Jury says BPD officers did not act inappropriately when one fatally shot a man in 2012

A federal jury decided yesterday that two Boston officers did not deprive Burrell Ramsay-White of his civil rights when one of them fatally shot him during a confrontation in the South End on Aug. 21, 2012.

Ramsay-White's mother, Carla Sheffield of Dorchester, had filed a civil-rights lawsuit against Officers Mathew Pieroway and his partner, Joel Resil, alleging that Pieroway shot her son in the chest even after he had dropped his gun in a dumpster, in full view of the officer, following a foot pursuit - that in turn followed a car chase despite the officers being told to stop their pursuit. She also charged that the officers did not summons medical help; that only officers who came to the scene after the shooting did so.

But the jury yesterday sided with Pieroway and Resil following a trial that started March 11, finding that the officers acted appropriately in ordering Ramsay-White out of the car he was driving that day - which belonged to another man with an outstanding warrant - and that Pieroway did not use excessive force to violate Ramsay-White's rights when he shot him.

In 2013, then Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley released a report that found Pieroway had acted appropriately, that Ramsay-White was pointing a gun at the officer's head at the top of some stairs on Yarmouth Place and that Ramsay-White only dropped the gun after being shot.

Sheffield's complaint (1.4M PDF).
Judge's order, dismissing some charges but letting others go to trial (99k PDF).
Jury's answers to questions (146k PDF).