Free Appendix - District Court of Delaware - Delaware

Case 1:04-cv-01254-GMS

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE

HARRY SMITH, JR. and ROSLYN WOODARD SMITH, individually and as Administrators of the ESTATE OF HARRY SMITH, III, Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF WILMINGTON, JOHN CIRITELLA, THOMAS DEMPSEY and MATTHEW KURTEN, Defendants.

) ) ) ) ) ) ) Civil Action ) No. 04-1254-GMS ) ) ) ) ) )

Deposition of JOHNNY WHITEHEAD taken pursuant to notice at the United States District Court, District of Delaware, Conference Room 2204, 844 North King Street, Wilmington, Delaware, beginning at 8:35 a.m., on Tuesday, June 6, 2006, before Kurt A. Fetzer, Registered Diplomate Reporter and Notary Public.

Case 1:04-cv-01254-GMS

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5 6 7 8 Q. A. Q. A. So you initially thought that he had a knife? A needle. A needle? Yes.

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15 16 17 18 19 20 A. Q. We were dispatched over the radio, yes. Would anyone who was working at that time as a

police officer have heard that dispatch over the radio that they're looking for a patient having run away from the hospital? A. Yes.

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Q. So is it fair to say that what you first saw since you didn't see a weapon was what you thought was an auto theft? A. Yes.

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Q.

And when you have done that, is it possible for

you to hear what is occurring half a block away from you when all of the windows are up? A. With the windows up, unless you have a

jackhammer or a loud weapon, there's no way that you can actually hear with all of the windows up from a block away.

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16 17 18 19 20 21 Page 20 24 Page 21 1 2 3 4 5 6 you get in the patrol car? A. You can put it in the -- there's a shotgun rack Q. And then you are to put the shotgun where when Q. You did not have a shotgun inside the passenger

compartment of that car on September 13, 2003, correct? A. Q. A. Yes. That's correct.

Where was your shotgun? The shotgun was in the trunk of the vehicle.

right behind your head and there are times when officers will just place it in the trunk because sometimes it sticks. It's difficult to place it in

there, so they just put it in the trunk.

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11 12 13 14 15 Q. Would I as a person off the street never having

driven a patrol car know where the button is on the center console to unlock the shotgun? A. Probably not if you're not used to the police

vehicles.

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4 5 6 7 8 9 Q. A. Q. A. I want to ask you about the camera in this car. Mm-hmm. Was that camera working? I know we had problems with the audio. The

video I believe was working earlier that week, but on that day and time I'm not sure if it was working or

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not.

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12 13 14 15 16 17 Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Now, after he drives off, what do you then do? I was running after the vehicle. And how far did you run after the vehicle? Maybe two blocks. How fast do you think the vehicle was going? Maybe 40, 40 miles per hour.

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Page 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 of your foot chase of the vehicle that you were aware that Sergeant Donohue was now engaged in also pursuing the vehicle? A. Q. Yes. Yes.

Q. Is it fair to say that within the first block

Why did you continue to do a foot chase if you

have Sergeant Donohue driving a police vehicle? A. Well, I knew that I struck him and maybe I was

hoping that he would lose consciousness and crash and that way I can effect an arrest. That's what I was

hoping, but the car just kept going southbound. Q. So before you stopped your foot chase of the

vehicle, did you see any police cars other than Sergeant Donohue's car involved? A. Not that I recall, ma'am, not until I came back

to the scene. Q. When you stopped the foot chase, did you walk

back to the scene on Washington Street or did you run

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back? A.

Actually, there's a woman in a red Neon that

drove us back. Q. And were you talking on the radio during this

drive back or listening? A. Q. I was listening. And what were you hearing?

A.

A lot of commotion, again sirens and at that

time I can't really tell you exactly what they were saying, but I assume that they were giving directions with the pursuit, vehicle pursuit. Q. Do you have any sense of how much time it took

from the point at which, how much time elapsed from the point at which Harry got into the car and drove off, you engaged in the two block foot chase, a citizen in a red Neon was kind enough to drive you back to the scene, do you have any idea how much time elapsed? A. It felt like an hour, but I know it wasn't an

hour but it felt that long. I would say a couple of minutes, maybe three, four minutes. Q. And during that three-or-four-minute period did

you make any statements at all on the radio to any other police officers? A. Q. I don't think so. I don't recall.

Did you at any time get involved in the chase

other than the two block foot chase we just discussed?

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A. Q. A.

No. Did you write a report? No.

Q. A. Q. case? A. Q.

Why? Well, because it was turned over to detectives. Were you told not to write a report in this

I was not told not to write a report. Is there any other case involving a serious

police matter where you have not written a report? A. Usually in a case like this the detectives will

take over and they will get your statement, they will put it in the report. Q. sir? A. Q. A. Two. When was the other shooting? The other one was maybe a year prior to that How many shootings have you been involved with,

incident at Fifth and Rodney. Q. A. So in 2002 you were involved in a shooting? Yes.

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1 Q. Was he operating the vehicle in a wreckless 2 3 4 5 6 manner? A. Q. A. From what I have seen -From what you saw. -- he was just driving straight down. He He

wasn't running people off the road at that time.

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was just driving straight down from what I could see. Q. And was there any point at which you joined the

chase with the other police cars? A. Q. No. When he drove away were the emergency lights

still on? A. Yes.

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23 24 Page 52 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Smith? A. I don't think that was my partner. I believe Q. Do you know whether or not your partner

indicated on the radio that shots were fired by Harry

that was Sergeant Donohue. Q. So Sergeant Donohue got on the radio and said

what based on your understanding? A. Q. A. I believe it was shots fired. And how did she know shots were fired? She was responding, she was in the block when I

fired my shot. Q. A. So she saw you shoot Harry? I don't know what she saw. I know that she was Whether

in the block.

She was close enough to see.

or not she saw it or not, I don't know. Q. So at no point did you or your partner say that

Harry was shooting at you, correct? A. Q. I did not say he was shooting at me, no. And your partner didn't say that either,

correct?

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A. that.

I'm not sure what he said.

I know I didn't say