Attorneys for slain boy's family want own experts to testify
By Associated Press, Associated Press
Nov 28, 2015 11:44 PM CST
FILE- In this March 3, 2015, file photo, Samaria Rice, center, the mother of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy fatally shot by a Cleveland police officer, watches the video of Tamir's shooting during a news-conference in Cleveland. Attorney Benjamin Crump, left, and attorneys Walter Madison, right, watch....   (Associated Press)

CLEVELAND (AP) — Attorneys for the family of the black 12-year-old boy who was fatally shot by a white Cleveland police officer last year have asked a prosecutor to allow their use-of-force experts to testify before the grand jury.

The request follows the release of reports by prosecutors that concluded the shooting was justified because the officers had no way of knowing that Tamir Rice's pellet gun wasn't a real firearm.

The family's experts say bad police tactics led to Tamir's death.

A consultant notes that police should have better assessed the situation back on November 22, 2014. The consultant also criticizes the prosecutor's experts for assuming that Patrolman Timothy Loehmann warned Tamir to raise his hands before shooting him.

Investigators have noted there is no evidence of that.