A fired Little Rock police officer was formally charged with manslaughter Friday, almost five months after his arrest for fatally shooting a 15-year-old boy he said was trying to run him over with a car.
The filing of the Class C felony charge, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, begins the trial process. Prosecutors have a year from 27-year-old Joshua Ryan Hastings’ Sept. 7 arrest to bring him to trial, although the presiding judge, Wendell Griffen, can allow more time. The next step in the process is scheduling Hastings’ arraignment to allow the judge to set trial and hearing dates.
Chief deputy prosecutor John Johnson said the decision to charge Hastings was based on a review of the evidence by five prosecutors, including Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley. Prosecutors have to meet a higher standard of proof to win a conviction - guilt beyond a reasonable doubt - than police need to make an arrest, which is a showing that probable cause exists that a crime was committed. Johnson said the Hastings case was subjected to the same review as every other homicide.
“The process is always the same; the facts vary from case to case,” Johnson said. “There’s nothing to be read into the length of time it takes to file a case.”
Hastings was arrested after a police investigation contradicted his story about how he came to shoot 15-year-old Bobby Moore on Aug. 12 at the Shadow Lake Apartments at 13111 W. Markham St. Hastings was one of several officers dispatched to the complex to investigate a complaint about someone breaking into cars. Hastings told investigators he opened fire in fear for his life after a car carrying three suspects drove toward him at 25 to 35 mph and the driver refused toobey his commands to stop.
The car did drive toward Hastings at some point, according to the arrest report. But detectives concluded, based on interviews with two teens in the car with Moore that night and physical evidence at the scene, that the vehicle had either stopped or was backing away from Hastings when Moore was shot, according to an arrest report. The formal charge alleges that Hastings was reckless when he shot the teen.
The Hastings family has a “long and distinguished” history of public service to the Little Rock community, Hastings’ attorney Bill James said in a statement Friday. He said they are “distraught and disappointed” about the decision to charge Hastings, but that he looks forward to having his day in court. Hastings is the son of Capt. Terry Hastings, head of the department’s southwest Little Rock bureau, and cousin toanother officer, Clay Hastings.
“A loss of life is tragic, but the decision to charge an onduty officer for actions taken to protect not only himself but the community at large from the threat of a person in the course of a felony only makes matters worse,” James said. “Officer Hastings is confident that the jury that hears this case will see the truth.”
An autopsy showed that Moore had gunshot wounds in the left middle finger, right shoulder and left side of his head, with medical examiners determining the head wound would have been immediately fatal, preventing Moore from being able to steer, according to the arrest report. The left-toright path of the bullet wound to the teen’s head had a slightly downward angle, consistent with Moore having his head turned right to look over his shoulder, the report states.
Moore’s death certificate lists injury to the brain and gunshot wound in the head as the cause of death.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 12 on 01/20/2013