A Dallas police officer who was captured on a neighbor’s surveillance video shooting a mentally ill man as he stood still is likely to be indicted for his actions during the deadly force confrontation, several legal experts say.
If Officer Cardan Spencer were indicted in the shooting of Bobby Gerald Bennett, it would send shock waves through the Dallas police force, which hasn’t seen one of its own charged in an officer-involved shooting in decades.
“It just seems like, just from looking at it, that this person was shot by the officer without any legal justification,” said Robert Udashen, a well-known defense attorney who teaches criminal procedure at Southern Methodist University’s law school. “If a civilian had done that, a civilian would already be charged with a crime.”
Getting a conviction would be a lot harder than an indictment, though, because legal experts say juries are loath to second-guess the actions of police officers in deadly force situations.
“A jury may not want to convict him because of who he is,” said Juan Sanchez, a former Dallas County prosecutor. “Officers always get a fair trial, I’ll tell you that. People don’t want to believe that they would do something like that. They always have the presumption of innocence going for them.”
Bennett, 52, continues to recover at a Dallas hospital after being shot in the abdomen outside his mother’s home in the southeast Dallas neighborhood of Rylie. Authorities have dropped an aggravated assault charge against Bennett.
Spencer is on administrative leave. His attorney, Robert Rogers, has said that Spencer was justified in the actions he took in dealing with Bennett, who had a knife in his hand.
Citing legal reasons, Police Chief David Brown has declined to publicly comment about the shooting. Police officials also initially barred members of the media from an unrelated public meeting Monday night at the city’s south central patrol station. Media members were only allowed in after complaints were made to the city’s chief spokesman.
On Tuesday, Mayor Mike Rawlings issued a written statement, saying that he had seen the video and “found it disturbing.”
“Clearly this is a serious issue,” the mayor wrote. “I’m confident that the Dallas Police Department will move forward with its criminal investigation into this incident in an appropriate and expedient fashion.”
The status of the department’s criminal investigation is not clear. After completion, such cases routinely go to a grand jury.
Authorities have said that Spencer and his partner were dispatched to the 9400 block of Crimnson Court after Bennett’s mother called police for help in dealing with her son, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. She told a 911 operator Bennett had a knife.
According to an arrest affidavit, Spencer shot Bennett after he walked toward him and his partner with a “knife raised in an aggressive manner.” Spencer fired his weapon four times, striking Bennett in the abdomen. Spence’s partner did not fire his weapon.
Rogers said Tuesday that the arrest affidavit was not written by Spencer, “nor was it based on any statements that he made.” He said Spencer gave a statement to investigators the day after the shooting, explaining why he used deadly force. Rogers declined to elaborate on the contents of that statement.
The controversy surrounding the shooting stems from a neighbor’s video showing that Bennett, who was sitting in a chair, initially rolls back from the officers as they advance on him. He then stands up but does not move. His hands remain at his side and he is standing still when Spencer shoots him.
“It’s the smoking gun,” said Danny Clancy, a former Dallas County prosecutor. “It doesn’t appear that the officer was in any danger at that moment in time when he fired his weapon.”
Clancy and the other legal experts believe Spencer will probably be indicted on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. There’s also a possibility of federal civil rights charges.
The last time a Dallas officer is thought to have been criminally charged in connection with a police shooting was when Officer Darrell Cain was indicted in the 1973 fatal shooting of 12-year-old Santos Rodriguez. Cain killed Rodriguez when he put a gun to the boy’s head and pulled the trigger. Cain said he believed the gun was empty. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to five years in prison.
But that case was the exception, not the rule.
If Spencer is indicted, it’s anybody’s guess as to how it would play out in a courtroom, legal experts say.
The defense would be that Bennett “is mentally unstable,” said Toby Shook, a former high-ranking Dallas County prosecutor. Spencer “could say ‘from my point of view, I felt I had to shoot before he did anything else.’ You can’t get around the fact that he has a knife in his hand and has mental issues. A case like this always come down to a self-defense argument.”
“It’s really hard to convict police officers,” he added.
If Officer Cardan Spencer were indicted in the shooting of Bobby Gerald Bennett, it would send shock waves through the Dallas police force, which hasn’t seen one of its own charged in an officer-involved shooting in decades.
“It just seems like, just from looking at it, that this person was shot by the officer without any legal justification,” said Robert Udashen, a well-known defense attorney who teaches criminal procedure at Southern Methodist University’s law school. “If a civilian had done that, a civilian would already be charged with a crime.”
Getting a conviction would be a lot harder than an indictment, though, because legal experts say juries are loath to second-guess the actions of police officers in deadly force situations.
“A jury may not want to convict him because of who he is,” said Juan Sanchez, a former Dallas County prosecutor. “Officers always get a fair trial, I’ll tell you that. People don’t want to believe that they would do something like that. They always have the presumption of innocence going for them.”
Bennett, 52, continues to recover at a Dallas hospital after being shot in the abdomen outside his mother’s home in the southeast Dallas neighborhood of Rylie. Authorities have dropped an aggravated assault charge against Bennett.
Spencer is on administrative leave. His attorney, Robert Rogers, has said that Spencer was justified in the actions he took in dealing with Bennett, who had a knife in his hand.
Citing legal reasons, Police Chief David Brown has declined to publicly comment about the shooting. Police officials also initially barred members of the media from an unrelated public meeting Monday night at the city’s south central patrol station. Media members were only allowed in after complaints were made to the city’s chief spokesman.
On Tuesday, Mayor Mike Rawlings issued a written statement, saying that he had seen the video and “found it disturbing.”
“Clearly this is a serious issue,” the mayor wrote. “I’m confident that the Dallas Police Department will move forward with its criminal investigation into this incident in an appropriate and expedient fashion.”
The status of the department’s criminal investigation is not clear. After completion, such cases routinely go to a grand jury.
Authorities have said that Spencer and his partner were dispatched to the 9400 block of Crimnson Court after Bennett’s mother called police for help in dealing with her son, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. She told a 911 operator Bennett had a knife.
According to an arrest affidavit, Spencer shot Bennett after he walked toward him and his partner with a “knife raised in an aggressive manner.” Spencer fired his weapon four times, striking Bennett in the abdomen. Spence’s partner did not fire his weapon.
Rogers said Tuesday that the arrest affidavit was not written by Spencer, “nor was it based on any statements that he made.” He said Spencer gave a statement to investigators the day after the shooting, explaining why he used deadly force. Rogers declined to elaborate on the contents of that statement.
The controversy surrounding the shooting stems from a neighbor’s video showing that Bennett, who was sitting in a chair, initially rolls back from the officers as they advance on him. He then stands up but does not move. His hands remain at his side and he is standing still when Spencer shoots him.
“It’s the smoking gun,” said Danny Clancy, a former Dallas County prosecutor. “It doesn’t appear that the officer was in any danger at that moment in time when he fired his weapon.”
Clancy and the other legal experts believe Spencer will probably be indicted on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. There’s also a possibility of federal civil rights charges.
The last time a Dallas officer is thought to have been criminally charged in connection with a police shooting was when Officer Darrell Cain was indicted in the 1973 fatal shooting of 12-year-old Santos Rodriguez. Cain killed Rodriguez when he put a gun to the boy’s head and pulled the trigger. Cain said he believed the gun was empty. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to five years in prison.
But that case was the exception, not the rule.
If Spencer is indicted, it’s anybody’s guess as to how it would play out in a courtroom, legal experts say.
The defense would be that Bennett “is mentally unstable,” said Toby Shook, a former high-ranking Dallas County prosecutor. Spencer “could say ‘from my point of view, I felt I had to shoot before he did anything else.’ You can’t get around the fact that he has a knife in his hand and has mental issues. A case like this always come down to a self-defense argument.”
“It’s really hard to convict police officers,” he added.
