Manney Walks: No Charges in Dontre Hamilton’s Death

Former Milwaukee Police Officer Christopher Manney will not face federal charges in the death of Dontre Hamilton, a 31-year-old man who was shot during a struggle with Manney on April 30, 2014.

The Justice Department announced today that there is insufficient evidence to pursue federal criminal civil rights charges against Manney for the death of Hamilton.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Wisconsin, the review included a comprehensive and independent examination of the evidence collected related to the death of Hamilton, including reviewing all information from the state investigation, reviewing all recorded interviews, consulting with the Milwaukee County medical examiner and reviewing the transcripts from Manney’s termination hearing by the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission.

The team of experienced federal prosecutors and FBI agents considered whether Manney violated federal law by willfully using unreasonable force against Hamilton.

Under the applicable federal criminal civil rights statute, prosecutors must establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a law enforcement officer willfully deprived an individual of a Constitutional right.

The statute defines willfulness as acting with the deliberate and specific intent to do something the law forbids. Mistake, misperception, negligence or poor judgment are not sufficient to establish a federal criminal civil rights violation.

In this case, there were numerous civilian witnesses who saw some part of the physical confrontation between Manney and Hamilton.

The team of experienced federal prosecutors and FBI agents determined that the evidence was insufficient to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Manney acted willfully with a bad purpose to violate the law.