August 24 , 2005

APPEALS COURT ORDERS JUDGE TO RETHINK CHURCH-SHOOTING DECISION

Court T.V., Boston Globe, L.A. Times & New York Newsday
By Erin McClam, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK --A federal appeals court has ordered a lower court judge to reconsider his decision to dismiss a lawsuit that claims police used excessive force in fatally shooting a knife-wielding man inside a Vermont church in 2001.

The appeals court said the judge may have erred in discounting the statements of four witnesses who said the man, Robert Woodward, did not make threatening moves toward police or bystanders before he was shot.
In addition, "Some witnesses who claim to have seen Woodward advance on the officers gave conflicting statements at the time of the shooting," the three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a ruling made public Wednesday.

On Dec. 2, 2001, Woodward walked into All Souls Unitarian Church in West Brattleboro, Vt., carrying a 3 1/2-inch blade and addressed the congregation about conspiracies.

When congregants began leaving, he threatened to hurt or kill himself, witnesses said. Police eventually shot him seven times, claiming later that Woodward lunged at them with the knife. He died later at a hospital.

Last year, a federal judge in Vermont threw out the excessive-force lawsuit brought by Woodward's family against the town and two police officers. The family wants a jury to decide whether the officers used excessive force.

The appeals court ruling does not directly put the matter before a jury -- only ordered the lower judge to rethink his decision to throw out the case.

Lawyer Joel Faxon said Wednesday the family was pleased with the ruling and he believed it was unlikely the judge would dismiss the case again.

"If there's a dispute among all the witnesses as to what happened, the only thing the court can do is allow a trial," he said in a telephone interview from New Haven, Conn.

A lawyer for the town and the two officers did not immediately return a call for comment.

In court earlier this month, a lawyer on that side of the case said it was inappropriate to second-guess the officers. The lawyer also noted Woodward did not drop his knife after the first shot from police struck him in the arm.]