PHILADELPHIA, PA – A municipal court judge in Philadelphia reportedly dropped all charges, including murder, against the officer who fatally shot a knife-wielding 27-year-old man during a traffic stop this past August.
A proverbial sigh of relief was shared in a municipal courtroom out of Philadelphia on September 26th, after the judge overseeing the case relating to the fatal shooting of Eddie Irizarry dropped all the charges against Officer Mark Dial, the officer who reportedly shot Irizarry during a traffic stop in August while the decedent was holding a knife.
According to testimony delivered by Officer Dial’s partner, Officer Michael Morris, who was present during the fatal shooting, Officer Morris admitted to shouting “knife” while they approached Irizarry’s vehicle on August 14th.
Furthermore, supporting bodycam footage of the incident revealed that Officer Morris also shouted “gun” while the two officers approached Irizarry’s vehicle, which the defense argued that the knife in Irizarry’s possession harbored a handle that could easily be mistaken for the butt of a gun.
Meanwhile, the prosecution was apparently arguing that the charges against Officer Dial, which included first-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter amongst other charges, were completely appropriate because Officer Dial approached the decedent’s vehicle “with a gun already drawn for a routine traffic stop.”
For the sake of context, the pretext of the stop was due to Irizarry allegedly driving erratically, including driving into oncoming traffic at times, which isn’t exactly what one might characterize as a “routine” stop akin to maybe minor speeding or simple traffic signal violations and the ilk.
The prosecution seemingly relied heavily on the more contentious aspects of the bodycam footage, which was released to the public earlier in September, where Officer Dial’s utterance of “I will fucking shoot you,” moments before opening fire on Irizarry resulted heavily in public outcry and undoubtedly served as the catalyst to charges being brought forth in the first place.
Brian McMonagle, Dial’s defense attorney, rebuffed the characterization offered by prosecutors, emphasizing that, “There’s no way in this world this man committed murder,” further adding, “And every tragedy is not a crime.”
Judge Wendy L. Pew clearly approved of the defense’s interpretation of the August 14th incident, reportedly saying outright that she “100%” agreed with the defense and moved to dismiss all charges against Officer Dial.
Another one of Officer Dial’s attorney’s, Fortunato Perri Jr., championed the judge’s decision, saying, “The evidence presented by the prosecutor clearly supported Mr. Dial’s reasonable belief that Mr. Irizarry was pointing a firearm at him during the stop.”
However, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office is not pleased with the outcome in court, noting in a statement their intent to appeal the decision rendered by the judge and to pursue murder charges against Officer Dial once more.
“Special Investigations Unit prosecutors will be filing an appeal of this decision to the Court of Common Pleas by the end of today. In keeping with our oath to seek justice, we will move to have all criminal charges, including Murder, reinstated against this defendant.”
A proverbial sigh of relief was shared in a municipal courtroom out of Philadelphia on September 26th, after the judge overseeing the case relating to the fatal shooting of Eddie Irizarry dropped all the charges against Officer Mark Dial, the officer who reportedly shot Irizarry during a traffic stop in August while the decedent was holding a knife.
According to testimony delivered by Officer Dial’s partner, Officer Michael Morris, who was present during the fatal shooting, Officer Morris admitted to shouting “knife” while they approached Irizarry’s vehicle on August 14th.
Furthermore, supporting bodycam footage of the incident revealed that Officer Morris also shouted “gun” while the two officers approached Irizarry’s vehicle, which the defense argued that the knife in Irizarry’s possession harbored a handle that could easily be mistaken for the butt of a gun.
Meanwhile, the prosecution was apparently arguing that the charges against Officer Dial, which included first-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter amongst other charges, were completely appropriate because Officer Dial approached the decedent’s vehicle “with a gun already drawn for a routine traffic stop.”
For the sake of context, the pretext of the stop was due to Irizarry allegedly driving erratically, including driving into oncoming traffic at times, which isn’t exactly what one might characterize as a “routine” stop akin to maybe minor speeding or simple traffic signal violations and the ilk.
The prosecution seemingly relied heavily on the more contentious aspects of the bodycam footage, which was released to the public earlier in September, where Officer Dial’s utterance of “I will fucking shoot you,” moments before opening fire on Irizarry resulted heavily in public outcry and undoubtedly served as the catalyst to charges being brought forth in the first place.
Brian McMonagle, Dial’s defense attorney, rebuffed the characterization offered by prosecutors, emphasizing that, “There’s no way in this world this man committed murder,” further adding, “And every tragedy is not a crime.”
Judge Wendy L. Pew clearly approved of the defense’s interpretation of the August 14th incident, reportedly saying outright that she “100%” agreed with the defense and moved to dismiss all charges against Officer Dial.
Another one of Officer Dial’s attorney’s, Fortunato Perri Jr., championed the judge’s decision, saying, “The evidence presented by the prosecutor clearly supported Mr. Dial’s reasonable belief that Mr. Irizarry was pointing a firearm at him during the stop.”
However, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office is not pleased with the outcome in court, noting in a statement their intent to appeal the decision rendered by the judge and to pursue murder charges against Officer Dial once more.
“Special Investigations Unit prosecutors will be filing an appeal of this decision to the Court of Common Pleas by the end of today. In keeping with our oath to seek justice, we will move to have all criminal charges, including Murder, reinstated against this defendant.”
For corrections or revisions, click here.
The opinions reflected in this article are not necessarily the opinions of LET
Comments