Nation IN BRIEF : NEW JERSEY : Officer Acquitted in Black Youth’s Death
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
A Bergen County jury acquitted a white police officer of reckless manslaughter in the shooting death of a black youth that touched off a riot in the affluent New York City suburb of Teaneck, N.J. The officer, Gary Spath, 31, wept after the verdict was read. He shot Phillip Pannell, 16, in the back after a foot chase on April 10, 1990. Prosecutors said Pannell had his hands raised; the defense said the youth was reaching for a gun.
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