The New York Attorney General's office will be investigating last month's fatal police-involved shooting in Troy, effectively nullifying a grand jury's ruling that the officer's actions were justified. AG Eric Schneiderman sued Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel Abelove last month to compel him to cede jurisdiction, arguing that Abelove violated Governor Cuomo's executive order that gives the AG the authority to specially prosecute police-killing cases.
Sergeant Randall French fatally shot 37-year-old Edson Thevenin on April 17th, at about 3:15 a.m. Thevenin was driving when French attempted to pull him over, authorities said at the time; Thevenin allegedly fled, and police said that when they caught up with him he drove his car into French, who had at that point exited his vehicle. French was allegedly pinned between the police car and Thevenin's car, at which point he fired eight shots through the windshield, killing Thevenin.
But as the Times Union has reported, two civilian witnesses told investigators that French didn't appear to be in danger when he shot Thevenin, and that Thevenin's vehicle struck French after the officer fired his weapons. The incident wasn't recorded, but apparently a civilian witness took a cellphone video of part of the shooting—something that Troy police chief John Tedesco allegedly failed to disclose initially.
Within five days of Thevenin's death, Abelove had already convened a grand jury, and on April 22nd, that jury declined to indict French, ruling that his "use of deadly physical force was justifiable under the law." In doing so, he overstepped his authority, Schneiderman said: immediately following Thevenin's death, the AG's office sent representatives to inform Abelove that they were looking into whether or not the shooting should fall under Schneiderman's jurisdiction.
Per Cuomo's 2015 executive order, Abelove acted too hastily in convening his grand jury, given that the AG had expressed interest in investigating the case further to see whether Thevenin was armed and dangerous when French shot and killed him. Abelove claimed he was told that Schneiderman wouldn't be investigating the incident, and then later said he was misquoted—despite the fact that his initial statement was recorded.
Schneiderman officially claimed the case on April 30th, marking the fifth time his office will investigate a police killing case since Cuomo appointed him special prosecutor. On May 1st, Cuomo amended his 2015 executive order to also allow Schneiderman to investigate possible "unlawful acts or omissions" as they pertain to Thevenin's death.
It's not clear whether Abelove gave French immunity in exchange for testifying in front of the grand jury, according to the Times Union—if he did so, it would mean that French couldn't be prosecuted.
Now, Abelove will step aside, the New York Times reports, and Schneiderman will in turn drop his suit against the DA's office.
"We are pleased that DA Ableove acquiesced to each and every one of our legal demands, mooting the lawsuit we filed against him two weeks ago," Schneiderman's office said in a statement. "As part of the agreement, DA Abelove relinquished any and all claims to jurisdiction in this case, and will turn over all files related to the Thevenin investigation to the Attorney General's office."
Thevenin is survived by his wife, Cinthia, and their two children, ages four and eight. In the weeks following his death, his family members said they wanted Schneiderman to investigate his death, as they didn't think the police had been consistent or truthful in their statements.
Following the announcement that the AG will indeed be investigating the shooting, Pastor Tre Staton, who's been a spokesperson for the family, said that "although the result the family wanted was ultimately the outside investigation, it is unsettling that the Rensselaer County District Attorney will be off the hook for wrongdoing that we believe did occur. He participated in corruption and now he's going to be serving the people again. That is a disservice to the people and unjust." But Abelove is not necessarily off the hook: Schneiderman's office said that yesterday's agreement "does not exonerate DA Abelove for any potential claims of misconduct," and that their investigation into the case is ongoing.
