BRPD officer fired for shooting at Raheem Howard wants dismissal overturned

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - An attorney for Yuseff Hamadeh, the officer who was fired from the Baton Rouge Police Department in October, says Hamadeh’s termination should be reversed due to procedural violations during an internal investigation into his actions. Hamadeh was fired in October for his involvement in a high-profile case in which investigators determined there was no evidence to support claims that a Baton Rouge man, Raheem Howard, shot at Hamadeh while fleeing a vehicle during a traffic stop. During the incident, Hamadeh opened fire on Howard as he fled.

Attorney Tommy Dewey confirmed to WAFB a motion was filed Thursday, Dec. 13, alleging investigators violated the police officer’s bill of rights during a polygraph examination about the shooting. According to Dewey, none of the exam was recorded and he was not allowed to be present with Hamadeh during the exam.

“Case law on it is clear,” Dewey said, noting investigations must follow certain minimum standards or be considered null. “Those standards were not upheld,” he said.

Should it be determined investigators violated Hamadeh’s rights by not following procedure, his firing would automatically be overruled.

On Aug. 10, Howard was charged with attempted murder of a police officer and illegal use of a weapon. Moments before Howard was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on those charges, he said to WAFB cameras, “They got the dash cam and the body cam… I didn’t have anything.”

Shortly thereafter on Aug. 29, BRPD Chief Murphy Paul released a statement in regards to public outcry to release body cam footage, admitting neither the officer’s body cam nor the front-facing dash cam in the officer’s vehicle were turned on during the incident. The rear-facing camera was on, officials said, but it was facing downward, so it did not capture any relevant footage. More than a month after his arrest on Oct. 2, Howard was released from jail.

On Thursday, Oct. 11 Officer Hamadeh was fired from BRPD following an administrative hearing in relation to the shooting. Days later on Oct. 24, East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore started dismissing criminal cases Hamadeh was involved in. Records indicate some of the cases involved drugs and illegal weapons.

Howard’s family and attorneys told WAFB in October they believe Hamadeh should be charged with attempted murder.

RELATED STORIES:

• BRPD chief addresses recent crimes in city, shooting death of Wayde Sims, Raheem Howard case 
• Family of Raheem Howard calls for arrest of BRPD officer; action in case 
• BRPD releases audio evidence involving man accused of shooting at police officer 
• Charges dropped for man accused of shooting at police officer 
• Attorney for man at center of officer-involved shooting maintains client’s innocence 

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