Family of fatal shooting victim files civil rights claim
By: David Weinstein
South Brunswick police should be notified early next week of the federal lawsuit filed against the Police Department by the family of Kyung-Ho La, a 30-year-old man shot and killed last year by police in his parents’ Kendall Park home, a lawyer representing the family said Wednesday.
The lawsuit, filed this week in federal district court, claims civil rights abuses and conspiracy by police in connection with the Dec. 20 fatal shooting.
"The police officers are accused of engaging in a conspiracy to violate Mr. La’s civil rights, in part because of his Korean ancestry, and a conspiracy to cover up and falsify the investigation into the controversial shooting," according to a statement released Wednesday by the Livingston law firm of Nagel Rice Dreifuss & Mazie.
The statement said "The La’s look forward to the opportuntity to present this case to a federal jury, where they expect to obtain some measure of justice for their son."
Both the Police Department and Police Chief Michael Paquette are named in the wrongful death civil lawsuit as defendants, along with other officers not named in the law firm’s press release.
Township Police Chief Michael Paquette was not available for comment Wednesday. Police Capt. Michael Marosy said Wednesday he could not comment specifically on the case because it is pending litigation.
However, Cpt. Marosy noted the grand jury cleared the department and Sgt. Hayducka in the shooting.
"We stand behind our department and our men 100 percent," he said. "We’re confident of the outcome."
Police Sgt. Raymond Hayducka was identified by police and the Middlesex County Grand Jury as the shooter in the incident.
According to the final grand jury report issued in March, Sgt. Hayducka was among five officers who accompanied two mental health workers to Mr. La’s Kendall Park home with the intention of evaluating Mr. La’s mental health. The grand jury recommended against filing charges against the department and Sgt. Hayducka.
Police had requested the evaluation of Mr. La, who lived with his parents, after receiving reports of bizarre behavior by him over a period of time, the report stated. The behavior included episodes in the La family’s front yard and an assault on police officers in Mr. La’s neighborhood, the report stated.
On the day of the shooting, police and mental health workers met Mr. La in his garage, the report said. Mr. La became agitated after mental health workers began their interview and left the garage, returning minutes later with a sword blade, the report said.
He then ignored several requests from both police and mental health workers to drop the weapon, retreating into the house with the weapon, the report stated.
Sgt. Hayducka and Patrol Officer Scott Williams followed Mr. La at close range with their weapons drawn, continuing to urge him to drop the weapon, the report said.
Mr. La then lunged at Sgt. Hayducka, who, fearing for his safety and those around him, fired a single shot into Mr. La’s hip, the report said.
Mr. La died the next morning.
The law firm questioned whether the situation should have escalated as it did. Its statement said the grand jury decision was "apparently a split vote" and that the grand jury report will play a large part in the lawsuit.
Some jurors, according to the report, thought cultural differences caused the escalation and that if the police attempted to have someone of similar culture accompany them, confusion could have been prevented.
Following the grand jury’s recommendation not to indict, the Livingston firm asked the state Attorney General’s Office to review the investigation into the death.
Recently, the state declined to deliver the case to a second grand jury, thereby agreeing with the first investigation. This prompted the lawsuit, said Adam Slater, a lawyer representing the family.
While Mr. Slater declined to discuss the conspiracy accusations in detail, he said his firm does not believe the story that evolved concerning the shooting.
"We just don’t think it could happen as the grand jury or the Police Department said it happened," Mr. Slater said.
Mr. Slater said Mr. La’s April 1999 arrest will be part of arguments relating to the shooting death. "It’s part of the complete case," he said.
And while no report was filed against the department following the 1999 incident between Mr. La and township police officers, a two-year statute of limitations concerning such incidents allows for its inclusion, he said.
"We are still well within" our rights to include that incident in the lawsuit, Mr. Slater said.
Mr. Slater said he doesn’t know when the case may come before a judge.
"We don’t even know what they (police) say happened. What we’re going to do is get our hands on the evidence shown to the grand jury. I don’t know what that is at this point," he said.
"We just don’t think the story" outlined in the grand jury report "is possible," he said.
When the complaint is served to the police department, Mr. Slater said, they have 20 days to respond.
"I don’t anticipate anything to take place in court for a while. Unless there are problems with discovery, that is," Mr. Slater said. "I hope the defendants turn over everything to us. I always assume cooperation."