PITTSBURGH — Despite concerns raised by the city of Pittsburgh solicitor and the city council president after a series of 11 Investigates reports into the Jim Rogers tasing incident, the city controller has made the first payment to the family of Jim Rogers to settle the wrongful death lawsuit.
Just several weeks ago, both the city solicitor and the council president vowed to delay the payment after 11 Investigates raised more questions about the settlement.
Chief Investigator Rick Earle obtained a copy of the $4 million check the city sent to Rogers’ family.
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Rogers, who was 54 at the time, died the day after being hit with a taser by a Pittsburgh police officer investigating a stolen bicycle in Bloomfield two years ago.
Four officers, including Keith Edmonds who tased Rogers, were fired for excessive force and failing to get Rogers medical attention.
Three have already been reinstated with back pay.
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Edmonds is still awaiting a hearing in an attempt to get his job back as well.
Just last month Earle exclusively reported that Rogers had cocaine in his system, may have been in alcohol withdrawal, and hadn’t taken his seizure medication at the time of the tasing.
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A medical expert for the police union claims Rogers died from a seizure disorder.
The city, as we first reported, has hired famed forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu to dispute that.
The city maintains the actions of the officers caused Rogers’ death.
Rogers said he couldn’t breathe and repeatedly asked for help at the scene. As 11 Investigates first reported an officer on scene asked a supervisor also on scene if the medics should check out Rogers. The supervisor told the officer that wasn’t necessary and to take Rogers to UPMC Mercy. Rogers went into cardiac arrest as police drove him to the hospital. Officers thought he was sleeping. When they arrived at the hospital, and Rogers was unresponsive, they pulled him out of the back seat and began CPR. The medical examiner ruled his death accidental and said Rogers died from a lack of oxygen to the brain.
11 Investigates also learned that Rogers was only tased twice, not 10 as had been reported.
At the time, Rogers was wanted in Cambria County for failing to report to a drug and alcohol treatment center after a retail theft conviction.
11 Investigates also discovered that Rogers’s family, at the hospital, refused an aggressive treatment plan based on their religious beliefs.
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Last month, at a news conference to address the settlement, the city solicitor never mentioned any of the information 11 Investigates only discovered after that news conference.
The solicitor did say she began reviewing the settlement after the council president raised concerns.
“At that point, we noticed that some of the standards required by Orphan’s court had not been met,” said city solicitor Krysia Kubiak, who indicated that no inheritance tax forms had not been filed and that there was no advertisement for any other potential heirs to the settlement.
Kubiak said she then filed a petition with Orphan’s court requesting a trustee to oversee the payments.
The solicitor wrote in court documents that the city has, “…very serious concerns about first establishing the proper parties to whom the proceeds are to be paid.”
Council president Theresa Kail-Smith took action as well, even though council unanimously approved the settlement months ago.
“I sent an email to [City of Pittsburgh] controller [Michael] Lamb, asking him to withhold any payments in the Jim Rogers case until council finishes investigating further,” said Kail-Smith.
And just last week, the judge denied the city’s motion to appoint a trustee to oversee the payments until all of the proper paperwork was completed.
The city controller’s office released the first of two $4 million payments to Rogers’ family, saying they had no choice because city council had already signed off on the agreement.
Earle spoke with Council President Kail-Smith Wednesday.
She said she was disappointed that the city sent out the payment, with so many unanswered questions.
Kail-Smith said she was unaware of many of the specific details 11 Investigates exposed during the past month when she voted to approve the settlement back in the fall.
Kail-Smith said she relied on the law department for her information, but apparently didn’t get a complete picture.
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