DETROIT (WWJ) -- A Detroit judge on Tuesday threw out the felonious assault charges filed against a Detroit Police officer who shot three journalists with rubber bullets after a protest last year.
The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office says Judge Roberta Archer did not bind Cpl. Daniel Bono over for trial following Tuesday’s preliminary examination.
DeBono is alleged to have fired the non-lethal rounds at three photojournalists who were covering police brutality protests, which had been sparked in many cities across the U.S. in the wake of the death of George Floyd.
One of the journalists was injured, according to the prosecutor’s office.
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In dismissing the case, the court ruled that MCL 750.527 applied, a statue that “grants immunity to any officer where an unlawful assembly is declared,” the prosecutor’s office said. “The court applied the statute in this case and dismissed the charges as a matter of law.”
Prosecutors had argued the statute does not apply because the journalists were not a part of the protest, and the protest had been cleared at the time and place of the alleged incident.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy is mulling over the idea of an appeal.
WWJ Legal Analyst Charlie Langton says the law gives officers a lot of discretion.
“We don’t want police officers, necessarily, to second guess to the extent that they might not protect society,” Langton said. “Police officers have a really tough job, so when they’re exercising their scope to try to protect society and yet maybe they go over the line in a technical basis, that’s not enough. The police officer has to go way beyond -- maybe some other person, not a police officer would be doing.”