CINCINNATI (AP) – A judge in Cincinnati on Monday dismissed the charges against a white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black motorist during a traffic stop, after a county prosecutor declined to pursue a third murder trial in the case.
Hamilton County Judge Leslie Ghiz declined to acquit former University of Cincinnati officer Ray Tensing in the shooting of Sam DuBose, but she dismissed the murder and voluntary manslaughter charges in a way that blocks retrial on those counts.
“It’s sort of a note of finality, which is what we were looking for, although we still have the potential for a federal civil rights investigation,” defense attorney Stewart Mathews said afterward.
Two juries couldn’t reach unanimous agreement on the state charges, leading to mistrials. County Prosecutor Joe Deters said he felt “badly” about dropping the case but had concluded that he wouldn’t be able to get a jury to convict Tensing.
Tensing, now 27, shot the 43-year-old DuBose in the head after pulling him over for a missing front license plate on July 19, 2015. The shooting is among numerous cases nationwide that have called attention to how police deal with blacks, and it highlights the challenges prosecutors face in getting jurors to convict police officers for shooting when they say they’re under threat.