OK - Terence Crutcher, 40, fatally shot by Tulsa PD officer, 16 Sept 2016

[bluesneakers]

From the juror's note:

“He was trying to better himself”

While he said that he didn’t think Shelby was a bad person, he said he also felt that Crutcher “was a decent person.” He said he believed Crutcher was trying to make himself a better person by taking college classes.

“I never looked at him like an addict,” he said. “I tried to think of him as a person whose brain just wasn’t working right.

“I think Terence Crutcher was a man who was trying to better himself,” he said. “I find that admirable. Whatever else I may know, he’s a man who had some issues, but he was trying to better himself.”

 

[K_Z]

Betty Shelby police interview released, Shelby will return to TPD

A Tulsa police officer acquitted of manslaughter will return to the job on Monday.

Tulsa police chief Chuck Jordan said Officer Betty Shelby will return to duty, but she will no longer work in a patrol capacity, Pursuant to the jury verdict of acquittal in the criminal case of Officer Betty Shelby, she is being returned to duty. She will not be assigned in a patrol capacity."

http://www.fox23.com/news/shleby-alllowed-to-remain-on-police-force-not-patrolling/524406284

Tulsa cop acquitted in shooting death will return to work

TULSA, Okla. -- A white Oklahoma police officer acquitted in the killing of an unarmed black man last year will be allowed to return to the force - although she won't be allowed on patrol, Tulsa's police chief said Friday.

Police Chief Chuck Jordan announced in a one-sentence email that officer Betty Jo Shelby will return to active duty. Shelby has been on unpaid leave since being charged Sept. 22 with first-degree manslaughter in the shooting of 40-year-old Terence Crutcher. A jury found Shelby not guilty Wednesday, although the foreman said in a memo filed with the court Friday that jurors weren't comfortable with the idea that she was "blameless" in Crutcher's death.

Shelby plans to return to work on Monday, her attorney, Shannon McMurray, said. Shelby is still the subject of an internal affairs investigation, which is standard procedure for officers involved in similar shootings. McMurray had previously said she wasn't sure Shelby would even want to go back to police work, fearing it would be too dangerous.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/tulsa-cop-acquitted-in-terence-crutcher-death-to-return-to-work/

**BBM. She should be receiving her back pay very soon, too-- 8 months worth, with her acquittal.

Jury Foreman Writes Open Letter Following Betty Shelby Verdict

TULSA, Oklahoma - The jury foreman in Officer Betty Shelby's trial is breaking his silence. He wrote an open letter explaining the jury's decision behind the not guilty verdict in the shooting death of Terence Crutcher.
The four-page letter carefully lays out what happened in the more than nine hours of deliberation.

Hours before they delivered the verdict, the jurors in Shelby's case first asked the judge if they could explain their decision.

The judge said no, but we now know what they wanted to say. Shelby's attorney Scott Wood said it's rare insight.

"I have never had a jury collectively put together a letter like this to explain their findings. I think it speaks volumes as to the seriousness of their commitment to this case," Wood said.

The jury foreman writes they all agreed Shelby's actions were unfortunate and tragic, but justifiable due to Crutcher's actions.

He wrote, "The Jury concluded that any officer put in that situation at that exact moment and regardless of the skin color, gender or size of the suspect, would have performed the same way, which is in accordance with their law enforcement training."

http://www.newson6.com/story/35473598/jury-foremen-writes-open-letter-following-betty-shelby-verdict

 

[HoneyWest]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/tulsa-police-shooting-was-tragic-but-justified-jury/ar-BBBkG6W?li=BBnb7Kz

But he ended the letter by questioning whether ultimately, Shelby should have a future in law enforcement.

"If she had any opportunity or flexibility of judgment to subdue the suspect with a less lethal force in the moments before the event culminated tragically," the foreman wrote, "then her ability and judgment as an officer under pressure has to be called into question."

LEO training needs to be looked at. The jury had to assume that this was what she was trained to do, so they couldn't return a guilty verdict. It was very emotional for them - several jurors were sobbing as the verdict was read.

 

[bluesneakers]

Tulsa cop cleared in killing of unarmed black man resigns

A white Oklahoma police officer recently acquitted of fatally shooting an unarmed black man submitted her resignation from the Tulsa police department Friday, saying the desk job where she had been assigned made her feel isolated from fellow officers.

Officer Betty Shelby's resignation is effective Aug. 3, according to a news release from the Tulsa branch of a national police union. She also said she was praying for healing for the family of Terence Crutcher, who died after she opened fire in September.