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Mom asks for answers in take-out shooting By SARAH LEMON More than a month after he was shot at after approaching an unmarked police vehicle with a take-out box of Chinese food, Jorge Armando Cisneros will appear in court on charges filed against him in the case. More than a month after Lt. Jim Anderson fired the shot, the Jackson County Sheriff's Department is still conducting its internal investigation. Cisneros, 24, and 24-year-old Jose Pepe Banuelos allegedly were driving recklessly and harassing Anderson while he was driving home from work on April 2. On April 18, a Jackson County grand jury declined to file criminal charges against Anderson, commander of the Jackson County Narcotics Enforcement Team. But Cisneros, his family and friends are still seeking answers from the sheriff's office. "So what happened?" asked Maria Cisneros, Jorge Cisneros' mother. Foremost in her mind is the fact that her son could have been killed and that the same thing could happen to someone else. "I'm happy because my son is alive," Maria Cisneros said. But family and friends wonder why the district attorney's office didn't tell the public that Jorge said he was grazed by the bullet fired from Anderson's gun. "The story I heard from Jorge is completely different from what I read in the paper," said Georgia Hilton, a former teacher of Jorge Cisneros and a family friend. Photos show a stippled patch of pinhead-sized scabs on Jorge's arm. Police also took photos of the wound but have a different explanation. "Anybody who knows forensics knows it's not (a bullet wound)," said Medford police Lt. Mike Moran, whose department investigated the shooting. "I saw it; it was just a scratch." The grand jury also saw the photos, said District Attorney Mark Huddleston. Jurors decided the wound did not look fresh nor did it seem to be caused by a bullet. Moran said a bullet that grazed the skin would leave a burn-like mark or remove a chunk of flesh. Cisneros' wound appears as if he was scratched by blackberry bushes, possibly when running from the shooting scene at the corner of Stewart and Columbus avenues, he said. Both Huddleston and Moran said that Jorge Cisneros did not insist that the bullet hit him. He just told investigators he may have been struck. Huddleston said that fact was not released to the public because it wasn't a big factor in the case. Yet more questions remain for the Cisneros family. The largest: What will happen to Lt. Anderson? "There's pretty much no questions asked about him," said Jorge Cisneros. Maria Cisneros has tried to make an appointment to speak with Sheriff Robert Kennedy, but hasn't heard back from sheriff's office administrators. Kennedy said Thursday that he had heard she wanted to meet with him; he said he would talk to her once the internal investigation is complete. Maria Cisneros said she doesn't defend her son's actions dealing with Anderson. But she and her family want to know why the 23-year veteran of the sheriff's department didn't show a police badge or call for backup. If Anderson had, Jorge Cisneros said, he and his friends would have turned around and walked the other way. Kennedy said an expert on the use of force - not a sheriff's office employee - is conducting an independent review of the shooting. Kennedy has declined to identify the reviewer until the investigation is finished. A team of deputies in the sheriff's office training division also are reviewing the department's firearms and tactics policies in response to the case, Kennedy said. The sheriff said he expects to give the entire case a final look within the next few days. Anderson remains on light duty at JACNET. He is not permitted to serve search warrants or conduct investigations until the internal investigation is wrapped up, Kennedy said. Cisneros was scheduled to appear in Jackson County Circuit Court at 9 a.m. today on charges of harassment and second-degree criminal mischief in connection with the case. Banuelos was charged with reckless driving and possession of methamphetamine. Banuelos was convicted in 1999 of delivery of marijuana. Another charge of delivery of a controlled substance filed against him is pending. The Banuelos family declined comment. Jorge Cisneros was convicted in 2000 of first-degree burglary. Two years earlier, he was convicted of first- and second-degree burglary. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.