An appeals court has overturned the conviction of Austin police officer Christopher Taylor in a fatal shooting in downtown Austin in 2019, and in a rare move, acquitted Taylor.<\/p>\n
Taylor\u2019s lawyer announced the acquittal<\/a> on social media late Tuesday.<\/p>\n Taylor was convicted of deadly conduct by an Austin jury in the 2019 fatal shooting of Mauris DeSilva, who was suffering from a mental health episode and holding a knife when Taylor shot him in DeSilva\u2019s downtown condo building. The shooting occurred after officers responded to a 911 call about a man with a knife. Officers confronted DeSilva a few feet away from the elevator. <\/p>\n Taylor was originally indicted for murder, but his charge was reduced to deadly conduct before the start of the trial. <\/p>\n Taylor was the first Austin police officer in the Austin police department\u2019s modern history to be convicted for an on-duty police shooting. He was sentenced to two years in prison by a judge, but was free on bond pending the outcome of the appeal. <\/p>\n In Tuesday\u2019s decision, the Seventh Court of Appeals wrote that \u201cthe record still establishes justification\u201d for the shooting, according to KVUE, which first reported the news<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cThe body-worn camera footage shows officers confined inside an elevator as the doors open onto a hallway,\u201d Justice Alex Yarbrough wrote for the court. \u201cDeSilva is initially facing a mirror with a knife to his own throat. When the doors open, DeSilva turns toward the officers, reorients the knife away from himself and toward them, and advances in their direction. The officers have no meaningful avenue of retreat or ability to create distance. DeSilva, by contrast, has the hallway behind him. He does not retreat.\u201d<\/p>\n The court said the decision to reverse the judgment of the trial court was a matter of \u201clegal sufficiency\u201d and \u201cnot a reweighting of evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n Taylor was also tried for murder in the 2020 shooting in on-duty fatal shooting of Mike Ramos. Taylor shot Ramos, who was unarmed and fleeing in a car near an apartment complex. That case ended in a mistrial. <\/p>\n