ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Lawyers for two U.S. Park Police officers are hoping to persuade a federal judge their clients have immunity from local prosecutors' efforts to charge them with manslaughter in the shooting death of an unarmed motorist in 2017.
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A hearing is scheduled Monday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria in the case against officers Lucas Vinyard and Alejandro Amaya. The two shot and killed 25-year-old Bijan Ghaisar of McLean after a stop-and-go chase outside the nation's capital.
Federal prosecutors declined to bring criminal charges. A Fairfax County prosecutor then obtained indictments against the pair for involuntary manslaughter, but lawyers for Vinyard and Amaya say their status as federal officers gives them immunity from local prosecution.
