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Former Florida Police Officer Is Sentenced to 25 Years in Fatal Shooting of Black Man Former Florida Police Officer Is Sentenced to 25 Years in Fatal Shooting of Black Man
(about 3 hours later)
A former police officer in Florida was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for fatally shooting a black man who had been awaiting help on a highway more than three years ago.A former police officer in Florida was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for fatally shooting a black man who had been awaiting help on a highway more than three years ago.
“This has been a heartbreaking case,” Judge Joseph Marx said in sentencing the former officer, Nouman K. Raja, for the two counts a jury found him guilty of last month: manslaughter by culpable negligence and attempted first-degree murder with a firearm.“This has been a heartbreaking case,” Judge Joseph Marx said in sentencing the former officer, Nouman K. Raja, for the two counts a jury found him guilty of last month: manslaughter by culpable negligence and attempted first-degree murder with a firearm.
Mr. Raja, who had faced a maximum penalty of life in prison in the fatal shooting of Corey Jones, received a 25-year term for each count. The sentences will be served concurrently. Mr. Raja, 41, who had faced a maximum penalty of life in prison in the fatal shooting of Corey Jones, received a 25-year term for each count. The sentences will be served concurrently.
“This is a milestone in black America,” Benjamin L. Crump, one of the lawyers for Mr. Jones’s family, told reporters in front of the courthouse in West Palm Beach, Fla. on Thursday afternoon. Before the judge announced his decision, Mr. Raja’s wife, Karine Raja, pleaded for leniency, pointing to the support she would need from her husband to care for the couple’s two children.
Richard G. Lubin, who oversees Mr. Raja’s defense team, could not be immediately reached for comment. “The wrong person was chosen as the sacrificial lamb,” she said. “Raja is the man you wanted serving and protecting you.”
The 2015 killing of Mr. Jones, 31, a church band member without a criminal record, became a flash point in a string of contentious shootings of black men by the police. In asking the judge to hand down the maximum sentence, Adrienne Ellis, the chief assistant state’s attorney, said that Mr. Jones, 31, “had done nothing wrong that night.”.
“He did everything right, and yet, he still lost his life,” she said. “Corey essentially begged the defendant not to kill him.”
Richard G. Lubin, who oversaw Mr. Raja’s defense team, asked the judge to sentence Mr. Raja only on the manslaughter count and not on the attempted first-degree murder charge.
He said that it was difficult for his client to receive a fair trial, because people “have stoked the narrative that this is another case about a white cop murdering a black man.”
“He doesn’t have a prejudiced bone in his body,” Mr. Lubin said of Mr. Raja, who is of Asian descent. “He himself has had a lifetime of suffering prejudice because of his race.”
Lawyers for Mr. Raja are likely to appeal the decision.
After leaving the courthouse on Thursday afternoon, family members and friends of Mr. Jones held hands and sang the spiritual song “Victory is Mine.”
“This is a milestone in black America,” said Benjamin L. Crump, one of the lawyers for Mr. Jones’s family.
“It is a footnote in American jurisprudence,” said he continued. “But based on the fact that this is the first time in over 30 years that a police officer has been convicted of killing a black person in the state of Florida, it is a milestone for many black Americans, not only in Florida but all across the United States.”
According to the Miami Herald, the last time an officer was sentenced for an on-duty killing in Florida was 1989.
The 2015 killing of Mr. Jones, a church band member without a criminal record, became a flash point in a string of contentious shootings of black men by the police.
The encounter also highlighted Florida’s so-called Stand Your Ground law, which Mr. Raja’s lawyer had cited in his defense.The encounter also highlighted Florida’s so-called Stand Your Ground law, which Mr. Raja’s lawyer had cited in his defense.
The Stand Your Ground law drew controversy in 2012 after George Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager. Mr. Zimmerman was eventually acquitted, and the law ultimately did not figure into the defense strategy pursued by his legal team. The Stand Your Ground law removes the obligation to retreat if a person feels threatened and frees the person to use deadly force “if he or she reasonably believes” it is necessary “to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm.”
On Oct. 18, 2015, Mr. Jones was on the side of an Interstate 95 exit ramp in Palm Beach County at about 3:15 a.m. waiting for a tow truck when Mr. Raja, who worked for the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department and was on duty in plainclothes, approached Mr. Jones’s S.U.V. in an unmarked van. On the night of Oct. 18, 2015, Mr. Jones was on the side of an Interstate 95 exit ramp in Palm Beach County at about 3:15 a.m. waiting for a tow truck when Mr. Raja, an officer with the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department who was on duty in plainclothes, approached Mr. Jones’s S.U.V. in an unmarked van.
The Police Department said Mr. Jones had “confronted” Mr. Raja, who then fired his weapon. According to prosecutors, Mr. Raja did not identify himself as a police officer.
Mr. Jones had a legally purchased handgun with him. Mr. Raja has claimed that Mr. Jones pointed it at him, but prosecutors say Mr. Raja fired shots even as Mr. Jones fled. Within moments of approaching Mr. Jones, Mr. Raja fired six shots and struck Mr. Jones three times, killing him. The Police Department initially said Mr. Jones had “confronted” Mr. Raja, who then fired his weapon.
The gun Mr. Jones had bought three days earlier was found on the ground, the police said. Mr. Jones had a legally purchased handgun with him, which Mr. Raja has claimed that Mr. Jones pointed it at him.
The interaction was recorded on the phone line after Mr. Jones had called for roadside assistance. The audio recording, in which gunshots could be heard, was played repeatedly for the jury. Within moments of approaching Mr. Jones, Mr. Raja fired six shots and struck Mr. Jones three times, killing him.
C.J. Jones, Mr. Jones’s older brother, told the local CBS station, CBS 12, this week that he blamed himself for not getting out of bed to help his brother when he called that night shortly before 3 a.m. It was later discovered that the interaction between the two men had been recorded on a phone line after Mr. Jones called for roadside assistance.
Prosecutors said that Mr. Jones was heard calmly speaking to the tow-truck dispatcher and to Mr. Raja.
The audio recording, in which gunshots could be heard, was played repeatedly for the jury.
Mr. Raja was fired by the Police Department within a month of the killing, and was charged in June 2016.
This week, C.J. Jones, Mr. Jones’s older brother, told a local news station, CBS 12, that he blamed himself for not getting out of bed to help his brother when he called that night shortly before 3 a.m.
“It’s hard,” he said. “It’s really hard.”“It’s hard,” he said. “It’s really hard.”
“I never had a fight with him,” Mr. Jones said. “We never had to argue about nothing. It was the best feeling to have a brother like that because he looked up to me, he listened to me, he lived his life.”“I never had a fight with him,” Mr. Jones said. “We never had to argue about nothing. It was the best feeling to have a brother like that because he looked up to me, he listened to me, he lived his life.”