The Seattle police officer who struck and killed Indian student Jaahnavi Kandula while responding to an overdose call will not face any criminal charges due to a “lack of sufficient evidence”.
The King County Prosecutor’s Office in the United States decided on Wednesday not to move forward with the case against the officer Kevin Dave.
“After staffing this case with senior deputy prosecuting attorneys and office leadership, I have determined that we lack sufficient evidence under Washington State law to prove a criminal case beyond a reasonable doubt,” said the King County Prosecuting Attorney.
Attorney Leesa Manion, however, noted: “Kandula’s death is heartbreaking and impacted communities in King County and across the world.”
In a memo to Seattle police, prosecutors wrote there was not enough evidence to prove Dave showed “conscious disregard for others’ safety”.
Ms Kandula, 23, died after she was struck by a police vehicle driven by officer Dave when she was crossing a street in Seattle on Jan 23 last year.
The officer was driving at 119kmh as he was responding to a drug overdose call. Upon collision, Kandula was thrown 30 metres.
The attorney’s office, however, noted that the comments made by Seattle Police officer Daniel Auderer, recorded on his bodycam, were “appalling and deeply troubling”.
Officer Auderer, who was not involved in the collision but was later present at the scene, was captured in the video saying: “But she is dead” and laughing while on the phone. He continued: “She was 26 anyway. She had limited value.”
Attorney Manion said: “Officer Auderer’s comments were also unprofessional and undermined the public’s trust in the Seattle Police Department and law enforcement in general.”
The officials said the bodycam footage did not imply that Dave might have been at fault or that a criminal investigation was necessary.
“As egregious as Officer Auderer’s comments are, they do not change the legal analysis into the conduct of Officer Dave. It is the Office of Police Accountability that bears the responsibility of disciplinary investigation and proceedings relating to Officer Auderer’s comment, not the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office,” news agency PTI quoted from the statement.
According to local media reports, speed was the cause of the collision. Officer Dave did not have his siren activated continuously.
Instead, he “chirped” his siren at the intersection and did have his emergency lights on.
Ms Kandula was a graduate student at Northeastern University’s Seattle campus. The university said in January last year that they would award her degree posthumously and present it to her family.
Indo-Asian News Service
