23 October 2017

Back In The News: Justice Delayed For Ex-Mesa Police Officer in Killing of Daniel Shaver

Any reasonable person - and that includes some readers of this blog - might want to stay informed about a local office-involved shooting incident that dropped-out of the news headlines and public interest for more than a year.
There were a series of posts about the incident featured on this blog that you can access in the Search Box in the upper right-hand of this page.
Here's a brief summary of that incident recently posted in Business Insider

Trial to begin for ex-Arizona officer charged with murder

Jacques Billeaud, Associated Press18h4

Business Insider | 2017-10-22

PHOENIX (AP) — Officers responding to a call that someone was pointing a rifle out a window at an Arizona hotel rushed to the guest's room and ordered a man inside to exit, lay face-down in the hallway and refrain from making any sudden movements - or risk being shot.
Daniel Shaver of Granbury, Texas, sobbed as he begged police at the Mesa hotel not to shoot, and was ordered to crawl toward officers. As he inched forward, he reached toward the waistband of his shorts, leading an officer who believed Shaver was grabbing a handgun to fatally shoot him.
As it turned out, no gun was found on Shaver's body. . .
A lawyer for Shaver's widow said it looked as though authorities were treating Brailsford differently than other people facing murder charges, noting Brailsford was released from custody without having to post a bond.
Shaver's widow also complained that prosecutors offered a deal to Brailsford to plead guilty to negligent homicide and face punishment ranging from probation to nearly four years in prison. Brailsford declined the plea offer, according to court records.
"This office will prosecute this case with the same degree of professionalism as we do any other, recognizing the due process rights of the defendant, the rights of the victim and the victim's family in pursuit of a just result for all," Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said when announcing the charge in 2016. . .

A rash of recent stories were aggregated from a quick Google search: