Florida sheriff's deputy indicted on manslaughter in man's death
TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) - A Florida sheriff's deputy was indicted on a manslaughter charge in the 2013 shooting death of a man carrying an air rifle, the Broward County State Attorney's Office said on Friday.
Deputy Peter Peraza turned himself into a south Florida jail on Friday morning, authorities said. He was indicted after a local grand jury heard three days of testimony.
Peraza, 37, is accused of killing 33-year-old Jermaine McBean at a south Florida apartment complex in July 2013.
Photographs later showed that McBean was wearing earbuds, which his family contended would have prevented him from hearing any orders to drop the unloaded air rifle, the Sun Sentinel newspaper reported.
Peraza told investigators that deputies had shouted repeatedly at McBean to drop the weapon, and that they did not see anything blocking his hearing, according to the Sun Sentinel.
Peraza's attorney said his client will plead not guilty and stressed that his case differs from recent shooting deaths of unarmed men by law enforcement that have raised questions nationally about excessive use of force by police.
"This situation was a man who was armed, who was walking down the streets (and) pointed a weapon, a rifle, at a law enforcement officer," attorney Eric Schwartzreich said in a phone interview.
"My client was doing nothing more, nothing less, than he was trained to do in protecting the community," he added, calling the indictment politically motivated.
Peraza was expected to be released from jail late on Friday after posting bond, which was set at $25,000, his attorney said.
Peraza faces up to 30 years in prison for the first-degree felony charge, the state attorney's office said.
He has been suspended without pay, the sheriff's office said on Friday.
"Now, the case will go forward in the courts and a jury will weigh all the evidence and render a verdict," Sheriff Scott Israel said in a statement.
(Reporting by Letitia Stein in Tampa, Florida; Editing by David Gregorio)
