A King County jury in King County on Thursday found Auburn police agent Jeffrey Nelson guilty of murder and rape in the shooting death of Jesse Sarey in 2019. This was a traditional verdict that was based on a law that was born out of agony and frustration, followed by excessive, overzealous, and unnecessary police violence.
The six-man, six-woman judge at the Maleng Regional Justice Center, which deliberated just a few kilometers from the Auburn area grocery store where Nelson fatally shot the 26-year-old, armed Sarey, spent nearly four times weighing the second-degree murder and first-degree assault case.
The sentence for the crime judgment can go up to life in prison. Earliest- degree , abuse is punished by up to 25 years.
Nelson’s response to the decisions was not apparent as the decisions were read. Some could be audible crying in the court. The official slumped in his head as the prosecutor announced Nelson may be kept in custody until sentencing. On July 16, imprisonment was scheduled.
The security intends to submit a request for a fresh trial.
Nelson is the first officers commander in Washington to be found guilty of murder for on-duty steps, making the case a landmark in state-wide law-enforcement responsibilities.
Given days after the May 31, 2019 killing and after consulting with an attorney, Nelson made the only claim that Sarey had tried to grab his gun. Nelson’s attorneys claimed during oral arguments to the judge that Nelson feared Sarey had grabbed a sliding utility blade from his vest and was going to kill him.
After hearing from two witnesses and watching surveillance video of the shooting, the judge came to the conclusion that Nelson had broken the law he had sworn to uphold and had ignored his education.
Nelson, 45, who shot the armed Sarey double, faced the next- degree murder charge for the first shot, which was fired point- sheet into Sarey’s abdomen and the skilled examiner said was dangerous. The primary- degree abuse charge was for the next shot, fired seconds after, into Sarey’s head.
Nelson was the first officers officer in the country to be charged under Initiative 940, a comprehensive set of legal requirements for police responsibilities that were approved by the 2018 election.
De-escalation and crisis action are key components of the new legal standard, which places a cap on the amount of legality of police use of lethal force, as well as eliminating language that made it nearly impossible to charge officers.
Three Tacoma police officers were acquitted last year at test for the violent arrest and subsequent suicide of Manuel Ellis. Following the passage of I-940, the state attorney general’s office filed those murder and manslaughter expenses.
Ellis, 33, died in a south Tacoma intersection after struggling with officers and repeatedly telling them he could n’t breathe. In that case, officials did not fire their arms.
1938 was the last time a Washington commander was found guilty of murder on suspicion of being killed while on work. Berry Lawson, a 27-year-old hotel servant, was the victim of a murder verdict from three Seattle police officials. They were immediately pardoned by the governor. Martin, Larry, and he was not sentenced to prison.
Otto Zehm, 36, passed away in 2012 in Spokane on federal civil rights costs. He served a four- month statement.
How the prosecution unfolded
While the Nelson trial took five days to provide its situation, introducing evidence from 28 testimony and 110 displays, the defence called just two people to the stand, recently.
Nelson did never speak.
Nelson had stated in his opening statements next month that the security planned to tell jurors that he was afraid for his life and that Sarey was going to kill him with the policeman’s folding knife that had fallen from his uniform during the conflict.
In closing arguments, Nelson’s attorneys disputed, point by point, the state’s argument that the official, who started with the Auburn Police Department in 2008, disregarded his education, department policy and the rules on May 31, 2019, when he moved aggressively to assault Sarey for criminal disorderly conduct without waiting for backup. The result was a struggle that ended when Nelson shot Sarey once, paused to clear a gun malfunction, then shot him again.
An eyewitness, Steven Woodard, testified that during the struggle, he went over and picked up the knife after it fell from Nelson’s vest.
According to Woodard in a number of interviews following the shooting and testimony during the trial, Sarey grabbed or reached for Nelson’s gun. He described a violent confrontation that Sarey once seemed to be winning, and Nelson repeatedly struck Sarey in the face, slammed him against an ice machine outside the entrance, pulled his.45 caliber handgun, and shot him the first time.
Sarey fell to the ground, according to Woodard, and Nelson’s testimony suggested Nelson had used a cycle to fix the malfunction. Nelson looked around after the first shot, caught Woodard’s eye, and then turned back to Sarey, according to Woodard and the enhanced surveillance video that was shown to jurors. Nearly four seconds later, Nelson fired a bullet into his head.
Nelson was free on a$ 500,000 bond and has been a subject of ankle monitoring since he was accused in 2020. He has been on paid administrative leave from the department since then, earning a$ 100, 000- plus annual salary.
Jury selection took place in the middle of April, and the trial started on May 16 with the testimony of the county’s video expert, Grant Fredericks, and the introduction of the grainy surveillance video, which has been shown to the jury numerous times and is crucial to the prosecution’s case.
The jury was repeatedly asked to leave the courtroom during the five weeks of testimony as the attorneys argued about admissibility and evidentiary issues, which put the patience of King County Superior Court Judge Nicole Gaines Phelps to test, who at one point threatened financial sanctions if the interruptions did n’t end.
The Maleng Regional Justice Center’s largest courtroom had mostly empty benches throughout the trial, which was held there. Elaine Simons, Sarey’s foster mother, was there every day and has been joined by other activists from police accountability circles, including Olympia attorney Leslie Cushman, the author of I- 940, and Sonia Joseph, whose son,  , Giovonn Joseph- McDade, was killed by Kent police in 2017.
Nelson’s courtroom gallery has included a number of recognizable Auburn police officers, including Chief Mark Caillier, who sat behind Nelson in full uniform during closing arguments, and Cmdr. Cristian Adams, who had been listed as a defense witness.
After the Auburn Police Department’s training and designated records officer, Douglas Koch, resolutely sidestepped questions about the authenticity of the records, the prosecution was forced to subpoena Caillier for five minutes of testimony to verify Nelson’s training records.
The judge has focused the trial on Sarey and Nelson’s interactions over the years, including the pandemic, without considering any evidence that points to Nelson’s long and dubious history of using force, including two prior fatal shootings.
The Port of Seattle Police Department’s independent investigation into the Sarey shooting attracted the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office as the first inquiry. Dan Satterberg, the then-Prosecuting Attorney, assigned his chief deputy and the head of the office’s criminal division to take the case personally. He brought concerns up by video evidence and eyewitness accounts.
Two years into the prosecution, Satterberg brought in two experienced outside attorneys to handle the prosecution, which led to further delays.
Nelson’s history on the job
In addition to shooting Sarey, Nelson killed 25- year- old Isaiah Obet on June 10, 2017. In a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by Obet’s family, Nelson allegedly shot and set his police dog on Obet, a suspect in a home invasion robbery, before attempting to kill him with the dog. Then, Nelson shot him in the head a second time.
For those actions, the department gave him the Medal of Valor.
In 2011, Nelson shot and killed Brian Scaman who, according to the court documents, “reportedly taunted him with a knife during a traffic stop”. Nelson shot Scaman when he refused to drop the knife.
Obet’s family settled their lawsuit for$ 1.25 million just days before Nelson was charged. Since then, the city has paid$ 400,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by Sarey’s family and$ 400,000 to Nelson, a federal drug suspect who ran down in his patrol car, causing him to lose his legs.
Phelps, the judge in Nelson’s trial, ruled that the jury would not hear this evidence nor be allowed to see photographs of Nelson’s extensive body tattoos, which prosecutors believe gave a glimpse into aggressive policing. Phelps also ruled that Nelson’s attorneys could not provide evidence relating to Sarey’s extensive criminal history and drug use.
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