Man paralyzed by police urges retrial decision
Source: Associated Press
Man paralyzed by police urges retrial decision
| November 26, 2014 | Updated: November 26, 2014 12:02pm
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Defense attorneys for a young black man paralyzed after being shot by a white city police officer during a traffic stop contend his life is being endangered by a prosecutor's delay in deciding whether to retry him on some criminal counts.
Attorneys for Leon Ford, 21, of Shaler Township, made that argument in a motion filed Wednesday, seeking to force the hand of Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr.
Ford, who has a pending federal civil rights lawsuit against the city and the three white officers involved, has been a focus of recent demonstrations in the city flowing from the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri. Ford's supporters plan another rally focusing on his case Friday at Point State Park.
Zappala must decide whether to retry Ford on misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest, escape and three counts of reckless endangerment on which a jury was deadlocked in September. The same jury acquitted Ford of the most serious charges he faced, aggravated assault, though the trial judge also convicted him of two traffic citations for running a stop sign and careless driving during the traffic stop.
Attorneys Fred Rabner and Tom Malone said in the motion that Ford needs surgery relating to a bullet lodged near his spine, and is risking infection and possibly death by delaying the procedure so he can help the attorneys prepare for the retrial. They want a judge to order the district attorney to decide on a retrial sooner than the year Zappala has by law — dating back to the September verdict.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Paralyzed-man-pushing-DA-for-retrial-decision-5919163.php
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