Okla. officer ‘deaf’ during shoot: att’y

A LAWYER FOR the white cop who shot an unarmed black man in Tulsa, Okla., claimed she was so focused during the incident that she “tuned out” everything around her, including the sound of her own gun firing and another officer saying he was about to use his Taser. Betty Shelby pleaded not guilty Friday to first-degree manslaughter in the killing of Terence Crutcher, 40, whose encounter with police on Sept. 16 began when his SUV broke down. Her attorney, Scott Wood, said Shelby was so zoned in during the shooting that she experienced temporary deafness. “She didn’t hear the gunshot, didn’t hear the sirens coming up behind her just prior to the shot,” Wood said. The condition, sometimes called “auditory exclusion,” happens when people in highstress situations tune out noises around them, Wood said. “It’s not only a common phenomenon described in literature, but it’s the No. 1 perceptual distortion by people I have represented who have been involved in shootings — diminished sound or complete auditory exclusion,” he argued. Shelby, one of the cops who pulled over to investigate the idle car, claimed she “feared for her life” when she opened fire — but prosecutors said the unarmed man had his hands raised and was walking away from the responding officers before he was killed. Authorities released graphic video of the shooting, prompting nationwide calls for justice. Shelby faces life in prison if convicted. She remains free on bond.