Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: 03/06/08

Contact person(s):

Media Coordinator, Donna Edwards - 565-3099 Media Spokesperson, Assistant District Attorney Christine M. Cook

Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California

NO CRIMINAL LIABILITY IN SHOOTING OF JEREMIAH CHASS

District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua announced today that the investigation into the death of Jeremiah Williams Chass has been completed by his office. On Monday, March 12, 2007, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department responded to a family disturbance call at a residence on High School Road, Sebastopol. The call culminated in two deputies fatally shooting 16-year-old Jeremiah Chass. The Sonoma County Law Enforcement Employee-Involved Fatal Incident Protocol was invoked by the Sheriff’s Department. The incident was investigated by the Violent Crimes Investigation Team of the Santa Rosa Police Department, and the District Attorney’s Office.

"After reviewing all the evidence, and considering the totality of the circumstances, the involved Sheriff’s deputies acted lawfully and no criminal charges are warranted against them," said District Attorney Passalacqua.

District Attorney Passalacqua stated, "This was a tragedy for all parties involved, the Chass family for the loss of their son, the two Sheriff’s deputies involved in this incident, and the members of our community who are frustrated with the lack of mental health services."

District Attorney Passalacqua further stated that his office’s role in law enforcement employee involved fatal incidents is to review the investigation to determine if there is criminal liability on the part of any involved parties, including the law enforcement personnel; to provide assistance to the investigating agency regarding legal issues; to supplement and conduct independent investigation when necessary; and, when appropriate, to prosecute those persons believed to have violated the criminal law.

Summary of Facts:

On March 12, 2007, a little after 8:30 in the morning, Sonoma County Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to a residence on High School Road in Sebastopol, as a result of a family disturbance call. For the two months preceding March 12th, 16-year-old Jeremiah Chass’s family, friends, and teachers had noticed significant changes in his personality and behavior. His family had become concerned about his deteriorating mental health. Their concern grew to the point that the night before these events, Mrs. Chass phoned Memorial Hospital Santa Rosa intending to take Jeremiah into the emergency room for an evaluation. As a result of that phone call, the Chasses decided to bring Jeremiah to the hospital in the morning. At 6 a.m. on March 12th, Mark and Yvette Chass awakened Jeremiah, intending to take him to Memorial Hospital to address his mental health issues.

While his parents were getting ready for the trip to the hospital, Jeremiah became agitated and exhibited paranoid behavior. He made bizarre statements, and appeared not to recognize his own parents. The Chasses called a family friend for help in getting Jeremiah to the hospital. He was also becoming more aggressive and out of control.

Mr. Chass called the Sebastopol Fire Department from his cell phone and reported that "we have a teenager that’s very psychotic in our house." He described Jeremiah as "psychotic", delusionary", and "violent." The Fire Department contacted the Sebastopol Police Department, who put the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department Dispatch Center in touch with the Chasses. Sheriff’s Dispatch received a 9-1-1 call from the telephone at the Chass residence, and got in touch with Yvette Chass on her husband’s cell phone. After 8:36 a.m., part of the incident was recorded on two open lines.

Mr. Chass saw what appeared to be a pocket knife in Jeremiah’s hand, and told his wife to take their 6 year old son outside to their van. Jeremiah had opened the utility blade on a Leatherman multi-tool. The steel blade was approximately two and a half inches long; and the total length of the knife when opened was five and three quarters inches long.

Mrs. Chass decided to take her six year old son away from this scene to school. She took him outside, and got into the family minivan, a 2001 Dodge Caravan. Once in the minivan, she saw Jeremiah come out of the house with a knife in his hand. She tried to lock the van’s doors, but before she could, Jeremiah got into the van. Before the parents could get their younger son out of the van, Jeremiah got on top of his brother on the back seat. Jeremiah grabbed his 6 year old brother by the shirt collar with one hand, and held the knife with the other. Jeremiah appeared to be delusional, and he threatened to kill his brother.

At 8:36 a.m., Sonoma County Sheriff’s Deputy John Misita, was dispatched to the Chass residence . He was told that there was a family disturbance at that location, involving a violent and out of control sixteen-year-old. Misita has been a deputy sheriff since 1983, and has over 25 years of law enforcement training and experience. While Misita was en route, the dispatcher told him that a child could be heard screaming in the background, and that medical units were also on the way. Deputy Misita activated his patrol car’s lights and siren and hurried to the call. At the same time, Deputy Sheriff James Ryan, also answered the emergency call. Ryan is a 12 year veteran of the Sheriff’s department, with over 18 years law enforcement experience.

Deputy Misita arrived at the Chass residence at approximately 8:43 a.m. He saw the father, Mark Chass, at the rear of the van reaching over the back seat. The Deputy also saw a small child inside the van. Mr. Chass was holding Jeremiah, and he told Deputy Misita that Jeremiah had a knife. Misita saw that Jeremiah had a knife in one hand, and that he was holding his little brother by the shirt collar with the other hand. Deputy Misita was concerned for the safety of the child, who appeared quite frightened and in great danger. The deputy climbed into the van and struggled with Jeremiah in an effort to free the child. Mr. Chass was still at the rear of the van trying to control the hand in which Jeremiah held the knife. During the struggle, Mr. Chass received a cut on one of his fingers. Deputy Misita sprayed Jeremiah in the face twice with pepper spay, with no apparent effect.

The scene was chaotic. Misita continued to work to free the younger brother, and he hit Jeremiah on the arm with his pepper spray cannister. This tactic enabled the child to squirm free from Jeremiah’s grasp, and climb out of the van over the rear seats. Deputy Misita did not know the child was out of the car, because he was still fighting with Jeremiah. At one point, Deputy Misita even tried to apply pressure to Jeremiah’s carotid artery to subdue him. This tactic was unsuccessful, and Jeremiah was able to slip out of Deputy Misita’s hold. Mr. Chass had also struck Jeremiah in the face several times, to no effect. Deputy Misita became caught between the seats in the van and Mr. Chass lost grip on Jeremiah for a period of time. Knife slash marks were later found on the van’s upholstery.

By the time Deputy Ryan arrived at 8:48, Deputy Misita had been involved in an exhausting struggle with Jeremiah for several minutes. When Ryan heard over his radio that a knife was involved, he requested an additional unit to respond. Ryan immediately ran up to the van. He saw Deputy Misita inside struggling with Jeremiah, while Mr. Chass was trying to hold his son’s right hand, which Jeremiah was swinging about wildly. Deputy Misita told Ryan that Jeremiah had a knife. Ryan saw a considerable amount of blood on Jeremiah’s face and hand, and on Misita’s hands and upper body. Deputy Ryan tried to grab Jeremiah’s right hand, which had the knife, but could not control him. Ryan repeatedly yelled at Jeremiah to stop fighting and let go of the knife. Jeremiah ignored the order and continued to struggle.

Deputy Ryan struck Jeremiah in his right upper arm and elbow with his baton to get Jeremiah to let go of the knife. His repeated commands to Jeremiah went unheeded. Deputy Ryan passed a set of handcuffs to Mr. Chass, instructing him to handcuff Jeremiah if he could. Mr. Chass was able to get one cuff on Jeremiah’s left wrist, but not on his right wrist. Jeremiah continued to fight with the two deputies, as Mr. Chass backed away from the vehicle. At this point Jeremiah still had the knife and a pair of handcuffs swinging from his left wrist.

Deputy Ryan believed that Deputy Misita had been stabbed and was bleeding. Misita was unsure if he himself had been stabbed. Both Deputies grew increasingly fearful for their own safety and for others present. They were both getting weaker as the struggle continued. Deputy Ryan then lost his grip on Jeremiah’s wrist, and Jeremiah was now able to wield the knife. Jeremiah arched back, and rapidly kicked Deputy Ryan in the face several times. Deputy Ryan felt the blows to his face, and was stunned by kicks. His face was swelled up and his vision was impaired. He thought his nose was broken. Jeremiah also kicked Deputy Misita five or six times in the chest, face, jaw and forehead.

Deputy Ryan feared that he might lose consciousness from his injuries, and would be unable to help the other deputy. Believing his life and that of Misita’s were threatened, he then fired his service weapon several times at Jeremiah. Deputy Misita had also drawn his weapon when he heard Deputy Ryan fire several shots. When Jeremiah continued to move towards him, Misita fired once into Jeremiah’s chest. It was now 8:50 a.m and Jeremiah stopped fighting.
Deputy Misita assisted medics in getting Jeremiah out of the van so that they could begin emergency medical treatment. The Medics pronounced Jeremiah dead at 9:00 a.m. Based on shell casings found at the scene and autopsy findings, Jeremiah had been shot seven times.

Recordings captured Jeremiah’s threats against his younger brother, when he stated, "I’ll kill him. I’ll kill this child." The brother can be heard crying, "I didn’t do anything to you." The deputies also repeatedly ordered Jeremiah to "Let go of him," and "Let go of the knife."

Legal Determination:

As previously stated, the District Attorney conducts an independent review of these cases to determine whether or not there is criminal liability on the part of anyone involved. Before any charges may be filed, prosecutors must conclude that a reasonably objective jury would have sufficient admissible evidence to find the accused guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, considering all reasonable defenses which may be based on the evidence.

It is not the role of the District Attorney’s Office to evaluate law enforcements’ tactical policies. Rather, the District Attorney’s duty in each case is to determine whether or not the deputies acted lawfully in using deadly force. A peace officer who has reasonable cause to believe that a person to be arrested has committed a public offense may use reasonable force to make the arrest, to prevent escape, or to overcome resistance. Further, a peace officer attempting an arrest need not retreat or desist from his efforts by reason of the resistance of the person being arrested. Finally, any person, including a peace officer, has a right to use reasonable force in self-defense, or in the defense of others.

Courts measure the conduct of law enforcement officers against the standard of what a "reasonable officer" would do at the scene, considering all the circumstances known by and appearing to that officer at that time. As long as an officer reasonably believed his life was threatened, or that the life of another was threatened, the danger need not to have actually existed. Using deadly force in self defense, or in the defense of others, is a complete defense, and makes the homicide justifiable.

Society expects that peace officers will respond when summoned at a time of crisis, and not retreat in the face of adversity. Reflecting this expectation, certain rules of law apply when officers who are lawfully performing their duties must use deadly force. An officer may lawfully use deadly force to take a life in the line of duty under the following circumstances: while performing any legal duty; to accomplish that lawful purpose; and if the peace officer had probable cause to believe that the person killed posed a threat of serious physical harm to the peace officer, or to others. In those situations, the law presumes that the killing was justified, and the prosecution bears the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the killing was not justified.

At the time Deputy John Misita arrived on scene in this case, Jeremiah Chass was engaged in the commission of a number of violent felonies; including, assault with a deadly weapon, child endangerment, false imprisonment, and criminal threats. He was holding his frightened younger brother captive at knife point. The Deputy reasonably believed that the child in imminent danger of great bodily injury or death, and that he had to act immediately to save the child’s life.

Decision:

Deputies Misita and Ryan used a number of different non-lethal tactics during the course of this tragic incident. The deputies tried to disarm Jeremiah, who refused to release his knife. He also assaulted both deputies. Both deputies were becoming dangerously exhausted, and Ryan thought Misita had been seriously wounded. Each deputy reasonably believed that he was in imminent threat of being killed or seriously injured. In these life-threatening circumstances the deputies were reasonably justified in using deadly force against Jeremiah Chass. As a result no criminal charges are warranted.