MUNCIE, Ind., Jan. 29 (UPI) -- The Ball State University police officers who shot a drunk student dead in Muncie, Ind., violated numerous police procedures, an expert has testified.
William Katsaris, a former Florida sheriff who is now a criminologist, was a witness for the father of Michael McKinney, the Muncie Star Press reported. McKinney was killed in 2003 after a homeowner heard someone banging on her back door and thought it was a burglar.
Katsaris said Monday that one of the officers brought his girlfriend to the scene, an obvious safety violation. The officers also did not discuss the situation or work out a plan before heading for Jane Poole's backyard, increasing the chance of a mistaken shooting, he said.
Two of the officers were blocked by a fence from entering the yard. Another, Robert Duplain, allegedly failed to stop at the corner of the house for an assessment -- which Katsaris called the "quick peek method."
Katsaris said that Duplain was some distance from McKinney when he shot him. McKinney was later determined to have been so drunk that he would have had to be hospitalized.
Tim McKinney, the dead student's father, is seeking $275 million in damages from Duplain.
