News Archive
Professor Boyne Comments for New York Times on Police Shooting
11/03/2017
IU McKinney Professor of Law Shawn Boyne was quoted in a recent New York Times article about a special prosecutor’s report that cleared two Indianapolis police officers of criminal wrongdoing in the shooting death of an unarmed black motorist who fled a traffic stop.
The two officers still face an FBI civil rights probe, a federal lawsuit and potential disciplinary action by the department for the June death of 45-year-old Aaron Bailey, who was shot after driving away from the officers and crashing his car following a short pursuit.
The FBI's Indianapolis office says it still is investigating whether the officers committed civil rights violations by shooting Bailey. The FBI and the Justice Department opened that probe in July.
Professor Shawn Boyne, who teaches courses in cybercrime, criminal law, criminal procedure and national security law, said federal authorities face difficulties proving that police officers acted willfully to violate a victim's civil rights.
"In this case, they'd have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officers did not believe the suspect was reaching for a gun when he was shot," Boyne said.
Read the article at https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/11/01/us/ap-us-police-shooting-indianapolis-news-guide.html
