Matthew Valdez's fate in a 71-year-old man's crash death wasn't decided by jurors, with a presiding justice executing a directed verdict.
Eyewitness News is learning a verdict was handed down from the judge presiding over a trial against a former Houston police officer charged in the death of a man that he hit during an on-duty crash.A Houston police officer accused of killing a 71-year-old man while responding to a call in 2020 has been found not guilty.
Matthew Valdez, 28, was charged with criminal negligent homicide in July 2021, for the death of Walter Cooper just days before Thanksgiving. On Monday, the first day of the trial, Houston police officers who served as witnesses for the prosecution were questioned at length about the classification of calls and subsequent protocols on the first day of the trial.
Both prosecutors and the defense agreed that Valdez was speeding at the time of the crash and that officers are allowed to speed when responding to a call.
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