By ANNIE BERGMAN
Associated Press Writer
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.- A grand jury has indicted a state trooper in the shooting death of an unarmed mentally disabled man, saying the officer could have more fully assessed the situation before firing.
Trooper Larry Norman had been called to help as four other investigators stopped a man believed to be a wanted fugitive. The man, who turned out to be Erin Hamley, was on the ground when he refused an order to show his hands, officials said. Only Norman fired.
“Hamley is heard to moan and say, ‘I’m sorry” and later, `Why did you shoot me?’” the grand jury report said.
Norman, 40, was charged with a misdemeanor negligent homicide count Thursday in Hamley’s March 7 death. If convicted he could face up to a year in jail.
The trooper surrendered Thursday at the Benton County jail and was released on his own recognizance. A hearing was set for May 22, said John Everett, Norman’s lawyer.
“Larry Norman, together with the rest of the community, grieves for the family of Erin Hamley and genuinely regrets this unfortunate and tragic occurrence,” Everett said in a statement. “If he had it within his power to change the outcome of the confrontation on March 7, 2006, he would surely do so.”
Norman told prosecutors in a videotaped interview that he had a “gut feeling” that Hamley was the Michigan fugitive that officers sought.
Officers had received a tip to be on the lookout for Adam Lee Leadford, 18, a fugitive who had escaped from a boot camp in Michigan while serving time for assaulting a police officer and damaging a building and school buses.
Leadford was captured the evening of Hamley’s death after being wounded by police in a shooting at a Wal-Mart parking lot.