Eyes on America

Western Samoa

By Karen Mangnall

Samoan focus will turn to America this month as justice is sought over the shooting of two Samoan brothers by police

SAMOAN eyes will be turned on a courtroom in Los Angeles this month for a second attempt at justice over the police shooting of the Tualaulelei brothers. The two brothers, Pouvi, aged 34, and 22-year-old student Italia, were shot a total of 19 times by a police officer on February 12, 1991 in the driveway of their home in Compton, Los Angeles.

Now the Tualaulelei family is suing the City of Compton for US$lO million in the LA District Court starting on November 16. Last year, state criminal proceedings failed when the jury could not reach a verdict on two voluntary manslaughter charges against the police officer, A 1 Skiles. That trial was inter rupted by the riots surrounding a more notorious but non-fatal case of police brutality, the beating of black motorist Rodney King. His attackers were eventu ally imprisoned under federal laws and the Taulaulelei family is still pushing the FBI to bring similar charges against Skiles.

It began on the evening of Monday, February 12 1991 when Pouvi and his wife, Julie, had an argument and he left, taking their two sons. Julie called the police to help return the boys. An hour later, Julie was being questioned outside the house in a police car when Pouvi drove up with the two boys, Niles aged 7, and 5-year-old Noris. Family members still inside the house say Skiles went over to Pouvi, hurling obscenities. Pouvi was joined outside by Italia, and they both told Skiles he should leave the property.

Police claim the brothers then attacked Skiles, who shot them both. Even before the coroner had found all the bullets, Compton Police Commander Hourie

Taylor was publicly defending Skiles.

’There was some aggression. It was basically an attempt to remove his weapon from his holster.” Skiles, a 14-year-old veteran of 12 years on the Compton police, testified he fired repeat edly on the two unarmed men, stopping it one point to reload his 9mm semi mtomatic revolver. “I realised they were :oming at me and that the bullets veren’t working,” Skiles fired 19 bullets nto the two men. Pouvi was found to lave been shot 11 times, 8 times in the jack. Italia was shot 8 times, 5 times in he back.

The Tualaulelei family say the lo ation of the bullets proves their version

of events. Younger brother, leti, aged 16, told the court he was inside the house when he heard Skiles order the two brothers to kneel. Then came gunfire, leti says he was spotted at the window by Skiles who aimed his gun but had run out of bullets. Family members say Skiles then ran around the house trying to get in. Julie, still locked in the police car, testified Skiles ran back to his car tearing at his clothes, presumably to make it seem he’d been attacked. The shootings took place in full view of Pouvi’s two young sons. Deputy District Attorney Richard Healy told the court regardless of what sparked Skiles to fire, the second clip was fired illegally and unnecessarily, because both men were already seriously wounded.

After deliberating 7 days, the jury deadlocked at 9 votes to 3 in favour of acquitting Skiles. The judge declared a mistrial. The trial was suspended for several days during the rioting over the Rodney King trial and prosecutors said this had probably swung the mainly white jury in favour of the police. The real outry came on June 4, 1992 when Judge John Reid of the LA County Superior Court denied a routine motion to retry the criminal charges, and dismissed the manslaughter charges against Skiles. The move stymied any further state criminal charges and prompted outraged editorials in Califor nia and across the United States. The regional director of the Office of Samoan Affairs, June Pouesi, summed up the disbelief: “There is a sense of loss, a sense of confusion. Nineteen shots, 13 of them in the back. How can wrong be made right?”

The original shootings had caused sorrow and outrage within the 12,000-strong Samoan community in LA, centred on Compton. In March 1991, the Samoan Federation held a large but peaceful protest outside Compton City Hall. One of the placards held by Pouvi’s son, Noris, read: “My daddy knelt ... why 12 bullets?” The

killings had put the Compton police on full alert and they only gave the protesters a one-hour permit. The march was swelled by Italia’s classmates at El Camino College, where he’d been a defensive end in the Warriors college football team and president of the Pacific Islanders’ Club. June Pouesi made a pointed comparison between the riots which had won Rodney King a federal, retrial for a violation of his constitutional rights, and the peaceful protest which won the Tualaulelei family nothing.

“What is the difference between the two cases?” she asked the California media.

“One had a riot and one had a peace march. It seems that the message going out today is that non-violence is not the way to go.”

The Tualaulelei have not given up the fight for criminal and civil justice. Their civil case has been taken up by one of America’s most flamboyant and success ful trial lawyers, Melvin Belli. Julie, her four daughters and two sons, and the estate of Italia Tualaulelei are suing A 1 Skiles and Compton City for US$lO million in a “constitutional tort”. The civil case is under Amendment 14 of the US Constitution which says no person shall be deprived of their life, liberty or property without due process of law. Belli says the case will ask the jury to bring in a verdict of unjustifiable homicide against Skiles, and to find that the killings amounted to an unconstitutional deprivation of the right of members of the Tualaulelei to liberty, support and a relationship with their father and brothers. Meanwhile, the standard FBI investigation of the killings has resumed, with US Congressman for American

Samoa, Eni Faleomavaega, demanding

that the Attorney-General Janet Reno lay federal charges against Skiles. But the Justice Department says there’s no guarantee its findings will result in charges, or that they will ever be made public. Since the shootings, A 1 Skiles has left the police force with a stress

disability. □