Philadelphia Daily News
Thursday, Feb. 26, 2004

Jury rules against Schiebers in lawsuit

By JIM NOLAN
nolanj@phillynews.com

A multi-million dollar jury verdict wasn't going to bring Shannon Schieber back.

Nearly six years after her brutal, May 7, 1998 strangulation murder by Center City serial rapist Troy Graves, it could only keep her memory alive.

Deep down, Vicki and Sylvester Schieber always knew that. But as they sat in the front row of the courtroom yesterday - waiting for the jury to enter the room and deliver a decision in their $3.8 million federal civil rights lawsuit against the city - the emotions came flooding in.

Vicki Schieber wept softly into a tissue. Her husband wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"I always thought this would be the second-worst day of my life, next to putting [Shannon] six feet under the ground," she would say later.

In the second row behind the Schiebers sat two of Graves' rape victims, including "M.M." - a Philadelphia victim in the summer of 1997, whose attack was initially misclassified by cops as a burglary.

That mistake, the Schiebers had alleged, was an example of the police practice of downgrading sex crimes against women. They claimed the practice ultimately prevented police from identifying Graves to cops in Center City, who might have stopped him, and saved their daughter's life.

Down on the other side of the row, sitting uneasily and slightly hunched, were police officers Ray Scherff and Steve Woods.

The two Ninth District cops had responded to Schieber's South 23d Street apartment the night of her murder, but decided not to break the door down when they heard no sounds coming from the apartment, and saw no signs of forced entry.

The Schiebers had also sued the officers, only to have the case against them dropped by an appeals court. The cops attended almost every day of the two-week civil trial.

And now the jury entered the room, its job all but done after nearly 12 hours of deliberations over three days.

"All rise," said the court clerk, as the six men and six women took their seats at 12:04 p.m.

None of the jurors looked at the Schiebers.

Instead, they turned toward somber Judge Norma Shapiro, who read the charges laid out in the suit.

Had the plaintiff proved that police had a custom or practice of downgrading sex crimes complaints?

"Yes, your honor," replied the jury foreman in the front row.

Did that amount to intentional discrimination against women?

"No, your honor."

Did it amount to intentional discrimination against sexual assault victims?

"No, your honor."

Did it increase the danger to Schieber or cause her rape and murder?

"No, your honor."

In a case that started more than five years ago, the verdict took less than a minute.

Sylvester Schieber and his wife stood without emotion and watched the jurors as they exited, none returning his glance.

"Great. Great," whispered a relieved Scherff, when asked how he felt about the jury's decision.

Shapiro, whose rulings had been instrumental in bringing the case to a trial, invited the couple to her chambers after court was adjourned.

The Schiebers had come a long way - from Chevy Chase, Md., carrying a profound grief over the murder, and anger over their frustration with city officials in their search for answers to why Shannon died.

Shannon had come to Philadelphia to complete a Ph.D in finance at the Wharton School. She was 23 when Graves snuck into her second-floor apartment and strangled her.

Graves was arrested in Colorado in 2002 and is serving life prison sentences for rape and Schieber's murder.

Her death, and the subsequent series of news reports that documented a pattern of hundreds of mishandled rapes between 1995 and 1997, led to a review under former Police Commissioner John Timoney and changes in the department's policy toward sex crimes.

Yesterday, Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson took a conciliatory tack.

"I want to give condolences for the Schieber family. The person responsible for this incident was [Troy] Graves," he said. "We take crimes, sex or other, very seriously."

While Johnson said he did not want the case "to be a battle between the Schieber family and the Police Department," he said the verdict vindicated the cops on duty that night.

"We don't want anyone to believe that in winning this case we were doing anything other than trying to protect the interests of the city and the integrity of the Philadelphia Police Department," said Mayor Street.

"Nothing can be worse than losing a child."

Yesterday, the Schiebers took solace in what they believe their lawsuit accomplished, if not in its final result.

"The case was never about money, it was about change," said Sylvester Schieber.

"There were really some very dastardly things the Police Department was doing...

"Shannon never should have died. She should not have been attacked and should not have died in this city.

"We think Philadelphia is going to be a better place because of what we've done."

Chief Deputy City Solicitor Shelley R. Smith said the evidence showed that despite downgrading there was no intent to discriminate against women or sex crimes victims, and no connection to Schieber's death.

"We're very sorry for the Schieber's loss," she said, flanked by Divisional Deputy Solicitor Jeffrey M. Scott and Deputy Solicitor Elizabeth Mattioni. "It's very tragic. And nothing can replace that."

The Schiebers say they don't plan to appeal. But before they left the courthouse yesterday, Vicki Schieber said she and her husband hope to find some way to honor their child.

"We owe Shannon," said Sylvester Schieber. "We owe her some kind of memorial beyond the loss of this trial."