that you put aside politics and resist the pressure from the money / power managers and pull the truth out of the core of your being. I'm personally asking that you change the Coroner's Inquest process to make it a fair one for all parties involved. Family representation is a huge part of that. Thank you again for all of your hard work on this matter. Please feel free to contact me for anything.

Thank you!

--Kevin Scott (Erik's only sibling)

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