Ohio killer cop Ray Tensing who shot and killed Sam DuBose will not be re-tried after two mistrials…

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http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ohio-shot-killed-sam-dubose-not-re-tried-article-1.3335585
Ohio cop Ray Tensing who shot and killed Sam DuBose will not be re-tried after two mistrials

A former university police officer will not be tried for a third time after two juries failed to reach a decision on whether he murdered an unarmed man during a traffic stop.

Ray Tensing has twice faced charges including murder and manslaughter after the death of Sam DuBose, a 43-year-old shot in the head near the University of Cincinnati in July 2015.

Jurors in the most recent case told a judge last month that they were “almost evenly split” after deliberating for five days, echoing a first mistrial last November.

Prosecutors in Hamilton County announced Tuesday that they would not try Tensing, 27, for a third time because they do not believe that a jury would convict the former officer.

"The pursuit of justice was abandoned today. The system and its outcomes have once again cast a shadow of disappointment and distrust in a judicial process that never delivered on its premise of 'justice for all' or — at least for some segments of our community," said a joint statement from the DuBose family, the local NAACP chapter and other groups.

"A murderer walks free with no accountability for taking the life of an unarmed black man."

A lawyer for Tensing told WCPO that his client was relieved by the decision.

DuBose’s death contributed to national outrage over encounters between police and black men and boys, with Black Lives Matter protests held in Cincinnati and around the country.

Tensing was wearing a Confederate flag shirt under his uniform when he shot DuBose, though said that it did not mean anything to him.

DuBose's family has slammed the judge for not allowing the shirt as evidence, and alleges that she slanted the case toward the officer's defense.

Though DuBose was unarmed, Tensing also said he feared for his life when the motorist turned his steering wheel toward him.

Body camera video of the shooting shows the officer and the driver talking about whether DuBose had a license before the car begins slowly rolling forward and Tensing opens fire.

Tensing claimed that he was dragged by the car, though the video shows him falling away as the car moves forward. Prosecutors say DuBose's body caused the acceleration when he fell against the pedal.

University of Cincinnati officials, who fired Tensing after the shooting, settled a wrongful death lawsuit from the driver's family last year for $4.8 million, and agreed to offer free tuition to his 12 children.

The decision not to bring Tensing back to court a third time comes after mistrials or acquittals for other officers in controversial police shootings.

Twin Cities Officer Jeronimo Yanez was acquitted last month in the shooting death of Philando Castile, as was Tulsa, Okla., Officer Betty Shelby a month earlier in the death of Terence Crutcher.

In December a South Carolina judge declared a mistrial for former North Charleston Officer Michael Slager, who was captured on video shooting Walter Scott as he ran away from a 2015 traffic stop.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said he has turned over files about the case to federal prosecutors who would be able to use evidence of possible racial bias in their case.

The Justice Department has investigated previous controversial deaths such as Darren Wilson's shooting of Michael Brown and the death of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, but did not bring charges in either case.

Slager pleaded guilty to excessive force in Scott's death earlier this year.

Beyond hoping for a conviction against Tensing, DuBose's family has said two other officers should be fired for supporting the defendant's story about being dragged.

Only in Amerikkka...
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