http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/19/us/2-former-albuquerque-officers-on-trial-in-killing-of-homeless-man.html 2016-09-19 00:48:10 2 Former Albuquerque Officers on Trial in Killing of Homeless Man The two former officers face charges of second-degree murder after shooting the homeless man, James Boyd, four hours into a standoff in 2014. === ALBUQUERQUE — The Officers arrived in waves, a handful at first, then more of them, bringing Four hours into the standoff, two police officers fired six shots at Mr. Boyd, hitting him in the back and arms. On Monday, they will stand trial on charges of second-degree murder and, their lawyers said, both will testify in their own defense. The prosecution of Keith Sandy, who Last month in Portsmouth, Va., an officer was Mr. Boyd was white; the officers who shot him were white and Hispanic. About 1,000 times a year, an on-duty police officer shoots and kills somebody in the United States, according to an analysis by The vast majority of the shootings were deemed justified: Since 2005, when Dr. Stinson began his analysis, only 75 officers were charged with murder or manslaughter. Of those, 26 were convicted. “These used to be local stories, quite often,” Dr. Stinson said. “Now, these cases are making national and international headlines, and people from all walks of life are paying close attention.” One reason is video, which has transformed average citizens into arbiters and participants as they watch the action as it unfolds, unfiltered, on their cellphones and laptop screens. In the case of Mr. Boyd, it was At times the officers tried to humor Mr. Boyd, and called him “bro” and “dude.” Other times, they pretended to buy into Mr. Boyd’s wild claims — that he worked for the Department of Defense, or that he was on a mission with Special Forces and could kill all of them with a phone call. Then there are the images captured by Mr. Perez’s The special prosecutor, Randi McGinn, has called the shooting a case of “officer-induced jeopardy,” saying that the police cannot pick a fight, end it with bullets and then claim self-defense. Jurors will see much of that footage during the trial. What they will not see is what happened immediately after Mr. Boyd was shot — an officer siccing a dog on him and another firing beanbag shots at him as he lay on the ground, wounded — Judge Alisa Hadfield has ruled, to avoid influencing jurors. They will also have to decide the fate of two men with different pasts. Mr. Perez served two tours in Iraq with the United States Marine Corps, receiving a Purple Heart after his convoy was hit by an improvised explosive. Mr. Sandy was fired from the New Mexico State Police for timecard fraud — he was moonlighting as a tactical instructor while on the clock — before the Albuquerque Police Department hired him in 2007. At the time of the shooting, Mr. Sandy was part of the Police Department’s Repeat Offender Project, a tactical unit with specialized weapons. The team was “Before the Boyd shooting, the problems in the Police Department just didn’t get the attention they deserved,” said “The visceral impact of the shooting and the video really galvanized the reform effort,” Mr. Allen said. “It was a major factor in keeping the conversation going and pushing them toward reform.” Between 2010 and 2014, city police officers fatally shot 23 people and wounded 14 others, according to the Justice Department assessment. That amounts to four deadly shootings per 100,000 residents, eight times the rate of deadly police shootings in New York City during the same period. Officers were also found to have kicked, punched and violently restrained nonthreatening people, including many with mental illnesses. Mr. Boyd, who had been given a His family