Commentary from experts on Dallas PD shooting of mentally ill man

From the Dallas Morning News — Experts: Charges likely in Dallas officer’s shooting of mentally ill man

A Dallas police officer who was captured on a neighbor’s surveillance video shooting a mentally ill man as he stood still is likely to be indicted for his actions during the deadly force confrontation, several legal experts say.

If Officer Cardan Spencer were indicted in the shooting of Bobby Gerald Bennett, it would send shock waves through the Dallas police force, which hasn’t seen one of its own charged in an officer-involved shooting in decades.

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The defense would be that Bennett “is mentally unstable,” said Toby Shook, a former high-ranking Dallas County prosecutor. Spencer “could say ‘from my point of view, I felt I had to shoot before he did anything else.’ You can’t get around the fact that he has a knife in his hand and has mental issues. A case like this always come down to a self-defense argument.”

“It’s really hard to convict police officers,” he added.

Several other legal experts provide a view on different aspects of this case. Be sure to read the whole thing.