The state attorney calls the shooting "justifiable homicide." In a separate case, a deputy resigns over the death of a suspect who ingested cocaine.
By JAMIE JONES
Published June 18, 2003
PORT RICHEY - A state prosecutor on Tuesday cleared two Pasco sheriff's deputies in the May 11 killing of a 24-year-old Odessa man, saying the officers were justified in repeatedly shooting the man after he lunged toward one deputy with a baseball bat.
Additionally, in an unrelated case, a sheriff's deputy has resigned after supervisors said he violated agency policies while dealing with a suspect who ingested a fatal dose of cocaine while in custody.
State Attorney Bernie McCabe cleared two deputies - David Berge, 24, and Scott Lineberry, 26 - who responded to an aggravated assault call at 1827 Carrollton Place in Odessa.
The deputies arrived at 8:28 p.m. with Cpl. James Babcock and saw Edward Robert Grimes holding a baseball bat above his head, threatening to hit his aunt, Terri Roberts.
Both deputies ordered Grimes to drop the bat.
Berge stopped within 10 feet of Grimes and ordered Roberts to move away. She did, and backed toward Babcock, documents state. Lineberry was standing about 4 feet away.
"He had this . . . stone-cold just stare in his eyes, and I remember him shaking his head, you know, back and forth and saying, "I don't care,' " Lineberry said of Grimes, according to documents.
Berge said he feared Grimes was going to hit him with the bat. Berge said Grimes stepped forward and he fired, as did Lineberry.
One bullet entered the front of Grimes' chest, and three pierced his back, documents state. Additionally, one bullet grazed Grimes' head, another landed in his groin and another hit his thigh, documents state.
Bullets hit his back because Grimes spun around after he was shot in the chest, said the deputies' attorney, J. Larry Hart.
In interviews with prosecutors, Grimes' aunt, Roberts, said her nephew had been upset about breaking up with his girlfriend and had been admitted to a mental hospital weeks before deputies shot him.
On the night of the shooting, Roberts said, Grimes smashed one of her windows and threatened to beat her with a baseball bat.
Roberts said that while she was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher, Grimes forced his way inside her home. She said she fell down the stairs while trying to get away from Grimes. He continued threatening her when sheriff's deputies arrived, documents state.
Shortly after her nephew's death, Roberts told the Times that she believed deputies had used excessive force. She could not be reached Tuesday for comment.
McCabe ruled the shooting "justifiable homicide."
Both deputies joined the Sheriff's Office in 2000.
Their attorney, Hart, said on Tuesday: "The officers take no satisfaction from the circumstances, but believe they acted in accordance with their training, within the confines of the law and with a conscience that is clear."
In a separate investigation, sheriff's supervisors said Deputy Paul Slater acted improperly in a case that resulted in a suspect ingesting a fatal dose of cocaine on April 14.
Slater, 47, submitted a two-sentence resignation letter on June 11, thanking the Sheriff's Office for "the opportunity to serve the citizens of Pasco County."
His resignation came a day before sheriff's supervisors revealed their findings in the case, saying that Slater had violated agency policies while dealing with 36-year-old Robert Mazzuca, arrested on a forgery charge April 14 at a Port Richey bank.
During the arrest, Slater discovered that Mazzuca had cocaine, and took him to the sheriff's West Operations Center in New Port Richey, records state.
Slater left Mazzuca alone in an interview room with 24 grams of cocaine, which he ingested, sheriff's officials said.
Mazzuca had a seizure and later died of a cocaine overdose, sheriff's officials said.
The Sheriff's Office said Slater fastened Mazzuca's left hand to a chair, and left his right hand unsecured. Agency policy says prisoners should not be handcuffed to any person or object in the interview room.
Additionally, Slater left Mazzuca unattended in an interview room - at least twice - with the cocaine evidence, also violating agency policy about proper handling of evidence, records state.
Slater joined the Sheriff's Office in November 2000 after working for two decades as an officer and detective with the New York City Police Department.
Reached at his home on Tuesday, Slater declined to comment.
- Times staff writer Cary Davis contributed to this report.
