Anybody see this yet? Yikes! Words fail me...
http://www.al.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1085639408159250.xml
The Associated Press
5/27/2004, 12:34 a.m. CT
BAY MINETTE, Ala. (AP) -- A grand jury cleared a state trooper in the killing of a suspected car thief, saying the officer's gun encouraged a loose trigger finger.
The Baldwin County grand jury placed the blame for the shooting on the service pistol used by state troopers, which is easier to fire than some other weapons used by law enforcement officers.
Trooper Angel Rodriguez was cleared by the grand jury of criminal wrongdoing Wednesday.
Rodriguez shot Darrell Taylor, 22, of Prichard, in the neck with a .40-caliber Glock semiautomatic pistol on April 7, and Taylor died three days later.
The grand jury issued a report encouraging the state to review whether that type of pistol should be used in state service.
"It appears that the trooper reacted based upon his training with the weapon issued to him by the state," the report said.
Rodriguez, a seven-year veteran of the Department of Public Safety, has been serving administrative duty since the shooting. He couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.
When Rodriguez stopped Taylor's car for a broken tail light, he put Taylor in the passenger's seat of the patrol car after Taylor couldn't produce a valid driver's license. Then Rodriguez found out the car was reported stolen.
Taylor's cousin, Antonio Taylor, told the Mobile Register in April he had loaned him the car and that it was not stolen.
Rodriguez ordered Taylor out of the car and pulled the pistol out of its holster, which is standard procedure, the grand jury said.
That's when the pistol went off, said Baldwin County District Attorney David Whetstone.
The Glock pistols used by state troopers have a 5-pound "trigger pull," which the grand jury said has a history of accidental discharge. The Department of Public Safety recently switched to an 8-pound trigger pull that is harder to fire.
Baldwin County James B. "Jimmy" Johnson told the grand jury he would never use a weapon with a trigger pull that light.
"You're under a lot of stress. ... Your adrenaline is running," Johnson said in an interview. "You tighten up your hands. It's not that hard for a weapon to be discharged."
http://www.al.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1085639408159250.xml
The Associated Press
5/27/2004, 12:34 a.m. CT
BAY MINETTE, Ala. (AP) -- A grand jury cleared a state trooper in the killing of a suspected car thief, saying the officer's gun encouraged a loose trigger finger.
The Baldwin County grand jury placed the blame for the shooting on the service pistol used by state troopers, which is easier to fire than some other weapons used by law enforcement officers.
Trooper Angel Rodriguez was cleared by the grand jury of criminal wrongdoing Wednesday.
Rodriguez shot Darrell Taylor, 22, of Prichard, in the neck with a .40-caliber Glock semiautomatic pistol on April 7, and Taylor died three days later.
The grand jury issued a report encouraging the state to review whether that type of pistol should be used in state service.
"It appears that the trooper reacted based upon his training with the weapon issued to him by the state," the report said.
Rodriguez, a seven-year veteran of the Department of Public Safety, has been serving administrative duty since the shooting. He couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.
When Rodriguez stopped Taylor's car for a broken tail light, he put Taylor in the passenger's seat of the patrol car after Taylor couldn't produce a valid driver's license. Then Rodriguez found out the car was reported stolen.
Taylor's cousin, Antonio Taylor, told the Mobile Register in April he had loaned him the car and that it was not stolen.
Rodriguez ordered Taylor out of the car and pulled the pistol out of its holster, which is standard procedure, the grand jury said.
That's when the pistol went off, said Baldwin County District Attorney David Whetstone.
The Glock pistols used by state troopers have a 5-pound "trigger pull," which the grand jury said has a history of accidental discharge. The Department of Public Safety recently switched to an 8-pound trigger pull that is harder to fire.
Baldwin County James B. "Jimmy" Johnson told the grand jury he would never use a weapon with a trigger pull that light.
"You're under a lot of stress. ... Your adrenaline is running," Johnson said in an interview. "You tighten up your hands. It's not that hard for a weapon to be discharged."