When Betty Jo Shelby of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was acquitted of first-degree manslaughter on Wednesday in the death of Terence Crutcher, no one expected her to go back to work on Monday, yet that is what she plans to do.
Her defense attorney, Shannon McMurray, has let slip that her client will be going back to work at the Tulsa Police Department, though she will not be allowed on street patrol.
Prosecutors had argued that Shelby used an unreasonable amount of force against Crutcher on September 16. She had encountered him along with his stalled vehicle on a city street. He can be seen in video footage walking away from the officers with his hands in the air before he is shot in the chest.
— Betty Shelby acquitted in shooting death of Terence Crutcher —
Shelby said she fired her gun because she was in fear for her life at the time. She felt Crutcher was reaching into his SUV for a gun, though no weapon was found in his vehicle.
Shelby was on paid leave during her trial and is among several other officers who were permitted to return to work after being accused of excessive force. The officers involved in the 2015 death of Freddie Gray have returned to work as well as Daniel Pantaleo, the NYPD officer who held Eric Garner in a fatal chokehold in 2014. Pantaleo didn’t just get his job back; he got paid six figures in overtime while working modified desk duty.