Defense: Police followed training in killing of homeless man

Pro Tem Judge Neil Candelaria said Tuesday afternoon that he found probable cause officer Dominique Perez and former Detective Keith Sandy committed a crime by shooting Boyd, a mentally ill homeless man.

An alarming video of the standoff taken from one of the officer’s body cams has been circulating the internet.

Video footage released by the A.P.D. He was shot during an hours-long standoff in 2014 in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains, where police accused him of camping illegally.

The defense maintains that Sandy and Perez were providing lethal cover for an officer who was dangerously close to a man with knives who had threatened to kill police.

“It should be clear to everyone now that James Boyd was not executed for being a homeless camper”, defense attorney David Roman, who represents Perez, said in his closing argument.

However, when he fails to put his hands near his head as the officers demand, they continue to fire on him.

18, 2015 photo, former Albuquerque detective Keith Sandy, left, and Albuquerque officer Dominique Perez, right, talk to defense lawyer Sam Bregman, center, before a preliminary hearing begins in Albuquerque, N.M. A judge ruled Tuesday that Perez and Sandy must stand trial for the fatal shooting of a homeless man in 2014 but experts say it will be hard to get convictions.

Bregman referred to the same shooting in his closing, saying it showed the gravity of the situation the officers were facing. Moreover, it was the police dog handler, Scott Weimerskirch, who approached Boyd when he tried to correct his dog, who had not followed his “sic” order at first. In case the less lethal weapons didn’t work, Sandy would keep his rifle aimed at Boyd, he said.

During the pre-trial testimony McGinn highlighted the fact that Boyd was shot in the back, while the defense attorneys claim the cops were looking out for a fellow cop. McGinn also said the actions of Perez and Sandy were different.

After being questioned directly by Candelaria, Weimerskirch said Boyd had knives in his pockets, and had been told by police to gather up his belongings and start walking down the hill when police acted.

“As a result of what happened with John Hyde 10 years ago, the population that has suffered the most is the mentally ill population”.

Unlike secret grand jury proceedings after police shootings in New York and Ferguson, Missouri, the hearing in Albuquerque was open to the public and streamed online by television media outlets.

His death came amid a wave of police shootings in the city and just before the U.S. Justice Department issued a harsh report into use of excessive force by the Albuquerque Police Department.

The city and the Justice Department later reached an agreement to overhaul policies involving use of force and to appoint a federal monitor to oversee reforms.