Overview
- District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson filed the motion Tuesday, arguing prosecutors cannot prove the case and that former Officer Jason Fletcher acted in lawful self-defense.
- Steven Taylor, 33, was carrying an aluminum bat at a Walmart when Fletcher tased him and then shot him in the chest within about 40 seconds of the encounter.
- Taylor’s grandmother, Addie Kitchen, filed a letter opposing the move, asserting victims’ rights violations over notice and requesting to be heard before any ruling.
- The case has shifted between offices since charges were first filed under Nancy O’Malley, with Pamela Price later recused, the Attorney General briefly taking over, and a judge last month rejecting a defense bid to dismiss after a prosecutor acknowledged misconduct.
- Supporters denounced the DA’s decision and questioned the timing, and the filing follows Jones Dickson’s moves to drop or scale back charges in other law-enforcement cases, including the Santa Rita Jail death of Maurice Monk.