Death of Daniel Shaver

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The death of Daniel Leetin Shaver occurred on January 18, 2016 in Mesa in the US state of Arizona , was shot as Shaver by the police officer Philip Brailsford. The police had previously been called to the hotel by Shaver because someone was said to have held a rifle out of the window. The rifle later turned out to be an air pressure weapon. Brailsford was charged with second degree murder after the incident and acquitted by a jury. Brailsford was initially released from police service after the fatal shooting, but was reinstated in August 2018. A short time later, he was retired on medical grounds with a pension of $ 2,500 a month.

Involved

Philip Mitchell Brailsford

Philip Mitchell Brailsford was 26 years old at the time of the fatal shooting. Brailsford graduated from Mesa Desert Ridge High School in 2009. He then worked in Ecuador as a missionary for the Mormon denomination Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . After returning to the United States, he first joined the Arizona National Guard . From 2013 he was in the service of the Mesa police, where his father had already worked. Brailsford is married with one son.

Daniel Shaver

Daniel Shaver was 26 years old at the time of his death. He grew up in Nashville , Tennessee , and graduated from Hillwood High School in 2007 . He later lived in Granbury , Texas, with his wife and two daughters . Shaver was an exterminator and was in Mesa for a business trip.

Happening

According to a police report, Daniel Shaver was on a business trip at a La Quinta Inn & Suites hotel in Mesa. On the day of his death, Shaver invited two friends, Monique Portillo and Luis Nunez, to come to his room with him. There he showed them a rifle with a telescopic sight, which he used to kill birds that had lost their way in shops. When demonstrating the rifle, he held it out of the window of his room on the fifth floor, which prompted a witness to call reception, which in turn called the police.

Luis Nunez left the hotel room around 9:20 p.m. just before the police arrived. After the police arrived on site, they told Shaver and Portillo to leave the hotel room. Six officers pointed guns at them and repeatedly warned that they would be shot if they did not follow instructions. Portillo was taken into custody unarmed.

Senior Police Officer Charles Langley asked Daniel Shaver, who was lying on his stomach, to cross his legs. A few moments later he asked Shaver to kneel down. When he followed the request to kneel down, he stopped crossing his legs. This leads to Langley leaning towards him to have his legs crossed. Shaver then put his hands behind his back, whereupon Langley yelled at him again and instructed to keep his hands in the air. Langley threatened that Shaver would be shot if he ignored the instructions again and told him not to lower his hands under any circumstances. Shaver pleaded not to shoot him. After the officers told Shaver to crawl up to them, he lowered his hands and crawled on all fours towards the officers. When Shaver moved his hand to the waistband of his pants, officer Philip Brailsford fired multiple shots from his AR-15 rifle, hit Shaver five times, killing him almost instantly. Shaver was unarmed and might want to pull up his pants.

Body camera video

The wife of Daniel Shaver asked the Mesa police to publish the videos of the officers' body cameras after the death of her husband . The request to publish video recordings was initially rejected. The prosecutor's office of Maricopa County offered to see the wife of the video when she would not disclose its contents to the media. Both the prosecution and the defense demanded that the video recordings be kept under lock and key during the trial. Judge Sam Myers complied with this request.

On May 25, 2016, Judge Sam Myers ordered parts of the video material to be published. The published footage was from Brailsford's camera and another officer and shows the shooting and the detention of Monique Portillo. All of the unedited video footage was released by Mesa Police a few hours after Philip Brailsford was acquitted .

consequences

Prosecution and dismissal of Philip Brailsford

In March 2016, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office announced plans to indict Philip Brailsford with second degree murder. She described the use of lethal force as not justified under the circumstances. Brailsford pleaded not guilty in the following lawsuit.

Later that month, Mesa Police officers fired Philip Brailsford, citing various service code violations as grounds. An internal investigation had previously shown that Brailsford had incorrectly labeled his service weapon with the words “You're fucked” and “ Molon labe ”. Brailsford's behavior had previously been investigated on suspicion of excessive use of force during an arrest.

In the police report of the incident, Philip Brailsford stated that Shaver crawled up to the police to get a better firing position. The report described Shaver as cooperative, but sometimes confused by the commands and possible alcohol consumption.

Charles Langley, who led the operation, retired four months after the fatal shooting. In December 2017 he emigrated to the Philippines.

Trial and acquittal

The trial of Philip Brailsford was originally scheduled to begin in February 2017. The start of the trial was delayed to October 23, 2017, however, due to motions by the defense, which disputed a sufficient suspicion and thus the legitimacy of the indictment and cast doubt on the admissibility of the video publication. In the event of a conviction, Brailsford could face up to 25 years at this time Jail.

On December 7, 2017, Brailsford was acquitted by a grand jury six weeks after the start of the trial .

Bankruptcy and retirement

In January 2018, Philip Brailsford announced bankruptcy . In early 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice began its own investigation into the case.

In August 2018, Brailsford was hired again by the Mesa Police Department. After 42 days, the agency approved Brailsford's retirement because he had post-traumatic stress disorder. Since then, Brailsford has received a pension of $ 2,500 a month.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Conor Friedersdorf: Footage of a Police Shooting That Jurors Chose Not to Punish. The Atlantic, December 8, 2017, accessed July 30, 2020 .
  2. ^ Uriel J. Garcia, Bree Burkitt: Fired ex-Mesa police officer Philip Brailsford rehired to help him get a public-safety pension. The Arizona Republic, June 9, 2020, accessed July 30, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b Uriel J. Garcia: Ex-Mesa officer charged with murder testifies he was 'sad' after shooting. The Arizona Republic, December 14, 2019, accessed July 30, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Lindsey Collom: Mesa officer charged with second-degree murder was early user of body-cams. The Arizona Republic, March 5, 2016, accessed July 30, 2020 .
  5. ^ A b Natalie Neysa Alund: Former Nashville man shot and killed by Arizona police. The Tennessean, January 25, 2016, accessed July 30, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Mesa Police Department: " Incident / Investigation Report, Case Number: 2016-0180586 " from February 8, 2016, accessed on July 30, 2020 (English)
  7. ↑ a b Uriel J. Garcia: Mesa police confirm Justice Department investigating officer shooting of Daniel Shaver. The Arizona Republic, December 14, 2019, accessed July 30, 2020 .
  8. ^ A b Erik Ortiz: Daniel Shaver shooting: Ex-Arizona police officer acquitted of murder. NBC News, December 8, 2017, accessed July 30, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Uriel J. Garcia: Jury sees body-cam video of Mesa officer shooting unarmed man. The Arizona Republic, December 14, 2019, accessed July 30, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Garrett Mitchell, April Morgan Roth: New October trial date set in Daniel Shaver murder case. The Arizona Republic, February 10, 2017, accessed July 30, 2020 .
  11. ↑ a b Wesley Lowery: Graphic video shows Daniel Shaver sobbing and begging officer for his life before 2016 shooting. The Washington Post, December 8, 2017, accessed July 30, 2020 .
  12. ^ German Lopez: An ex-cop from Arizona was acquitted for shooting an unarmed, sobbing man. Vox, December 8, 2017, accessed July 30, 2020 .
  13. ↑ a b Lindsey Bever: 'Please don't shoot me': Man pleads for life moments before being killed by police officer. The Washington Post, March 31, 2016, accessed July 30, 2020 .
  14. ↑ a b Uriel J. Garcia: Following not-guilty verdict, Mesa police release video of then-officer Philip Brailsford shooting unarmed man. The Arizona Republic, December 14, 2019, accessed July 30, 2020 .
  15. ↑ Laura Bult: Widow of Daniel Shaver, Texas man fatally shot by Ariz. cop as he cried and pleaded for his life, is demanding body cam footage be released. New York Daily News, April 3, 2016, accessed July 30, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Michael Kiefer: Judge: Body-camera videos of Texas man's shooting by Mesa police officer won't be released. The Arizona Republic, March 30, 2016, accessed July 30, 2020 .
  17. ↑ Beatrice Dupuy: Who Is Daniel Shaver? Graphic Video Shows Arizona Cop Philip Brailsford Killing Texas Dad. Newsweek, August 12, 2017, accessed July 30, 2020 .
  18. ^ Mesa Police shooting: Daniel Shaver seen crawling, begging in disturbing video. CBS News, August 12, 2017, accessed July 30, 2020 .
  19. ↑ Garrett Mitchell: Mesa officer charged with murder in shooting of unarmed man at hotel. The Arizona Republic, March 5, 2016, accessed July 30, 2020 .
  20. ↑ Jacques Billeaud: News Agencies Seek to unseal video of Fatal Police Shooting. The Washington Times, April 9, 2016, accessed July 30, 2020 .
  21. ^ Garrett Mitchell, Megan Cassidy: Texas man fatally shot by Mesa officer begged for life. The Arizona Republic, March 30, 2016, accessed July 30, 2020 .
  22. ↑ Ray Stern: Ex-Mesa Police Officer Philip Brailsford Found Not Guilty in Shooting Death of Daniel Shaver. In: Phoenix New Times. December 7, 2017, accessed July 30, 2020 .
  23. ↑ EX-ARIZONA COP Who Killed Daniel Shaver INVOLVED IN BRUTAL ARREST. TMZ, December 12, 2017, accessed on July 30, 2020 .
  24. ^ Robert Tait: "Please don't shoot me" father-of-two begged police before being shot dead. The Daily Telegraph, April 1, 2016, accessed July 30, 2020 .
  25. ↑ Uriel J. Garcia: Former Mesa police sergeant backs decision by officer now on trial in fatal shooting. The Arizona Republic, December 14, 2017, accessed July 30, 2020 .
  26. ↑ Uriel J. Garcia: Ex-Mesa Officer Philip Brailsford found not guilty of murder in shooting of unarmed man. The Arizona Republic, December 14, 2019, accessed July 30, 2020 .
  27. ^ A b Uriel J. Garcia, Bree Burkitt: Fired ex-Mesa police officer Philip Brailsford rehired to help him get a public-safety pension. The Arizona Republic, June 9, 2020, accessed July 30, 2020 .