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Citizens Review Board hearing underway in Keith Scott case

By Mark Becker, wsoctv.com
By Mark Becker, wsoctv.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Citizens Review Board heard full arguments for more than seven hours Tuesday, more than a month after its members said officials with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department may not have made the right decision in clearing an officer who shot and killed Keith Lamont Scott.

The Citizens Review Board saw the evidence, heard testimony from witnesses and more details about this case so that it can make an official recommendation.

In June, the Citizen's Review Board found there was evidence that there was an error in CMPD’s determination that the officer-involved shooting was justified.

The vote, 8-2, prompted the upcoming hearing, after which the board will give its recommendation to the city manager.

“On the eve of the second hearing before the Citizens Review Board, we look forward to presenting evidence on behalf of Keith Scott,” Scott’s family attorney said. “Keith's family is grateful that such an opportunity even exists for residents."

In September 2016, officers serving a warrant on someone else said they came upon Scott in his vehicle and approached him because he had marijuana.

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At one point, Scott pointed a gun at them, police said.

That's when Officer Brentley Vinson fired his weapon, shooting and killing Scott, police said. The district attorney determined the officer was justified in shooting.

"We fought for this,” Corine Mack, president of the Charlotte NAACP, said Tuesday. “We've asked and requested it and demanded it.”

She would like to see the board have more power, but said that this is an important step. The Citizens Review Board doesn't have the power to subpoena witnesses, so it will not hear from any officers involved, including Vinson.

“Of course, I am deeply disturbed that we’re even in this place,” Mack said. “But we are. I think it's important that the citizens of Charlotte know that they have a responsibility to do something.”

Willie Ratchford, who chairs Charlotte’s Community Relations Committee, said the fact that they're there, suggests the process is working.

“We recognize that there are still some folks in the community who are asking for a for a board that has a little more power than this has, but this is what we have, and we're going to work with that,” Ratchford said.

The board will be back in Wednesday morning, and they are expected to have a decision by the end of the day.

Even then, it will only be a recommendation. They cannot make the police department reverse their findings.

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