Court rules detectives can sue lawmaker

COLUMBUS (AP) — The Ohio Court of Claims ruled that two Cleveland police detectives can sue a state lawmaker over comments she made in a letter after the shooting death of a 15-year-old robbery suspect.

Detectives Philip Habeeb and John Kraynik allege that then-state Rep. Shirley Smith, now a state senator, unfairly ridiculed them in a letter after the Sept. 1, 2005 shooting of Brandon McCloud.

Smith had said she wrote the letter, printed on statehouse letterhead, as part of her responsibilities to her community, but the court’s ruling Oct. 1 determined that she was not acting in her official capacity and therefore was not entitled to immunity.

McCloud, who was black, was shot 10 times when police executing a search warrant entered his bedroom, and his death sparked outrage against the detectives, who are white.

At the time of his death, McCloud was a suspect in a string of robberies of pizza delivery drivers.

Habeeb and Kraynik said they fired in self-defense after McCloud burst from a closet and lunged at the detectives with a knife. Several investigations have cleared the officers and a Cuyahoga County grand jury refused to indict them earlier this year.

The detectives’ lawsuit seeks damages for defamation and emotional distress, their attorney Craig Bashein said. He declined to specify a financial amount the suit requests.