Not-guilty plea in traffic-stop killing

CINCINNATI - A University of Cincinnati police officer who fatally shot a motorist during a traffic stop pleaded not guilty Thursday to a charge of murder and was ordered jailed on $1 million bail.

Fired UC officer Ray Tensing later posted 10 percent of that amount and was released, the Hamilton County Court clerk's website said. He was freed around 6:30 p.m., county sheriff's spokesman Mike Robison confirmed.

People in the courtroom had erupted into cheers and clapped when Tensing's bail was set at $1 million, drawing the ire of Judge Megan Shanahan. "Ladies and gentlemen! This is a courtroom," she said sharply.

Tensing also pleaded not guilty to a charge of voluntary manslaughter in the July 19 shooting of Samuel DuBose, who was stopped for not having a front license plate.

Defense attorney Stewart Mathews said there are two sides to the case and the officer's much-viewed body camera video of the traffic stop can be interpreted differently from the prosecutor's version.

He described Tensing as "very depressed" and "in shock," adding the officer felt "like he's been run over by a train from the start of this case."

"He was in fear of his life at the time this happened," Mathews said after the arraignment.

Tensing's indictment was unusual. Police officers are rarely charged for fatally shooting people while on duty. More than 550 people have been shot and killed by officers this year, according to a Washington Post database, and Tensing is the fourth officer to face charges.

Three of these officers were charged for shooting people during or after traffic stops, which can be tense encounters for police and drivers alike. They are the most common reason for interactions between police and civilians, according to Justice Department data.

So far this year, at least 16 police officers were shot and killed in the line of duty by suspects. Four of these officers were killed during traffic stops or in pursuit of a suspect, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

Tensing, 25, was fired soon after he was indicted. He had been with the University of Cincinnati for more than a year after starting police work in 2011 in a Cincinnati suburb.

DuBose's death comes after months of national debate about police use of force against African Americans, especially when the force resulted in death. DuBose, 43, was black; Tensing is white. But authorities have not focused on race as a factor in the slaying.

Two campus police officers who responded to the shooting have been put on paid leave while the university police department conducts an internal investigation, university spokeswoman Michele Ralston said Thursday.

Body camera footage from the two officers, Phillip Kidd and David Lindenschmidt, was released Thursday. Kidd can be heard saying he saw Tensing being dragged. And in other footage, Lindenschmidt can be heard telling another officer that Tensing "went down, got tangled in the car, and drew his gun and fired."

In Lindenschmidt's video, Tensing can be seen on the ground and then getting up. But there is no indication on the video of how he ended up on the ground.

The prosecutor who brought the murder charge, Joe Deters, told the Cincinnati Enquirer that Kidd and Lindenschmidt testified before the grand jury that indicted Tensing.

Messages were left Thursday at the university police department for the two officers and at a home phone number listed for a David Lindenschmidt. No telephone listing for Kidd could be found.

Deters said the university should disband its department and turn over policing to the city.

Santa Ono, the university president, rejected that, saying campus police duties are different from those of a city department.

"You need to have a knowledge of how to interact with students," he said in an interview Thursday. "There are many different issues and federal guidelines that have to be followed that are very specific to campus policing."

After DuBose was stopped, he failed to provide a driver's license and refused to get out of the car. "I didn't even do nothing," he can be heard telling Tensing.

DuBose held up what appears to be a bottle of gin.

Tensing has said he thought he was going to be dragged under the car and "feared for his life," according to Mathews.

Tensing fired once, striking DuBose in the head.

"This officer was wrong," Cincinnati Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell said Wednesday, adding that officers "have to be held accountable" when they're in the wrong.