Jury gets civil suit tied to 2012 Minneapolis police shooting

A civil rights lawsuit against two Minneapolis police officers involved in the 2012 shooting death of an African-American man is in the hands of a federal jury. The case may draw more public scrutiny soon, depending on the verdict.

In the early morning hours of May 12, 2012, 40-year-old DelShawn Crawford was drinking and fighting with his girlfriend in her south Minneapolis apartment. Officers Chad Meyer and Laurarose Turner responded to a 911 call made by a neighbor in the building. Police say Crawford lunged at them with a knife before they opened fire. But Crawford's girlfriend and others inside the apartment say Crawford had put the knife down before he encountered the police officers.

The two officers, both department veterans, were cleared by a grand jury, but Crawford's family is seeking damages in the millions of dollars.

The civil rights trial ended with the closing arguments Friday afternoon. Here are some of the key points.

What's not in dispute?

In the early morning hours of May 12, 2012 DelShawn Crawford and his girlfriend were drinking when Crawford became abusive. A neighbor who lived in the apartment building called police. When officers Chad Meyer and Laurarose Turner arrived they went upstairs and had a split-second confrontation with Crawford before they fired and killed him.

What was said Friday?

Assistant Minneapolis City Attorney Tracey Fussy said the officers drew their guns as they were walking up the stairs towards the apartment because they could hear Crawford threatening to kill someone. She said Crawford had been drinking heavily and had a blood alcohol content more than four times the legal threshold for a DWI.

Fussy said Crawford was trying to leave the apartment and opened the door to find the officers pointing their guns at him. She said Crawford's demeanor turned from surprise to rage and he lunged at the officers with a knife. Fussy said the officers had a nano-second to react and had a reasonable fear for their safety when they shot Crawford.

Crawford family attorney Ashwin Madia said the officer's accounts don't jibe with some of the physical evidence found at the scene. He said if Crawford had lunged or leaned forward towards the officers as they shot at a downward angle, that he should have fallen forward instead of on his back three and a half feet into the apartment.

Madia also said that even though a knife was found near Crawford's body, he contended that the knife could have been placed there by someone after the shooting. He said one of the men in the apartment looked down at Crawford as he left with police officers and said he didn't see a knife near Crawford's body.

Why has this case kept a low public profile?

There've been recent demonstrations over fatal shootings of black men by police, including Jamar Clark in Minneapolis and Marcus Golden in St. Paul. But Crawford's killing, which occurred before the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., hasn't drawn the same level of protest. That may change if the jury finds in favor of the police officers.

Madia, however, made a point to say he didn't think officers were racially biased. In fact, he said Meyer and Turner are very nice people and probably much nicer than Crawford. He acknowledged Crawford was an alcoholic and an abuser but said Crawford should have been taken to jail that night instead of being shot to death.