Local News in Brief : Suspect Acquitted in Officer’s Slaying
A man accused of helping plan the 1985 revenge slaying of a Los Angeles police detective was acquitted Tuesday of first-degree murder but still faces a conspiracy charge.
A Van Nuys Superior Court jury acquitted Reecy Clem Cooper, 34, of one count of murder in the killing of Detective Thomas C. Williams, gunned down as he was picking up his young son at a Canoga Park day-care center. Cooper still faces a charge that he conspired with four other men in the killing.
If convicted of the second charge, Cooper could receive a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison, said Deputy Dist. Atty. E. William Gravlin, a prosecutor in the case.
Three other men have already been convicted of charges connected to the slaying.
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