Lawsuit dropped in fatal police shooting

Tariq Malik

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- A lawsuit accusing a city police officer of

shooting an unarmed man to death has been dropped three weeks before it

was set to go to trial.

Resident Desiree Ulmer agreed to drop the lawsuit against the city and

Police Officer Aaron Smith, after almost a year of accusing him of

shooting then-43-year-old David Blackman execution style against a wall

at “point-blank range.”

“I think the evidence was quite clear from the beginning that Officer

Smith shot in self-defense,” said Neal Moore, attorney for Smith and the

city. ‘I personally believe there was never any basis for this lawsuit in

the first place.”

Police said Blackman was shot and killed by Smith on April 22, 1999,

when the officer responded to a domestic violence call at Ulmer’s

then-apartment in the 18700 block of Libra Circle.

Once there, Blackman was challenged by Smith, who stuck his hand in

his pocket to simulate a gun and threatened the officer, Moore said,

adding that Smith fired only as Blackman charged at him.

Witnesses told police they heard Smith yell “stop” twice to Blackman

before he was shot, Moore said.

Investigations by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and a review

by the Orange County district attorney’s office found no evidence of

wrongdoing on Smith’s part.

Ulmer, Blackman’s estranged girlfriend and mother of his 6-year-old

daughter, filed a wrongful death claim against the city in October 1999.

The lawsuit, which was a result of this claim, was filed in February. The

claim alleged that Blackman was unarmed with his “hands in the air,” and

was shot by Smith while other officers looked on.

Moore, however, said Smith was alone when Blackman challenged him.

The case was to go to trial Nov. 13, with Ulmer, who filed the claim

on behalf of her daughter, seeking $80 million from the city.

Ulmer’s attorney, Gary Kessler, did not return phone calls Tuesday.