Renowned former UFC fighter Frank Mir has testified before a grand jury looking into the death of Tashii Farmer, also known as Tashii Brown.
Mir was enlisted by the team defending former LVMPD officer Kenneth Lopera who was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Tashii Farmer who died last May after being placed in a chokehold by Lopera.
Mir’s testimony before the grand jury is secret but, before he testified, the martial artist reviewed videos of the scuffle between Lopera and Farmer to analyze the techniques used by Lopera to subdue Farmer. Lopera’s union believes Farmer did not die because he was choked to death but from a combination of factors including an enlarged heart, drugs in his system and the stress of the struggle with Lopera.
"When he did that one of his first reactions to me was, Steve there is no way this guy killed the suspect involved. There’s no way." Detective Steve Grammas with the Las Vegas Police Protective Association commented on Mir's reaction.
Related story: Las Vegas officer arraigned onmanslaughtercharge inchokehold death
The neckhold approved by Metro to subdue subjects was bumped up from a low-level use of force to an intermediate level following Farmer’s death. There’s a question about whether Lopera used the department-approved technique but the union says the evidence suggests Farmer was not choked to death, but died of other causes.
Frank Mir is not known to be an expert in legal cases and although he was called to testify to the grand jury, that doesn't mean that his testimony would be used in a trial.
Related story: Family of Tashii Farmer says changes to LVMPD policies too late
