Former Paradise Police Officer Patrick Feaster was convicted of involuntary manslaughter on Oct. 18. A jury in Butte County—in northern California, about two and a half hours from Reno, Nevada—deliberated for one full day before finding Feaster guilty in the death of 26-year-old Andrew Thomas on Thanksgiving evening in 2015. Thomas died from his wound—he was shot in the neck—on Dec. 19. The seven men and five women relied heavily on footage from Feaster’s dash cam. The footage, available below the fold, is graphic. As noted at the time:
”Feaster, who had been sitting in his patrol car, suddenly takes off on a call. A car has left the Canteena Bar and is speeding down the highway. Feaster turns onto a street where the brake lights of the car can be seen off in the distance. As Feaster speeds along, the car ahead of him suddenly runs into the median and flips over. Now turned onto its driver’s side, the car comes to a stop and Darien Ehorn, who had been a passenger, is lying in front of the vehicle.”
“As Feaster approaches the vehicle a man, presumably the driver, comes up through the passenger side window and attempts to get out of the car. That’s when Officer Feaster draws his weapon, aims, and shoots Andrew Thomas in the neck. As Thomas falls back down into the vehicle, Feaster returns his weapon to his holster and moves to the car to confront Thomas—who he has just shot, by the way.”
“On an audio recording, Feaster says the man in the car “refuses to get out.” He does not physically check on Ehorn, Thomas’s wife, lying on the ground just inches from him. The officer neglects to tell first responders that he shot the guy they were trying to extract from the car until about 10 minutes later, and he didn’t tell his commanding officer that tidbit of into until later, either.”
At the time, Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey elected not to file charges against Feaster, saying the shooting was accidental. Ramsey reversed himself in April of this year, charging Feaster with involuntary manslaughter. Feaster was thus ordered to stand trial. The trial began about two weeks ago and the jury began its deliberations on Oct. 17.
Dash cam footage from Patrick Feaster’s vehicle, November 25, 2015.