[Member submission]
From the San Francisco Chronicle
A San Jose jury acquitted a state narcotics agent of voluntary manslaughter charges Tuesday for fatally shooting a man in the back during a botched stakeout two years ago.
The case against agent Mike Walker had been closely watched because it was the first time in the state’s history that a Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement officer had been charged for killing someone in the line of duty. Walker shot and killed 43-year-old Rudy Cardenas, a father of five whom the agent had mistakenly identified as a parole violator.
At the end of the two-month-long trial, members of the jury deliberated about two days before reaching their verdict.