Police officer is convicted of manslaughter in shooting outside Wal-Mart
A white police officer was convicted of voluntary manslaughter on Thursday for fatally shooting an unarmed black man in a scuffle outside a Wal-Mart last year.
Jurors who convicted Portsmouth, Virginia, police officer Stephen Rankin rejected a more serious charge of first-degree murder, report the Washington Post and the Virginian-Pilot. The jury recommended a sentence of 2 1/2 years in prison, while prosecutors sought a 10-year prison term.
Virginia law allows the judge to give Rankin a lesser sentence, but not a higher sentence. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 12.
Bowling Green State University criminal justice professor Philip Stinson told the Virginian-Pilot that Rankin is the 13th officer to be convicted of murder or manslaughter in a jury trial since 2005.
Rankin shot and killed 18-year-old William Chapman II after responding to a call about a suspected shoplifter. Rankin testified that Chapman tried to get away and refused to take his hand out of his pocket. Rankin used a stun gun on Chapman, then the teen knocked it to the ground, Rankin testified. Rankin said he fired his weapon after the teen came towards him in an aggressive manner.
Two witnesses agreed that Chapman “charged” Rankin, while a third said Chapman made a gesture toward Rankin as if to make him flinch.
Prosecutors said resisting orders should not result in death. Rankin “brought a gun to what at worst was a fistfight,” argued Portsmouth commonwealth attorney Stephanie Morales.
Judge Johnny Morrison did not allow lawyers for the officer to introduce Chapman’s juvenile record and his writings, which they said showed an inclination to anger and rage. Defense awyers also sought to delay the trial because of recent publicity surrounding police shootings, but Morrison refused.
Morrison also made several evidentiary rulings against prosecutors. Prosecutors were barred from telling jurors that Rankin had shot and killed an unarmed white man in 2011. The judge also refused to admit testimony by Rankin’s ex-wife that he fantasized about shootings while on duty. And the judge did not allow testimony about messages Rankin sent to a police dispatcher before the shooting in which he said he hated the job and the whole world. “People are just bad,” Rankin said.
