No video recorded the actual killing, and testimony conflicted on the details.
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The details of what happened have proved extraordinarily hard to sort out; in the end it took the jury nearly two days of deliberation before they could agree on a verdict.
But defense attorney James Broccoletti said shooting was his only choice after “everything he tried to do didn’t work”. Prosecutors attempted to call Rankin’s ex-wife as a rebuttal witness Tuesday, however the prosecution rested after Judge Johnny Morrison denied this request. The judge doesn’t have to follow the jury’s recommendation, but can’t increase the penalty.
A jury convicted a white former police officer of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of an unarmed black teen accused of shoplifting at a Wal-Mart.
James said she merely exchanged a morning greeting with the juror and then walked away to use a different elevator when she learned that he was involved in the Chapman case.
“I think this is a bad tragedy I wish had never happened. I wish it never occurred”.
Gregory Provo said Chapman was standing about five yards away when he raised both hands in a boxing style, asking the cop, “Are you going to fucking shoot me?” “I wish I could have done more to keep him alive”, he added. Eight are black, and four are white. Criminal charges are rare in police-involved shootings, and convictions are even more uncommon.
Stinson’s data don’t include cases in which civilians died in police custody or were killed by other means, or those in which officers faced only lesser charges.
Persuading a jury to convict in these cases is always hard because people tend to give police the benefit of the doubt, said Philip Stinson, a criminal justice professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.
A police officer has been convicted in the shooting death of black teenager last spring. They oppose Rankin’s motion for a mistrial and have argued that the trial should continue. But Rankin’s lawyers say the shooting should be judged on its own set of facts and has nothing to do with the deaths of other black men at the hands of police.
Paul Akey, a crane operator, who was part of a team from DE constructing the Wawa store in Portsmouth, said “He was aggressive, he was charging the officer”.
Rankin said he calmly approached Chapman to discuss the shoplifting accusation and was preparing to handcuff him when the teen refused to comply with his orders and a struggle ensued.
Rankin stated that he shot Chapman as the 18-year-old was charging toward him. Instead, he said Chapman screamed “shoot me” several times before charging at him from about 6 feet away. He said experienced “tunnel vision” at that point, and fearing for his life, fired twice to stop him. He described the shooting as a “terrible tragedy” and said he wished it had never happened.
After hearing the verdict, the mother of the victim broke into tears – unhappy with the decision not to convict Rankin of first-degree murder.
In 2012, Rankin shot and killed unarmed cook Kirill Denyakin, who was allegedly banging loudly on a door outside of an apartment complex. In his first on-duty killing, he was cleared of wrongdoing after firing 11 times at a white burglary suspect. Four years ago he also shot and killed an unarmed suspect but was kept on active duty; it was only after the second fatal shooting that he was removed from the force.
Sallie Chapman, center, lingered in the courtroom and wept after the verdict was read Thursday, Aug. 4, 2016 in Portsmouth.
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State prosecutors argued that Rankin killed Chapman intentionally after resisting arrest and attempting to flee.
