ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) - Jury selection has begun in the trial of a former police officer charged with voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a man reported to have been hanging on or jumping on moving cars near a Pennsylvania amusement park.
Jonathan Roselle, 34, is expected to testify in his own defense in the shooting death of Joseph Santos, 44, of Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey. Lehigh County prosecutors contend that he had an “unreasonable” belief that his safety was endangered.
Prosecutors said the former South Whitehall Township officer was directing traffic near Dorney Park in July 2018 when a “frantic” woman stopped and said someone had tried to enter her vehicle. When the officer arrived, Santos climbed on the hood of his vehicle and pounded on his windshield and side windows, then walked away but wheeled around and started back toward the officer, they said. He ignored the Roselle’s commands to stop and get down on the ground, and the officer fired five times, they said.
District Attorney Jim Martin, in announcing the charges, said Santos had been engaging in “somewhat bizarre” behavior and was walking toward the officer, but wasn’t running or rushing toward him, had no visible weapon and didn’t present a threatening posture. Roselle had a flexible baton, stun gun and pepper spray, he added.
“In my opinion, this was the act of a relatively inexperienced officer who held a subjective fear for his own safety but made a decision which objectively was unreasonable in light of the facts,” Martin said,
Roselle, an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, graduated from the police academy in December 2017 and had 13 weeks of training after that, but had been on patrol by himself for less than five months, Martin said.
Roselle’s attorneys have said their client believed at the time there was a “genuine threat of harm” from Santos. Defense attorney Gavin Holihan said Santos could be seen on Roselle’s body camera pointing to his own eyes, then pointing to the officer - a gesture that he said his client interpreted as threatening.
Holihan has also said he will explore what effect Roselle’s military training may have had on his actions.
The shooting, which was caught on police and bystander videos, divided the community in 2018, prompting demonstrations near the scene for and against law enforcement.
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