LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) —
Prosecutors on Monday dropped a felony manslaughter charge against a former
Little Rock police officer in the death of a 15-year-old boy who was suspected
of breaking into cars at an apartment complex.
Two previous trials ended in
hung juries for Josh Hastings, who was charged in the 2012 death of Bobby Moore
III. Chief Deputy Prosecutor John Johnson said at a Monday pre-trial hearing
that he believed Hastings was guilty but didn't believe he could convince a
jury.
Hastings fired into a car that
Moore was driving with two other teenagers inside, which he claimed to have
done because the car was moving toward him. Investigators said physical
evidence from the scene indicated the car was in reverse or was stopped several
feet from Hastings when he fired through the windshield.
Police Chief Stuart Thomas
fired Hastings after concluding "the use of deadly force was not
justified."
Prior to the August 2012
shooting, Hastings had been suspended six times in five years. He appealed his
firing and his attorney, Bill James, said Monday he's waiting for the Civil
Service Commission to set a hearing.
"We'll try to get that set
as soon as possible," James said, adding he believes Hastings will get his
job restored.
Prosecutors could refile the
charge against Hastings but James said he doesn't believe that is likely.
Last month, James filed a
motion to dismiss the charges. Prosecutors on Monday moved to simply not
prosecute Hastings, a request that Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen granted.
A third trial was to have
started May 5. After the second hung jury, Prosecutor Larry Jegley said his
office had brought other cases to a jury for a third time and said he intended
to do the same with Hastings.
James said his client is ready
to move on.
"There's no winners in
this thing. Everyone has lost something," James said. "It's time to
let the healing begin."
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
reported (http://is.gd/NKonfr ) that Griffen told family members it's possible
that Hastings could again be charged.
"Nobody needs to walk out
of here with a hard-and-fast idea about what the future means except that this
prosecution is discontinued," he said, adding that nobody should walk out
thinking that 'Bobby Moore's death was not a tragedy.'"
The newspaper reported that an
older sister of Moore criticized the decision to drop Hastings' prosecution.
"He killed a 15-year-old
child," Deazzaray Perkins said outside of court. "They think we're
supposed to be OK with it? I'm not . That was my baby brother. It's been three
years. We haven't been able to spend Christmas, New Year's, birthdays, nothing.
He killed my little brother a few weeks before his birthday. It hurts."
Johnson said the case had
unique elements that made it difficult to secure a unanimous verdict.
"Not just difficult. We
have no good-faith basis we would ever get a jury to unanimously convict,"
he said.
