Sonoma County DA clears officers in shooting of mentally ill man

Three Santa Rosa Police officers who shot and killed mental health patient Jesse Hamilton in a violent confrontation at his group home in Jan. 2008 acted within the law, Sonoma County District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua said Friday.

The statement clears the Santa Rosa Police Department of criminal liability and closes the investigation into the incident.

?Any person, including a police officer, has a right to use reasonable force in self-defense, or in the defense of others,? Passalacqua said in a written statement.

Jesse Hamilton, 24, died Jan. 2, 2008 after a violent confrontation with Santa Rosa police. He was shot three times in the torso and once in the left upper leg.

Hamilton, a mentally ill man who was diagnosed as a Paranoid Schizophrenic at age 18, reportedly threatened police and a mental health worker with a knife.

According to a timeline of the shooting released by Passalacqua?s office Friday, Santa Rosa Police were summoned to Hamilton?s group home by staff who said Hamilton was causing a disturbance and armed with a knife.

When Hamilton emerged from his room into a narrow hallway screaming and with a raised knife, Santa Rosa Police Officer Gregory Yaeger tried to stop Hamilton with a Taser stun gun, but Hamilton kept approaching, a kitchen knife with a 10-inch blade raised to shoulder height ?in striking position.?

Officer Michael Heiser fired his handgun four times, with all four rounds hitting Hamilton. Hamilton fell and dropped the knife but continued to struggle. Officers used a Taser again before he was handcuffed.

?Officer Heiser reasonably believed that the officer?s lives were in danger and had to act immediately,? Passalacqua said.

Hamilton?s parents, Valerie Barber of Point Arena and Robert Hamilton of Bandon, Ore. filed a wrongful death suit in federal court in December.

They asked for $5 million in damages, alleging that police officers used unwarranted and excessive force, that officers were not adequately trained or supervised to deal with mentally ill individuals, and that Sonoma County and the Telecare company that ran Hamilton?s downtown Santa Rosa group home did not properly supervise Hamilton, who had stopped taking his medications.

Wynne Herron, the attorney representing Hamilton?s parents in the suit, was not immediately available for comment.

Hamilton?s grandfather, Bob Clement of Sebastopol, said the suit would move forward.

?We believe that a serious wrong was done to Jesse, whether or not it is criminal is something that we cannot judge, we suspect it may be but we have no proof of that,? he said.