Oklahoma County DA won't file charge in videotaped trooper shooting
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A highway patrol trooper who shot an uncooperative, intoxicated motorist in the back was a rookie who made a ``split-second mistake,'' but she did not violate the law, Oklahoma County District Attorney Wes Lane said Friday.
Lateka Anderson, the first female, black trooper to graduate from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol academy, used excessive force during a June 7 traffic stop, Lane said. But her actions did not warrant a criminal charge because she ``may have avoided a public safety tragedy to innocent bystanders.''
Anderson, 24, shot Justin Lyle Thomas, 21,
(1) after he refused to put his hands behind him and tried to get away.
She had pulled him over for speeding on Interstate 35 in south Oklahoma City about 1 a.m. and given him a sobriety test. Thomas _ who had a blood-alcohol content of 0.09 percent, above the legal limit _ wobbled as he walked heel-to-toe along the side of the highway. He also had traces of marijuana in his system and a small amount of marijuana was found in his pickup truck after the shooting.
A videotape made by a camera in the patrol board shows Anderson screaming and cursing at Thomas to put his hands behind his back.
``You want to be shot?'' she yells. ``I got a gun.''
Instead of facing the patrol car and putting his hands behind his back, Thomas keeps turning toward the trooper and saying, ``I'm not doing anything.''
(2) When he breaks free and heads toward his truck, she fires one shot in his back.
As he lies on the ground moaning, ``You shot me,'' Anderson points her gun at him.
``Hands behind your back,'' she shouts. ``I'll shoot you again!''
Thomas finally complies and the trooper uses her radio to report shots fired.
Thomas' attorney, Fred Shaeffer, said he was not surprised Lane declined to charge the trooper.
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