The City of Pittsburgh law department gave an update Wednesday on two legal cases stemming from the 2021 death of Jim Rogers, who died at a hospital after city police shocked him repeatedly with a Taser. The city agreed to pay a historic $8 million civil settlement to Rogers’ estate earlier this year, but officials have confirmed those payments are on hold.
The city also remains in arbitration with three of the nine officers disciplined or fired in Rogers’ death.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner ruled Rogers' death an “accident” due to a lack of oxygen to the brain. No criminal charges have been filed in connection with his death.
And though Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. has said that officers should be charged criminally in the case, he has not filed any charges. A grand jury investigation last year did not yield any indictments.
But the city has consistently taken the position that Rogers’ death was the direct result of police action. Five officers were fired, and four others received suspensions. One of the fired officers was later allowed to retire.
According to the police union, the ongoing arbitration involves two officers who were fired and one who was suspended. They have resorted to arbitration in an attempt to overturn or reduce the scope of the discipline. Neither the union nor the city has confirmed the identities of those officers.
In a media briefing Wednesday, City Solicitor Krysia Kubiak responded to questions about the city's hiring of a forensic pathologist to investigate the circumstances of Rogers’ death as part of the labor dispute. The city hired Dr. Bennet Omalu, a well-known forensic pathologist who is often credited with discovering the link between traumatic brain disease and NFL players. Some critics of his work, however, have questioned his research and his depictions of his findings. Omalu also at one time worked for the former Allegheny County Coroner's Office — now the Medical Examiner's Office.
Kubiak acknowledged that the city hiring Omalu for a labor dispute is unusual.
“We don't normally hire a medical expert for labor arbitrations, but we felt like we did need to in this case,” Kubiak said, adding that the city took this step after the police union hired its own medical expert to evaluate the incident.
"We hired [Omalu] for his knowledge in the area, his time as a medical examiner in Allegheny County, his knowledge of the pathology of the body and his exposure ... to the impact of Tasers," she said.
The city did not hire a medical expert to assist in its response to the civil lawsuit. In fact, Omalu also was hired by the lawyer who sued the city on behalf of Rogers’ estate. While that has raised some eyebrows, Kubiak argued that Omalu’s involvement in the civil case provides built-in expertise.
“It was actually a benefit to us that [Dr.] Omalu was involved in that prior case because we knew he was already familiar with the medical records,” Kubiak said.
Bob Swartzwelder, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #1, confirmed that the union hired a medical expert “to help us process the medical evidence” in the arbitration case, but said he’s confident in the findings of the medical examiner’s office.
“We stand by the findings of Dr. Karl Williams, who is a very competent and professional medical examiner in this county,” said Swartzwelder.
But earlier this week, Omalu took shots at Williams in an interview with WPXI.
“The medical examiner who performed this autopsy misled the public intentionally and determined this case to be an accident and not a homicide in order to protect the police,” Omalu told WPXI.
Omalu did not respond to WESA’s request for comment Wednesday.
Swartzwelder called Omalu’s comments a “character assassination” of Williams, which he said he finds “appalling.”
“I believe the evidence will demonstrate that this was an unfortunate death and that the officers did not … contribute to [Rogers'} death,” Swartzwelder said.
Omalu will produce a report for Pittsburgh that responds to one created by the union’s medical expert, who was not named Wednesday. But Swartzwelder questioned why the city didn’t already have an extensive report completed by a forensic expert.
“I think it's sad that you have all these medical experts involved now,” he said. “After you've already decided to pay out $8 million.”
Civil settlement on hold
Pittsburgh agreed to pay the historic $8 million settlement with the Rogers estate this spring, with the first payout totaling $2 million this year and two subsequent payments scheduled for 2024 and 2025. At the time, attorneys in the case said the city had never before paid such a large amount to settle a civil rights case.
But Kubiak on Wednesday said the city has put its first payment on hold while questions remain about Rogers’ estate.
James Frierson, Rogers’ brother, was determined to be the head of the estate by Allegheny County Orphan’s Court, which may determine what happens to an individual’s property after death. But questions about how that determination was made gave the city pause, Kubiak said.
She noted that she learned of those questions after City Council President Theresa Kail Smith brought them to her office.
“We [later] noticed that some of the standards that are required by Orphan's Court had not been met in that … case,” she said. “We wanted to make sure that all of the proper estate administration had been done on that case before we turned over city funds.”
Kubiak said the city filed a petition to put the first $2 million payment in a trustee account before handing it over to Frierson. Kubiak said Frierson has since hired a new attorney who has completed some of the additional paperwork required.
She cautioned that the city isn’t questioning the ruling of the Orphan’s Court.
“The city was not a party, nor should they have been a party to this estate case. We came in at the end and said, ‘Hey, we want to make sure that everything in the other state case has been done properly,’” she said.
Kubiak said she expects the city and the estate to be able to work out the remaining issues, which she did not disclose, to transfer the payment.
Mayor Ed Gainey was not present at Wednesday’s wide-ranging press conference, but his Communications Director Maria Montaño said the office stands by the city solicitor and the discipline handed down to officers last year.
“The city is committed to making sure that incidents such as the death of Jim Rogers never happen again,” she said. “In order to do that, we need to do all that we can to hold those responsible accountable for their actions.”
