Newark Police Officer Jovanny Crespo found guilty on all counts
NEWARK, N.J. -- A jury found Newark Police Officer Jovanny Crespo guilty on all counts Wednesday.
Crespo was accused of fatally shooting one man and injuring another during a chase in January 2019.
He was found guilty of aggravated manslaughter, aggravated assault, weapons offenses and official misconduct.
Sentencing is set for Sept. 15. Crespo could face 30 years behind bars.
The jury reached the verdict after six days of deliberations that saw multiple delays - a juror was out sick, other jurors had to be swapped out, and all three alternates had to be swapped in.
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There were tears from Crespo's 20 or so family and friends in the courtroom after he was found guilty on all counts and then called a flight risk by the judge, who remanded him.
In January 2019, driver Gregory Griffin was pulled over for speeding. During the stop, an officer saw a gun in the car. Griffin fled, leading police on a high-speed chase. Crespo responded as backup.
Crespo could be seen on body-worn camera firing his gun at the suspect's car at three different locations. Crespo shot and killed Griffin and injured his passenger Andrew Dixon.
Watch Alice Gainer's report
Prosecutors argued he ignored policy and procedure and was not justified in his use of deadly force, telling the jury he did not note the danger as imminent in his own police report, just that the threat posed by the vehicle was that it was moving at a high rate of speed.
"Approximately four years ago, I stood at this microphone dumbfounded by the actions that I saw involving Officer Crespo. Even today, they're still hard to fathom and hard to watch," Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens said.
"It was all of the evidence combined, but I don't think we can stress enough the importance of the body-worn camera in this case," Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Alex Albu said. "The only time you can use deadly force is if there is an imminent danger, and clearly what the jury found in this case is there was no imminent danger."
"Ultimately, that's what's going to make our community safer, is that people on the street, the community, feels that they're going to get an even shot, especially in the situation when the officer is not operating in accordance with the law or in the regulations," Stephens said.
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Crespo's defense attorney argued he saved lives that night, with Crespo himself taking the stand in his own defense, maintaining a gun was pointed at him.
"We remain steadfast in our position that there are not a couple of appealable issues in the matter, numerous valid appealable issues that will eventually prove successful here," Crespo's attorney Patrick Toscano, Jr. said. "For law enforcement officers to do what they do day in and day out and see a verdict like this, how could anyone expect them to continue what they do day in and day out, risk their lives?"
The Newark Public Safety Department says Crespo, who had been suspended, was terminated from his employment with the Newark Police Division on Wednesday.