NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Thanks to a federal judge, two Newport News police officers will not have to appear before a federal jury, explaining why they shot a Newport News man, Corey Moody, in December 2012.
A local attorney, David Cardon, weighed in about why the case did not go to trial.
“Basically, the major facts of the case are not in dispute, and that’s why you have a trial. You have a trial so you can put on facts, and this case that already happened in the depositions prior to the trial,” Cardon told News 3 reporter Merris Badcock.
According to court records, Moody was under surveillance for a number of months for cocaine charges.
“In the actual decision, they actually talk about his background,” Cardon said. “They say that he had been previously convicted, and he was actually on bond for charges. He had already been charged for drug possession charges.”
Court records show on December 12, 2012, Newport News police officers pulled Moody over for failing to use a turn signal when changing lanes. That is when they found cocaine in the car.
One officer tried to arrest Moody, by reaching in through the passenger side of the car.
Court records say when Moody saw the handcuffs, he put the car in drive and tried to flee the scene. The officer “was still in the passenger compartment…when the car began to move,” court records state.
“Based on the fact that there was an officer hanging out the window, the car was believed to be moving, there was also the potential for a weapon… That’s why the court decided that the police officers’ actions were appropriate,” Cardon told News 3.
“Police officers have to protect themselves, and that is ultimately what the judge decided in this case.”
In all, five shots were fired at Moody’s car, after he started to take off.
One officer told deposers that she “fear[ed]” the officer hanging out of the car “would be shot”, and that "she fired [her[ weapon the vehicle in order to protect" the officer.
Moody “suffered gunshot wounds and sustained permanent injuries…to his spinal cord,” court documents show.
“The judge is saying, number one, that the police officers did not use excessive force. That any officers in their position would have done the exact same thing,” Cardon said.
The Newport New officer involved in the case would not comment.
Court records show Moody did not have a weapon in his possession at the time of the incident.
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