Officer guilty in death of shoplifting suspect

05/14/03

James F. McCarty
Plain Dealer Reporter


After five days of tense deliberations, a jury convicted Maple Heights police officer Jameel Talley of involuntary manslaughter yesterday in the death of a suspected shoplifter.

The jury of eight women and four men rejected Talley's claims that the death of Guy Wills III last year was an accident.


Talley, 35, faces mandatory prison time for the crime. Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Timothy McGinty will sentence him June 23 to anywhere from three to 10 years.

As a felon, Talley can never again work as a police officer.

Three employees of the Randall Park Mall Dillard's store who saw the two men scuffle said the muscular Talley picked up Wills, 41, and threw him head-first to a concrete floor. Wills' skull was fractured in two places, his collarbone was broken, and his brain was fatally bruised.

He died two days later.

Talley, moonlighting as a security guard, said he slipped while trying to handcuff Wills, and they fell together to the floor.

Wills was high on heroin and cocaine, and had stuffed a $159 leather coat under his windbreaker.

Several jurors, reached at their homes, described the quest for a verdict as emotional and arduous.

The jurors, who asked not to be identified, said they initially were divided between finding Talley guilty of murder and acquitting him.

On Friday, the third day of deliberations, the panel's foreman, a bank employee from Beachwood, sent the judge a note: "If we believe we are a hung jury, what is the procedure?"

He sent another note on Monday, saying, "We are at a stalemate." McGinty wrote back telling them to keep trying.

In the end, one holdout, a middle-aged woman, argued for an acquittal, the jurors said. But shortly after 2:30 p.m. yesterday, she relented, agreeing to convict Talley of a less serious offense, involuntary manslaughter.

Veteran judges and lawyers said the jury's lengthy deliberations, while long, were not unusual in a murder case.

Wills' family, owners of the House of Wills funeral homes in Cleveland, had kept a quiet vigil at one end of a courthouse hallway while the jury was making its decision. At the other end, Talley and his supporters bided their time, occasionally holding hands in a prayer circle.

When the verdict finally was announced, there were no outbursts, only silent tears.

"This is a day we've all been looking forward to," said Tiffany Dennis, the victim's sister. "Talley is a killer. My brother didn't deserve to die."

Talley's sister, Stephanie, wept and mouthed a silent "Bye" to her brother as sheriff's deputies led him from the courtroom to a holding cell.

Defense lawyer Patrick D'Angelo praised the jury for its dedication and Talley for his resolve. He vowed to appeal the verdict.

Wills' cousin, Brandon Abdul Baqi, praised the jury for performing a public service. He said this wasn't the first time Talley had seriously hurt someone.

In September 1999, Talley led a police chase to stop a stolen car. He struck the suspect with his cruiser, breaking his leg. A police videotape also showed Talley dragging the suspect across the ground and kicking him. Three months later, Talley responded to a call of a shoplifter outside the Randall Park Mall by firing six shots into the suspect's car until it stopped. Talley claimed he had only shot twice, but his gun clip revealed the discrepancy.

Quoted:
Dillards stores here in Texas have had a big problem using off duty police officers as security as well. A few have tried to roust suspected shoplifters (when the officers have not actually witnessed the suspects select, take and hide the merchandise, then attempt to leave without paying) and were ignored or in some way "disrespected" by the suspects. This led to the officers laying hands or, in some cases, batons on people, with sometimes disastrous results, as in the case noted above. In some cases, no shoplifted merchandise was found in the possession of the suspects in the aftermath of the scuffle.

The problem lies in the difference between the very aggressive nature of police work and the highly regulated and constrained nature of loss prevention/security work. Police officers moonlighting in security in many cases have failed to transition from one method of operation to the other when working off duty security jobs.

Quoted:

Wills was high on heroin and cocaine, and had stuffed a $159 leather coat under his windbreaker.