Coroner Plans Inquests In Future Fatal Shootings Official Rules Out Jury Probes Of Four Deaths In Past Year

Ada County’s coroner will call for inquests into all future fatal shootings by police, but not into four deaths at the hands of officers in the past year.

Erwin Sonnenberg said he plans to use more inquests, in which a six-member jury studies a case and decides whether criminal charges should be filed.

“With what is going on in the community, I think an inquest answers a lot of questions the public has been needing, so I will hold inquests in the future,” he said Thursday.

Seven people have been killed by local police in the past 20 months.

Police spokesman Lt. Jim Tibbs said the department would not object to Sonnenberg’s plan.

“If he wants to have” a coroner’s inquest, “he has the authority to call one,” Tibbs said. “That’s his decision. That’s fine.”

Sonnenberg requested files from the Nov. 6, 1996, shooting of Ryan Hennessey for a possible inquest. But he has decided against calling the panel in the case where Detective Dave Smith shot and killed Hennessey during a struggle after a high-speed chase through the city’s southeast side.

“I don’t see one as necessary for Hennessey,” he said. “I reviewed the reports, and it appears that everything is out there for the public.”

Sonnenberg also said he would not call inquests into the Aug. 31 James Justin Atkinson shooting or the Sept. 20 shootout that killed brothers Craig and Doug Brodrick and officer Mark Stall.

An inquest could interfere with the criminal prosecution of Rodney Page in the Atkinson case, Sonnenberg said.

Atkinson was shot in the head by Officer Christopher Rogers as Rogers was being dragged by the car Atkinson was driving. Rogers said he feared for his life but ordered Atkinson to stop the car twice before firing. Page, a passenger in the car, allegedly urged Atkinson to speed up.

Sonnenberg also cited the FBI review of the Brodrick case for possible civil rights violations.

“If we have a case where obvious criminal charges will be placed, we would not call for an inquest,” he said. “We wouldn’t want to hurt any possible criminal case.”

Though an inquest is not often used, the coroner can call for a jury to review a case involving death. Jurors are allowed to ask witnesses questions. In a homicide case, the jury decides who is responsible. If charges are recommended, the case then would move to the Ada County prosecutor’s office.