Judge Considers Reopening Anthony Lamar Smith Civil Case

ST. LOUIS, MO — The family of Anthony Lamar Smith, a black motorist fatally shot by former police officer Jason Stockley in 2011, asked the city in December to reopen their civil suit against the city after an independent investigation revealed state attorneys withheld important DNA evidence. As of this week, a federal judge is considering doing just that, KMOV Channel 4 reports.

The city settled with the Smiths in 2013, paying the family $900,000 in a civil settlement. But, Albert Watkins, the family's attorney, said he did not have access to a DNA analysis showing Stockley's DNA on a gun that allegedly belonged to Smith. The family said the gun could have been planted and finding Stockley's DNA on it would support that.

The evidence was only revealed to the family during Stockley's criminal trial last year. It wasn't enough to convince a judge that Stockley has planted the weapon. (Stockley waved his right to a jury trial and a judge heard his case instead). But, civil cases require only a preponderance of evidence rather than evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, and Watkins said the DNA evidence would have strengthened the family's case had it been made available.

Stockley's acquittal last September sparked citywide protests, in some cases leading to property damage and violent confrontations with police. The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups have criticized police for violating protesters' civil rights in many of those confrontations — allegations include arbitrary arrests, indiscriminate use of chemical irritants, and a controversial tactic known as "kettling," where protesters are asked to disperse then prevented from doing so and arrested en masse.

One such mass arrest in September swept up bystanders, journalists and protesters alike, leading to several lawsuits.

Across the United States, police are seldom charged for using lethal force and convictions are even rarer. Prosecutors depend on police testimony to earn convictions and officers are often unwilling to testify against one of their own. In many cases, the officer and the victim are the only eyewitnesses to a shooting, meaning the only story to come out of many deadly encounters is the official one.