By Brett Barrouquere, The Associated Press
Louisville, Ken. (AP) -- A police officer who fatally shot a black teenager pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and wanton endangerment at his arraignment Monday.
Officer McKenzie Mattingly was indicted Friday by a grand jury, which also charged him with wanton endangerment.
Mattingly, 31, entered his plea in a Jefferson Circuit courtroom packed with at least two dozen uniformed officers and the family of the man he is accused of killing, 19-year-old Michael Newby.
A judge set bail at $25,000 cash or $50,000 property.
Mattingly did not speak during arraignment. His attorney, Steve Schroering, entered the plea on his behalf.
Schroering also filed a motion to move Mattingly’s trial out of Jefferson County, saying the recent history of police shootings and publicity surrounding those incidents have made selecting an impartial jury impossible.
Newby’s mother, Angela Newby-Bouggess, said she was disappointed that Mattingly received low bond and in the officers who showed up to support him.
“I thought that was horrible,” said Newby-Bouggess, who attended the hearing with several family members. “It showed me they thought what he did was all right.”
Antiwuan Satterfield, a friend of Newby’s family, said the contingent of police officers in the courtroom sends a bad message.
“It just kind of hurt me a little bit,” Satterfield said as he held Newby’s 2-year-old nephew, Tre. “It was like they are going to protect him.”
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Scott Davis said the $25,000 bond for Mattingly is appropriate, given that he has no criminal history and isn’t a risk to flee before trial. In other murder cases with different defendants and circumstances, the bond may be higher, Davis said.
“It’s fair to this office in this particular murder case,” Davis said.
After the arraignment, Schroering declined to discuss the request to move the trial. In the motion, he cites the fact that Newby was the seventh black man fatally shot by Louisville police in the past five years and the numerous news stories and protests that have arisen from the other shootings.
None of the officers involved in the previous shootings was charged, and Newby’s shooting raised racial tensions and prompted protests outside the police station.
“It is obvious that this police involved shooting of an African-American in Jefferson County did not occur in a vacuum,” Schroering wrote. “It carries with it shootings of the past and reactions of the media and civil rights leaders.”
Davis said potential jurors will be questioned about the other shootings and that the case can be tried in Jefferson County.
Police have described the Jan. 3 shooting as an undercover drug buy gone bad between the undercover officer and Newby, who was shot in the back. Commonwealth’s Attorney David Stengel said the “placement of the shots” was a key factor leading to the indictment.
Mattingly could get 20 years to life in prison on the murder charge if convicted.
A trial date for Mattingly was set for Sept. 20. The motion for a change of venue is scheduled for a hearing on April 19.