Family of man killed by police ‘humiliated and insulted’ after grand jury clears officer

The attorney for the family of a 22-year-old man shot and killed by Englewood police alleges the Attorney General’s Office did not properly present the case to the grand jury that declined this week to charge the officer involved.

Eric Kleiner, attorney for the family of Bernard Placide Jr., who was killed by police after a domestic dispute in his home in 2022, said the family never had faith in the Attorney General’s Office prosecuting the matter. After seeing Monday’s decision by the grand jury, Kleiner said he’s sure the case was not presented as fairly and impartially as it should have been.

“This present Attorney General’s Office does a lot of talking that they care about racial and social justice. The proof is in the pudding, which is their conduct and their actions belie that claim. It’s just not true,” he told the New Jersey Monitor.

Placide’s killing sparked protests in Englewood. Authorities say they arrived at his home on Sept. 3, 2022, after a caller to 911 said there was a man with a knife trying to kill someone. Police body-camera footage shows Placide holding a knife when police arrived and cops demanding he drop it. The video then shows an officer shocking Placide with a Taser twice and Placide writhing on the floor. Officer Luana Sharpe then struggles with him for the knife and shoots him at close range, the video shows. Authorities say Sharpe was cut during the altercation.

Placide’s family said he was suffering from a mental health episode at the time.

Social justice groups cited Placide’s killing as another example of a Black man unnecessarily losing his life at the hands of police.  Jason Williams, a criminal justice professor at Montclair State University, said Monday’s grand jury decision may reignite the issue in Englewood and beyond.

Placide’s family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Englewood in federal court, claiming police should have done more to deescalate the situation. The case can move more swiftly now — many documents related to the case were in the possession of the Attorney General’s Office because of the grand jury investigation — and that pleases Placide’s family, Kleiner said.

The attorney general’s investigation into Placide’s killing took 18 months, but Kleiner said the outcome shows it “could have been done in a day.” He noted other, similar cases of people of color killed by police when families argued non-lethal force could have been used.

Williams said this is a sentiment felt by advocates fighting against police brutality and for more transparency from the state government. He said it’s usually easy for prosecutors to indict someone, so it doesn’t feel like prosecutors are seeking convictions in these cases — in New Jersey and nationwide.

“It’s likely here that the prosecution, in the face of a mountain of evidence, frankly, they likely didn’t bring their A-game to court,” said Williams.

A spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office said all relevant facts uncovered in the investigation were presented, and “in no case would we withhold incriminating evidence.”

“It is not for us to question the grand jury, and the Office of the Attorney General stands by the integrity of our process,” said spokesman Michael Symons.

A 2019 law requires the Attorney General’s Office to investigate deaths of people in police custody. Williams said that’s likely a better alternative than county prosecutors handling the probes, but he believes a special prosecutor would be more independent from state agencies and oversee these investigations with “all the proper intentions of seeking convictions.”

“Rightfully so, the community doesn’t trust the A.G.’s office either, because again, the state is prosecuting itself,” he said.

There’s no way to see what was presented to the grand jury, though Kleiner said some of it will be unsealed as the family’s lawsuit moves forward. The suit accuses officers of not bringing in crisis negotiators who would have realized Placide was suffering from an emotional or mental breakdown and then helped him surrender. It also alleges that police failed to render medical aid and that Placide was handcuffed after being shocked with a Taser.

“The police officer shot a retreated suspect pinned on the ground with his back and head against a wall while in an electrocuted state caused by the Taser, and was also in a semi-comatose state from the electrocution when shot at close range by Officer Sharpe,” he said. “If that’s not a crime, what is?”

Kleiner said he expects the case he will make in court will look unrecognizable from the state’s “non-investigation, outcome-oriented case.” Kleiner called the Attorney General’s Office a politically driven agency and said Placide’s family feels “humiliated and insulted.”

An earlier version of this story should have said authorities say Sharpe was cut during her altercation with Placide.