Judge scolds Boston city attorneys for failure to to turn over records in shooting death case

A federal court judge is reviewing whether to enter a default judgement against the city of Boston in a lawsuit over the fatal police shooting of a man in 2016.

The judge chastised attorneys representing the city for repeated delays in providing documents related to the shooting of Terrence Coleman, and questioned the amount of money the city is spending on its legal defense.

At a day-long hearing in federal court in Boston Thursday, U.S. District Court judge Mark Wolf took under advisement the request for a default, which could result in the city being held responsible for Coleman's death without a trial.

Wolf said he's held six hearings asking the city to produce evidence related to the case, adding that there have been "violations of court orders that happened repeatedly," and calling it "probably more messed up than any case I've had in 39 years."

Attorneys for the city said they've made a "good faith effort" to comply with court deadlines to submit potential evidence to the plaintiff, Coleman’s mother Hope Coleman. In 2018, she filed suit against the city, its public health commission and the officers who responded. The suit argues that Boston's first responders were not properly trained to handle mental health emergencies and shot her son when she called 911 seeking help for his schizophrenia.

“I miss my baby,” Coleman tearfully testified Thursday. “I wish I didn’t call the ambulance. I was just trying to help him.”

A report from the Suffolk County district attorney’s office, which investigated the shooting, said Coleman attacked the EMTs with a serrated kitchen knife. The report said the two police officers who responded, Garrett Boyle and Kevin Finn, wrestled with Coleman before Boyle shot Coleman. Coleman died shortly afterward.

Hope Coleman said her son was not armed and was not a threat, and that her suit is seeking "justice for Terrence and everyone else."

Coleman's attorney William Fick said he has questions "about the integrity of the investigation" into Coleman's shooting and he accused the city of having a "culture of deliberate indifference, maybe even contempt, for the truth."

The city has said part of the reason for the delay is that it has had trouble locating records about emergency response policies in effect in 2016. Brian T. Kelly, an attorney representing the city, said the process for providing potential evidence for Coleman's suit "has been deficient" but he argued that default was an extreme punishment.

Leonard Kesten, the attorney for officers Boyle and Finn, is asking for a jury trial for the officers, whom he called "heroes" who saved the lives of the EMTs who responded.

"They were authorized to shoot him as soon as they came through the door and they saw him trying to kill the EMTs," Kesten said. "They could have shot him right away but they risked their lives."

Boston police commissioner Michael Cox, who was not commissioner at the time of Coleman's shooting, was in court Thursday. He said the city continues to "take seriously" the requests for documents and is doing what it can to comply with the court orders.

Wolf has ordered the city to pay the plaintiff’s legal fees, and so far it has paid nearly $500,000. He pointed out that there were 14 lawyers in the courtroom Thursday.

"The city is paying for every lawyer in this room and it's a lot of money," Wolf said. "Fourteen lawyers to litigate the city's repeated failures to provide discovery and obey court orders."

Wolf asked both sides to meet within a week and report back to him if they reach a settlement.