Watch CBS News

Joseph Mann Shooting: Lawyer Calls For Murder Charges Against Sacramento Police Officers

SACRAMENTO (CBS 13) - Three months after the death of Joseph Mann, his family's attorney is calling for federal prosecution of the officers involved in the incident.

"This is a sad day for my family, this is a sad day for America, that we got police with this type of mindset that come out here on the scene and their whole mindset is to kill," said Mann's brother, Robert Mann.

According to an audio enhancement performed by the Sacramento Bee and the Sacramento News and Review, you can hear the officers discussing what they plan to do as they approach Joseph Mann in their car. According to the Bee, one of them says "I'm gonna hit him!" while the other responds "go for it!"

"Here we have the mindset of the officers," said family attorney John Burris. "We have the officers saying clearly what's on their minds."

Now Burris is calling on Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Shubert to prosecute the two officers involved under state murder charges.

"You don't get to shoot somebody because they don't drop the knife if they are 27 feet away!" Burris exclaimed.

The Sacramento County District Attorney's office protocol is "to conduct an independent review of all officer-involved shooting incidents that result in injury or death." But that review does "not consider issues of civil liability, tactics and departmental policies and procedures."

"If the Sac PD and the DA office is not gonna do their job, then allow somebody else to do the job they're scared to do!" Robert Mann said.

On Friday, Burris sent a letter to the U.S. District Attorney's office asking them to investigate police use of a car as a weapon and to prosecute the officers for a federal criminal civil rights violation.

"This is outrageous conduct and there has to be a price to pay for this," Burris said.

When CBS13 reached out to the city attorney's office, we received this statement: "The DA is currently conducting the independent criminal investigation and they will advise of any criminal findings. We welcome appropriate review by any state or federal law enforcement authority."

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.