The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans has upheld the dismissal of a manslaughter charge against a former Austin police detective in the 2013 shooting death of Larry Jackson, according to KVUE's and the Austin American-Statesman's Tony Plohetski.
Former Austin Police Department Detective Charles Kleinert was questioning Jackson in connection to a bank robbery in July 2013 when Jackson ran. Kleinert chased him under a bridge along Shoal Creek Boulevard, and the two struggled. Kleinert said his gun went off in the struggle, fatally shooting Jackson in the neck.
Kleinert was indicted by a Travis County grand jury on a manslaughter charge in the shooting. Kleinert successfully argued in 2015 that he was working as part of an FBI task force at the time of the shooting. A federal judge ruled he is entitled to special protection from prosecution that is in place for federal law enforcement officers.
The Travis County District Attorney’s office appealed the ruling to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, arguing Kleinert was employed by the Austin Police Department, not the feds.
Plohetski reports that prosecutors must now consider whether to ask for the case to be heard again, or try to get the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case.
