A former Phoenix police officer fired by the chief over his role in a 2022 fatal shooting cited in the Justice Department report has appealed for reinstatement.
A city spokesperson says next in the appellate process for Jesse Johnson is a just-cause hearing scheduled for mid-August.
The Justice Department report says Phoenix police did not wait after calling for a less lethal weapon such as stun bags to confront a man who threw rocks at their vehicle.
The report says the officers instead drove back, stopped within throwing distance, got out with guns drawn and fired four shots.
Phoenix later settled a lawsuit with Ali Osman’s family for $5.5 million. The family’s attorney, Quacy Smith, says Johnson should not get his job back.
“I think what happened that day was a dereliction of his duties,” he said.
The lawsuit was filed in late February of 2023 and settled about nine months later.
“We made the facts very clear up front about what this was, where the wrong was, and couched it in such a way that you can’t deny it. There is no way of getting out of this,” Smith said.
Records show that Johnson’s appeal went before the Civil Service Board hours after the feds released their report.
A city spokesman says Johnson had filed to have the firing overturned based on state law, but was denied.
