Record expunged for ex-Tulsa cop acquitted in fatal shooting

By Jennifer Cruz

The fatal shooting of Terence Crutcher, an unarmed black man, by a white Tulsa cop, Betty Jo Shelby (pictured), fueled an ongoing debate over law enforcement and race relations. (Photo: Associated Press)
A state judge ruled to expunge the manslaughter charge from the record of a Tulsa cop who fatally shot an unarmed black motorist during a traffic stop last year, according to court records filed last week.
Judge William LaFortune ordered to seal all documents involving former Tulsa police officer Betty Jo Shelby’s case. Documents will only be accessible through a court order and can be destroyed after 10 years.
Shelby’s attorney, Shannon McMurray, told the Associated Press that the charge likely won’t appear on a background search, except when applying to jobs with government and law enforcement, which usually require those details be disclosed.
“This crime does not exist for employment application purposes,” McMurray said, adding it was important for Shelby “to have that smear on her name removed from public view.”
Shelby petitioned the court in August — around the same time she took a reserve deputy position with the Rogers County Sheriff’s Office — for the expungement order, about three months after the court acquitted her of manslaughter. In May, she

Source: Guns.com