Saturday, January 07, 2006

Officer Jay Morningstar Acquitted

The Detroit Free Press reported that State Police officer Jay Morningstar was acquitted of second-degree murder in last August's shooting death of Eric Williams, a 40-year old homeless man.
Williams had just been tossed from the bar for harassing customers and had punched out two bar windows before Morningstar and his partner saw him on the street.

Convertino maintained that Williams did not obey the trooper's repeated commands to stop, and that he briskly approached Morningstar while wearing a big coat with his hands not visible to the trooper.

Toxicology reports indicated that when Williams was shot he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.24%, three times the 0.08% level at which a person can be convicted of drunken driving in Michigan.

And, by the way, this was in a relatively rough part of Detroit in the very early morning hours.

This was a case that should never have gone to trial.