Judge dismisses manslaughter charge against ex-West Valley officer

SALT LAKE CITY — "I knew what happened that day. I knew I was justified."

Those words came from a relieved Shaun Cowley Thursday after a judge dismissed the criminal manslaughter charge filed against him.

The presumably emotionally drained former West Valley police detective tilted his chair back, leaned back his head so it was pointed toward the ceiling and closed his eyes after the judge announced his decision.

For the first time in almost two years, Cowley could walk out of a courtroom knowing that he was no longer looking at possibly spending 15 years in prison.

"The last two years have taken a toll on my life and my family that people cannot understand. I have seen how people form hateful opinions without knowing of the facts of the case," Cowley said. "I've stated all along … the evidence would show I'd be acquitted. Feels good."

In an extremely rare move, 3rd District Judge L.A. Dever dismissed the criminal case against Cowley at the preliminary hearing phase. He had been charged with manslaughter for shooting and killing Danielle Willard, 21, during an undercover drug operation in 2012.

During a preliminary hearing, prosecutors only have to meet a low "probable cause" standard to convince a judge that there is enough evidence to show that a crime occurred and that it was likely committed by the defendant. In most cases, that standard is met and a case is bound over for trial where the state has to prove its case to a jury using a higher standard of "beyond a reasonable doubt."

But in this case, Dever — who retires in just three weeks after 19 years on the bench — said it was the state's own expert witnesses that caused him to reach the unusual decision that the "probable cause" standard was not met.

"The state's primary expert testified that the defendant could assume that Ms. Willard was attempting to kill (Cowley) and that deadly force was the appropriate response," Dever wrote in his decision. "No evidence has been presented to establish that the conduct was not legally justifiable."

Yet after a yearlong investigation, the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office had determined that both Cowley and fellow detective Kevin Salmon's shooting of Willard was not legally justified. Only Cowley, however, was charged because his shot killed Willard.

"We certainly don’t agree with it, but we respect the process of our judicial system, even if it sometimes produces results that we may not agree with," District Attorney Sim Gill said of the judge's ruling. "We’ve always said that we need to respect the process."

Gill was not present in the courtroom for the preliminary hearing. Deputy district attorney Blake Nakamura headed the prosecution team in court.

"That decision is the court's. Our decision was to bring that case to the court and let them make that decision based on the evidence we had, and that's what we did. We continue to believe that the evidence was sufficient to support the charges, that's why we filed the charges in the first place," Nakamura said.

He said Thursday he did not know whether the state would appeal the decision. Defense attorney Lindsay Jarvis, however, believed Dever's ruling was sound and would be hard to appeal.

"It's difficult to work in a criminal justice system you start to lose faith in over something like this. This is not only a vindication, but also a reminder that when you come to court, hopefully the truth will come out eventually," she said. "We had hoped, we were confident that this would happen, but to see it finally happen, words can't express how grateful we are for it."

Jarvis said from the time she visited Cowley in the hospital on the day of the incident, she knew it was a justified shooting. She said both Cowley and Salmon had "paid the consequences dearly" over the past two years, noting that emotions were high on both sides of the issue.

She called Thursday's decision not only vindication for her client, but a win for law enforcement in general.

Cowley expressed sympathy for Melissa Kennedy, Willard's mother, and thanked his supporters, including his wife and children "who have given me the strength to get through the last few years."

He also thanked his partner, Salmon, who was in court for all three days of the hearing.

"I would trust no one more with my life in a situation of this magnitude," he said.

Salmon was not criminally charged, but the district attorney determined he was not legally justified when he fired four times at Willard. He also had strong words for those who doubted their story over the past two years.

"The shooting was, in fact, a justified shooting by two officers who went out that day to do their job. They reacted strictly to a threat that was posed against them. Not just a threat, but a deadly force threat — a threat that threatened the lives of both of these officers, in particularly Shaun Cowley," he said. "I feel vindicated that our side of the story was finally told."

Salmon criticized the media, saying the case was sensationalized, and talked about the struggles he and his family have faced the past two years.

"We've received death threats at my house. We've received death threats over Facebook, over the mail …" he said. "It's been a constant struggle and a constant life-threatening situation over the last two years."

Salmon also announced that he resigned from the West Valley Police Department Thursday morning.

"I think it was a better decision to proceed and look for employment elsewhere in law enforcement. There's a lot of changes going on at the West Valley City Police Department, and I don't feel those changes are for the best."

On the other side of the aisle, Kennedy, who sat on the front row of the courtroom behind prosecutors for the entire three-day preliminary hearing, left the Matheson Courthouse without comment.

Many of the supporters who had sat with her, including family members of Dillon Taylor and Kelly Simons, left the courtroom visibly upset. One person yelled an obscenity in the courtroom after the judge made his decision.

Taylor, 20, was shot and killed earlier this year by a Salt Lake police officer after refusing officer commands, lifting his shirt and taking his hands out of his waistband. He was not armed, but the officer's body camera video helped the district attorney determine it was a legally justified shooting.

In January of 2013, Simons was shot and killed during an investigation by the Joint Criminal Apprehension Team. Simons was the suspect in a series of armed robberies. The JCAT officer opened fire after Simons tried to back up her vehicle at a high rate of speed to either try to escape or hit the officer.

"The state of Utah ought to be ashamed of itself to allow police officers to kill innocent people, unarmed women. The state failed to even address that the police had no reasonable cause to even compel Danielle to answer or roll down her window," an emotional Scott Simons, Kelly's father, said outside the courtroom. "This is an outrageous ruling and it just shows the state's inability to prosecute police officers."

After the hearing, Willard's supporters also took to social media to express their anger. Supporters rushed to the Justice for Danielle Willard Facebook page, some offering prayers and condolences, many crying out that justice had not been met and alleging that corruption had undermined the case.

The page was established by Willard’s mother just days after the shooting and for nearly four years has been used to update more than 4,000 followers on the case and to speak out against police use of force.

Cowley, Salmon and the Fraternal Order of Police criticized the media Thursday for coverage of the case over the past two years.

"I've been forced to watch the media as they've reported false truths and occasionally downright lies. The media has crucified me in a nonstop manner just for ratings and a better story," Cowley said.

"Vindicate these officers. Vindicate these officers. They've spent two years with their families being dragged through the mud, unchallenged," a passionate FOP spokesman, Ian Adams, said to reporters. "Their reputations, their integrity and their honor were completely destroyed. It's time to restore their reputation. It's time to restore their ability to walk with their heads held high."

But while the media was criticized, most of their anger was directed at Gill.

While he said he still holds the majority of the district attorney's office in "high regards," Cowley had strong words for Gill.

"Do not be a politician, be a district attorney," Cowley said.

"If Sim Gill can do this to two honest, hard working cops, he will do it to the general public," Salmon said. "This district attorney is amazing. He will stop at nothing to pass his political agenda and to full his promise of, 'Nobody's above the law.'"

"The prosecution had a small, low bar to get over, and they tripped," added Adams. "In my mind, this completely overthrows the unjustified ruling that came out earlier."

The Fraternal Order of Police and Gill have been at odds ever since the shooting. In July, the union filed a complaint against Gill, claiming he tainted a potential jury pool had the Cowley case gone to trial because of his public comments.

Most recently, the FOP criticized Gill for saying when the manslaughter charge was filed that a "panel" of five experts — two from Salt Lake police, two from West Valley police, and one from the Unified police — unanimously recommended that Cowley be charged. The FOP claims that in reality, only Chris Kotrodimos, who testified for the state at the preliminary hearing, recommended charges.

Wednesday night, the union issued a statement demanding "an ethics investigation" into Gill and "the upper echelon" of the district attorney's office, due to the "blatant lies told to the public and media."

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Gill called the group's allegations "a red herring."

"What I've said is that we've had five investigators. We created this panel. Maybe that was the wrong word to use. But we basically brought together five people, five investigators from three different agencies," he said. "There was no expectation, there was no outcome people were looking for. They were unanimous in that not a single person filed any objection and they all agreed that criminal charges were warranted.

"It wasn't like we got them and put them in a room and said, 'OK, now all of you vote on this. That's not what we ever said," Gill said. "All of them agreed that criminal charges were warranted."

Gill said the five investigators never said what charges should be filed. That was the job of the prosecution team.

Cowley said he expects to make an announcement soon regarding his civil battle with West Valley City. He believes he was illegally fired from the police department. While he wants his name cleared, he did not say Thursday whether he intends to get a job with another police department.

Cowley was not fired for his involvement with the Willard shooting, but because of an "egregious" pattern of behavior and violations, said West Valley Police Chief Lee Russo. An investigation into the department's former narcotics unit, which Cowley and Salmon were part of, concluded that officers had misplaced or mishandled drugs and money, kept trophies from cases, improperly used confidential informants and used GPS tracking on vehicles without a warrant.

More than 120 criminal cases investigated by that unit were dismissed by the district attorney's office because of credibility issues.

Cowley claims he was made a scapegoat in that investigation and blames poor supervision and leadership for the issues.