Jaahnavi Kandula death: Comments taken out of context, says US cop who joked about Indian's death
Jaahnavi Kandula death: The Seattle Police Officers' Guild defended an officer who was found making insensitive comments following the death of Indian student Jaahnavi Kandula earlier this year, stating that certain viral videos of police actions shared by media fail to explain the complete story and context.
On the night of January 23, 2023, Kandula, a student at Washington's Northeastern University, was struck by officer Kevin Dave at a pedestrian crossing. He was traveling at more than 119 kmh on his way to a report of a drug overdose.
Officer Daniel Auderer laughed about the fatal crash in bodycam footage released by the Seattle Police Department on Monday, dismissing claims that Dave was at fault or that a criminal probe was required.
Auderer can be heard stating on the video, "Yeah, just write a cheque. USD 11,000. She was 26 anyway, she had limited value."
"The video only shows one side of the conversation." There is much more data and depth that has not yet been made public...," the Seattle Police Officers Guild stated in a statement, adding that a letter written by its officer Auderer is released in which the latter states that he intended the remark to ridicule lawyers.
Auderer wrote to the Office of Police Accountability on August 3 that he laughed at the stupidity of how these cases are litigated and how he has observed these incidents play out as two sides bargain over a tragedy.
"At the time I believed the conversation was private and not being recorded. The conversation was also not within the course of my duties," he wrote.
"On January 23, 2023 I was dispatched from home to assist with a fatality collision involving a city vehicle."
"While enroute home I called Mike Solan to give him an update regarding what had occurred. The phone call was inadvertently recorded on my BWV which had turned on. The conversation took place in my patrol car. I was the only occupant. During that phone call Mike Olan stated something to the effect that it was unfortunate that this would turn into lawyers arguing 'The value of human life'" he further said.
"Mike Solan asked me as he was lamenting the loss of life something similar to: 'What crazy argument can a lawyer make in something like this? What crazy thing can they come up with.' I responded with something like: 'She's 26 years old, what value is there, who cares.' I intended the comment as a mockery of lawyers - I was imitating what a lawyer tasked with negotiating the case would be saying and being sarcastic to express that they shouldn't be coming up with crazy arguments to minimize the payment," the letter further read.
"I laughed at the ridiculousness of how these incidents are litigated and the ridiculousness of how I have watched these incidents play out as two parties bargain over a tragedy. At the time I believed the conversation was private and not being recorded. The conversation was also not within the course of my duties."
"I understand that without context, the comment could be interpreted as horrifying and crude. Without context, the comment is insensitive to the family of the victim when in reality I was involved in a conversation regarding the callousness of the legal system. At the time I had no idea who the victim was," he added.
"I also understand that if heard it could diminish the trust in the Seattle Police Department and make all of our jobs more difficult. With all of that being said the comment was not made with malice or a hard heart, quite the opposite."
"My intent in requesting rapid adjudication is to be as transparent as possible. I am willing to accept any reasonable discipline our accountability partners and the Chief of Police wish to hand down," he stated.
- With inputs from agencies
