Tulsa officer acquitted in killing of black motorist

Associated Press A jury has acquitted a white Oklahoma police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man last year.

The jury reached its verdict after deliberating for just over nine hours Wednesday.

Tulsa Officer Betty Jo Shelby says she shot 40year-old Terence Crutcher out of fear because she said he didn’t obey commands to lie on the ground and appeared to reach inside his SUV for what she thought was a gun.

Prosecutors told jurors that Officer Shelby overreacted, arguing that the unarmed Mr. Crutcher had his hands in the air and wasn’t combative.

Officer Shelby, who has been on unpaid leave from the Tulsa Police Department since she was charged, took the potentially risky step of testifying in her own defense, calmly asserting that she had a reasonable fear that Mr. Crutcher was reaching for a gun and that she simply followed her training.

An autopsy showed that Mr. Crutcher had been high on PCP, and Officer Shelby testified that she could smell the drug.

Officer Shelby could have spent between four years to life in prison if she was convicted.

Defense Attorney Shannon McMurray said Officer Shelby is “elated and very proud of her jury” of eight women and four men, including at least four black jurors.

Ms. McMurray says Officer Shelby is ready to get back to her life.

Police cameras captured the scene on Sept. 16, 2016, when Officer Shelby, 43, fired a single bullet into the chest of Mr. Crutcher as he stood next to his SUV on a treelined street.

Like several other recent cases, the trial of Officer Shelby in the death of Mr. Crutcher demonstrated both the increased pressure to hold officers responsible for using lethal force and the difficulty of convicting them of a crime.

The shooting was among a spate of officerinvolved shootings in recent years that helped galvanize the Black Lives Matter movement and prompted calls for more police accountability in cities such as Chicago.

Earlier Wednesday, the Chicago Police Department, under intense criticism from the Justice Department and citizens’ groups for excessive use of force, announced a sweeping change to its use-of-force policy, embracing the concepts of de-escalation during critical incidents and the sanctity of life.