Constantin Filan Shot to Death by Memorial Villages Police Department Officer in Texas

The Memorial Villages Police Department, in or near Houston, Texas, filed a custodial death report with Attorney General of Texas Ken Paxton regarding the death of Constantin Filan.  Mr. Filan was only 23 years old at the time of his shooting death.  We provide information in this post obtained from that report, and we make no allegation of any wrongdoing against anyone.

The report is fairly short.  It appears that the Memorial Villages Police Department violated Texas law by not timely filing the custodial death report.  Texas law requires a custodial death report to be filed within 30 days after a death.  Mr. Filan died on July 1, 2020, and the Memorial Villages Police Department chose not to file a report until over three months later – on October 12, 2020.  The summary portion of the report reads in its entirety:

“Suspect had been arrested for stealing and possessing mail from area residential mailboxes. He concealed identification from officers and had run from officers upon initial apprehension. During a foot pursuit the suspect was tased. After being taken into custody the suspect was transported to a area hospital for having an elevated heartrate. After being cleared by medical staff he was being walked to the marked police unit at which time he slipped out of his handcuffs and ran from a uniformed officer. During a foot pursuit the suspect hid in a bush and then attacked the officer as she approached. During the subsequent struggle/fight the officer discharged her department authorized firearm striking the suspect. The suspect was transported to the hospital where he subsequently succumb to his injuries.”

People in the United States are entitled, pursuant to the 4^th Amendment to the United States Constitution, not to have unreasonable force used on them.  If a police officer uses unreasonable force, and a person dies as a result, then certain of the person’s surviving family members may be able to bring a federal lawsuit for violation of civil rights.  Once again, we make no allegation of any wrongdoing regarding Mr. Filan but instead are merely providing general information. 

Written By: Dean Malone

Dean Malone

Dean Malone is the founder of Law Offices of Dean Malone, P.C., a jail neglect civil rights law firm. Mr. Malone earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Texas at Dallas, graduating summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA, and from Baylor University School of Law with a general civil litigation concentration. Mr. Malone served in several staff positions for the Baylor Law Review, including executive editor. Mr. Malone is an experienced trial lawyer, trying a number of cases to jury verdict and also handling arbitrations through final hearing. He heads the jail neglect section of his law firm, in which lawyers litigate cases involving serious injury and death resulting from jail neglect and abuse. Lawyers frequently refer cases to Mr. Malone due to his focus on this very complicated civil rights practice area.