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Judge affirms case against Mesa officer will move ahead

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Mesa police shooting body-cam video | 1:21

Philip "Mitch" Brailsford, a Mesa police officer, was wearing a 
body camera when he shot and killed Daniel Shaver in January 
2016. Brailsford was later charged with Shaver's murder. Mesa 
Police Department

A Maricopa County Superior Court judge determined there was 
probable cause for a case to move forward against Philip “Mitch” 
Brailsford, the former Mesa officer charged with killing 26-year-
old Texas man Daniel Shaver.

The ruling followed a preliminary hearing on the matter Monday 
in Maricopa County Superior Court.

Superior Court Judge Sam Myers did allow a rebuttal witness to 
be called from the defense, however, continuing the hearing 
until Tuesday. After that witness' testimony concluded Tuesday 
morning, Myers reaffirmed his decision that the case against 
Brailsford would move ahead. A case scheduling hearing was set 
for June 30.

Shaver died after being shot Jan. 18 in a hallway outside his 
room at a Mesa La Quinta Inn & Suites. Brailsford, 25, who was 
one of several officers who responded to a call of a man waving 
a weapon outside his hotel window, is charged with second-degree 
murder. Brailsford has since been fired from the department.

Both attorneys’ lines of questioning centered on a key point: 
whether Brailsford had reason to feel threatened by Shaver. 
Although defense attorneys painted the scene as a dangerous 
situation, prosecutors framed Brailsford’s actions as 
irrational, noting how none of the other officers present 
deployed a weapon.

The case could hinge on this topic should it reach a trial. 
Although there’s no question whether Brailsford fired the fatal 
rounds, officers are legally permitted to use deadly force if 
they believe their lives or the lives of others are in danger.

Shaver's widow, Laney Sweet, sat in the front row of the 
courtroom gallery and cried as she left for a break.

Brailsford, dressed in a dark-gray suit and thick-rimmed 
glasses, was not called as a witness and spoke only to respond 
to procedural questions from the judge.

Man's last moments

In Monday’s hearing, several of Maricopa County prosecutor Susie 
Charbel’s questions focused on the moments just before 
Brailsford fired his weapon.
She asked Mesa police Detective Paul Sipe — the Mesa officer in 
charge of investigating the case — if Shaver was cursing at 
officers or saying threatening things to them. Sipe said Shaver 
was not.

“Nothing like, ‘I’m going to kill you'?’’ Charbel asked. Again, 
Sipe said no.

“At some point did he start crying?” she pressed. “… Did he say, 
'Please don’t shoot me'?”

“Yes, he did,” Sipe said.

Charbel prompted Sipe to note how none of the other officers on 
scene at the time used force other than Brailsford.

In his cross-examination, defense attorney Craig Mehrens asked 
Sipe if, prior to police contact, witnesses in the hotel had 
felt threatened by Shaver reportedly pointing a rifle out the 
window of his hotel room.

Sipe said that a hotel employee had called in the report. “I 
never had anyone state that it was actually pointed at a guest,” 
he said.

Mehrens later turned his attention to the other officers at the 
scene, many of whom had reported that they had perceived Shaver 
as a threat.

Both Brailsford and other officers said they witnessed Shaver 
reaching for the back of his waistband shortly before he was 
shot. But Mesa police officials later said that Shaver likely 
was confused about the commands and was reaching down to pull up 
his shorts.

'I just thought "gun, gun" '

After Myers initially ruled that the case had probable cause to 
move forward, he allowed Mehrens to call one witness as a 
rebuttal.

That witness, Sgt. Charles Langley, was present at the scene. On 
the stand Monday, Langley said he, too, had thought Shaver was 
reaching for a weapon.

“I looked at him and I just thought ‘gun, gun,’ " Langley 
testified. “I remember at that point I thought we were going to 
get shot.”

Langley said the only reason he didn’t shoot at Shaver was 
because Brailsford was in his line of fire.

Monday was the first time the evidence had been argued in court. 
Brailsford’s case was filed via a direct complaint from 
prosecutors rather than a determination of probable cause by a 
grand jury.

A preliminary hearing asks a judge to weigh whether there is 
probable cause to go forward with the case.

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said body-camera 
footage obtained from Brailsford was used in his office’s review 
of the case. The fatal shooting was the result of unjustified 
deadly force, Montgomery said.

Footage of the incident has not been released to the public. A 
transcript of the video, however, shows Shaver begging for his 
life moments before he was killed.

The transcript was released earlier this year as part of a 
public-records request for the police report and all 
supplemental information.

Sweet, Shaver’s widow, as well as The Arizona Republic and other 
media outlets, unsuccessfully petitioned a judge to order the 
video be released to the public.

Both prosecutors and defense attorneys argued that the footage 
should remain sealed for the time being.

Myers said in his ruling that the decision could be revisited 
after Brailsford's preliminary hearing.

Includes information from Republic reporter Garrett Mitchell.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/mesa/2016/05/16/hearin
g-underway-former-mesa-officer-charged-murder/84446426/
   

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Judge affirms case against Mesa officer will move ahead "FINALLY a trigger happy COP WILL PAY" <murdering.bastards@napo.org> - 2017-07-22 08:05 +0200
  Re: Judge affirms case against Mesa officer will move ahead Rudy Canoza <cap@philhendriie.con> - 2017-07-22 08:28 -0700

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