A white former police officer was
found guilty of murder Tuesday for the April 2017 shooting death of an
African American teenager and could face up to life in prison.
Roy
Oliver had testified he was defending his partner when he shot into a
car leaving a house party in the Dallas suburb of Balch Springs.
Fifteen-year-old Jordan Edwards, a freshman honor roll student who was
sitting in the front passenger seat, was killed instantly.
The
incident became a flash point in North Texas and nationally, reigniting
concerns over racism and police brutality. Oliver is the second
ex-officer in Dallas County to be found guilty of murder this year in
connection with a civilian’s death.
More than a dozen uniformed police officers lined
the walls of the packed courtroom as the verdict was read. The jury,
which deliberated for 13 hours, found Oliver not guilty of two counts of
aggravated assault with a deadly weapon by a public servant.
“For
an officer to be convicted of murder resulting from an on-duty
shooting, the facts of the incident have to be so bizarre that there is
no rational explanation for the officer’s actions,” noted Philip
Stinson, an associate professor of criminal justice at Bowling Green
State University who tracks police misconduct. “I think that shooting
into a car full of teenagers as they slowly drive down the street away
from the officer fits that pattern.”
You can read the full and complete story by clicking here.
If you're unfamiliar with the death of Jordan Edwards, you can get the complete recap of the case by clicking here. To put it short, the officer lied, as usual. Fortunately the body camera footage could not be disputed.
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