A man in Louisiana was shot several times by a police officer. In fact, one account of the incident is that the officer shot at the man at least six times, with three bullets hitting him. The man did not survive his injuries, and his girlfriend has been arrested and will likely need a strong criminal defense to fight the charge of attempted first-degree murder leveled against her in conjunction with the incident.
The man and the woman were reportedly involved in a romantic relationship. They had told someone they planned to go frog hunting together that night. At some point, a police officer stopped them as they were riding along on an all terrain vehicle.
Police say the vehicle may have been stolen, and the two people riding it were unable to show proper identification. What happened next depends on whom you ask. Some say the police officer shot the man while he was lying, defenseless, on his stomach with his hands cuffed. The woman’s side of the story is that she jumped on the police officer to try to stop him from killing her boyfriend.
Authorities have a very different version of the story. They say the man struck the police officer first, knocking him to the ground and possibly rendering him unconscious. When the police officer regained composure and stood up, he allegedly drew his gun and commanded the man to lie down on the ground, face first. Officials say the man complied but began to struggle against the police officer when the officer tried to handcuff him.
A Louisiana grand jury chose not to indict the police officer. The woman will have the opportunity to present a strong criminal defense as she tries to avoid conviction for attempted murder. There have been times in the past when defendants in similar situations avoided conviction and later credited their successes to the type of legal representation they secured before heading to court.
Source: Fox, “No charges for Louisiana deputy in man’s fatal shooting“, Accessed on Dec. 16, 2017
