U.S. court dismissed motion to close Denyakin's civil case

Lawyers of the American policemen Stephen Rankin who shot Kirill Denyakin dead submitted a motion aiming to terminate the the civil case being heard by the U.S. court against the police officer, Kirill’s mother Yelena Denyakina told Tengrinews.kz. According to her, the hearing is scheduled for February 28, 2012. She is going to take part in the hearing hoping that the court will sustain at least the claim for a financial compensation. The Denyakins are claiming $22 million from Portsmouth police. Denyakin was unarmed when the police officer shot 11 bullets at him, so initially the court was hearing a criminal case against the policeman. But after a successful motion of his defense the criminal charges were dropped earlier this month. “This is a very common motion in these types of cases; and unfortunately with the governing law, we will probably have a difficult time winning the motion,” the plaintiff’s lawyer wrote to the Denyakins. Yelena Denyakina promised to file a lawsuit to the Supreme Court to reopen the criminal case, if they manage to win the civil case. “It is not the money that we are concerned about, we want the man to be punished, we call for justice,” she said. 26-year-old Karaganda citizen Kirill Denyakin was shot by policeman Stephen D. Rankin in Portsmouth on April 23. Denyakin was unarmed, but the police officer made 11 shots killing him on the spot. Before the tragedy Denyakin had been working as a Portsmouth hotel cook for 2 years.