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SEARCHThe jury acquitted Michael Owen Jr. of all four charges, including second-degree murder, first-degree assault, voluntary manslaughter and misconduct in office. It took the jury less than two hours of deliberations to deliver the not guilty verdict.
A Maryland police officer was acquitted by a jury of murder and other charges Wednesday related to the 2020 fatal shooting of a handcuffed suspect.
The jury acquitted Michael Owen Jr. of all four charges, including second-degree murder, first-degree assault, voluntary manslaughter and misconduct in office. It took the jury less than two hours of deliberations to deliver the not guilty verdict, the Associated Press reports.
Owen fatally shot William Green, 43, while the handcuffed man was sitting in the front seat of the officer's police vehicle in 2020. Owen's attorneys claimed at trial that he acted in self defense during a struggle in which Green tried to grab his gun. After the gun went off, he shot Green six times.
Several months after Green's death, in September 2020, county officials announced a $20 million settlement with his family.