A judge is refusing to grant immunity to a white Alabama police officer who claims he was acting in self-defense when he fatally shot an unarmed black man in 2016.
WSFA-TV reports Montgomery Judge Greg Griffin made that decision after a hearing yesterday in which Montgomery police officer Aaron Cody Smith described the shooting. Smith will go on trial next month on murder charges for the death of 58-year-old Greg Gunn.
The shooting happened after Smith stopped Gunn as Gunn was walking home through his neighborhood late one night in February 2016.
Smith testified he was "absolutely" in fear of his life. He said Gunn ran from him and he first tried to employ a stun gun and baton to subdue Gunn. He said he pulled his weapon because he thought Gunn was arming himself with a painter's pole from a porch.
