Judge to rule on cops who shot, killed mentally ill Harlem man in 2012
Hawa Bah (c.), Mohamed’s mother, says the 28-year-old did not pose a threat to officers when he was killed.(JEFFERSON SIEGEL/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
A judge will weigh whether the NYPD grossly mishandled evidence in the fatal police-involved shooting of an emotionally disturbed man, new court filings reveal.
Mohamed Bah died in his Harlem apartment on Sept. 25. 2012. His mother, Hawa Bah, had called 911 because Bah was enduring a “mental health crisis."
But the police showed up and shot Bah, killing him. They claim the 28-year-old came at them with a knife — requiring them to fire.
Bah's family counters that he posed no threat to the officers — and was "lying wounded on the ground" — when they fired the deadly last shot to his head.
Bah's family also contends the NYPD is trying to cover up the truth — claiming that very knife used to justify shooting Bah is unavailable.
At first, cops said the knife was lost. They later said the item was located but couldn't be taken out of storage, lawyers said.
Manhattan Federal Judge P. Kevin Castel on Tuesday decided the Bah family's $70 million civil suit against the city can go to trial.
Castel also agreed to a hearing on Bah family lawyers’ “serious allegations regarding the intentional destruction of certain evidence.”
The Bah family's lawyers, Debra Cohen and Randolph McLaughlin, of Newman Ferrara, claim they haven't had access to key evidence — such as the knife he allegedly brandished.
Cops claim the knife was stored in an evidence warehouse that flooded during Superstrong Sandy — contaminating the evidence. They also say that no evidence can be taken out of the warehouse, court papers state.
Mohamed Bah was shot and killed by NYPD officers in 2012.
Castel said cops' sworn statement on evidence destruction lacks specifics.
"This brief affidavit fails to mention in what manner and to what extent evidence stored there during the flooding was contaminated or how much of the evidence was destroyed or is otherwise lost, misplaced, or unaccounted for," Castel wrote.
"It fails to state what steps have been taken to attempt to recover any evidence not contaminated or destroyed by the flooding. It fails to state what was done with evidence that was considered to be contaminated. It fails to state why nothing may be removed from the warehouse."
Castel then focused on the knife — apparently taking issue with its MIA status.
"The knife that Bah allegedly used to attack defendant officers has never been tested for DNA or fingerprints or made available for plaintiff to examine."
While cops maintain the knife "was stored in the above mentioned warehouse, was contaminated or destroyed along with the rest of the evidence stored there during the flooding," their explanation "is insufficient."
Castel said there will be a hearing on these allegations — and said the NYPD " should be prepared to give a full response to the questions listed above, including why the knife cannot be provided to plaintiff."
The NYPD referred the Daily News to the Law Department for comment. The Law Department did not immediately comment.
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