Prosecutors Bail Out - Told the jury during closing arguments that Mattingly was NOT guilty of murder
A former Louisville police detective was acquitted of
murder, manslaughter and reckless homicide Wednesday in the fatal
shooting of a teenage drug suspect that stoked racial tensions in the
city. The former detective, McKenzie Mattingly, showed no emotion as
the verdicts were read. The jurors returned the partial verdict after
more than eight hours of deliberations; the judge declared a mistrial
on a separate charge of wanton endangerment after the jury was unable
to reach agreement on that count. The jury was composd of 9 whites and
3 Blacks. Mattingly was charged with shooting 19-year-old Michael Newby
three times in the back Jan. 3 during an undercover drug buy. The trial
had been closely watched in Louisville's Black community.
Outside the courthouse, as he got into his vehicle, Newby's stepfather,
Jerry Bouggess, said: "There are murderers out here." [more ] and [more ] and [more ]
Prosecutors, in
an eleventh-hour turnaround, told jurors during closing arguments that
they should not find Mattingly guilty of murder but convict him of a
lesser charge. "I do not think that is what he is guilty of," said
Scott Davis, an assistant prosecutor. Prosecutors eventually must decide whether to retry McKenzie
Mattingly on the wanton endangerment charge. Attorneys will meet Monday
with Circuit Judge Judith McDonald-Burkman to discuss what may happen
next in the case
A $5 million wrongful-death lawsuit filed in federal court by
Michael Newby's family is pending against Mattingly and the Louisville
metro government.
Officials could not track down some witnesses to the shooting. Jefferson County prosecutors rested their murder case
against former police Detective McKenzie Mattingly yesterday without
calling two eyewitnesses and the man who was with 19-year-old Michael
Newby when Mattingly shot him. When Newby was killed Jan. 3, Donitra Mullins and her brother, Alonzo
Mullins, told police they saw the shooting unfold. But when prosecutors tried to subpoena the Mullinses, they
could not find them, said Steve Tedder, spokesman for the
Commonwealth's Attorney's office. In a statement given to police after
the shooting, Donitra Mullins, 23, described seeing a white man and a
black man struggling. "Then it looked like the black guy was getting
ready to run or whatever, and then that's when I seen the gunshot
coming out, the gun the white man had in his hand," Donitra Mullins
told police the
morning of the shooting. Mullins said Newby had his back to Mattingly.
[more ]
Over the past 7 Years at least 10 Black or Latino Men
have been Killed by Louisville Police. No Officers have
been Convicted [more]
] and [more 
