Judge rules Blackwell officer justified in shooting driver

NEWKIRK, Okla. (AP) — An Oklahoma police lieutenant charged with first-degree manslaughter after he opened fire on a pickup truck, killing the driver, was justified in the shooting, a judge has ruled.

Kay County District Judge Lee Turner dismissed the case Thursday against Lt. John Mitchell, 41, who had been facing trial in the 2019 fatal shooting of Micheal Ann Godsey in Blackwell, The Oklahoman reported.

"The magnitude of this ruling potentially is just huge," attorney Gary James told the newspaper.

Mitchell has remained on the force while the case was pending.

Mitchell joined a pursuit of Godsey early May 20, 2019, after shots were fired across the city, including at Godsey's mother, another driver and a police officer. Mitchell fired an AR-15 rifle during the pursuit and after Godsey stopped. He then fired further with a handgun.

"Hey, I put 60 rounds in that dude, man. Hopefully, she's down," he told other officers, according to dashcam videos entered into evidence at the preliminary hearing. Prosecuting the case was Jason Hicks, the district attorney of Caddo, Grady, Jefferson and Stephens counties. He said Thursday he will appeal.

"The opinion is wrong," Hicks said.

The prosecutor argued that the lieutenant never gave Godsey a chance when she turned a corner and appeared to be surrendering.

He argued three other officers didn't engage in gunfire at that time, only Mitchell.

In a 44-page opinion, the judge Thursday rejected those arguments.

The judge called Godsey, 34, a violent fleeing felon who was a threat to officers as long as she was in possession of a handgun and not in custody. He also wrote it was highly unlikely that she was surrendering to officers.

"There was no indication made by her on 13th Street that she intended to surrender, such as by putting her pickup in park or throwing her handgun outside of her pickup. Those actions would have been the actions of a person in control of their faculties, which Ms. Godsey wasn't at any time that night," the judge wrote.

Mitchell could still face trial if the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals rules against him.