Ralphael T. Briscoe Memorial Foundation

block of Elvans Road, S.E., Washington, D.C. Ralphael was approached by a group of men in a black SUV, who were wearing civilian clothing and never identified themselves as police officers. Ralphael avoided the conversation with the group of men in the black SUV and continued to walk away from them. As the men exited their vehicle to approach Ralphael, he began to run out of the apartment complex and onto Elvans Road, S.E., Washington, D.C. to avoid a confrontation with the men in the SUV. The SUV continued to pursue Ralphael as he ran on Elvans Road, S.E., Washington, D.C. When Ralphael approached the driveway located at 2409 Elvans Road, S.E., Washington, D.C. and turned to run down the driveway without ever turning towards the SUV. He was shot twice in the back by the person operating the SUV. It was later determined that the person operating the SUV was a police officer. This officer neither activated his emergency siren or lights nor did he identify himself as a police officer. This entire chase and fatal shooting was captured by a District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department closed circuit television video (“CCTV”) on a pole located in the 2400 block of Elvans Road, S.E., Washington, D.C. The CCTV recording clearly shows, contrary to the police officers’ statements that Ralphael never pointed a gun at the police officers once he turned to run down the driveway. The CCTV does show that after the officer shot Ralphael, two objects were thrown from the window of the SUV. One object was the grip of the BB gun, and the second object landed at the exact location where the BB gun was later recovered. The Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia defended the police officer. Approximately one week before trial and about one-year late, he turned over the fingerprint report of the BB gun. The fingerprint report revealed that Ralphael’s fingerprints were not recovered from the BB gun. At trial, the police officer who shot Ralphael testified that he was wearing gloves, although the temperature that day was approximately eighty-six degrees at the time Ralphael was shot. Despite the CCTV recording evidence and other overwhelming evidence of an unjustified police shooting and wrongful death, a jury in a civil case found the shooting to be justified. Ralphael’s mother, Bridzette Lane, through her counsel, Billy L. Ponds, of The Ponds Law Firm, has noted an appeal and will vigorously pursue correcting this injustice.