Federal appeals court allows family to sue SF police for fatally shooting unarmed man

(03-09) 16:38 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- The family of an unarmed man who was shot to death by San Francisco police in the attic of an apartment can go to trial in a suit accusing the officers of illegal entry and excessive force, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.

Asa Sullivan, 25, was killed by a barrage of gunfire in June 2006 in the dark attic of a Villas Parkmerced townhouse near Lake Merced. Officers had entered the apartment without a warrant based on a neighbor's report of possible drug activity, found Sullivan in the attic, and said they had shot him when he appeared to reach for a gun.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/09/BA8B1CD7M2.DTL

Some more good news about cops being held accountable. Yesterday I posted about a Milwaukee sheriff's sergeant sentenced to 1.5 years in prison for punching a handcuffed suspect who was sitting in the patrol car. The sergeant punched the suspect for kicking the car window.