Latest news with #voluntarymanslaughter
CNN
18-07-2025
- CNN
Ex-Philadelphia officer sentenced and immediately paroled after conviction in traffic stop shooting
A former Philadelphia police officer who shot and killed a motorist during a traffic stop was sentenced and granted parole Thursday by a judge, eliciting condemnations from the city's district attorney and the victim's family. Judge Glenn Bronson sentenced Mark Dial to 9 1/2 months in jail, and immediately granted Dial parole because he had already been jailed for 10 months following his arrest in 2023. A jury in May acquitted Dial, 29, of murder charges, and instead convicted him of voluntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and possessing an instrument of crime in the fatal shooting of 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry. Brian McMonagle, Dial's lawyer, said the judge did the right thing for a 'dedicated public servant' who 'risked his life every day for perfect strangers.' District Attorney Larry Krasner said the judge went 'way below' sentencing guidelines in handing down a sentence that set Dial free. The low end of the standard range of sentencing guidelines for the conviction was 4 1/2 to nine years in prison, he said. Krasner declined to criticize the judge but said he was 'deeply disappointed with a verdict that I think makes people lose faith in the criminal justice system.' Zoraida Garcia, an aunt of Irizarry's, told reporters after the sentencing that if she had committed the crime, 'I would have been doing life in prison. But he's a cop, so he gets the OK.' Another aunt, Ana Cintron, said, 'my nephew's life doesn't matter at all.' In court, Bronson said the shooting was not 'a classic voluntary manslaughter case,' that Dial's conduct was 'demonstrably out of character' and that Dial was not a threat to the public, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. He also said that Dial, after shooting Irizarry six times, rushed Irizarry to the hospital. 'I've never seen that happen in a voluntary manslaughter case,' he said. Dial's lawyers have insisted that the 2023 shooting was justified. They say Dial thought Irizarry had a gun when he approached Irizarry's car after officers spotted the car being driven erratically and followed it for several blocks before it turned the wrong way down a one-way street and stopped. Police body camera video of the shooting shows Dial getting out of a police SUV, striding over to Irizarry's car and firing his weapon six times at close range through the rolled-up driver's side window. The video shows Irizarry holding a seven-inch knife before he was shot. Another officer yelled 'knife' as they had approached the vehicle, according to the video, but Dial's attorneys disputed those assertions, saying the other officer yelled 'Gun!,' that the knife resembled a gun and that Dial had acted lawfully and in self-defense. Dial was released from custody in 2024 after prosecutors withdrew a first-degree murder charge.
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Yahoo
After Finding a Tampon, She Killed Her Boyfriend — Then Stunned the Court with 5 Words
Julie Bush was sentenced to a minimum of 12 years behind bars In March, Bush pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the death of her boyfriend, Richard Penardo In court, Bush apologized for Penardo's death and said she loved "him very much" A Nevada woman was sentenced to at least a dozen years in prison after she pleaded guilty to killing her boyfriend, whom she confronted after finding another woman's tampon in his trash. Nevada court records indicate that Julie Bush, 31, entered a guilty plea in March after she had been charged with voluntary manslaughter and driving under the influence in May 2024. KLAS and the Las Vegas Review-Journal, citing court documents and Las Vegas police, reported that Bush confronted her boyfriend, Richard Penardo Jr., 51, after finding the tampons in his trash can. The outlets reported that Bush claimed she got in her car while Penardo swung a steel chain and struck the windows, breaking them. Bush then reportedly accelerated the vehicle, hitting Penardo, who was thrown into a brick wall, KLAS reported, citing prosecutors. Penardo died a day later, the outlets reported. On Tuesday, June 17, a judge sentenced Bush to 12 to 35 years in prison, according to both spoke to the court and expressed regret to the judge before she handed down her sentence. 'I love him very much,' Bush said, according to KLAS. 'I'm sorry that he passed away and I wish I could change it, but I can't, and I know there's not a sentence in the world that's going to make anybody satisfied.' The outlet reported that Bush's public defender said her client was the mother of a 5-year-old child. If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages. Read the original article on People
Associated Press
23-05-2025
- Associated Press
Ex-Philadelphia officer convicted of manslaughter, not murder, in traffic stop shooting
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A former Philadelphia police officer who shot and killed a motorist during a traffic stop has been acquitted of murder charges by a jury that did convict him of voluntary manslaughter and related counts. Mark Dial could face up to six years in prison when he's sentenced in July. The verdict came Thursday afternoon after the jury had deliberated for nearly three days. The charges against Dial stemmed from an August 2023 traffic stop involving Eddie Irizarry, 27, who Dial fatally shot as he sat in his car. Police body camera footage showed Irizarry holding a knife near his right leg as police approached, and another officer yelled 'knife' as they got near the vehicle. During the trial, Dial's attorneys disputed those assertions, saying the other officer yelled 'Gun!' They also argued the seven-inch knife Irizarry was holding resembled a gun, saying Dial acted lawfully and in self-defense. Following the verdict, Dial's attorneys said they were glad he was acquitted of murder but disappointed he was convicted of anything. Besides the voluntary manslaughter count, Dial also was convicted of reckless endangerment and possessing an instrument of crime. Prosecutors declined comment. The verdict culminates a series of legal twists and turns in the case, which has seen the charges filed, thrown out, refiled and later reduced.
