Foreman of jury that cleared officer criticizes state law

Friday, May 21, 1999 | 5:05 a.m.

Mark LePage, 47, said the jury had no option but to clear officer Bruce Gentner in the shooting of John Perrin. LePage said Gentner went too far when he shot Perrin on April 12 at an intersection on the city's southeast side.

LePage said he tried to attach to the jury's verdict a statement advising police not to return the officer to the streets.

However, when applying state law, the jury was unable to rule the homicide anything other than justifiable, he said.

"We all came to the conclusion that we couldn't convict him, but we all had reservations about what had happened," LePage said.

He said the state law needs to be changed, so officers cannot shoot suspects until they are certain the individual poses a threat to their safety.

Under the law that the jury considered in rendering its verdict, a homicide is justifiable if an officer or citizen perceives that their life is in danger during a confrontation. That standard applies even if the deceased later proves to be unarmed.

"The way the system is now, the cop always walks," said LePage. "I think you need to change the law because it is wrong."

An officer should not shoot until a weapon is visible and is brandished, he said.

Clark County Sheriff Jerry Keller said Thursday that changing the definition of justifiable homicide was not realistic given the nature of police work and the split-second decisions officers have to make every day.

A suspect's actions are what leads an officer to use deadly force, and raising the legal standard to allow prosecution of officers when they kill a person mistakenly thought to be armed would be unfair, he said.

"These ideas come from people who have never been in that type of situation," Keller said.

He said the verdict in the Gentner case was a just one.

Gentner stopped Perrin because the officer suspected he had engaged in a drug deal. Gentner said he repeatedly ordered Perrin to put his hands up, but Perrin ignored the command.

Perrin then made a movement with his hand to his waistband, and Gentner, thinking the man was reaching for a gun, fired 14 shots.