Mayor issues apology to family of woman whose death was mocked by SPD officer

On Wednesday we received a letter Mayor Bruce Harrell wrote to the family of a woman struck and killed by an officer.

The letter comes days after the release of a body camera video showing that officer joking about her death.

In his statement, the mayor extended condolences to the family of Jaahnavi Kandula, writing, “I want to be clear that the comments made by one person do not reflect the feelings of our city or the communities that call it home. We recognize that Jaahnavi’s death is a loss for our whole community, the loss of a young woman who had so much life ahead of her to do amazing things and share that joy with loved ones.”

Seattle defense attorney James Egan said he is not surprised that we are talking about this detective again. 

In 2010, a profanity-laced dash cam video showed four Seattle officers detaining a Yakima man after pulling him over for a traffic stop. One of the four officers was Detective Daniel Auderer.

“One of the officers says to this Hispanic detainee, ‘If it weren’t for my badge, I’d skull f*** you and drag you down the street’,” said Egan. “And Officer Auderer, in listening to this, has the same kind of goofy laugh that you hear in the most recent body cam recording.”

Egan believes Auderer got just a slap on the wrist in 2010. And he said this is proof nothing much has changed.

Last January, Auderer’s body camera recorded him as he was on his way to assist in the investigation of the devastating accident. A 23-year-old graduate student was hit and killed by another Seattle police officer who was speeding to a call.

Auderer is heard laughing and mocking her death. At one point he said her life had “limited value.”

Former King County Sheriff John Urquhart characterizes Auderer’s comments as a kind of “graveyard humor.” But he said he may have crossed the line.

He was asked if this case was a fire-able offense. 

“Yes. It could be,” he said. “It depends on what is in his heart. And Chief (Adrian) Diaz is going to have the wisdom of Solomon to figure out what is really going on with this officer.”

“This is not acceptable,” insists Attorney Egan. “Graveyard humor shouldn’t be when you’re wearing the badge.”

Egan wouldn’t say whether he thinks Auderer should lose his job but he said what the detective said is egregious.

“Graveyard humor is just another flavor of say, racist humor, the kind of humor we saw on the video a few years ago,” Egan said. “It’s crass. It’s not funny.”

Egan said his clients settled with the city of Seattle. Three of the officers were suspended without pay for a few days but Auderer was cleared of any wrongdoing.

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