OLYMPIA, Wash. — On June 27, Jeffrey Nelson became the first police officer in Washington state to be found guilty of murder since the passage of an initiative that makes it easier to prosecute officers for negligent shootings.
Nelson was found guilty of second-degree murder and first-degree assault in the fatal shooting of 26-year-old Jesse Sarey in 2019.
Though he's the first officer convicted, Nelson isn't the first tried under the law. Three Tacoma police officers faced charges in the death of Manuel Ellis. However, all three were acquitted following a 10-week trial in 2023.
Initiative 940 overhauled Washington state's law on police shootings. It lowered the bar for prosecuting police who use deadly force by removing a malice clause. Previously, prosecutors would have needed to prove an officer acted with evil intent or malice in a charging decision.
The current law takes into account whether another officer acting reasonably in the same situation would have believed deadly force was necessary.
First sent to the Legislature at the end of 2017, Initiative 940 followed a string of high-profile police shootings nationwide.
Community activists had long tried to change Washington state's standard for prosecuting police, which previously required prosecutors to prove that officers acted with malice — something no other state required. But early efforts failed, leading activists to propose Initiative 940.
Police groups at first resisted the effort. They later joined the initiative's sponsors in fraught talks. The two sides eventually agreed to a compromise. The Legislature passed both the original initiative and a bill amending it. But the state Supreme Court struck that down, finding the procedure unconstitutional, and sent the original version of I-940 to the ballot, without the changes the two sides had agreed on.
Voters approved I-940 in 2018. That version of the law required police officers to receive violence de-escalation, mental health and first-aid training; as well as change the standards for use of deadly force, adding a "good faith" standard. It also stated an independent investigation must be done if deadly force from an officer results in death, great bodily harm or substantial bodily harm.
During the 2019-2020 legislative session, a bill amending the law was introduced. That bill adjusted when officers can be held liable for using deadly force by removing the "good faith" standard and replacing it with an objective test of whether another officer in the same situation would have believed deadly force was necessary.
The bill also altered requirements for police to render first and and required the state to reimburse an officer's legal fees if they are acquitted.
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