Michael Cho
Encyclopedia
Michael Sungman Cho was a Korean American
artist shot to death by police in the Orange County
city of La Habra
, California
.
of a Kaiser Permanente
-run hospital. He walked with a severe limp due to a lifelong leg disability. He graduated from Walnut High School
before going on to attend the University of California, Los Angeles
. His passions were music, sculpture, drawing, and ceramics; he went to South Korea
to study traditional Korean ceramic art after receiving a bachelor's degree from UCLA in 2005. He planned to apply to a master's program in art at Yale University
, with the aim of becoming a professor. Outside of his studies, he was active in his church, at which he taught art to children with disabilities.
, police received a telephone report that an Asian man was vandalizing car windows on North Walnut Avenue; the officers who arrived on the scene were unable to find the man reported. The same person called in an hour later to report that the man in question was at Walnut Avenue and Whittier Boulevard and had a tire iron
. Police arrived at the address of the alleged vandalism, the 7Gold Liquor Store at 545 Whittier Boulevard, after 2 p.m.; they contacted their dispatcher
at 2:04 to state that they were outside of the liquor store with Cho. Their next communication with the dispatcher was 41 seconds later, during which they stated that they had shot Cho, and requested assistance from paramedics. The paramedics pronounced Cho dead at the scene.
The liquor store's closed-circuit television
camera recorded 25 seconds of the incident. The relevant clip shows two officers with two guns drawn; Cho walked towards them and brought his right hand to his mouth. He appeared to be holding an object in his left hand. He then turned to his right and walked out of the camera's view; police continued to point their guns at him. The officers claimed that the object Cho was holding was the previously-reported tire iron, and that he threatened them with it and refused orders to put it down. Newspaper reports stated that police fired ten shots at Cho; La Habra police chief Dennis Kies was unable to confirm this number in an interview ten days after the shooting.
expressed his disbelief that Cho could be perceived as "menacing"; he described Cho as a "good-natured" person who was always "hanging around with high-achieving art students". On January 5, 2008 (Saturday), more than 100 of Cho's friends and relatives held a candlelight vigil
at the site of his death; they set up photographs of Cho and left notes of condolence. His funeral was held on the morning of January 12, 2008 at the Good Stewards Church; he was buried at Oakdale Memorial Park that afternoon. On February 19, 2008 (Tuesday), 200 people gathered outside La Habra City Hall to demand police provide; in contrast to the previous memorial, at which the atmosphere was one of mourning, the attendees at the February memorial expressed their anger at police. A Facebook
group created to celebrate his life and protest his death had grown to 3,000 members by late February 2008.
call shot a man in the abdomen after he allegedly lunged at them with a knife. Of the 49 officer-involved shootings in Orange County since July 2004, the La Habra Police Department was responsible for four, making them one of the most deadly out of over twenty municipal police departments in the county. The La Habra Police Department declined to release the names of the officers in question. In June 2008, the Orange County district attorney's office announced that their investigation concluded that the killing was a justifiable homicide
, and that no charges would be filed.
Cho's family hired Shelley Kaufman and Pat Harris, attorneys with the firm of high-profile criminal defense lawyer Mark Geragos
, to represent them and were reportedly considering a lawsuit against the La Habra Police Department. Few community leaders expected that the officers in question would be punished for the shooting death. In July 2008, they filed a civil suit against the city of La Habra and the officers in question. Their suit alleged wrongful death
and negligence
. Southern California District Court
judge Alicemarie H. Stotler
announced in November 2009 that the trial would begin on February 2, 2010. However, the trial resulted in a hung jury
, and Stotler declared a mistrial. In April 2010, a new trial date of September 21 was announced, with a settlement conference to be held in June. On September 15, less than a week before the trial date, Cho's family accepted a $250,000 settlement, stating that they hoped to avoid the "emotional ordeal" of a second trial.
Korean American
Korean Americans are Americans of Korean descent, mostly from South Korea, with a small minority from North Korea...
artist shot to death by police in the Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
city of La Habra
La Habra, California
La Habra is a city in the northwestern corner of Orange County, California. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,239. Its related city, La Habra Heights is located to the north of La Habra, and is in Los Angeles County.-Origin of name:...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Life
Cho was one of two sons born to father Sungman Cho and mother Honglan; he has an older brother, Mark. His father works as a painting contractor, while his mother is a nurse with the intensive care unitIntensive Care Unit
thumb|220px|ICU roomAn intensive-care unit , critical-care unit , intensive-therapy unit/intensive-treatment unit is a specialized department in a hospital that provides intensive-care medicine...
of a Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is an integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield...
-run hospital. He walked with a severe limp due to a lifelong leg disability. He graduated from Walnut High School
Walnut High School
Walnut High School is located in Walnut, California, among the San Jose Hills of the San Gabriel Valley in Southern California. It is a public school in the Walnut Valley Unified School District. The school is a two-time National Blue Ribbon school and five-time California Distinguished school...
before going on to attend the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
. His passions were music, sculpture, drawing, and ceramics; he went to South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
to study traditional Korean ceramic art after receiving a bachelor's degree from UCLA in 2005. He planned to apply to a master's program in art at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, with the aim of becoming a professor. Outside of his studies, he was active in his church, at which he taught art to children with disabilities.
Death
At 1 p.m. on New Year's EveNew Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
, police received a telephone report that an Asian man was vandalizing car windows on North Walnut Avenue; the officers who arrived on the scene were unable to find the man reported. The same person called in an hour later to report that the man in question was at Walnut Avenue and Whittier Boulevard and had a tire iron
Tire iron
A tire iron is a specialized metal tool used in working with tires that have inner tubes.Tire irons have not been in common use for automobile tires since the shift to the use of tubeless tires in the late 1950s...
. Police arrived at the address of the alleged vandalism, the 7Gold Liquor Store at 545 Whittier Boulevard, after 2 p.m.; they contacted their dispatcher
Dispatcher
Dispatchers are communications personnel responsible for receiving and transmitting pure and reliable messages, tracking vehicles and equipment, and recording other important information...
at 2:04 to state that they were outside of the liquor store with Cho. Their next communication with the dispatcher was 41 seconds later, during which they stated that they had shot Cho, and requested assistance from paramedics. The paramedics pronounced Cho dead at the scene.
The liquor store's closed-circuit television
Closed-circuit television
Closed-circuit television is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors....
camera recorded 25 seconds of the incident. The relevant clip shows two officers with two guns drawn; Cho walked towards them and brought his right hand to his mouth. He appeared to be holding an object in his left hand. He then turned to his right and walked out of the camera's view; police continued to point their guns at him. The officers claimed that the object Cho was holding was the previously-reported tire iron, and that he threatened them with it and refused orders to put it down. Newspaper reports stated that police fired ten shots at Cho; La Habra police chief Dennis Kies was unable to confirm this number in an interview ten days after the shooting.
Reactions
Friends and community members were angered and saddened by the shootings. UCLA art professor James WellingJames Welling
James Welling earned both a BFA and an MFA at California Institute of the Arts in Valencia , where he studied with, among others, Dan Graham. He emerged in the 1970s as an artist for whom photographic norms and the representational field itself were and remain contested and problematized...
expressed his disbelief that Cho could be perceived as "menacing"; he described Cho as a "good-natured" person who was always "hanging around with high-achieving art students". On January 5, 2008 (Saturday), more than 100 of Cho's friends and relatives held a candlelight vigil
Candlelight vigil
A candlelight vigil is an outdoor assembly of people carrying candles, held after sunset. Such events are typically held either to protest the suffering of some marginalized group of people, or in memory of lives lost to some disease, disaster, massacre or other tragedy. In the latter case, the...
at the site of his death; they set up photographs of Cho and left notes of condolence. His funeral was held on the morning of January 12, 2008 at the Good Stewards Church; he was buried at Oakdale Memorial Park that afternoon. On February 19, 2008 (Tuesday), 200 people gathered outside La Habra City Hall to demand police provide; in contrast to the previous memorial, at which the atmosphere was one of mourning, the attendees at the February memorial expressed their anger at police. A Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
group created to celebrate his life and protest his death had grown to 3,000 members by late February 2008.
Investigation and lawsuit
The officers involved in the shooting were placed on administrative leave, and the department planned to convene an internal review panel to look into the death. By the following month, the officers had returned to work. Cho's death was the second Orange County officer-involved shooting in two days; on the morning of January 30, police responding to a domestic violenceDomestic violence
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
call shot a man in the abdomen after he allegedly lunged at them with a knife. Of the 49 officer-involved shootings in Orange County since July 2004, the La Habra Police Department was responsible for four, making them one of the most deadly out of over twenty municipal police departments in the county. The La Habra Police Department declined to release the names of the officers in question. In June 2008, the Orange County district attorney's office announced that their investigation concluded that the killing was a justifiable homicide
Justifiable homicide
The United States' concept of justifiable homicide in criminal law stands on the dividing line between an excuse, justification and an exculpation. It is different from other forms of homicide in that due to certain circumstances the homicide is justified as preventing greater harm to innocents...
, and that no charges would be filed.
Cho's family hired Shelley Kaufman and Pat Harris, attorneys with the firm of high-profile criminal defense lawyer Mark Geragos
Mark Geragos
Mark John Geragos is an Armenian/ American criminal defense attorney who defended the musician Michael Jackson, actress Winona Ryder, politician Gary Condit, and Susan McDougal. He was also involved in the Whitewater scandal. He also represented Scott Peterson, in another trial that received...
, to represent them and were reportedly considering a lawsuit against the La Habra Police Department. Few community leaders expected that the officers in question would be punished for the shooting death. In July 2008, they filed a civil suit against the city of La Habra and the officers in question. Their suit alleged wrongful death
Wrongful death claim
Wrongful death is a claim in common law jurisdictions against a person who can be held liable for a death. The claim is brought in a civil action, usually by close relatives, as enumerated by statute...
and negligence
Negligence
Negligence is a failure to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in like circumstances. The area of tort law known as negligence involves harm caused by carelessness, not intentional harm.According to Jay M...
. Southern California District Court
United States District Court for the Southern District of California
The United States District Court for the Southern District of California is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the following counties in California: Imperial and San Diego. In terms of filed indictments, it is one of the busiest criminal districts in the United States...
judge Alicemarie H. Stotler
Alicemarie Huber Stotler
-Early life and education:Born in Alhambra, California, Stotler received a B.A. from University of Southern California in 1964 and a J.D. from University of Southern California Law School in 1967.-Career:...
announced in November 2009 that the trial would begin on February 2, 2010. However, the trial resulted in a hung jury
Hung jury
A hung jury or deadlocked jury is a jury that cannot, by the required voting threshold, agree upon a verdict after an extended period of deliberation and is unable to change its votes due to severe differences of opinion.- England and Wales :...
, and Stotler declared a mistrial. In April 2010, a new trial date of September 21 was announced, with a settlement conference to be held in June. On September 15, less than a week before the trial date, Cho's family accepted a $250,000 settlement, stating that they hoped to avoid the "emotional ordeal" of a second trial.