The Baltimore City police officer indicted on manslaughter charges was “simply doing his job” the day he allegedly shot an unarmed man in the back after a brief struggle, the officer’s attorney said.
Baltimore-based lawyer Henry Belsky said his client, Officer Thomas Sanders, 37, never should have been charged with a crime after the Jan. 30 shooting of Edward Lamont Hunt, 27, in the parking lot of a Northeast Baltimore shopping center.
Sanders pleaded not guilty Friday in Baltimore City Circuit Court. A Nov. 17 trial date has been set.
“Officer Sanders was simply doing his job,” Belsky said. “When a person resists arrest, he puts himself in an amount of danger.”
Sanders only had a “moment” to decide about shooting after Hunt pulled away from him, Belsky said. The attorney pointed out the dangerous job officers have, saying several cops have been shot recently, including Officer Troy Chesley, who was killed in Northwest Baltimore this past year.
“The day [Sanders] got indicted is the same day an Anne Arundel County officer got shot in the chest,” Belsky said, referring to an incident in South Baltimore.
No weapon was recovered at the scene of Hunt’s shooting, but Belsky questioned whether Sanders could have known that Hunt was unarmed after he pulled away during a frisk.
“How do you know that [Hunt was unarmed]?” Belsky asked reporters outside the courtroom after Sanders was arraigned Friday. “… Did you see the coat he was wearing?”
When a reporter said witness statements indicated Sanders thoroughly frisked Hunt before the shooting, Sanders chuckled in apparent disbelief.
Belsky said he planned to contest those accounts in court. He said Hunt was on probation after being convicted for second-degree assault and resisting arrest.
“The guy was backing up time,” he said. “… He resisted arrested. The guy ran away.”
Sanders’ indictment marks the second time in 12 years that a police-involved shooting has resulted in charges against a Baltimore officer.
Paul Blair, president of the city police union, has said Sanders has his support.
Hunt’s fiancee, Lakia Jeter, hired lawyer Dwight Pettit to represent the family in a wrongful-death lawsuit against the police department.
Pettit has called the shooting “outrageous.”
“There was an outright assault on Mr. Hunt,” he said.
The Examiner first raised questions about the shooting after witnesses told the newspaper Hunt was unarmed and shot in the back after being frisked by an officer.
Staff Writer Stephen Janis contributed to this report.
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