PORTSMOUTH, Va. (AP) - Prosecutors in Virginia have won a rare conviction of a white former police officer who shot and killed an unarmed black teen suspected of shoplifting.
The guilty verdict Thursday was for voluntary manslaughter, a lesser charge than the original first-degree murder count. And the jury recommended a 2 1/2 year prison sentence for Stephen Rankin, a punishment far below the decade prosecutors had sought.
The outcome is typical of the rare conviction that follows a shooting by police, said Philip Stinson, a criminal justice professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.
Rankin's formal sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 12. A judge cannot increase the jury's recommended sentence, but he could reduce it.
