Justice Department Announces Insufficient Evidence to Pursue Civil Rights Charges Against Akron Police Departments Involved in Fatal Shooting

There is insufficient evidence to pursue federal criminal civil rights charges against Akron Police Department (APD) officers involved in the fatal shooting of Jeffrey Stephens, the Justice Department announced today.

Officials from the department’s Civil Rights Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted a comprehensive independent review of the events surrounding the July 5, 2008, shooting that resulted in Stephens’ death. As part of the investigation, the DOJ reviewed all of the evidence developed during the APD investigation, including witness statements, ballistics reports, crime scene evidence, and medical reports.

Under the applicable federal criminal civil rights laws, prosecutors must establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a law enforcement officer willfully deprived an individual of a constitutional right, meaning with the deliberate and specific intent to do something the law forbids. Neither accident, mistake, fear, negligence nor bad judgment is sufficient to establish such a criminal violation.

After a careful and thorough review, a team of experienced federal prosecutors and FBI agents determined that the evidence was insufficient to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the law enforcement personnel who fired at Stephens acted willfully, meaning with the deliberate and specific intent to do something the law forbids. Under the applicable federal criminal civil rights laws, prosecutors must establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a law enforcement officer willfully deprived an individual of a constitutional right.

Accordingly, the investigation into this incident has been closed.

The Civil Rights Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio and the FBI devoted significant time and resources to complete a painstaking analysis of the evidence developed during the investigation.

The Justice Department is committed to investigations of allegations of excessive force by law enforcement officers and will continue to devote the resources required to ensure that all allegations of serious civil rights violations are fully and completely investigated.