Fired Milwaukee Police Officer Found NOT GUILTY in Fatal Shooting of Sylville Smith

by | Jun 23, 2017 | News | 0 comments

Fired Milwaukee police officer Dominique Heaggan-Brown shot dead Sylville Smith during an August 2016 foot chase. On Wednesday the courtroom verdict read that he was found not guilty.

Fox 6 reported:

Judge Jeffrey Conen had instructed the jury of nine women and three men to consider lesser charges in the reckless homicide trial but Heaggan-Brown was cleared of all counts.

Attorneys for Heaggan-Brown said the officer always believed he was justified in using deadly force. The attorney for the Smith family disagrees.

“Obviously, he’s very pleased. He believed all along that he was justified in what he did.

It wasn’t a situation he asked to be put in,” Jonathan Smith, Heaggan-Brown’s attorney said.

This case marked the first time since the late 70s a Milwaukee police officer was charged with homicide for an on-duty shooting. Additionally, this was the first sequestered jury in more than 20 years.

“The jury’s verdict was based on the objective evidence before it. A year ago I told the public I’d seen nothing in the video that was a violation of the law or policy. The jury saw the same evidence and came to the same conclusion.”

The former officer still faces charges in an unrelated sexual assault investigation. He has been fired from the police department.

They went on to write:

The alleged sexual assault occurred on the morning of August 15th after a night of heavy drinking at a bar where the two men “sat and watched television as coverage of the Sherman Park protests [over Smith’s death] aired,” the criminal complaint said.

He has a jury trial set to begin in August in that case.

Smith’s sisters has asked for peace but his father called the verdict disrespectful.

Read more on Fox 6 here.

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