A Tulsa County district judge has denied a motion to dismiss a manslaughter charge against a white Tulsa police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man last year.
Tulsa police officer Betty Jo Shelby was arraigned Wednesday in district court. She has pleaded not guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the September 16 death of Terence Crutcher.
After denying the dismissal motion and another motion for a new preliminary hearing, Judge Doug Drummond set a trial date of May 8.
Shelby’s attorney, Shannon McMurray, says she's confident Shelby will be found not guilty and is planning to appeal the ruling denying a new preliminary hearing.
"You get what you get and you try not to throw a fit. You do it in legal proceedings and that's what we're going to do. And if the Court of Criminal Appeals agrees with Judge Drummond's ruling, then we'll move forward."
Prosecutors say Shelby acted unreasonably because Crutcher wasn't armed or combative when she approached him after his SUV broke down, and that he obeyed commands to raise his hands.
Shelby's attorneys say she shot Crutcher because she feared for her life, believing Crutcher was reaching into his vehicle for a gun.
