Actually the judge did allow the jury to see the video. The jurors blew this one.
Both the prosecution and defense attorneys petitioned the court to seal the video from the public. The judge did the right thing and released it. The public has a right to know how the police carry out their duties.
Read more closely. They were shown an edited video which cut out the time of the shooting. This allowed the actions of the victim to be described in terms far more threatening than they were, while portraying the barked orders of law enforcement as far less confusing than they were.
As a juror, and as a citizen my assesment is that the editing constitutes evidence tampering.
I can see how the jury would find the guy not guilty. In the dry, reasoned world of the courtroom, with the Judge and Lawyers saying “you must follow the law” the cop is absolutely not guilty. In real life he’s a murdering son of a bitch who will roast in Hell for this.
It was life or death high stress Simon Says and the guy screwed up and it cost him his life. The law says if you move your hands to your waist, cop is justified in blasting you, and for good reason when it’s an actual gangbanger on the street. Action wins over reaction, and there are chilling bodycam videos of an officer’s final moments before the bad guy’s gun comes out of nowhere fast.
When it’s a distraught, panicky citizen that is facing a slew of loaded rifles held by men screaming about killing him while making him crawl like a dog, not so much. But, it is the law.
In this instance the cop used the law to get away with what common sense plainly shows is brutal murder.
The Mesa PD got rid of this maniac, but the decision to defend him and the methods employed in court, probably in order to decrease liability, is pathetic.
Congrats, Mesa PD. You’ve done more harm to the reputation of Law Enforcement than any number of Black Lives Matter morons could do in a decade of rioting.