Jury Hangs In Trial Of Albuquerque Police Who Shot Fleeing Homeless Man

By Bob Owens

The trial of two Albuquerque (NM) police officers who shot a mentally ill homeless man as he turned away from them on a boulder-strown hillside has surprisingly ended in a hung jury.

The murder trial of two former police officers in the shooting death of a mentally ill homeless man in Albuquerque, N.M., in 2014 has ended without verdicts.

The former officers, Dominique Perez and Keith Sandy, both faced charges of second-degree murder; Sandy was also accused of aggravated battery. After two days of deliberations, the jury considering the murder charges was deadlocked 9-3 for acquittal, according to the Albuquerque Journal. A unanimous jury decision is required in murder cases.

“District Judge Alisa Hadfield declared a mistrial after she polled jurors individually to confirm they believed further deliberations would be futile in deciding whether the officers were guilty of second-degree murder. No vote was taken on a battery charge against Sandy,” the newspaper reports.

Special prosecutor Randi McGinn said it will be up to incoming District Attorney Raúl Torrez to decide whether to retry the two in connection with the 2014 shooting death.

The two men were accused of shooting James Boyd, 38, when he was camping in the foothills outside Albuquerque in March …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms