Thomas Yatsko's Attorney: No Indictment 'Hard To Stomach'

The family of 21-year-old Thomas Yatsko is disappointed in the grand jury's June 6 decision but anxious to present their civil trial against Cleveland Police Sgt. Dean Graziolli.

Graziolli  was not indicted by a Cuyahoga County grand jury in Yatsko's 2018 death outside the Corner Alley in University Circle.

Yatsko family attorney Nicholas DiCello says he was surprised by the decision considering Yatsko was unarmed.

"Each side throwing a couple of punches, minor injuries and someone can be shot dead and there's no probable cause to believe that there's any criminal activity that took place?" DiCello said. "I find that hard to stomach, frankly."

Graziolli was off duty and working security during the shooting, which DiCello says will be a key issue in the civil case. Prosecutors requested that the judge deliver the relevant instructions on use of deadly force by police officers to the grand jurors, according to a press release from Special Prosecutor Ron O'Brien

"Jury instruction will be given to the jury in our case that will address whether this off-duty police officer was acting as a police officer at the time," DiCello said. "The law addressed this by way of evaluating whether or not the officer was engaged purely as a private actor or whether he was engaged at least in part in connection with his official duties as an officer."

There is a legal standard of acting under the color of law that says a person dressed as a police officer with a badge, DiCello added, and the expectation is that person is acting as a police officer. Graziolli was wearing his Cleveland Police uniform at the time of the shooting and used a city-issued weapon in the shooting.

DiCello said Yatsko's family has placed their trust in the legal system and while they respect the results, they're disappointed.

"They're still in the process of kind of reacting to this news and this family will persevere through this," DiCello said. "They've persevered through quite a bit, but I can tell you that they and we are anxious to present our evidence in the civil case."

The dates for the civil case against Graziolli have not yet been scheduled, but DiCello was clear in what he hopes to gain from the suit.

"We hope to raise awareness," DiCello said. "We hope that officers and the city and even the private community that employ these officers will, with every case, reevaluate. Is there a better way to do it? Can we avoid something like this happening in the future? [The goal is to] reduce the number of these lethal confrontations, particularly between young African-American men and our local police, whether they're in private employment or public."

Graziolli is a 26-year veteran of the force and remains on administrative restricted duty.