Cleveland officer cleared in deaths

CLEVELAND - A white patrolman who fired down through the windshield of a suspect's car at the end of a 137-shot barrage that left the two unarmed black occupants dead was acquitted Saturday of criminal charges by a judge who said he could not determine the Cleveland officer alone fired the fatal shots.

Michael Brelo, 31, put his head in his hands as the judge issued a verdict followed by angry, but peaceful, protests outside the courthouse. Police blocked furious protesters from going inside while across the city others held a mock funeral with some carrying signs asking, "Will I be next?" Demonstrations lasted into the night but very few people were arrested.

The acquittal came at a time of nationwide tension among police and black citizens punctuated by protests over the deaths of black suspects at the hands of white officers - and following a determination by the U.S. Justice Department that Cleveland police had a history of using excessive force and violating civil rights.

Before issuing his verdict, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge John P. O'Donnell reflected on the unrest. "In many American places people are angry with, mistrusting, and fearful of the police," he said. "Citizens think the men and women sworn to protect and serve have violated that oath or never meant it in the first place."

But O'Donnell said he would not offer up Brelo to an angry public if the evidence did not merit a conviction.

"I will not sacrifice him to a public frustrated by historical mistreatment at the hands of other officers," O'Donnell said.

Brelo - who fired a total of 49 shots, including 15 while standing on the hood of the suspects' vehicle - faced as many as 22 years in prison had the judge convicted him of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting that happened after Timothy Russell's beat-up Chevy Malibu backfired while speeding by police headquarters.

Russell's sister, Michelle Russell, said she believed Brelo would ultimately face justice.

"He's not going to dodge this just because he was acquitted," she said. "God will have the final say."

The U.S. Justice Department, U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI will review the testimony and evidence and examine all available legal options, said Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.

After the verdict, sheriff's deputies stood in front of the courthouse carrying clear shields as protesters chanted "Hands up! Don't shoot!" - a rallying cry linked to the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. One demonstrator bowed his head, hands folded, in front of the phalanx of deputies, praying in silence.

About 200 people walked in a mock funeral procession that had already been planned to mark six months since another deadly shooting that sparked anger in Cleveland: the killing of Tamir Rice, a black 12-year-old carrying a pellet gun who was shot by a white rookie officer.

Protesters carried a black, plywood coffin and softly sang "I'm going up yonder, we're marching, we're marching."

Some carried signs saying "I Can't Breathe" and "Freddie Gray Lynched," references to the chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York City and the death of a Baltimore man who suffered a spinal injury while in custody.

Saturday night, protesters temporarily blocked downtown street intersections and chanted anti-police slogans; they marched past sports fans getting out of a Cleveland Indians-Cincinnati Reds game, adding to the congestion.

Police tweeted they arrested a male for assault after he threw an object through a window injuring a restaurant patron, and the Northeast Ohio Media Group reported that three people were arrested near the Quicken Loans Arena.

The unusual timing of the verdict - a Saturday morning on a holiday weekend - was intentional. The county's top judge said it was meant to prevent traffic issues downtown.

Russell, 43, and Malissa Williams, 30, were each shot more than 20 times at the end of the Nov. 29, 2012, pursuit. Prosecutors argued they were alive until Brelo's final salvo but medical examiners for both sides testified they could not determine the order in which the deadly shots were fired.

The case hinged largely on the less than 8 seconds during which Brelo fired his final 15 rounds.

O'Donnell said he believed that Brelo caused some of the fatal wounds - four shots would have killed Russell and seven would have killed Williams - but that other officers must have as well.

O'Donnell said a voluntary manslaughter conviction would require that Brelo's shots alone were the causes of death or the final wounds tipped the balance between life and death.

O'Donnell spent nearly an hour explaining his decision, even using mannequins marked with gunshot wounds.

Brelo attorney Patrick D'Angelo said Brelo had been unfairly prosecuted.

Cuyahoga County prosecutor Tim McGinty said he respects the judge's decision.