A week before going to trial, the insurance company – a professional risk assessor – found the risk to be too great, approached the family and settled for $3.35M. They apparently also asked the family to wait to say anything – meanwhile, had the police union, Chief Koval and the Mayor all out there complaining about the settlement, playing the victim and once again blaming the family and their supporters. Question is, what motivated the insurance company to settle? Let’s take a look!
The family’s attorneys were prepared with evidence to show the following:
– Matt Kenny knew Tony Robinson was unarmed. (Dispatch tapes)
– Other officers were on the way, but Kenney didn’t wait. (Dispatch tapes)
– Kenny was not wearing his body microphone when he exited the vehicle and turned off his body microphone when he turned off his emergency lights, against department policy. (Kenny’s own deposition)
– Kenny drew his gun before entering, despite not reporting any danger to himself or others over the radio. (audio, video, dispatch tapes)
– Kenny admits he only heard one voice and that no one cried out in distress or called for help and he did not hear anyone strangling, punching or otherwise attacking another person. i.e. there was no immediate danger that causes him to enter without backup. (Kenny deposition)
– Kenny knew from dispatch that Robinson might be suffering from a medical crisis or “excited delirium”. (Deposition, police reports)
– Kenny was trained to wait for back up, particularly when someone is suffering from “excited delirium” (Deposition, police reports)
– Kenny knew that the preferred use of force was a taser when someone is suffering form “excited delirium”. (Deposition, police reports)
– Kenny did not wait for back up even though he knew back up was coming. (deposition, dispatch tapes)
– Back up arrived before Kenny entered the stairwell (dispatch tapes)
– If Kenny would have waited for back up, he would have used a taser instead (deposition)
– Kenny said he couldn’t wait for back up because he felt someone was being assaulted upstairs (deposition). He did this even though dashcam video doesn’t show him moving quickly or hastily to help someone, and didn’t try to announce himself to distract attention away from the potential victim (video and audio)
– There’s no evidence that Kenny announced that he was the police (multiple sources)
– Kenny was in the stairwell for 20 seconds without saying a word, with his gun drawn – far longer than is plausible if he thought someone was in danger. (multiple sources of evidence)
– After 20 seconds, Kenny was still at the base of the stairs when he started firing his weapon. (multiple sources)
– Without knowing or being warned officer Kenny was there, Tony started coming down the stairs without saying anything (depositions, reports, audio of another officer – Gary – picks up footsteps, but no talking)
– Kenny fired three shots from the bottom of the stairs up towards Tony as he was coming down the stairs (audio-video sync, reports)
– Tony was about half way down the stairs when the first shot hit him. (depositions, reports)
– Three non-fatal shots (right hand, left shoulder, chin) from about 3 – 4 feet away (various reports)
– After the first shot, Tony began falling down the stairs. (depositions, reports)
– As Tony was falling down the stairs, Kenny continued firing at him as he backed away. (audio, video)
– Robinson fell down the stairs and landed at Kenny’s feet at the base of the stairs before shots 4 – 7 were fired. Robinson was on the ground, on his butt with his legs in front of him and was not aggressing or attacking. (audio, video, reports)
– Kenny was not falling and in control during this incident (audio, video)
– With Tony lying at the bottom of the stairs, Kenny lunged over the top of him and fired three more shots aiming for “high center mass”. (reports)
– The fourth, fifth and sixth shots were from 3 – 4 feet away (audio, video, reports) The three fatal shots were at made at the bottom of the stairs (reports, deposition)
– One of the wounds to the chest showed evidence of searing, indicating that it was a contact wound or near contact wound. (reports, deposition)
– After the 4 – 6 shots, Kenny continued to back out of the stairwell and fired his 7th shot while Robinson was lying at the base of the stairs with his feet in front of him. (audio, video, depositions, reports)
– When the 7th shot was fired, Tony was lying on the ground, 3 – 4 feet in front of Kenny, lying on the ground with his toes pointed up (video, audio, depotisions)
– After the 7th shot to heart, Kenny makes his first statement “Stop right there! Don’t move!”
– Forensic evidence shows
– – at least one of the shots was made between 6 – 12 inches away from the body.
– – one of the first shots has a downward trajectory, consistent with Tony falling down the stairs
– – two bullets went up the stairs (one found in a closet, one in a shoe at the top of the stairs) and were likely the first shots fired from the bottom of the stairs
– – bloodsplatter on the walls halfway up the stairs was most likely the first shots that hit Tony
– – If Tony had been hit by three shots to the heart near the top of the stairs as Kenny claims, bloodsplatter would have been at the top of the stairs and as was blood all the way down the stairs instead of halfway down and at the bottom
– – All the bullet casings are at the bottom of the stairs, none were found in the hallway.
(See this document for more details about the shots)
None of this matches Kenny’s story and remember – Kenny was allowed to walkthrough the scene before giving his statement and meet privately with his attorney before being interviewed. After a few general questions, Kenny and his attorney were allowed to watch the video and listen to Officer Gary’s audio as many times as they wanted. After an hour, questioning resumed. Here’s how the evidence doesn’t match Kenny’s story:
– Kenny claims Tony came around the corner and hit him at the top of the stairs and that he fired the first three shots at the top of the stairs.
– Kenny claims Robinson punched him on the left side of the head making a dent in the wall, but the dent is three feet above the stairs, too low for 5’10” Kenny’s head to hit the wall. Kenny had no evidence of drywall in his hair or on his clothes.
– The video and audio sync made for the DOJ investigation shows Kenny exiting the stairwell during shot two, so he couldn’t have been at the top of the stairs.
– Kenny eventually admits, after seeing the audio and video synced, that the shots did not happen at the top of the stairs, and in fact happened at the bottom of the stairs.
– Kenny claims that all the shots were made at very close range while he was striking Tony during their fight at the top of the stairs, but forensic evidence shows three of the shots were made at a greater distance.
– 5’10” Kenny claims that he was a few stairs lower that 6’3″ Tony which would mean that at least three of the shots would have an upward or horizontal trajectories, but 5 of the 7 shots have a downward trajectory.
– The alleged three shots at the top of the stairs include the shots to the heart, so there should be upward trajectories, but they are all downward trajectories which is not consistent with Kenny’s claim that Tony was punching or attacking Kenny.
– The absence of blood splatter at the top of the stairs contradicts Kenny’s story of three shots to the heart at the top of the stairs.
– Kenny claims that Tony continued to advance towards him during the last four shots, but the video shows him lying on the ground at the base of the stairs with his legs in front of him, this was not a threat to Kenny.
– Kenny claimed to have been injured by Tony, but when he went to the hospital his had a small cut on the left side of his head, above the scalp line which was treated by cleaning the cut without a need for a bandage. Kenny denied having any pain, nausea, vomiting, dizziness or visual changes.
– Kenny claims Robinson punched him at the top of the stairs and this is how he got that cut, but Kenny wasn’t at the top of the stairs with Tony.
– Kenny claims he suffered a concussion as a result of the alleged punch, but his own expert says there is no evidence of a concussion.
And you wonder why they settled?!?!?!?!? Something smells, and the insurance agency knew it. They wisely cut their losses and ran.
If you want to hear more from the family’s attorney’s – here’s the press conference, unedited, start to finish.
