KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A former Kansas City police detective is asking to remain free on bond while his conviction in the shooting death of a Black man is appealed.
Eric DeValkenaere, 43, is scheduled to be sentenced March 4 for second-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in the December 2019 death of Cameron Lamb.
His attorneys filed a motion Monday arguing that DeValkenaere should be allowed to remain free because he is not a flight risk and the judge who convicted him found “no evidence of malice” in DeValkenaere’s conduct, KSHB-TV reported.
DeValkenaere’s conviction carries a mandatory prison term.
DeValkenaere's attorneys had asked Jackson County Circuit Court Presiding Judge J. Dale Youngs during a court hearing last month if he would consider allowing DeValkenaere to remain free during appeal.
Youngs, who presided over DeValkenaere’s bench trial, said at the time that granting the request would be unprecedented in his 13 years on the bench.
DeValkenaere, a white man, testified during his trial that he fired after Lamb pointed a gun at another detective, which other evidence disputed.
Youngs found the officers had no probable cause to believe that Lamb had committed a crime before the shooting, had no arrest warrant and had no search warrant or consent to be on Lamb's property.