Ex-Leavenworth cop accused of involuntary manslaughter to be retried in June
A former Leavenworth police officer accused of involuntary manslaughter in the 2017 shooting death of a 47-year-old man will be retried next month after his first trial ended in a mistrial, the county attorney announced Wednesday.
Matthew Harrington’s new trial will begin June 6, said Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson.
On July 11, 2017, Harrington fatally shot Antonio Garcia, Jr. Harrington was indicted in August 2018.
Court proceedings leading up to the first trial were held to determine whether Harrington would have legal immunity under Kansas law. At the time, a Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent testified as an expert witness that Harrington should have stepped away from the situation and called for backup instead of opening fire. The agent testified that Garcia did not pose a threat to Harrington.
Garcia’s family filed a civil lawsuit against the city of Leavenworth alleging wrongful death and violation of his civil rights. It settled for $1 million in 2019.
Last month, a Leavenworth jury was unable to reach a verdict in the criminal case.
The day after the mistrial, the Leavenworth Police Department announced it was going to release body camera footage from the fatal encounter.
Harrington’s defense attorneys filed a motion, arguing the release would be “inappropriate” and “make it harder to empanel enough prospective jurors who have no previous knowledge of the specific facts of the case.”
The Star filed a motion to intervene saying the public has a right to view the recordings. A judge ruled that the body camera videos could be released and the Leavenworth Police Department published more than two hours of body and dashboard camera footage.
Police shooting
Harrington was called to investigate a domestic dispute involving a stolen vehicle at Garcia’s home in the 1700 block of Rose Street. Family members were reportedly having an argument at the house.
Garcia encountered Harrington after returning to the home. In the video, Harrington is seen walking up to Garcia as he is parked in the driveway in the SUV.
Prosecutors have said Garcia had a knife in his lap but did not threaten Harrington. In the audio, Harrington was heard saying “Put that knife away” as Garcia shut the door and the two men struggled.
Harrington fired several gunshots into the SUV as he backed away.
The shooting happened 32 seconds after Harrington first approached Garcia, according to earlier testimony.
Harrington’s body camera shows Garcia’s wife, Heather Garcia, rush out to the SUV after the shots were fired.
“I’m a nurse,” she yells after Harrington tells her to get back. “He’s dead.”
A couple minutes later, she is escorted away from the vehicle by other officers who had arrived at the scene.
In the dash cam recording, Heather Garcia is heard saying she has been handcuffed.
“I just saw him shoot my husband in the head,” she says.
“This is not right.”
In the body camera video, Harrington tells another officer, “I don’t wanna be here, man.”
Several minutes later, Harrington says, “Man, I wish that never had’ve happened.”
