Guest Opinion | Sonja K. Berndt: McClain Video Sends the Wrong Message

I join the chorus of Pasadena residents who, at the August 24th City Council meeting, expressed their outrage at the City of Pasadena’s posting of a narrated video of the killing of Anthony McClain on its website.  First and foremost, the statements in the narration concerning Anthony McClain’s alleged prior personal history dehumanize Mr. McClain.  The message it sends is that Anthony McClain’s life was worth less than yours or mine because of his alleged prior personal history.   

Additionally, the City’s posting of the narrated, biased video also “taints” a potential jury pool.  In California, only relevant evidence is admissible at trial.  The statements in the narrated video concerning Mr. McClain’s alleged prior personal history would not be admissible at trial because they are irrelevant to the issue of whether the officer’s use of force was lawful.  But hearing the narration now can influence a potential juror’s mind even though the alleged prior personal history is never introduced at trial.  How is that justice for Anthony McClain whose own actions as he was fleeing the officers will be dissected, in absentia, at any criminal or civil trial of the officer who killed him?  

Likewise, many of the statements in the narration as well as the “captions” concerning Mr. McClain’s alleged actions as he was fleeing from the officers are not evident from the non-narrated videos the City posted.  What the narration and “captions” do is attempt to “prime” a potential jury pool with the City’s version of the facts.

If the City’s explanation for posting the narrated video is that it was simply trying to get information about the killing out as soon as possible and/or to quell the unrest caused by Mr. McClain’s killing, those are not valid excuses for tainting a potential jury pool.  The City does not get to prime potential jurors with its unproven version of the facts and its inflammatory, but irrelevant, statements about Mr. McClain’s alleged prior personal history in the name of trying to quell unrest.  Moreover, the narrated video has caused community distress and displayed bias on the part of the City and its Police Department.  Will the community trust any of the ongoing investigations of the shooting of Mr. McClain knowing that the City, through its Police Department, released this sort of biased and inflammatory media piece to the public very shortly after Mr. McClain’s death?  Any perceived benefit of rapidly posting the narrated video is outweighed by the cost in public trust.   

Last month, I requested City Manager Steve Mermell to ensure that the narrated video is deleted from the City’s website.  Apparently, the City has chosen not to do so.  Other cities have been known to post biased and unsupported versions of officer-involved shootings and to attack the character of the victims after they are dead (see “Crafty PR Lets Police Reshape Their Narrative,” Los Angeles Times, August 30, 2020).  I hope most of us will agree that Pasadena is better than that and should delete the narrated video from its website.  

I join the chorus of Pasadena residents who, at the August 24th City Council meeting, expressed their outrage at the City of Pasadena’s posting of a narrated video of the killing of Anthony McClain on its website.  First and foremost, the statements in the narration concerning Anthony McClain’s alleged prior personal history dehumanize Mr. McClain.  The message it sends is that Anthony McClain’s life was worth less than yours or mine because of his alleged prior personal history.   

Additionally, the City’s posting of the narrated, biased video also “taints” a potential jury pool.  In California, only relevant evidence is admissible at trial.  The statements in the narrated video concerning Mr. McClain’s alleged prior personal history would not be admissible at trial because they are irrelevant to the issue of whether the officer’s use of force was lawful.  But hearing the narration now can influence a potential juror’s mind even though the alleged prior personal history is never introduced at trial.  How is that justice for Anthony McClain whose own actions as he was fleeing the officers will be dissected, in absentia, at any criminal or civil trial of the officer who killed him?  

Likewise, many of the statements in the narration as well as the “captions” concerning Mr. McClain’s alleged actions as he was fleeing from the officers are not evident from the non-narrated videos the City posted.  What the narration and “captions” do is attempt to “prime” a potential jury pool with the City’s version of the facts.

If the City’s explanation for posting the narrated video is that it was simply trying to get information about the killing out as soon as possible and/or to quell the unrest caused by Mr. McClain’s killing, those are not valid excuses for tainting a potential jury pool.  The City does not get to prime potential jurors with its unproven version of the facts and its inflammatory, but irrelevant, statements about Mr. McClain’s alleged prior personal history in the name of trying to quell unrest.  Moreover, the narrated video has caused community distress and displayed bias on the part of the City and its Police Department.  Will the community trust any of the ongoing investigations of the shooting of Mr. McClain knowing that the City, through its Police Department, released this sort of biased and inflammatory media piece to the public very shortly after Mr. McClain’s death?  Any perceived benefit of rapidly posting the narrated video is outweighed by the cost in public trust.   

Last month, I requested City Manager Steve Mermell to ensure that the narrated video is deleted from the City’s website.  Apparently, the City has chosen not to do so.  Other cities have been known to post biased and unsupported versions of officer-involved shootings and to attack the character of the victims after they are dead (see “Crafty PR Lets Police Reshape Their Narrative,” Los Angeles Times, August 30, 2020).  I hope most of us will agree that Pasadena is better than that and should delete the narrated video from its website.  

Sonja K. Berndt is a retired state prosecutor who lives in Pasadena.