Four months before Del City police Capt. Randy Trent Harrison shot and killed Dane Garrett Scott Jr., he arrested Scott for reportedly selling drugs near Del City High School.
Now two years later, Harrison's first-degree manslaughter trial in the man's death begins in Oklahoma County District Court.
Harrison, 48, faces a first-degree manslaughter charge in the March 14, 2012, shooting death of Scott, 18, of Del City, an unarmed man shot in the back after a car chase that ended in Oklahoma City.
The case is a rare instance of a law officer being charged in an officer-involved shooting, and some of his supporters say his actions were proper and that the case could set a dangerous precedent.
In March, District Judge Donald Deason issued a gag order in the case and denied Harrison's defense attorney's motion to dismiss the criminal charge.
Jury selection from a pool of 45 to 50 prospective jurors may conclude Monday.
Harrison was charged with the felony in April 2012. He has been on paid administrative leave with the Del City Police Department since the shooting.
Harrison had arrested Scott in November 2011, reportedly selling drugs near Del City High School. During arrest and booking, he threatened officers, Harrison's defense attorney wrote in papers filed with the court last month.
The next month, Harrison during undercover surveillance saw Scott sell what appeared to be marijuana from his home. And in January 2012, Scott was the passenger in a vehicle Harrison stopped. The driver admitted to police that Scott had sold him marijuana which was hidden in the pickup's passenger door panel, records show.
On the day of his death, Scott reportedly was selling drugs to one or more passengers in his car just before the pursuit. There was also a loaded handgun in the vehicle, and Scott was driving without a license, according to court papers.
Another passenger in the car said, "There's a gun in the car and we're going to jail," court papers show.
Harrison was able to disarm Scott before he fled near SE 15 and Interstate 35. He fired two shots which missed Scott, then fired a third missed shot as Scott attempted to scale a chain-link fence, according to the probable cause affidavit.
After another Del City officer fired his Taser as Scott continued to escape the enclosed area, Harrison fired a fourth shot that struck Scott in the back.
That shot proved fatal, the state medical examiner's office determined.
"At the time he was shot, Dane Scott was unarmed and was not posing a threat of death or great bodily harm to the officers or to any other person," Maj. Jody Suit wrote in the affidavit.
'Clearly justified'
Harrison's attorney wrote in papers filed with the court that Scott was committing four crimes at the time of the shooting: eluding a police officer, assault and battery on a police officer, assault and battery with a deadly weapon and attempting to shoot and kill Harrison.
Scott had multiple drug-related arrests in Del City and Midwest City starting in 2009, as well as an obstruction arrest with Oklahoma City police. His criminal history includes second-degree burglary and illegal entry with intent to commit a felony offenses in 2010 and 2011, according to court papers.
James Bowen, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors, told reporters at a September news conference that Harrison was "clearly justified" to shoot Scott because officers are trained to use deadly force to stop a fleeing, violent felon.
If convicted, Harrison faces four years to life in prison.
Copyright 2013 - The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
