Judge orders trial for teen shot by officer Claim: Pistol was a plant

Claim: Pistol was a plant
Judge orders trial for teen shot by officer
Stacia Glenn, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 04/11/2008 10:13:40 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO - Attorneys for a suspected teenage gang member blinded in an officer-involved shooting claim the police officer planted a stolen pistol after shooting the teen three times.

"Terrell Markham did not have a gun on him. The gun was planted at the scene," said Dale K. Galipo, Markham's defense attorney.

Prosecutor Ron Webster said the claim about the November shooting is "preposterously ridiculous."

Webster referred to Markham's juvenile record - which includes assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, burglary, punching a teacher and a conviction for selling marijuana - to indicate a pattern of criminal behavior and use of weapons.

Superior Court Judge Douglas N. Gericke on Friday ordered Markham, 17, to stand trial as an adult on three felony charges, brandishing a firearm in the presence of police officers, resisting arrest and receiving stolen property, plus a street-gang allegation.

The shooting, which blinded Markham and eliminated his senses of smell and taste, angered Westside residents.

Westside residents in December asked that a federal mediator hold an intervention between the Police Department and the community. The two sides have met several times since.

On Friday, two police detectives testified that on Nov. 17, Markham appeared to be planning to rob Westside Food & Liquor on Medical Center Drive.

"It appeared to me he was acting nervous" and preparing to rob the store, Detective

John Munoz testified.

A surveillance video shows Markham in a fur-lined jacket inside the store and looking outside at a friend. Markham twice approached the clerk but backed away when other customers entered the market.

It was the heavy jacket on a warm afternoon that caught the attention of San Bernardino police Officer Adam Affrunti, who has been involved in five on-duty shootings in less than two years.

Markham, who police contend had a small package of marijuana in his pocket, ran when Affrunti approached him.

The chase ended in a housing courtyard on Temple Street about four blocks north of the liquor store.

When Markham refused to get down and show his hands, Affrunti kicked him in the shoulder to knock him off balance but was distracted by a woman yelling nearby.

Markham, who was crouched down, was holding on to a gun in his right rear pants pocket, Affrunti testified.

"I thought he was going to kill me," Affrunti said Friday on the stand, adding that he felt "an immense feeling of fear" during the incident.

Affrunti fired five times, striking Markham in the forehead above the right eye, in his chest and in his left hand.

Affrunti said he then took the pistol from Markham's back pocket and set it on the ground before handcuffing the teenager.

Galipo argued Affrunti planted the HK .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol that police said Markham was in possession of that day.

"The shooting could not have happened the way Officer Affrunti said it did," Galipo said. "All we have here is a 16-year-old boy running from the police."

The pistol was reported stolen Oct. 29 from a law-enforcement officer's Victorville home, San Bernardino County sheriff's officials confirmed Friday.

Markham, who is out of custody and is living with his mother because of his medical condition, is scheduled to return to court April 21.

"It appeared to me he was acting nervous" and preparing to rob the store, Detective

This is some more bullshit. If anything the Westside Liquor in the Projects is protected by niggas from the Projects and always has been.

There going to let this crooked ass afrunti off the hook, meanwhile the youngster has to deal with no ever being able to taste food or smell for the rest of his life.