Bobby and Marian Tolan, their son Robbie and attorney Benjamin Crump seek justice in the
courtroom.
Tolan is represented by noted attorney Benjamin Crump, who has represented the families of slain Black males Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and others. Crump was recently sworn in as president of the National Bar Association.
In 2008, Tolan, then a 23-year-old minor leaguer, was shot and seriously injured outside his parents’ home
in the Houston community of Bellaire by policeman Jeffrey Cotton. He mistakenly believed Tolan was driving a stolen vehicle after another officer punched in the wrong license plate number in checking the vehicle, which belonged to the Tolan family.
Tolan, the son of Bobby and Marian Tolan, planned to follow in the footsteps of his father, a former Major League Baseball player. The shooting ended Robbie Tolan’s dream of an MLB career. Cotton’s bullet traveled through Tolan’s lung and punctured his liver, where it remains today.
After a long legal battle – including the 2010 acquittal of Cotton on criminal charges and the 2012 dismissal of the Tolan lawsuit – the Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals must revisit the case. It said the civil lawsuit filed by Tolan was unconstitutionally dismissed without adequately weighing evidence presented by Tolan.
Crump said with Tolan’s lawsuit, “We hope to give the family some sense of justice. Marian Tolan has always believed that they deserve to have their day in court where they are able to present the evidence to a jury. It is very important because there needs to be some deterrent for officers treating our citizens and our community differently than they would treat other citizens of other communities.”
Crump said Tolan’s case is a perfect example of “driving while Black.”
“This whole ‘driving while Black’ phenomenon in America when it comes to policing simply must stop,” he said. “You cannot justify discrimination and prejudice against certain ethnic groups in our country.”
Crump noted the historic aspect of the Tolan case – the fact that the Supreme Court even heard the case, ruled against police officers and rendered a unanimous decision.
Marian Tolan, who has relied on her faith to cope with the ordeal, considers it a miracle that her son survived the injury. She said it’s also a miracle that the Supreme Court reinstated their lawsuit. Now, as their case goes to court, she continues to trust God in the quest for justice.
“When you are determined to fight for change you have to go all the way,” she said. “If you don’t go all the way you’ll never know what God will do to help you. Even in this tragedy there were a lot of miracles. Because I trust God I’ve already won.”
Crump said he is not asking for a monetary amount with the lawsuit. “That will be decided by the jury,” he said. “This is about so much more than money to the Tolan family.”
Special to the NNPA from Houston Defender
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