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On Thursday, April 25, 2019, Nouman Raja was sentenced to West Palm Beach, Florida. Former police officer of Palm Beach Gardens, Raja was found guilty of a charge of manslaughter and attempted first degree murder. He shot dead a motorist, Corey Jones, on October 18, 2015. (Lannis Waters / Palm Beach Post via AP, Pool)
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida – Corey Jones' family sang the gospel song "Victory is Mine" while she was coming out of a Florida courthouse, celebrating after a judge had sentenced a 25-year-old former police officer for killing the black driver in check in 2015.
Nouman Raja, a licensed officer from Palm Beach Gardens, became Thursday the first Florida law enforcement officer for nearly 30 years to be convicted and sentenced for a murder committed in service – and l '. one of the few officers of the country.
Raja, 41, told investigators that he fired after Jones shot him, but a videotape of their meeting suggested to prosecutors and jurors that Raja was behind their altercation. . And last month, a jury found Raja guilty of manslaughter and attempted murder, following the death of the 31-year-old musician who was shot dead after his SUV stopped on his way home. back after an evening at a club.
"We knew what the truth was and we stayed there," said his father, Clinton Jones Sr., to the press after Thursday's sentencing. He said that he had never doubted that Raja was the aggressor. "Because of the son we raised and the type of character that he had, we knew that … it was not our corey."
The families of Raja and Jones had filled the circuit judge Joseph Marx's hearing room, but he remained silent as Marx pronounced the sentence. He could have given Raja a life sentence, a sentence sought by prosecutors.
"It has been a heartbreaking affair," said Marx. "I think it had a profound effect on every person who witnessed this trial."
Karine, Raja's wife, had asked for clemency so that her husband could be the father of their two young children. She said the media and others had described it unfairly as "a monster, the angel of death". Raja, in a blue prison suit, looked down when she spoke.
"The wrong person was chosen to be a sacrificial lamb," she said. "Raja is the man you wanted to serve and protect yourself." His lawyers pledge to appeal.
Prosecutors claimed that Raja had turned an apparently routine interaction into a deadly confrontation with Jones, a home inspector and part-time drummer. Raja's lawyers claimed that his actions were in self-defense, both for a police officer and under Florida's controversial law "hold your position".
Raja, of Asian descent, was in plainclothes in a team of auto robbery investigators when he saw Jones SUV at 3:15 am on October 18, 2015. Jones was returning home after an evening in a nightclub of his reggae band when his vehicle stalled. on a dark highway exit. He had a concealed weapons license and carried a handgun, bought a few days earlier to protect his $ 10,000 battery pack, which was in the SUV.
Raja, dressed in jeans, a t-shirt and a baseball cap, drove an unmarked van the wrong way on an access ramp a few feet from the SUV .
Prosecutors said that Raja had never identified himself as an officer and had acted as aggressively as Jones had to think that he was about to be robbed by car or from to get killed. Raja's supervisor testified that the officer had been ordered to put on a police vest when he approached a civilian. He did not shoot his badge.
What the police did not know at first was that Jones had spoken to a tow truck dispatcher on a registered line. This recording shows that Jones says "Huh?" when his door opens. Raja yells, "Are you good?" Jones says that he is. Raja answers twice, "Really?" with Jones answering "Yeah".
Suddenly, Raja yells at Jones to raise his hands using an expletive. Jones replies, "Wait!" and Raja repeats his request.
Prosecutors think Jones took out his gun and tried to run. Raja fired three shots; Jones went down an embankment. Prosecutors said he had thrown his gun, but Raja fired three more times, 10 seconds after the first round. One of the bullets pierced the heart of the man. Jones was also hit on both arms.
Prosecutors said that Raja, ignoring the audio recording, had tried to deceive the investigators. He said he said "Police, can I help you?" as Jones jumped off the SUV. He also told them that Jones had jumped back and pointed his gun, forcing him to shoot. Raja said that Jones had run but had returned and again pointed his gun, forcing him to perform the second end.
Prosecutors indicted Raja for manslaughter, claiming that his actions had created confrontation and showed "culpable negligence". They also accused him of attempted murder, claiming that no matter which of Raja's six shots had killed Jones, the second recovery was a conscious effort to kill the fleeing man.
The last Florida officer sentenced for a murder committed on duty was William Lozano of Miami in 1989. The Hispanic officer shot and killed a black motorcyclist who allegedly attempted to hit him. A passenger died when the motorcycle crashed. Three days of riot followed.
Convicted of two murders in a Miami trial and sentenced to seven years, Lozano never served his sentence. Judges of state appeal courts dismissed the verdict, saying the case should have been moved from Miami due to racial tensions. Lozano was acquitted at a new trial in 1993 in Orlando.
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