By Deborah Bailey
AFRO Contributing Editor
A Prince George’s County Police Officer has been acquitted in the Jan. 27, 2020 death of William Green, a resident of Southeast D.C. who was shot while in handcuffs.
Michael Owen Jr. was found not guilty of four charges filed against him in a Prince George’s County Circuit Court jury on Dec. 6. The charges of first degree murder, second degree assault, manslaughter and misconduct in office, were filed following the death of William Green, of Southeast D.C., according to court records.
Credit: Photo courtesy of Prince George’s County Police Department
In January of 2020 Owen’s became the first police officer in the history of the country to be charged with murder while handling an on-duty case just 24 hours after the shooting.
Owen has been reprimanded for the use of force against citizens over 9 times in the course of his career. Prior to the killing of Green, he sought workers compensation for psychological trauma caused by another shooting earlier in his career. Supervisors claimed to be unaware of the other shooting incident.
Green was shot six times while in the front seat of Owen’s police cruiser. Owen handcuffed Green, who was first found unconscious in Temple Hills, Md. on Jan. 27, 2020, after crashing into multiple vehicles.
He should not be treated any differently than any other individual who had just shot someone multiple times with no clear justification.
Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks
Greene’s family was awarded a $20 million settlement from Prince George’s County months after the incident. The settlement was the largest in history for a police-involved shooting death in Prince George’s County, according to the Murphy, Falcon, Murphy law firm which represents the family.
“It is our belief that when we are at fault, we take responsibility. And in this case, we are accepting responsibility,” said Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.
At a 2020 press conference, Alsobrooks also stated that she did not object to the court charges levied against Owen. “He should not be treated any differently than any other individual who had just shot someone multiple times with no clear justification,” she stated.
During testimony at the trial, both prosecution and defense agreed upon the facts of the case. Police were called to the scene of the shooting on the night of Jan. 27, 2020 after Green crashed into several vehicles. Both sides say Green was under the influence of illegal narcotics and alcohol at the time of his arrest and placement in the police cruiser. However, that is where the discrepancies begin. The disputed aspects of the case center on whether the men struggled before the shooting and if Owen shot Green in self-defense.
Joel Patterson, Prince George’s County Assistant State’s Attorney argued that Green was “not a threat” that warranted the use of deadly force while handcuffed in Owen’s cruiser. Nonetheless, Owen’s attorney, Thomas Mooney, successfully argued that Owen acted in self-defense.
During the trial, Owen took the stand, defending his actions and — for the first time since the incident— explaining his version of what happened while Green was handcuffed in the front seat of his police cruiser.
Maryland law considers self-protection a reasonable defense when facing a homicide charge if the defendant believes they were in imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm, and the use of force was reasonable in the moment.
In State v. Faulkner (Md. 1984) the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled “self-defense operates as a complete defense to either murder or manslaughter.” The burden of proof was on Green’s attorneys, as he was tasked with breaking down Owen’s self-defense argument.
Owen was fired from the Prince George’s Police Department shortly after the incident. His trial was originally delayed after Prince George’s State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy offered a plea deal that would have reduced the charges against Owen from murder to voluntary manslaughter. Judge Michael R. Pearson rejected the plea agreement and issued a rare rebuke to Braveboys’ team. The judge said Braveboy “dropped the ball” by not exchanging required evidence with the defense needed to start the trial after three years.
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