A Philadelphia appeals court judge reinstated charges that had been dismissed against Mark Dial, a former police officer who shot and killed a man as he sat in his car, Reuters reports. Dial shot Eddie Irizarry, 27, several times in August after Dial and another officer followed Irizarry through city streets. Judge Wendy Pew of the Philadelphia Municipal Court had dismissed the charges, citing a lack of evidence and agreeing with Dial's self-defense argument.
Prosecutors appealed to the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, where Judge Lillian Ransom agreed at a hearing Wednesday to reinstate the charges and ordered Dial to be taken into custody without bail. Video from the day of Irizarry's shooting, as recorded by officers' body-worn cameras, showed Dial leaving his car yelling with his gun drawn. Within about 10 seconds, he'd shot Irizarry several times, as Irizarry sat in his car with the doors and windows closed. Initially, police had said Irizarry had left his car and lunged at officers, but then admitted that was not the case when faced with the body-cam footage showing otherwise.
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