Philadephia police officer Eric Ruch Jr. shot an unarmed black motorist dead, seconds after arriving at the scene of a 2017 car accident. A federal jury found him guilty of voluntary manslaughter on Wednesday and he faces up to 20 years imprisonment.
Ruch, 34, dropped his head and cried upon hearing the verdict Wednesday, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. He was soon taken into custody. The jury rejected a more serious third-degree murder charge, but also convicted Ruch of possessing an instrument of crime. The felony manslaughter charge carries a term of up to 20 years in prison. Sentencing is set for Nov. 17.
Ruch's long history of misconduct complaints, of being "mostly cleared of wrongdoing", was held from the jury. The fact that Ruch's bullet (or, as the Associated Press describes it, "the bullet from Ruch's gun") went through Plowden's raised left hand before hitting his head was not.
