An Alabama cop has been cleared of wrongdoing for shooting a man brandishing a wallet — which he mistook for a gun — as video of the nighttime incident has been released.
A federal appeals court held up a lower court’s decision that Opelika, Ala., police officer Phillip Hancock acted reasonably when he shot Air Force veteran Michael Davidson in March 2014, according to reports.
“After careful consideration and review of a video recording of the shooting, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Davidson, we conclude that a reasonable officer in Hancock’s position would have feared for his life,” the three-judge panel wrote in the ruling.
The dashcam video — used as evidence for this week’s ruling — details what went down on March 6, 2014.
In the recording, Hancock’s patrol car pulls to the side of the road, where Davidson’s SUV and a tractor-trailer are pulled to the side. Cops were responding to an accident in which Davidson swiped the back of the truck.
As Davidson pushes his way out of his SUV — which was parked on an incline — he fumbles with his wallet, passing it between his hands.
Hancock shouts “show me your hands” twice as Davidson steadies himself and holds up the black object.
That’s when two shots are heard going off. One hits the ground and another hits Davidson in his abdomen.
Davidson falls to the ground as the tractor-trailer driver takes cover.
The airman begins flailing his arms and screaming. The wallet at one point flies open before Davidson drops it to the ground.
Cops repeatedly tell Davidson to stop moving as he squirms and shrieks.
Davidson — who was en route to his nearby base when the accident occurred — later sued Hancock, the police department and the city of Opelika.
A federal judge in February 2016 decided Hancock’s actions didn’t violate any of Davidson’s constitutional rights.
But Brian Mosholder, one of Davidson’s lawyers, told local CBS affiliate WRBL earlier this week that Hancock fostered the high-stress situation and sought to fire his gun with little reason.
“It’s very obvious from that part of the video that Officer Hancock is creating a situation that he wished had happened that would have justified this shooting,” he told WRBL on Wednesday. “When you look at the video, none of that happened. When you look at that video, in less than six seconds, from the time Michael Davidson open his door, Officer Hancock shoots him, and he shoots him for absolutely no reason.”
Mosholder added his client believed he’d been blamed for the incident and wanted the dashcam video to come out. Davidson is now living in Texas, attending community college and caring for his mother, the attorney added.
In a statement to the Opelika-Auburn News, the city stood by the court’s ruling.
“The City, the Chief of Police and its officer have always denied any wrongdoing,” it said. “This case has now been analyzed by two federal courts … The judges have unanimously determined after a review of the evidence, which includes the dashcam video, there was no wrongdoing on behalf of the City, the Chief, or the involved officer. In reaching their respective decisions, these Federal Courts reviewed all of the evidence. Their opinions are clearly supported by all evidence.”
