Stephen Rankin, a former police officer in Portsmouth, Virginia, has been sentenced to two and a half years after being convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old William Chapman II, who was unarmed.
Rankin was responding to a shoplifting call when he struggled with Chapman. While his attorney, James Broccoletti, claimed that he followed the department’s use of force policy, a jury convicted him of voluntary manslaughter, and on Wednesday, a judge passed down his sentence of two years, six months.
Although defense attorneys argued that Rankin should not be jailed until after the appeals process was completed, the judge denied that ruling.
