Pubdate: Wed, 27 Nov 2013
Source: Tulsa World (OK)
Copyright: 2013 Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.tulsaworld.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/463
Author: Tim Talley, Associated Press
'JURY CONVICTS DEL CITY POLICE CAPTAIN OF MANSLAUGHTER

OKLAHOMA CITY - An Oklahoma jury on Tuesday convicted a veteran 
police captain of first-degree manslaughter in the death of an 
unarmed teenager who was running away after scuffling with the officer.

Del City Police Capt. Randy Trent Harrison shot Dane Scott Jr. in the 
back March 14, 2012, after a high-speed chase that began when 
Harrison tried to pull over Scott's car

Harrison had previously arrested Scott on drug violations, and 
prosecutors said his pursuit of the teenager crossed the line from 
professional to personal. The defense portrayed Scott as a drug 
dealer and said Harrison believed that the teenager was reaching for 
a second weapon after the officer took one gun from him during a 
scuffle that followed the chase.

The jury announced the verdict and recommended the minimum four-year 
prison sentence after deliberating for about 11 hours over two days.

Harrison showed no emotion when the verdict was read. He was 
handcuffed and led to the Oklahoma County Jail.

Members of Scott's family, including his mother, father, siblings and 
others, were in court throughout the seven-day trial. They wept and 
hugged one another after the verdict but said nothing to reporters 
outside the courtroom.

The shooting occurred a few weeks after the death of Trayvon Martin, 
the unarmed black teenager who was killed by a neighborhood watch 
volunteer in Florida, and the defense suggested early on that 
prosecutors were influenced to file charges to prevent the type of 
racial discord that followed that shooting and another high-profile 
case in Tulsa last year. Harrison is white; Scott was black.

Prosecutors haven't said Harrison was motivated by any racial bias, 
just that he was wrong to shoot Scott. The jury included three black people.

District Attorney David Prater became emotional after the verdict as 
he talked to reporters.

"There are no winners here," he said. "We will police our own. This 
is a tough case. It had to be done."

Defense attorney Doug Friesen said he will ask the judge to allow 
Harrison to remain free while his conviction is appealed.

The 12 members of the jury said nothing as they left the courtroom.

During the trial, Scott's baggy pants became a central issue. 
Witnesses say the 18-year-old was trying to hold them up as he ran 
from Harrison.

Although the witnesses testified that they saw no threat from Scott, 
Harrison and his defense team said the officer believed that the 
teenager was reaching for his pants pocket, where he could have had 
another gun. Police did not find a weapon on Scott after the shooting.

Prater told jurors during closing arguments Monday that Harrison put 
other people in danger when he fired four shots at Scott, placing 
bystanders and a fellow officer in harm's way before hitting the 
teenager in the back with the fourth shot.

Prater said Scott was "no threat at all" at the time. "He's running 
and holding his pants," he added.

Harrison, a 23-year veteran officer in the Oklahoma City suburb, 
testified earlier Monday that he feared for his life.

"He had just tried to kill me. He would kill anybody to escape," he testified.

Harrison said he did not want. to kill Scott but that "I just didn't 
have any other choice."

The charges against Harrison were filed just after two white men were 
accused of fatally shooting three black people in Tulsa in what 
prosecutors said were racially motivated attacks.
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