ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – Two Albuquerque police officers whose shooting death of a homeless man during a hillside standoff led to protests and national outcry will stand trial for murder this month, with jury selection in the case set to begin Monday.
Police video of the shooting of James Boyd in 2014 set the stage for demonstrations and marches that paralyzed parts of New Mexico’s largest city, where tensions over a high rate of officer-involved shootings had been building for years.
The shooting preceded a broader national debate about officers’ use of force, and led Albuquerque’s mayor to push for the U.S. Justice Department to accelerate an investigation into the police department.
Former Albuquerque officers Dominique Perez and Keith Sandy are charged with second-degree murder and aggravated assault in Boyd’s death.
Sandy has since retired from the force. Perez lost his job last year under a city policy that calls for terminating employees arraigned on criminal charges.