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Attorney for family of Iowa woman shot and killed by police officer questions county attorney on decision not to file charges

The attorney who represents family of a deceased Iowa woman who was shot and killed by a Burlington, Iowa police officer is questioning the county attorney involved in the case, challenging her decision to not file charges against the officer who fired his gun.

(READ BACKGROUND INFO ON CASE, HERE)

To the Editor:

I was disappointed this morning to read The Hawk Eye’s editorial uncritically praising Des Moines County Attorney Amy Beavers’ decision not to prosecute Ofc. Jesse Hill for fatally shooting Autumn Steele.

The Hawk Eye gives Ms. Beavers a great deal of credit for her transparency in releasing this report. They are correct—Ms. Beavers did not have to give us any insight into her thinking, and she deserves credit for releasing the report at all.

However, transparency, in and of itself, is no virtue. The Hawk Eye’s editorial criticizes “second guessing” of Ms. Beavers’ decision in the light of her report, but the opportunity for second guessing is the only reason that transparency has any value at all. The press has a duty not just to praise Ms. Beavers’ transparency, but to make use of it by subjecting her findings to rigorous analysis—and where that analysis raises questions, to seek answers.

In this, the Hawk Eye has failed in its duties as surely as the Des Moines County Attorney has failed in hers. For even by the most generous reading, Ms. Beavers’ report does not bear scrutiny; it describes not a search for justice but a clear attempt to bend the law and the facts to avoid charging Ofc. Hill.

In the most egregious example, Ms. Beavers trims the Iowa involuntary manslaughter statute, leaving the portion which most clearly applies to these facts on the cutting-room floor. In quoting the Iowa Code, Ms. Beavers cites only felony involuntary manslaughter, an unintentional killing in the course of a “commission of a public offense.” She omits entirely the definition of misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter, in which a person “unintentionally causes the death of another person by the commission of an act in a manner likely to cause death or serious injury”. This is the charge which best applies to these facts, and Ms. Beavers ignores it entirely. She does not explain why she believes that it does not apply to Ofc. Hill’s conduct, instead, she simply pretends that it does not exist.

Amy Beavers is the senior law enforcement official in Des Moines County. Her constituents have a right to depend on her, more than anyone else, to accurately represent the law. She owes them the truth. She should explain to them what the law—all of it—says. If she thinks it should not apply to Ofc. Hill, she should explain why.

Ms. Beavers also ignores any number of non-homicide crimes with which she absolutely could have charged Ofc. Hill. To take only one example, Iowa Code 724.30, Reckless Use of a Firearm, punishes “a person who intentionally discharges a firearm in a reckless manner” with a range of punishments, including a Class C felony where, as here, a serious injury occurs from the shooting. Does the County Attorney believe that Ofc. Hill was reckless when, defending himself from an alleged dog attack, he fired his gun in the direction of three people, including a four-year-old child? If not, why not?

A Reckless Use of a Firearm charge would also be a “public offense” under which Ofc. Hill could be charged with felony involuntary manslaughter. Does Ms. Beavers think this would be an appropriate charge? If not, why not? The only “public offense” Ms. Beavers discusses as a predicate for felony manslaughter is cruelty to animals, which, as she correctly points out, does not apply. Did Ms. Beavers consider any other “public offenses” as a basis for a felony manslaughter charge? If not, why not?

Throughout her report, Ms. Beavers’ analysis focuses entirely on those charges which she cannot bring, and goes to great pains not to discuss those which she can. Why is this? Is the County Attorney deliberately slanting her analysis to reach a predetermined goal, or is she simply unaware of these provisions of Iowa law? In either case, isn’t that a problem? Isn’t that something that the people of Des Moines County, and her hometown paper, should be concerned with?

A little second-guessing is called for. Ms. Beavers’ constituents deserve answers to these questions, and I implore the Hawk Eye and its staff to seek them. That is, after all, what transparency is for.

Sincerely,
Adam Klein
Attorney at Law
Law Offices of Adam J. Klein, LLC

—————————-

BACKGROUND:

BURLINGTON, IOWA – An Iowa police officer acted within the law as he protected himself and shot a woman and her dog while responding to a domestic situation, a county attorney has determined.

Des Moines county Attorney Amy K. Beavers released a detailed statement this weekend which explained a shooting that occurred on Tuesday, January 6, at approximately 10:25 AM, when an officer from the Burlington Police Department responded to a domestic dispute in the 100 block of South Garfield Avenue in Burlington, which resulted in the death of a mother of three children by gunshot.

Autumn Mae Steele, 34, died while being treated for an apparent gunshot she received when officer Jesse Hill fired his weapon twice with one round striking Steele in the mid torso and the right arm. According to an account of the incident released by Beavers, a 911 call was made by Autumn Mae Steele’s husband, Gabriel, the morning of January 6, 2015. She had went to their home on violation of a no-contact order that had been recently set by a judge due to an earlier domestic incident. Witnesses described her chasing Gabriel out of they home that morning as he carried a child, and Autumn Mae Steele was violently striking Gabriel as officer Hill approached on foot. The family dog, a male German Shepherd named Sammy, then attacked officer Hill, jumping on his back.  Officer hill fired twice, once as he fell backward. Both Sammy and Autumn where shot and lay in the snow. Officer Hill had activated his body camera before he made contact, which assisted in forming the narrative of the fatal incident.

Autumn Mae Steele was later pronounced deceased.  She was a mother of three and a dental technician.

Officer Hill – who has been employed as an officer for the Burlington Police Department since August 13, 2013 – was taken to the Great River Medical Center and received treatment for the dog bite.

Sammy the dog sustained only a graze wound and survived.

Beavers articulated all possible charges that officer Hill could have faced in the shooting incident, including murder, manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, etc., and determined that he acted within the law and no charges would be brought against him.

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