Thursday 3 December 2009

ex-York Police Chief David Rowry’s fatal shooting of Joe Louis Bell was a crime.

investigator with the Alabama Bureau of Investigation said from the witness stand that he believes ex-York Police Chief David Rowry’s fatal shooting of Joe Louis Bell was a crime.Agent Marc Boyd of the ABI was the lead investigator of Rowry’s shooting of Bell, 52, on Sept. 18, 2008. The ABI investigates all law enforcement-related shootings. Rowry has been charged with manslaughter in Bell’s death.When asked by District Attorney Greg Griggers whether Boyd would have filed charges against Rowry, the ABI agent said yes.“I would, based on probable cause,” Boyd said. “And most likely for murder or manslaughter.”The reason Boyd did not seek a warrant for Rowry’s arrest was that Griggers asked the ABI to forward its findings to the district attorney’s office so it could be taken before a grand jury. In December 2008, the grand jury indicted Rowry on a manslaughter charge for killing Bell in a Church’s Chicken restaurant in York.Before Boyd left the stand, defense attorney Belinda Weldon got Boyd to confess a mistake in his final report regarding Bell’s slaying.But Weldon could not get an explanation from Boyd on why her client was not allowed to file a supplemental report regarding the shooting of Bell.Weldon questioned Boyd’s report of his interview with Rowry after the shooting, forcing Boyd to acknowledge a mistake in the report involving Rowry’s movements that day before the shooting. Boyd said he did not recall a phone call from Weldon requesting that he meet with Rowry again so he could offer additional information on Bell’s shooting. Weldon’s repeated questioning of Boyd on why he did not remember her calling him drew objections from Griggers, which Circuit Judge Eddie Hardaway sustained.Testimony in the trial was cut short Wednesday after Weldon fell ill during the lunch recess.The trial resumes at 9 a.m. today at the Sumter County Courthouse.If convicted, Rowry faces between two and 20 years on the manslaughter charge, a class B felony.

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