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 4th 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.
