Trial set for officer in fatal shooting of Terence Crutcher

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TULSA, Okla. (AP) — A white Oklahoma police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man last year will go to trial May 8.

Tulsa police officer Betty Jo Shelby was arraigned Wednesday in district court. She has pleaded not guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the Sept. 16 death of Terence Crutcher.

District Judge Doug Drummond also overruled motions by Shelby’s attorneys to have the case thrown out for lack of evidence or sent back for a new preliminary hearing.

Prosecutors say Shelby acted unreasonably because Crutcher wasn’t armed or combative when she approached him after his SUV broke down, and that he obeyed commands to raise his hands.

Shelby’s attorneys say she shot Crutcher because she feared for her life, believing Crutcher was reaching into his vehicle for a gun.