News Articles

“Witnesses reported that the robber had a handgun and stated: ‘I want Promethazine and Oxy,’” it said. “‘I don’t want any trouble. Just give me Promethazine and Oxy.’”

Picerno said the officers did not know the handgun was a replica when they encountered Aubrey. He said regardless of whether officers believed the gun was real, Aubrey never pointed it at officers or anyone else after they arrived. Aubrey did not pose the threat necessary to justify deadly force, Picerno said. Read more at: https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article316755045.html#storylink=cpy

A Jackson County grand jury has indicted a Kansas City man this week in connection with a fatal 2024 hit-and-run crash in Kansas City, court records show.

“Any case that he’s involved in, dating back a number of years now, is going to be looked at with a fine-toothed comb and gone over,” Picerno said. “And certainly, if he’s a central key witness and his credibility was, let’s say, for instance, in most cases, if it’s a one witness case, potentially, and his credibility was the central factor in that kind of a case, then any convictions that came from those convictions are going to be looked at very hard.

Although prosecutors declined to file charges against Burnette, the fatal encounter was unnecessary, according to John Picerno, an attorney representing Williams’ family in the lawsuit filed in late March in Jackson County Court. “We believe he unjustly took Kenneth’s life, which represents a profound breach of the public trust placed in law-enforcement officers,” Picerno wrote me in a text message. “His actions were reckless, unreasonable, and unjustified, and no person who engages in such conduct can safely or responsibly serve in any law enforcement capacity.”

Regarding the police conduct of the pursuit, Kansas City attorney John Picerno, who has represented families suing the department, said police chase cases are difficult to win because the laws are written in a way that protects police departments. “Car chases are a different thing entirely, and the law in Missouri is not favorable to plaintiffs in those types of lawsuits,” Picerno said in a phone interview. “Unfortunately, the laws need to be changed in order for plaintiffs to be able to pursue and win a claim under those circumstances.”

“Mrs. Wilson has lost her son, people have lost loved ones,” Picerno said. “It’s always a heartbreaking thing for any parent to go through to lose your child.”

"We believe the shooting was not justified since no one was in imminent danger, which is evidenced by the other officer's decision not to fire,” Defense Attorney John Picerno, who is representing Ms. Wilson in the lawsuit, said in a statement to KSHB 41 News.

"Nobody taught them to do the things that they're doing out there on the street. They're running, recklessly out there on the street of their own volition," Picerno said. It's incumbent upon the leaders in any police department in the United States of America to rein these guys back in."

“We certainly don’t need reckless law enforcement officers patrolling our streets,” Picerno said. “The decision to shoot should be the last alternative for an officer. The overwhelming majority of officers perform admirably under difficult circumstances. “An officer with his propensity for violence should never be allowed in the profession. I know my clients will be relieved.”