Questions Not Asked

The evidence package released by the Attorney General's office includes hand-written statements provided by most of the witnesses on the day of the shooting, transcriptions of some of those statements typed by police detectives, and transcripts of witness interviews by police detectives. The written statements of two of the eyewitnesses, Tommy Thomas and Janis Chaillou, indicated that most of the shots were fired after Woody had fallen to the floor.

Neither of these eyewitnesses was questioned about this critical detail. Of the remaining 16 church eyewitnesses, only two were asked about Woody's posture during the delivery of the final volley of shots. They were two of the most elderly women in the group, and the statement of one was used in Sorrell's report to contextualized Thomas' quote as unreliable.

If Woody was shot after he collapsed, he was shot at a time when the officers could not have reasonably believed he posed an imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury to them.