Factbox: Outcomes of High-Profile Trials of Police-Involved Deaths
Former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murder and manslaughter on Tuesday in the choking death of George Floyd in May 2020, which was recorded on video by a bystander and touched off global…
Former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murder and manslaughter on Tuesday in the choking death of George Floyd in May 2020, which was recorded on video by a bystander and touched off global protests over racial injustice and excessive use of force by police.
Since 2005, about 140 non-federal police officers in the United States have been charged with murder or manslaughter resulting from an on-duty shooting, according to data compiled by Philip Stinson, a criminologist at Bowling Green State University. The conviction rate in those cases is about 46%, although some convictions were for lesser offenses.
The following are details of some high-profile trials of police officers in the United States:
GUILTY VERDICTS
– Former Minneapolis officer Mohamed Noor was convicted in 2019 of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for killing 40-year-old Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a white Australian, outside her home near Minneapolis in 2017. Noor said he was startled by a loud noise when he shot Damond, who had approached the patrol car to report a possible sexual assault.
– Former police officer Nouman Raja was convicted in 2019 of manslaughter and attempted first-degree murder in the fatal 2015 shooting of Black motorist Corey Jones who was waiting for his car to be towed off the highway in West Palm Beach, Florida. Prosecutors said a recording showed Raja, who was in plainclothes, did not identify himself as a police officer. Jones had pulled out a legally owned handgun in the encounter.
– Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke was found guilty in 2018 of second-degree murder for firing 16 shots at Black teenager Laquan McDonald, who was armed with a knife. Police dashboard camera video of the 2014 shooting released more than a year after the encounter showed McDonald appearing to move away as Van Dyke gunned him down. The video led to protests and the dismissal of the city’s police superintendent.
– Former Balch Springs, Texas, policeman Roy Oliver was found guilty of murder in 2018 for fatally shooting Black teenager Jordan Edwards in 2017. Edwards was unarmed and in a car moving away from Oliver when he shot her in the head.