The Office of the Attorney General releases a 221-page report of its investigation into the killing of Edson Thevenin. The report calls into question Sergeant Randall French’s account of what happened that evening, citing a forensic analysis commissioned by the OAG that “conclusively established that Sergeant French was not pinned when he began firing his gun.”
From the Attorney General’s report:1
“Almost immediately, and without having conducted any real investigation, the TPD publicly adopted the position that Sergeant French was pinned when he began shooting and that the shooting was therefore justified. The TPD did so notwithstanding its possession of evidence contradicting that version of events, including photographs it took of Mr. Thevenin’s windshield showing trajectory rods inserted in each of the eight bullet holes. Those photographs make clear that some of the bullets were fired from different points across the front of Mr. Thevenin’s car.” (p. 1-2).
The OAG report (p. 10) concludes that the Troy Police Department mishandled the investigation: “First, the TPD, almost from the beginning of its investigation, prejudged the outcome. Second, the TPD grossly mishandled the three civilian witnesses. Third, the TPD failed to arrange for basic forensic analyses to be conducted. Fourth, the TPD overlooked or ignored evidence that conflicted with Sgt. French’s account, including the bullet trajectory evidence.”