A Brooklyn jury has cleared an NYPD officer of all charges for the fatal off-duty shooting of an unarmed motorist following a July 2016 road rage incident.
The panel of seven women and five men found cop Wayne Isaacs not guilty of charges of second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter following nearly 14 hours of deliberation.
“Are you f--king kidding me?” a relative of Delrawn Small, who was killed by the officer, sobbed after the verdict.
“No! You’re a murderer!” she shouted at Isaacs.
A second relative then turned to the jury and cried, “You let him get away with it! The whole system is corrupt.”
The cop had faced anywhere from 25 years to life behind bars if convicted on the murder charge. After the verdict, the relieved cop hugged his friends and family.
Isaacs took the stand in his own defense, compellingly telling jurors he feared for his life when Delrawn Small charged at his car just after midnight on July 4, and claiming the father of two screamed, “I’m gonna f–king kill you” as he punched him in the face.
The 38-year-old cop admits firing three shots at Small, all of which hit him.
After the verdict, Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Alexander Jeong told Isaacs, “I’m sure it was difficult for you … Only you know what happened out there.”
He added, “No one’s passing any judgement — we can only hope that there are no incidents like this in the future.”
Surveillance footage first obtained by The Post shows Small — whose girlfriend and stepdaughter testified tearfully that the officer had cut them off minutes earlier in traffic — leaning into the car before he staggers backward, spins, and falls face-down between two cars.
Prosecutors allege Small never punched Isaacs.
Isaacs was the first officer to be tried under an executive ruling by Gov. Andrew Cuomo that gives the Attorney General’s Office the power to prosecute officers involved in civilian deaths.
Source: http://nypost.com/2017/11/06/road-rage-cop-found-not-guilty-in-shooting-of-unarmed-man/