Manslaughter Trial of Miami Officer Begins

A policeman who fatally shot a black motorcyclist acted recklessly and in defiance of police regulations, prosecutors said Wednesday as the trial opened into two deaths that touched off racial violence in January.

Defense attorneys said their client shot in self-defense.

William Lozano, 31, faces two manslaughter counts in the deaths of the driver, Clement Lloyd, 23, and his passenger, Allan Blanchard, 24, who died of injuries suffered when the motorcycle crashed Jan. 16 after the shooting.

Assistant State Attorney Don Horn told the racially mixed jury that Lozano violated police regulations when he stepped into the street and fired at Lloyd.

“This shooting was not justified,” Horn said. “At the time Lozano fired the shot, he was in no danger of being struck by the motorcycle.”

Testimony will show, he said, that Lozano fired at the motorcycle as it was about to pass him, not hit him.

“It was not a life-or-death situation, it was not a split-second decision and he did not have to shoot,” the prosecutor said.

But defense attorney Roy Black said Lozano acted not out of racism, but in self-defense as the speeding motorcycle headed directly at him to escape a pursuing squad car. On the night of the shooting, he said, no one could see well enough in the Overton neighborhood to determine skin color.

“Officer Lozano did not shoot his gun because he is Hispanic,” Black said. “Clement Lloyd did not die because he was black.”

Lozano shot only because the motorcycle, driven by a desperate Lloyd, was about to run into him, the defense contends.

Dade Circuit Judge Joseph Farina cleared the last barriers to the trial by rejecting defense contentions that the threat of violence hung over the trial and could frighten jurors into convicting Lozano to avoid another riot.

If convicted on both counts, Lozano faces up to 60 years in prison.